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Folks!!!! Are YOU in or near Los Angeles right now? Do YOU want to hear Josie Riesman, author of the upcoming Vince McMahon book Ringmaster, talk about the early days of Wrestling Internet, plus hear yours truly do a deep dive into Celeb Heights Dot Com, a website that, like mine, was created in 2004 and is still going strong, plus some other jokes? Well come on down to the Clubhouse in Los Feliz for the Internet Read Aloud, TONIGHT AT 7 PM!

Here is the Facebook event! Don’t miss it!

Your comment of the week is so good that it’s impossible to miss!

“I refuse to believe that, no matter how boring it must get at Estelle’s house, a dog and a cat would sit in chairs intently listening to her monologue her way into polyamory.” –Tabby Lavalamp

Your runners up? Also fantastic!

“The former Walther Geldbeutel dimly remembered hyperinflation, yes. And what he’d done to stay alive as a young man in Berlin. He wasn’t proud of it, but at least, like everyone else, Gertie didn’t know his shame. Or did she? Would she have to die like the others?” –RogerBW

“…And the award for ‘Least-Hilarious Quote From A Comedian’ goes to…” –Victor Von

“I’m not surprised The Perfesser looks so dejected: it’s the 21st century, yet no one has created a bong that can fit a beak.” –nescio

“Listen to this on-line review of our practice! ‘Cheap signage, poor use of typeface, decent kerning. Try something that doesn’t look pasted on, and maybe a nice serif or two? And they killed my cat. Two stars.’” –Voshkod

“I can only picture Henry headed to work in shirt and tie, overly-short dress pants, and a briefcase. That work attire screams hipster barber, or maybe artisanal cheese sales. But they’re a single-income family, so that is probably more like marketing/communications for a start-up that makes software for barbers and cheesemongers.” –Old School Allie Cat

“Ugh, is there anything worse that when someone holds out their phone to make you look at their family photos? Well, other than when they try to get you to read the daily Hi and Lois.” –jroggs

“Only in the dying comics published in the nearly-dead printed newspaper is there a contemporary American high school sports team boasting a head coach, a couple assistant coaches, and all its community media devoted to it, claiming it needs to raise funding. The fourth panel is Gil pocketing a green wad, saying Thanks for the ‘retirement fund,’ suckers!’” –Bobby+Sneakers

“Nearly — gulp — fifty years ago, my best friend was obsessed with Charles Lindberg, among other things. His father, an American history prof, scored him an authentic aviator cap, complete with goggles. Even for 1976 or 1977, it was a rare find. I offer this for those of you who would like to identify precisely how out-of-date Gasoline Alley is.” –pastordan

“That expression of Blondie’s in the first panel is the face of a woman whose husband has just turned her down for sex by demonstrating that he’s very busy reading a magazine.” –Thelonious_Nick

“Look, Dagwood, you’ve worn a shirt with one giant button in the middle of your stomach for some reason for like 90 years now. It’s a bit late in the game to pretend ‘there are buttons,’ plural.” –Dan

“‘It’s whatever.’ Man, even a year ago I’d have made a joke about how this strip is written by some kind of AI teenspeak bot, except with the rise of ChatGPT, we now know that AI can do everyday vernacular much better than that. I guess in a way it’s comforting to know that Gil Thorp gets written the traditional way, by half-remembering a phrase they heard on the MTV some years back.” –pugfuggly

“As they leave the office, Dr Ed gets into his Porsche convertible and looks back to Steven; ‘Listen kid, you don’t drive a car like this by arranging flowers for a living. Now get back in there and put down [checks notes] Mr. Pickles!’” –Hibbleton

“If you find yourself wearing a lilac jacket over a mint green shirt (but white cuffs, somehow) with a powder blue tie, you’re well beyond self-care.” –Schroduck

“Dr. Ed seems not to have figured out the Doorknob Principle.” –Charterstoned

“In fact and in truth, Uncle Walt died in 1983, surrounded by family and friends. Everything you have seen in the forty years since then has been the final hallucinations that passed thru his mind in the last fleeting seconds before he slipped away. How do I know? I’ve been dead since 2010.” –The Real Skeezix Wallet

“It makes sense because Walt never washes his hands. By the way, that kid’s got the ‘Spanish flu’ now.” –Peanut Gallery

“Abe Lincoln’s coffin was buried ten feet deep and encased in 4,000 pounds of concrete. However, he was not cremated. So if you REALLY want to shake Abe Lincoln’s hand, and you’re determined enough, there’s no need to settle for half-measures.” –Steph

“I haven’t been a teenager since the 1980s, so maybe things are different now, but it seems that teenagers wouldn’t have the kind of disposable income to waste on NFTs — most of them, anyway. Who are these friends of his who are throwing this kind of money around? On the other hand, Alexander debuted as ‘Baby Dumpling’ in the strip in 1934, which would mean he’s turning 89 this year. That’s certainly old enough to not know a bad internet-based investment from a good one, and if the other 89-year-old kids in high school are as sharp as he is, then I’ll believe they’re using their reverse mortgages to load up on lucrative NFT futures.” –Larry McAwful

Remember: If you want an ad-free version of this site sent to you every day via email, for $3 a month you can become a Comics Curmudgeon newsletter subscriber! And if you never want to see banner ads on this site, and want to get cool comment-editing features to boot, for the same low price you can become a Comics Curmudgeon website subscriber! And if you just want to give me money directly, you can put some scratch in my tip jar, or back me on Patreon! Thanks to all for your support and readership!

