Post Content

Argh, I meant to put this up last night, but better late than never: if you live in Iowa’s Quad Cities area, or anywhere you can pick up ROCK 104-9 KBOB-FM, you can hear me being interviewed by Dave and Darrin in the morning at 9:10 am local time (that’s in about 50 minutes!). Ever wondered if I sound as dorky as I look? Now’s your chance to find out? Apparently these DJs have a Marty Moon obsession, so we should get along fine!

UPDATE: Now available on the show’s podcast! Boy, the morning radio DJ of today is remarkably tech-savvy.

Post Content

Got a pretty adorable pic from faithful reader Frank Parsnip, featuring the 9-month-old Parsnip twins, Emma and Anthony, resplendent in their Comics Curmudgeon wear:

The Parsnip clan was on a trip to Korea when this pic was taken, which means that the sight of Jungle Patrol and Fist O’ Justice themed paraphernalia was probably even more baffling to passersby than usual. Remember, it’s easy for me to put logos on baby and toddler clothes, so email me if you’d like to make sure that 20 years from now your kids find their baby pictures completely inscrutable.

Speaking of Fists O’ Justice, a faithful reader sent me a link to their new blog: The Fists Of Justice League! Basically, it features Mark Trail and other comic characters punching people. Check it out!

Oh yeah, and it’s Monday! That means it’s COTW time:

“It strikes me as admirably in character that Cathy has an untidily assembled sack of ‘Tax Stuff.’ Undoubtedly she has a whole closet full of shopping bags variously labeled ‘Diet Brownie Recipes,’ ‘Oprah Transcripts,’ and ‘Rejected Bad Hair Day Joke Submissions to Reader’s Digest.’ (Oh, Cathy! We know you’re having a bad hair LIFE!!!) The largest of these, ‘Suicide Notes,’ is actually the most organized, broken down as it is into subcategories such as ‘Irving’s Fault,’ ‘Irving’s Parents’ Fault,’ ‘Swimsuit Manufacturers’ Fault,’ and a simple ‘Ack!!’ in an assortment of fonts.” –Violet

And to give appreciation to our runners up!

“Um, does Milford High HAVE geeks? I’ve seen brutes, jocks, and ne’er-do-wells, but geeks?” –Dick Tracy Broke into My Oddball Sanctuary

“This new Mary Worth storyline has so much potential — potential for DEATH!” –Mrs. Buck Tuddrussell

“We finally get a look at one of Alan’s paintings: a monochromatic cityscape. Well, I guess they say ‘paint what you know,’ and if there’s one thing Alan knows, it’s the view out the window of his studio. That, and shooting smack.” –The Spectacular Spider-Brick

“You cannot make both art and money. Alan is still on drugs.” –doug rogers

“That’s right Lu Ann, go make that tea, men are talking. Your flighty blonde femininity would only dilute the raw masculinity that now permeates this room, neckerchiefs and polo shirts aside.” –Mr. Lemon

“I would like to make a guest appearance in [Funky Winkerbean] as a smiling killer. I’d like to see all the petty and smug expressions replaced with looks of abject horror as they realize they’re going to die … JUST … LIKE … LISA, but much faster. Of course, this story arc would appear only on the weekends so we could enjoy the main characters’ demise in four colors.” –trey le parc

“I like how the new [Gil Thorp] artist has quickly picked up on how the characters’ facial features tend to slide in random directions from panel to panel. Poor Mimi in panel two looks like a manufacturing mishap at an inflatable sex doll factory.” –Trilobite

“Ah, springtime. When a young man’s fancy turns to baseball, and vaguely homoerotic terminology for baseball.” –gkl

“It’s a good thing ‘the Mooch Man’ is content with singlehood, because anyone who goes around calling himself ‘the Mooch Man’ has no hope of ever marrying. Or dating. Or having pity sex.” –TheDiva

“I see Mary has learned post-Aldomania that her meddle-to-murder turnover was taking just too damn long the old way, so now she’s hassling people already on their deathbeds.” –Hawkeye

“It looks as if Swiss Guy has his eyes closed, which may account for his bad marksmanship. I’m not much of a shooter, myself, but keeping one’s eyes open seems key. Contrast that with the zombie-like stares of the ladies. They won’t miss, I assure you.” –nancois

“My point is, I think if I were a masked superhero protecting my secret identity’s wife from a villain, I wouldn’t call her by her nickname in front of him and then stuff money in his mouth. I’d say something like ‘STAND BACK MA’AM’ and then … use … my … powers … you know, this scenario just doesn’t fit Spider-Man at all. Never mind.” –kostia

We must also give a big thanks to everyone who put a bit of scratch in my tip jar this week! And, of course, we give big thanks to our advertisers:

• Commission music: Mary Worth knows that you can commission your own piece or at least listen!
• The world-famous laugh factory: A fixture on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip for 28 years! All the legends of modern standup comedy have graced our stage, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Pryor, Paul Rodriguez, Dave Chappelle, George Lopez, and more.

To find out more about advertising on this site, click here. And hey, did you know that the coveted top spot is available? Guarantee yourself a slot at the top of the left-hand nav bar by clicking here!

