Archive: Marvin

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Marvin, 4/18/26

OK, I kind of … well, like is a strong word, but I appreciate what Marvin is going for here. At first you’re like, “Ha ha, of course you can’t turn on the TV! You’re a dog!” But then you find out that the actual reason is that he could use the remote to turn the TV on or off, but he doesn’t know where it is because [comical BOI-OI-OING noise] he hid it. Both the using and (to an admittedly lesser extent) the hiding of this object are not particularly dog-like, so the twist is … well, funny is a strong word, but at least it’s mildly interesting. I guess it’s best if we don’t get into the antagonistic relationship he has with the humans in the house that would’ve led to him hiding it in the first place.

Herb and Jamaal, 4/18/26

French philosopher Blaise Pascal famously came up with the thought experiment that we call “Pascal’s wager,” which is basically that you might as well believe in God because if you do but he doesn’t exist, you suffer no harm from your belief, but if he does exist and you don’t believe in him, you won’t make it into heaven. This really wowed the rubes in the 17th century but it’s absolutely baby brain stuff today, where you can open the comics pages and see some guy talking about how he literally believes in the concept of heaven as understood by most contemporary Christians, but he doesn’t go to church, possibly because his irreligiosity combined with his good deeds makes him even more likely to get into paradise, in his opinion. Wild stuff! And he’s telling this to a clergyman who definitely has some opinions about faith and works and their respective relationship to salvation! Can’t decide if Rev. Croom’s big grin is because he’s about to open up a can of theological whoop-ass or because he’s like “This is great, can’t wait to tell the fellas in the PastorChat Discord about this one.”

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Marvin, 4/10/26

Pixar’s beloved Toy Story movies are about, among other things, the complicated emotional relationship between toys and humans, especially when humans become too old for toys anymore. Marvin has been doing something similar this week, except that the toys and Marvin kind of hate each other, and now his parents have told him that he has to leave them in his toy box almost all the time, and they’re going to die.

Mary Worth, 4/10/26

Despite her fearsome reputation, Mary is, honestly, fairly conflict averse. She’s still reeling over the time Harvey stormed off because she gently suggested to him that maybe he’s not “in love,” he just got horny over a fake lady on his phone. So she’s really trying her darndest to get Sharon to show up at Charterstone without saying the words “scam” or “$200,000,” and it’s really quite impressive.

Hi and Lois, 4/10/26

I feel like this would make a little more sense if this was just a random young person for Hi to be scornful towards, but, you know what? I’m enjoying the scenario we’ve been given here, where he’s taking an elevator ride with his own son, who has turned his back on his father and is listening to music or a podcast or maybe even just white noise rather than trying to interact with him in any way.

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Marvin, 2/28/26

OK, the question of “What the hell kind of school does Marvin go to” is always a live one, seeing as he’s a literal infant, but it’s really relevant here. What the hell kind of school does Marvin go to where he’s learning stuff about the history of pie? I took a seminar in college taught by a professor who specialized in the history and sociology of French food and I didn’t learn this! Sorry, comics gag writers: you can’t just learn a fun fact and then put it in the mouth of a child in your strip and say he learned it at school and then call it a day. And don’t look so smug, Jenny! It’s not like you invented chocolate pie.

Rex Morgan, M.D., 2/28/26

Oh, yeah, I haven’t told you about it, but there’s a new Rex Morgan, M.D., plot, where a former Hollywood starlet has been living in isolation in her mansion for more than a decade, hiding from the press by pretending to be her own maid. What would end up connecting this woman to our main cast? Something medical, perhaps? Some unique malady that only Rex Morgan, M.D., or perhaps his wife June Morgan, N.P., could solve? Or maybe [watches her turn on her inexplicably old-timey radio and roots country comes out of it] OH COME ON