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Mary Worth, 10/8/20

[Reads panel one] Well, Tommy, I think it’s admirable you’re moving forward into this difficult conversation by openly talking about your own feelings and being vulnerable about what the stakes here are are for you emotionally, and [gets to panel two] NOOO TOMMY NO ABORT ABORT ABORT

Mark Trail, 10/8/20

That’s right, you simpering fools! You dared cross Mark and now you understand your terrible mistake! Now you must shower him with apologies! Praise! Money! Only if he cracks a smile will you know that you have returned to his good graces! Keep trying! Try harder!

Beetle Bailey, 10/8/20

Looks like the troops from Camp Swampy are going to be deployed to Afghanistan! Not sure if this means that the Afghan peace process is going well or really, really badly.

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Dennis the Menace, 10/3/20

I want to confess something right here on this blog, before the whole dang internet: for many years, until, I wanna say, the mid-to-late ’00s, I assumed a “spin class” was some kind of aerobics thing where the exercise consisted primarily of spinning around in a circle, and it wasn’t until my father-in-law started taking one after his heart surgery that I learned that, like, stationary bikes are involved? Anyway, the point is that Dennis here, a mere child, is managing to pull off some passable menacing that’s reasonably informed by this specific situation here, whereas I was experiencing a dumb Jeffy Keane-level vocabulary misunderstanding until well into my 30s.

Mark Trail, 10/3/20

You know, I made fun of everybody for yelling at Mark for not coming to some boring industry dinner where they hand out pointless awards in an unedifying display of industry mutual back-patting, but I withdraw my mockery because obviously in the Trailiverse the annual Conservation Awards are a nationally televised event on par with the Oscars. I do want to point out, however, that it’s good that the characters presumably can’t hear the narration boxes, because I think Cherry would be pretty hurt to be referred to as Mark’s “friend.”

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Shoe, 9/28/20

A thing I will never get tired of is the facial expressions in Shoe, which convey a message that is very much not “ha ha, we’re birds but we think we’re people!” and really much more “God, the burden of existence is crushing.” The Perfesser’s look in panel one is one that we’re used to, basically conveying the message that everything has been going so badly for so long that he can’t feel anything any more; Irv, on the other hand, is looking at his phone with a narrow-eyed rage that I honestly find refreshing. Sure, he’s made a lot of money off this car over the years, but it’s garbage, you understand, garbage, and he refuses to work on it anymore. It offends him as a mechanic that it’s even in his garage, and he’s tired of the Perfesser not recognizing this essential truth.

Mary Worth, 9/28/20

I love how everyone’s take on Iris at this point is “She seems in good spirits, but we don’t see her around much, because of all the sex she’s having.” This isn’t just idle gossip, though: Mary is of course the main power on the Charterstone condo board, and Toby, with Madi’s help, cemented her own influence with a perfect dessert. It seems like somebody is going to be dragged before the next board meeting, confronted with the HOA bylaws about owner occupancy, and slut-shamed into paying some hefty fines.

Mark Trail, 9/28/20

Wow, did Mark have to sleep on the couch because his open weeping about Andy was too annoying? That is ice cold, Cherry.