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Hi and Lois, 11/19/24

See, here’s an example of why Hi and Lois absolutely should stick to its post-punchline vibes: today’s strip does have a punchline, and it sucks. Oh, what’s that? You don’t watch a form of televised entertainment that’s become omnipresent because it’s cheap to produce and activates the same base pleasure centers in the human bran that react to cocaine? You’d rather contemplate the slow-moving majesty of nature instead? Thanks, smug baby, you’ve really given us all something to think about, via extremely mild wordplay.

Marvin, 11/19/24

Two of the worst things about Marvin are (a) it’s often about the title character peeing and pooing, and his adversarial relationship to toilets and being potty trained, and (b) it never really lands on whether the title character is a preverbal infant who communicates with thought balloons, in which case the peeing and pooing make sense, or a child old enough to go to school independently and talk out loud and such. Anyway, today’s strip hits both of these low notes, if you’re keeping track.

Rex Morgan, M.D., 11/19/24

Is Rex Morgan a fast-paced, gripping adventure strip that makes every visit to the comics page a thrill ride? No. But does it tackle real-world medical issues and educate the general public about their importance? Also no. But does it feature lots of drawings of hands in very specific positions and configurations? Yeah, that’s the one. It does that. We all know about “feet guys,” but if there’s such a thing as “hand guys,” as I assume there are, Rex Morgan, M.D., is their go-to, and I think that’s great.

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Blondie, 11/11/24

Remember just weeks ago, when Dagwood dismissed the pumpkin spice concept, now in its second decade, as a mere passing craze? Well, apparently he’s finally taken a single sip of a chain coffee shop’s pumpkin spice latte and now? Now he can’t get enough. It’s no longer a goofy, female-coded trend that Dagwood as a middle-aged suburbanite chuckles at with amusement: now it’s associated with the consumption of foodstuffs, triggering the most primal urges of Dagwood the endlessly insatiable Appetite.

Rex Morgan, M.D., 11/11/24

Remember a few years back, when Mud was Truck’s rival for Wanda’s affections? Well, now he’s been thoroughly brainwashed and those days are long behind him, to the extent that he’s now learned about Truck and Wanda’s engagement and only feels overwhelming tenderness for the two of them and wants the best for their future happiness. I swear that panel two here is the closest I’ve ever seen to someone with heart eyes without actually having hearts drawn in their eyes.

Gil Thorp, 11/11/24

Remember last month, when Gil had a massive heart attack, from coaching stress? Gil does! Gil would rather not have another one. And sure, his assistant coaches simply cannot coax wins out of the Mudlarks, but was Gil ever that good at coaxing wins out of his team, really? Something to think about as he takes a long, luxurious sip of coffee. You know, it really is better when you make it in a French press, but who has the time? Well, Gil does, now!

Mary Worth, 11/11/24

Remember when Estelle and Ed got married, just last week? Well, Dr. Jeff doesn’t think they’re going to last. Just a gut feeling he has, mostly based on their fundamental incompatibility and the way they used Mary’s trite advice to paper over a big gulf in what they expect out of a relationship. We’ll see, though! Ha ha!

Marvin, 11/11/24

Remember in 1776, when the U.S. threw off the yoke of British rule? Well, Marvin clearly doesn’t, as his new boat pledges allegiance to His Majesty Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Honestly, it makes me sick.

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Blondie, 11/2/24

The Blondie creative team is usually very locked in to whatever big calendar full of real and fake holidays that’s clearly hanging up in the writer’s room, so today’s misstep is actually kind of surprising to me. Sure, it was possible, weeks ago when this strip was written, that game six of the World Series might’ve been played on November 1, but it was also possible that one of the teams would wrap it up in five games or less, as one of them in fact did (go Dodgers!). Anyway, I get why you’d risk it though, the glaring error is absolutely worth it to deliver this tight, flawless joke about a mailman streaming the baseball game from the night before, so his trainee has to talk to one of the mail route customers, like the regular guy usually does, about something that we don’t need to bother explaining, you know, the usual customer-mailman conversations we all know and love and have every day.

Marvin, 11/2/24

Of the weird holdover jokes from an entirely different era of gender relations that routinely pop up in newspaper comics, I have to say that “haha, it’s women’s job to cook but this particular woman is really bad at it!” are my absolute least favorite. The particular woman in question could be the speaking character’s mother, wife, or (as in this case) daughter, each possibility carrying with it its own specific unpleasant vibe. That said, I do think today’s Marvin is kind of funny because usually you think of “runing your appetite” as something you do with snacking, but Roy is just straight-up eating a whole actual meal here. Like he knows Jenny’s cooking is terrible, he wants no part of it, and he’s just made his own dinner early, because he’s fully self-sufficient.

Beetle Bailey, 11/2/24

Some days I think I’ve left the snickering sexual innuendo I was prone to in this blog’s early days behind, but then I encounter a strip like “Lt. Fuzz decides to horn in on General Halftrack’s threesome,” sigh heavily, and realize I will simply not be able to help myself. Anyway, here’s today’s Beetle Bailey, in which Lt. Fuzz decides to horn in on General Halftrack’s threesome.