Post Content

The comments of the week are nigh! But first, a few intriguing links for you:

• Faithful readers Wanders has a blog called Mary Worth and Me, which shockingly I’ve only become aware of in the past few days. Lovers of the Iron Lady of Charterstone will definitely want to check out this post, which collects Mary’s entire flashback monologue into one horrifying blob of dullness!
• In other single-comic blog news, faithful reader gkl has started one dedicated to Gasoline Alley, entitled Going Antisane with Gasoline Alley. Good coverage of the current deranged and somewhat offensive storyline, which I haven’t been bothering to cover but boy, it’s dumb.
• And then there’s the mysterious and wonderful Family Circus Is My God Now, which combines Family Circus captions with current event photos to cast a spell of awesome.

And now, the comment of the week:

“Wow, they’ve even given up on having backgrounds in Crock.” –commodorejohn

Short and to the point! And also the runners up:

“The irony of a guy called ‘Mooch’ bitching about not getting paid for helping someone move is … well, not actually all that interesting, so that’s probably why it ended up in Funky Winkerbean.” –Trilobite

“Does the typical American family really keep a golf club next to the door in an umbrella stand? Maybe it belongs to Lois for times like these when Hi splurges on a ‘nice’ bottle of Night Train wine and subsequently spends the rest of the week ‘working at home’ in his bathrobe.” –minor flood

“I was just thinking that a ‘nice’ bottle of wine can be interpreted so many ways. Hi probably figures ‘nice’ = free. As in: ‘It was so nice that it rolled out of the grip of that wino, and I’ve nearly gotten his spittle wiped off the neck.'” –Frank Parsnip

“Meanwhile, it looks like the Milford boys are getting the world’s saddest blowjobs.” –Manos

“As for The Persuader, I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen a no-foolin’, eyes-rolled-up corpse in a Spider-Man strip. I certainly hope it’s not the last. I have a list.” –Sock Puppet

“Mary, ‘love’ and ‘acceptance’ are not the same as ‘butting in’ and ‘telling people what to do with their lives.'” –cheech wizard

“Hey, look. Jeffy’s got a dinosaur praying to the god of Creationism. Isn’t that just too cute for words. You know what this strip needs? The Spanish Inquisition.” –kippetje2000

“Toby is just a Mary-in-Training. She’s two steps away from the neckerchief, which we all know is an unsuccessful attempt at hiding your wobbly, liver-spotted neck, Mary.” –Old School Allie Cat

“Unless I miss my guess, Jeffy’s God is the Open Window. Some might call that a subconscious sign of his desire to escape the Keane Compound. I call that a rather obvious sign of his desire to escape the Keane Compound.” –DaveyK

“Love it when Alan glares out a window. It’s like all he ever does, whenever he’s not backing out of his responsibilities, sixth-grader style. You know Luann is wondering why he thinks she’s down there on the sidewalk. ‘Should I … take the elevator down there? To talk to him up here? I might be an airhead, but Christ this is some autistic shit.'” –RaJ

“I agree with Curtis’s dad too. After seeing those gawdawful ‘cheezy melt’ commercials — that’s gotta be what drove dad over the edge — I’m not lactose-intolerant, but I’m becoming lactose-irritable.” –Buck Ripsnort

“The funniest part about about Family Circus is that Jeffy is obviously forming a fundamentalist cult for toys. This will only end with one thing: jihad. Dolly’s Malibu Barbie beach house will be the first target, as it is a sign of degrading decadence.” –WillieO

“Mary Worth is a better superhero than Spidey. Just in this past storyline, Spidey came out on the short end of two confrontations with non-powered Persuader; enabled a state prisoner’s escape; was suckered into approaching a booby-trapped car; lagged two steps behind his wife’s kidnappers, invaded and destroyed private property, and got his hash saved by both MJ and Persuader. In the same time period, Mary provided medical care, food and shelter to a runaway dog, meddled whiny Drew off to Viet Nam, gave Charterstone partygoers a break by walking off with Toby, withheld a toy from an annoying baby, and passed a thorny rose to a pesky child. Is that a tear in Uncle Ben’s eye?” –Godzooky

“200 years from now, somewhere in the desolate pancontinental post-apocalyptic wasteland that once was North America, a lone figure stands, crumpled-up old newspaper in hand, and weeps silently at the carelessness of a time when water was flippantly priced at less than 2 dollars per flask by a cartoon fox.” –auRa

“I must admit I barely noticed the lameness of ‘In another room,’ because I was so busy admiring the euphemistic potential of ‘Dick Tracy broke into my sanctuary.'” –Mollie

“Oh, man, poor Donna Amalfi. Telling Mary Worth to deliver a book cart to a widow is like asking Jason Voorhees to deliver a cart full of chainsaws to a pair of teenagers having sex. It just can’t possibly go well.” –Tats

We must also give a big thanks to everyone who put a bit of scratch in my tip jar this week! And, of course, we give big thanks to our advertisers:

• Shop Indie. Pass it on!: Shana Logic loves Joshreads.com fans because they are independent, rockin’, super nice art lovers! Totally unique hip & hot jewelry, killer ties for men, home Decor & iPod gear, unusual plushes, and more — the best gifts for our favorite people!
• The world-famous laugh factory: A fixture on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip for 28 years! All the legends of modern standup comedy have graced our stage, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Pryor, Paul Rodriguez, Dave Chappelle, George Lopez, and more.
• The Heretic: Aias was admired by Alexander the Great as his mentor, true friend, and military hero. Even the women of Greece passionately adored him, but he was mysteriously removed from Alexander’s journal. Why? The truth is finally revealed!

To find out more about advertising on this site, click here.