Archive: metaposts

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You may have noticed for the past few days that I’ve been posting comics very early in the morning, only a few hours after they go live on the Houston Chronicle site. It was almost as if I were somewhere in the Pacific Time Zone, where these comics were available at 10 p.m. It was almost as if I were in San Diego, spending time — oh, I don’t know, maybe making fun of a Spider-Man movie with Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy!

If you’re not familiar with RiffTrax, you’d better get familiar with it, right now! RiffTrax is a project in the spirit of MST3K. It makes a clever end run around the issues of film licensing: you download the hilarious commentary on MP3, and then rent the DVD and watch them together. And on September 5, for a mere $2.99, you’ll be able to listen to one with me!

It will probably not shock you to learn that I’m a huge Mystery Science Theater fan, and that the show really influenced my writing. In terms of living out childhood dreams, probably the only thing that could have topped this would be getting to serve on the U.S.S. Enterprise with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. It was an honor, and it was a blast! Movie Spidey gets into a slightly greater number of tussles with supervillains than newspaper comic strip Spidey, but if anything he whines and mopes even more. I’ll let you all know when the MP3 is up!

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Hi all! As usual for a Monday night COTW post, you’ve got some random stuff to sit through, some of it Anthony-Elizabeth related, ’cause I know you’re all into that! First off, those of you who are the young kids of today and who use the Facebook or whatever might be interested in two Facebook “pieces of flair,” created by faithful reader Holy Prepuce. Show your Facebook friends what you think of Elizabeth’s new groom, here and here!

Also, faithful reader Dan sent me this pic and note:

In honor of the Patterson-Caine wedding, I snapped this photo of a local (Cranston, RI) hair salon that happens (?) to have the same name as the soon-to-be-newlyweds. I’ve never been inside the salon, so I can’t confirm whether they offer mustache grooming services.

Also! In non-foob news, faithful reader Joe sends me this photo and associated missive:

I got two tickets to the Philadelphia folk festival from a friend with the only stipulation being I wear my Fist O’ Justice shirt and send you a picture of me in it at the Folk Fest.

Joe, you have held up your end of the bargain, so here is the pic! You earned those tickets good!

And now, the comment of the week you’ve all been waiting for:

“Toby’s internal monologue about doing what one needs to has inspired the artist in me! Now I’m off to create a bowel movement.” –Mooncattie

Funny yet disgusting, which as you know is what we like around here. Also funny (and in some cases disgusting) are the runners up!

“Considering where the words and pictures land in that thought balloon (and considering their thoroughly effed-up marital dynamic), I’m willing to believe that Toby is actually imagining Ian offering that complimentary paragraph on his own behalf — probably because he actually said it at some point. While not wearing a shirt.” –ChargeMan

“Oh, crap, Ian is Toby’s HUSBAND?!? I’ve only been half paying attention to this storyline and assumed he was a senile uncle or perhaps an old man she sees at the bus stop occasionally and feels sorry for. Thank God this is Mary Worth or this union might have actually been consummated!” –Joe Blevins

“What the hell is she talking about — ‘Life is short?’ She’s a character in Rex Morgan. Every day takes a minimum of three months. She got to Rex’s office early, and has been there maybe an hour, and that’s taken at least a week.” –AMC

I’m seeing patients again. Oh, and I’m also into hair dye and stealing clothes from Deion Sanders.” –Darkefang

Ruby’s hair bow is from The Dick Van Dyke Show’s Rosemarie Collection, size XXL. Earrings by the Home Depot garden center.” –Annon

“I’m still not sure what happened in Gil Thorp. Did he film ninety minutes of countryside? Is the boredom of a bus ride supposed to be a deterrent to playing minor league ball? Is Coach so antiquated that he is unaware of boredom canceling technology like iPods, DVD players, books, and sleeping?” –WillieO

“I love the expression on Jimmy’s face in Panel 1 of Gil Thorp. ‘Two DVDs from Elmer marked “Kalamazoo Bound.” LET’S GRIND IT UP AND SNORT IT!'” –survivor

