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Hey, everybody! I want to begin this post by paying collective homage to everyone who was kind enough to put some money in my tip jar while I was away, and for Uncle Lumpy and his cast of dozens of rotating banners for urging you to do so. Everyone who contributed will be getting a personal thank-you from me sometime in the next week, but I do want to collectively say thanks now before you all. I also want to thank Uncle Lumpy for just plain being an awesome pinch-hitter, and for making me laugh on multiple occasions when I checked in from my Undisclosed Location.

Anyway, before I get to the CsOTW, I need to approach one strip that I didn’t discuss today, but which held a very special resonance for me.

Luann, 9/6/08

Soooo … remember a ways back when I mentioned that I had been nominated for the Hot Blogger Calendar? Well, thanks the gratuitous ballot-stuffing on your parts that followed, part of my week off involved a bus trip to New York to get my picture taken. I shall say no more now, except to note that I was a lot more into the experience than poor Brad. More information as I get it, but: brace yourselves.

And you know who else was an official Hot Blogger? None other than Sally Forth scribe/Medium Large creator/all-explaining blogger Francesco Marciuliano!

This pic of the two of us was taken the night before the photo shoot. You can barely tell, but those are firemen on the fire escape on the building behind us, peeling big chunks of vinyl siding off of the building that my head is mostly blocking, because it was on fire … as a result of our hotness? Probably!

Anyway, take a moment to calm down and enjoy the comment of the week!

“The Funky-doesn’t-lose-weight plot is one of the most boring things I’ve ever witnessed, and I read Spider-Man.” –Tweeks_Coffee

And the runners up!

“Only a plugger would spend three and a half hours repairing a $9 toaster? I’m no economist, but if he managed to scrape $9 worth of Pop Tart icing from the inside it was probably worth it.” –gh

“Wait a minute! Alan used to be alive?” –Muffaroo-who-brunches

“My name is Margo Magee. You called me ‘li’l lady.’ Prepare to die.” –blueberrygrrrl

“When it came time to break the heartbreaking news to my wife, I tried this: Me – ‘There were some fraudulent charges on one of our credit cards. The bank wiped the charges and will issue us a new card.’ My wife – ‘OK.’ Hopefully this tip will help Toby with her terrible ordeal.” –Worthinator

“Maria! Jameson! For the love of God, DON’T REPRODUCE!!” –Mibbitmaker

“I’m on tenterhooks with Mark Trail. Hopefully the titular hero will show up, punch out blondie, and rescue the poor alligator.” –Bribaby

“And the lesson of the day is ‘There is a right place and a wrong place for heels.’ Take it to heart while Mr. Alligator does his part for our gene pool.” –Artist formerly known as Ben

“I’m thrilled that Toby deals with her fear of Ian being angry because she hid her credit card problem by hiding her credit card problem.” –Lithros

“Jeeze, look at Ian stomping his paunchy ass away there. He looks like Marlon Brando chasing a wheelbarrow full of Big Macs.” –jake!

“‘But the inch-long youngsters, once they hatch, have no family loyalty.’ Hey, Jack Elrod’s kids! Would it kill ya to call your old man once in a while?” –gleeb

“Pardon My Planet = Pluggers for Hipsters.” –Beatrice

“…the best thing about this strip is the Crimestopper’s Textbook panel, in which some weepy stocky kid has found where the sidewalk ends.” –commodorejohn

And let’s give it up for our advertisers, who are the very hottest.

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• Josh teams up with MST3K alums! Enjoy MST3K-style ribbing of the weepiest Spider-Man ever — with Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, and your very own Comics Curmudgeon!

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

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I know, it’s been ages since I took any time off from this site, so you’re obviously getting sick of me, am I right? Well, you are about to get your thrice-annual dose of the comic stylings of pinch-hitter and fellow commentor Uncle Lumpy! Give him a warm welcome for the remainder of the week; I’ll be back a week from today, 10/6.

