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Mark Trail, 1/17/13

So it turns out that literally everyone in this bass fishing storyline is going to have a painfully obvious name or nickname. “Let me tell you about my friend Bluegill. We started calling him that because he caught a bunch of Bluegill! A bluegill is a kind of fish, in case you’re wondering.” “Neat,” says Rusty, at a loss for any other way to respond to this incredibly banal anecdote. Later: “Bluegill, this is my ward Rusty! When I told him how you came to be called Bluegill, he said ‘Neat.'” “Well, isn’t that something? I think we’ll call you ‘Neat’ from now on, young man. How’d you like that nickname, Neat?” “But ‘Rusty’ is already a nickname! My real name is–” “Hush now, Neat, you’re scaring the fish with all your jibber jabber.”

Momma, 1/17/13

“Haha, yes, we’ve all had some good fun with the cross-generational misunderstanding of technological terminology, but Francis really is passed out on the sofa in parlor. I think he’s drunk, or maybe dead?”

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Mark Trail, 1/16/13

I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to laugh at however Mark weasels out of fishing with Rusty this time, but for now I just want to point out that our intrepid journalist plans to interview a superstar bass fisherman whose name is literally “Rod Bassy.” Get it, because you use a fishing “rod” catch “bass”? This is absurdly on the nose, even for this strip, and I look forward to future characters named Art Smugglerish, Beard Villain, and Corrupt Bald Politician Who Wants To Harm The Environment Somehow.

Gil Thorp, 1/16/13

How can Gil complain that the Thorps need to get a life when they already do fun stuff like have their own private ’80s parties at home on weekends? At least, I’m assuming that’s what’s going on, because Mimi is wearing leg warmers in panel two; she has to be doing it for the nostalgia value, because how could her legs be anything but toasty warm with that out-of-control fire blazing eight inches away from them?

Spider-Man, 1/16/13

“Because that’s what people do in mental hospitals, right? Fill out puzzle books? No? Um, ok, how about: You should be connecting the dots — in kindergarten, after I send you back … to … journalist kindergarten? Damn it damn it damn it, let’s start this whole thing over.”

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Mark Trail, 1/7/13

SORRY EVERYBODY about not having kept you sufficiently up to date on the conclusion of the thrilling Caribbean (?) Ransom storyline in Mark Trail, but it turns out to have been disappointingly light on the comical violence. As one could have guessed, Otto decided to let Mark go without collecting the ransom money, seeing as Mark saved his life and all, but Otto’s henchmen weren’t so keen on this idea, which gave Mark the opportunity to show that a fishing line trumps a rifle literally every time the two come into conflict. And then Otto hands out a brutal beatdown with his cane, proving that just because he’s decided to be magnanimous to Mark doesn’t mean he’s going to stop ruling his island with deadly force. Did you save me from sharks, Juan? Did any of you other pathetic losers save me from sharks? No? Then you’ll keep your mouths shut and do as you’re told.

Archie, 1/7/13

There’s something cruelly hilarious about people in the audience of a high school concert, who were presumably well aware of the musical quality that they’d encounter with performers at that skill level, just getting up and walking out when one particularly terrible kid gets up on stage to perform himself. You’ll notice that Archie’s mom didn’t even bother going to see her son in the first place.

Apartment 3-G, 1/7/13

Yes, finally, Margo gets some of her mojo back. “There are lots of things I don’t tell my boyfriend about, Greg, and making out with other dudes is pretty high on the list.”

Hi and Lois, 1/7/13

Dot is supposed to be, what, seven? Eight? I’m just trying to figure out how long it takes kids to recognize their parents’ marriage as the shameful web of deceit that it is.

Funky Winkerbean, 1/7/13

In his first epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul expresses hope that, after the Resurrection, we will understand each other and God better than we can now: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Crazy Harry seems to have interpreted this to mean that in heaven everyone just runs around naked all the time.