“I expected ‘Kalamazoo Bound’ to be Elmer’s first attempt at adult erotic cinematography. ‘Hey, Jimmy, here’s a hitchhiker we picked up just outside of Lansing! How d’ya like that rope work?'” –Harold

“If anyone in BGSS were going to be playing an instrument, it’d be a gutbucket, wouldn’t it? Is that squeezed like a bunch of elongated nipples? No, really, I want to know. I played the bassoon, so I haven’t a clue about what hillbillies play. I’m elite like Barack Obama.” –Oddball Cargo

“Also, I do not truly believe that Elizabeth has been ‘giddy,’ ever, in her entire life. That would involve too much unclenching. And ‘tired,’ seriously? Is she practicing for the wedding night?” –goldamarlin

“By the way, I think Grandpa Jim is faking it. Boxcars, that man’s got the right idea. I predict Uncle Phil and several others will follow his lead and soon be having sudden ‘attacks’ and ‘flare-ups,’ excusing themselves from this ritualistic eye poison.” –PeteMoss

“Seriously though, WTF? Teal carnations don’t exist in nature for a reason, y’know.” –The Sparrow

“There have been a lot of clues that Ted Forth is a Comics Curmudgeon reader. But I’d have to say his underemployment has been the big tip-off.” –Edgy DC

The unemployed who put cash in my tip jar deserve special praise! Our advertisers are equally special:

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COTW coming soon, but first: we’ve got exciting new merchandise on offer! This fab design from faithful reader The Spectacular Spider-Brick combines beloved Rex Morgan typos with everyone’s favorite getaway spot for Santa Royale’s elite:

A number of sizes and styles are available! And of course if you want this logo on something else, just let me know, and I’ll try to accommodate you. Let your platonic not-boyfriend or -girlfriend know where you want to be taken out for shrimp scampi!

Of course, myriad other merchandise items are waiting for you! In fact, four are on display in this picture from faithful reader Dr. Strenglove!

The good doctor writes:

See the attached photo of me and family members of various ages (two of us are under 19 and two are over 40) wearing Comics Curmudgeon Gear on Capistrano Beach, Orange County, California, from our vacation first week of August 2008. I’m the one in the hat.

From left to right, those are t-shirts honoring the AJGLU 3000, Cassandra Cat, the Jungle Patrol, and Gail Martin. Huzzah for the whole Strenglove clan!

OK, now that that shameless pimpery is out of the way, I present you with your COMMENT OF THE WEEK:

“Your question brings to mind a question I had the first time this came up: why would a used car dealer have a fleet of limos? But then I figured I’d have a drink and forget about it. That was nice.” –Bunnë, Official Comic Execrator

And your long-ish list of runners up!

“I just wanted to let you know — Jimmy’s heard from Shain Tech and Lawson University. I’m so excited! In fact, I’ve masturbated to the point where my hand is glued to the brochures!” –survivor

“Whatever else you might say about Toby, she knows exactly what kind of lame-ass present her lame-ass husband will appreciate most. I’m even inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt on the ‘it wasn’t easy’ comment, despite the fact that she only visited one store and then bought it online; the hard part wasn’t really finding the DVD, but rather the strain of pulling all the tattered shreds of her ruined, desolate soul so that she could just barely care enough about Ian to buy him a gift in the first place. Seriously, that’s going above and beyond the call of duty in Mary Worth, where serving someone a plate of lurid yellow globs masquerading as ‘shrimp scampi’ is considered to be a satisfactory replacement for angry make-up sex.” –Trilobite

“So Mark Trail has devolved into a ‘man rescues girls’ story. I can’t express how surprised I’m not by this development.” –A New Day

“David Cronenberg, Canadian film maker, will retell the romance of Liz and Anthony in his next film. Once again, he will tackle the question: ‘What is real?’ The same marriage date, used again … and again and again? The groom’s parents — unknown to the bride’s family, despite their long interest in the ‘wholesome’ young man? Or drunken child-abandoners? The mysterious dark lady — the first wife? Or shrunken into a dark child, locked in her basement cell? Cranes transmogrifying into crows. Swirling colors/colours not found in nature. All the characters moving jerkily about, their actions controlled by a Mysterious Puppeteer — who threatens to end this reality and start it all over again, with ‘changes.’ Cronenberg’s fearlessness in presenting gut-wrenching grossness will be tested in The Wedding Banquet scene.” –Someone from Texas….