But I will leave you with my own pics for the week’s top comments! Here is your lovely comment of the week:

“Margo is on her way to the morgue! Kind of like a visit to Disneyworld for most people.” –Orange Doorhinge

And the runners-up:

“When selecting his secret base, I’m sure the skull motif on the outside was appealing, but what must have really closed the deal for the Phantom was the built-in shelving.” –Bobdog

“Yes! Diet has really come through this time! Brilliant! Genius! No criminal is safe — except, of course, if he climbs a flight of steps.” –Hogenmogen

“Margo and Tommie won’t have the heart to tell Lu Ann her boyfriend was just horribly murdered by a deranged drug addict. They’ll just tell her that he went to live on a nice farm in Nebraska, where he can chase squirrels all day long.” –Perky Bird

“Terry the security expert’s look of bewilderment, pity, and resignation betrays her true thoughts: ‘Oh Toby … Toby Toby Toby. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. You’ll have to be put down.'” –Bribaby

“I fear we are in danger of forgetting The First Law of A3G Plot Dynamics: ‘Objects at rest tend to remain at rest. Objects that appear to be in motion are, in fact, at rest.'” –boojum

“So this ‘Aria’ temptress is just engaging Ted in platonic banter, right? She must realize that Ted’s married, right? I mean, his wedding band must look absolutely enormous on that slender, girl-gymnast-sized hand of his.” –Paperback Rifler

“Alan is not dead. The cops downtown want to know just like the rest of us — once and for all — is this one Alan or Eric? They are going to taser him and then let Margo search his body for distinguishing marks. After that they can tag him and release him back into the mild.” –Mel

“Isn’t that unnamed white dude in Mark Trail really wearing an ‘ironic moustache’? It’s too 1970s Burt Reynolds to be taken seriously. If so, Mark will punch him out just on principle. ‘Damn hipsters!'” –Kevin Moore

“The hand belongs to Spiderman. He’s presumably vacated his own strip due to lack of interest, and is scouting for a new locale. Given his NYC upbringing, it’s quite possible he seeks out a more rural setting. The only thing he hasn’t thought through is the lack of tall buildings, so expect to see Milford’s FD rescuing a distraught Spiderman from the stately oaks lining Main Street.” –trey le parc

“‘The right people on our side’ obviously refers to one of the many identical bunches of fat hillbillies in overalls (one of whom is bald).” –He Brought Queenie Baby Jesus

“I wish they’d change ‘The Sack Master’s’ jersey number to 69. After all, barely a strip goes by without mention of his height. Is that his only distinguishing characteristic? I’m more alarmed by his freakish hands and his cold, dead eyes.” –JH Pants

“I don’t follow Gil Thorp enough to keep track of all the characters, twists or turns, but to whomever that is in the centre of panel three: Dear Podperson, your mask is peeling. Signed, Disturbed.” –Black Drazon

“The death of Alan means high art prices for Margo, chastity for Lu Ann, and more Sunday morning waffles for Tommie. Mmm … waffles.” –Dingo

“I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who assumed that the buzzing was emanating from some Lovecraftian horror from beyond time summoned by Alan’s artwork. Such horrors can warp the very fabric of the universe, creating geometrical configurations that chill the soul with their stark unreality, such as that of Lu Ann’s breasts in the final panel.” –Obstreperous B

“The big tough dog that Snert is not like is about to swallow Hagar whole. There’s some poetic justice there. Well … perhaps ‘poetic’ is the wrong word.” –Angry Kem

“Yes, dear. It’s serious. Alan isn’t in the hospital, Lu Ann. Margo didn’t provide him with insurance, so we tossed his shot-up junkie ass into an alley a few blocks away. You can visit him there if you like.” –Harold

Let me give a huge thank you to those who put money in my tip jar! And an extra huzzah to our advertisers:

• Josh teams up with MST3K alums! Enjoy MST3K-style ribbing of the weepiest Spider-Man ever — with Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, and your very own Comics Curmudgeon!

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

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So, many moons ago there was a rash of spam on the Comics Curmudgeon forum that got so bad that I eventually had to turn off automatic account creation altogether, and just have folks email me when they want an account set up. Since generally I only get a few such requests a week, this wasn’t a big problem.

However, it appears that for the past month or more, all those requests have been going straight into my spam folder. As Cathy would say: Ack! So, if you sent me a request to sign up for the forum and never heard back, please email me at bio@jfruh.com and I’ll get you set up in the next few days. Be sure to include the username you want to use in your email.

(Please note that you do NOT need an account to post comments on entries in the main blog — this is strictly for the forums site.)