Post Content

Blondie, 2/21/19

As with most legacy comics, there are many strips in Blondie where the underlying vibe is that the kids today suck, but in today’s installment that seems to have become the “joke” itself. Millennials! You give them a promotion and they just want to party, with your money!!! Thank god the computer nerds will soon replace them all with robots, amiright??? It’s absolutely wild that Dagwood, for whom napping on the job is literally a solid 25% of shtick, is looking gobsmacked at the reader with a “can you believe it?” facial expression in the final panel.

Marvin, 2/21/19

So, yes, we’ve been having fun with the visual joke of “a fire hydrant is the dog equivalent of a toilet!” for, I dunno, probably the better part of a century, but … we all know that when dogs pee on things, they do it from, like, several inches away, right? They don’t touch the thing they pee on? So it doesn’t matter how cold the thing is? I know this is a weird question for Marvin, the most piss-obsessed strip there is, but: has anyone involved in the production of this comic actually seen a dog pee?

Pluggers, 2/21/19

Pluggers’ cars break down all the time, and they don’t have any actual friends.

Post Content

Marvin, 2/17/19

I know the joke here is that Jeff is swearing continuously while shoveling but has to briefly stop while his son is within earshot so he doesn’t pass on any bad habits. But honestly, the more realistic scenario is that Jeff is doing that innocent whistling thing as he pretends not to notice that Marvin — who, remember, is a toddler who should probably be supervised at all times — is just wandering past him and trudging out into the icy winter landscape, presumably to his death.

Panel from The Lockhorns, 2/17/19

I really appreciate the point-of-view we’re getting in this panel. It’s as if we’re being invited to imagine what the Lockhorns’ home would seem like through the eyes of something in their refrigerator: long hours of silence and darkness, punctuated by brief moments where you get a glimpse of them attempting to passive-aggressively wear one another down emotionally.

Spider-Man, 2/17/19

MJ’s coup de grâce seems to be based on the assumption that if they can’t see Killgrave, he will no longer be a threat. Soon our heroes will face their most powerful foe yet: object permanence.

Mary Worth, 2/17/19

Ah, so Toby is explaining to Ian that he shouldn’t get too fixated on any one attractive young woman who says nice things about him, because probably there are lots of attractive young women who are lusting after him all the time! Can’t see anything going wrong with this plan.

Post Content

Hi and Lois, 11/15/18

The thing I honestly love about this strip is that it’s taking Ditto’s emotions extremely seriously. Look at the genuine panic and despair he’s experiencing in panel one! Check out how tightly he’s gripping his hands together as he begs for sanctuary in panel two! In contrast, Dot and Thirsty are both just slouching casually, their hands thrust into their pockets, like a couple of people without diagnosable anxiety who know that cookie jars go for like $20 to $30 on Amazon.

Funky Winkerbean, 11/15/18

OK, guys, I’m officially giving up when it comes to actually fitting together the various aspects of Wally’s story that I half remember or understand. Like, I do have vague memories of him adopting a daughter from Afghanistan, and I guess this was before he joined the army and went to Iraq and then was held prisoner in Iraq by … somebody? … for ten years and everyone thought he was dead? I’m not sure how Rana fits into that story precisely, but based on the fact that they’ve seen each other recently enough to recognize one another but don’t seem to realize that they’re both attending college at the same school, their relationship is clearly going great!

Marvin, 11/15/18

“Oh, people don’t like comics where Marvin voids himself into his diaper and are begging for him to be potty trained? Fine: here’s a comic where Marvin is pissing into his potty while making a joke about ‘streaming.’ We’ll draw him to make it very clear that he’s not wearing diapers, just to give you a vivid sense of exactly what’s happening that you can’t ignore.”