“Well, you learn something every day. I had no idea that ‘regatta’ is the street name for ‘laudanum.'” –Nekrotzar

“Man. That whole neighborhood is dysfunctional. Liz never stood a chance. All she had left, in one final act of defiance to her fate, was to choose hideous colors so everyone would look as awful on the outside as they were on the inside.” –Farley’s Revenge

“I’ve got to hand it to Anthony’s mustache for not having anything to do with shitfest.” –PeteMoss

“What’s this? A Gord/Anthony superstar team up with no other characters in sight? That’s dangerously pushing the envelope of doughy, pale, white guy blandness even for this strip.” –Joe Blevins

“Thank heaven Peter has the ability to plummet to earth with the proportionate terminal velocity of a really big spider, thus beating gravity at its own game. He’s zooming through space like he thinks there’s a TV set down there.” –Muffaroo for hire

“At first I thought it was Iris giving the little hooligans candy as well. Then I figured out it was Mira. They apparently go to the same godawful hair stylist — or the aforementioned FOOBification of all reality has progressed. Everyone is devolving into Elly, I tell you. I can feel my nose widening as I type.” –Brick Bradford

“In other news, handguns have just been legalized in Washington, DC, so hopefully someone will pop a cap in Billy’s ass before the end of this storyline.” –Matt E

“Pluggers don’t go to the beach, because after they’ve been wet they smell terrible. Well, more terrible.” –Mac

Judge Parker: Sure enough, thanks to this strip, my original indifference to golf has turned into dislike, then hatred, then loathing, and now white-hot seething hostility.” –Poteet

“Like most people who want to unwind in front of the boob tube after a long day, I eat an entire plate of individually wrapped Land-O-Lake margarine packets.” –Jesse Cline

“So Dagwood is an incontinent time-waster; Crankshaft’s only source of fulfillment is spreading misery to those around him; Marmaduke is a slobbering, insupportable burden to the Hitler family; and Momma is obnoxious, shriveled, and dying. It’s like a typical day in the comics, only more so. I can only assume that somewhere Marvin is taking malicious satisfaction in shitting himself, Spider-Man is singing along to the Empire Today commercial, and a shabbily-dressed plugger is finding a way to cheap out on taking a nap in his own filth while eating a bacon-wrapped ice-cream sandwich.” –Violet

“Poor Grandpa Jim. He’s trying so hard to leave this world before the unholy cataclysm of puns and mustachioed babies that the Anthony-Liz wedding will undoubtedly bring.” –Dagger

“Toby and Ian are so boring that watching a PBS documentary raises the excitement level in their lives. Even Toby’s Walter Mitty-esque inner monologues consist of nothing more than looking forward paying her credit card bill. Say what you want about Mary Worth, but at least her meddling leaves a trail of death and destruction in its wake.” –monkey.dave

“It’s like the old joke: where does a 500 pound gorilla sit? Just replace ‘sit’ with ‘squat and run a meth lab.'” –Master Mahan

That Family Circus looks less like ‘Our Olympics’ and more like ‘The myriad excuses the Keane kids make to the school nurse to cover up the horror of child abuse.'” –Patrick

Plus, if you’re at all interested in dramatic theory and how it pertains to Mary Worth, you really must read this amazing comment from Journeyman Softheart, which would have been on this list had it not been longer than most of my own posts. It still gets a very honorable mention.

Also to be mentioned honorably are everyone who put a little change in my tip jar! And honor accrues to our advertisers as well:

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