Post Content

Folks!!!! Are YOU going to be in or near Los Angeles on March 10? Do YOU want to hear Josie Riesman, author of the upcoming Vince McMahon book Ringmaster, talk about the early days of Wrestling Internet, plus hear some good cyber jokes from me and other comics? Well come on down to the Clubhouse in Los Feliz for the Internet Read Aloud!

Here is the Facebook event! Don’t miss it!

And don’t miss your comment of the week, either! It’s right here.

“That explains why, in spite of having laptops, the office hasn’t gone paperless, in response to a question none of us ever thought to ask and that, in retrospect, none of us wanted answered.” –Spunky The Wonder Squid

Your runners up? You’d better BELIEVE they’re right here:

“I may not be most folks’ definition of a ‘good catch’, but check this out: I can pat my chest and move my hand in a circle at the same time! Pretty neat, huh?” –pugfuggly

“Dennis just walking into an elderly couple’s house pretty much ensures he’s going to find a corpse or two some day, and finally the menace shall be menaced by memories of bloated, dead faces.” –Tabby Lavalamp

“Apricots have been cultivated in central Asia for thousands of years. They reached the Roman Empire about two thousand years ago, and from there were likely spread across their realm, probably even as far as Britain. So is it believable that these presumably English peasants would have access to them to throw at their local petty king? Certainly! However, the history books are suspiciously silent on the global distribution of Timberland boots in the Dark Ages.” –jroggs

“Jeffy is walking a thin line banging that drum around Bil who has long since lost the remote to his hybrid CRT/flatscreen TV and can no longer raise the volume above a whisper while he watches [checks Monday morning tv listings] Pictionary.” –Hibbelton

“I guess you could interpret it as him sitting too close to the TV. More plausibly, the recliner also doubles as a toilet.” –Gary

“‘Our son isn’t sleep deprived, he sleeps constantly.’ No red flags there.” –Lepus Marj, on Twitter

“Dennis the Menace and Family Circus are strips stuck in the oppressive norms of the 1950s, where any amount of falling short of domestic bliss is a deep shame. Both strips are like very bland dystopias, like the Hallmark Channel version of The Handmaid’s Tale.” –Philip

“As an attorney, Dustin’s father knows full well it’s not a HIPAA violation to disclose his son’s narcolepsy diagnosis for his own grim amusement.” –Voshkod

“Boy, I’ll say it’s an emergency! If Dr. Ed doesn’t get over there fast, all those other dogs are going to eat that little dog, and/or the kid that’s holding it.” –Handsome Harry Backstayge

“So, the Perfesser isn’t napping, as he appears. He’s actually purring in ecstasy in the afterglow of a satisfying dump. Just when I think I’m out, they pull my right back in.” –Lawyerbob

“Not for the first time, I find myself wondering what Grossie and Maggot’s skeletons look like. Is it just a big pointy-headed skull under there, or do they have a vestigial thorax? Come on, King Features, kill ’em off so we can find out. Judging by today’s strip, you’d be doing them a favour.” –Hergen

“This fellow could be referring to a toupee.” –Rob Baker, on Facebook

“I’m wondering if Hi completely ignoring Dot and literally directing the answer to her question toward her brother, without so much as an acknowledgement that she said anything or exists, is intended as cautionary example training in case they ever go to a car dealership together.” –Violet

“You killed my husband! And this time I’m sure this is the right house!” –Retraux_Rocket, on Twitter

“Steven … You DID sign up for this. Do I have to show you the paperwork again?” –Peanut Gallery

“How sweet! Hägär’s men brought him and his pneumonic plague droplets home. No need to force Helga onto the funeral pyre: in one to six days, they’ll all be dead!” –pastordan

Remember: If you want an ad-free version of this site sent to you every day via email, for $3 a month you can become a Comics Curmudgeon newsletter subscriber! And if you never want to see banner ads on this site, and want to get cool comment-editing features to boot, for the same low price you can become a Comics Curmudgeon website subscriber! And if you just want to give me money directly, you can put some scratch in my tip jar, or back me on Patreon! Thanks to all for your support and readership!

Post Content

You want your top comment of the week? You got it.

“Once you go Weston, you’ll never be restin’!” –MKay

You want your runners up? You got that too!

“The first panel establishes the grim, moody atmosphere! Without that, you’d think this strip was just innocent family fun.” –Peanut Gallery

“There hasn’t been much cause to talk about generous windfalls being handed out in Rex Morgan since the Wilson days, as Beatty has been more concerned with keeping his characters modestly fed and taking care to make sure nothing interesting happens. But what’s this? Free lodging granted in perpetuity by a thoughtless motel manager? A standing offer of free meals from a diner owner after a spite-driven tryst? More convenient access to sugar daddy Buck Wise? Truck’s not just the most boring traveling musician in history; he’s a mooching conman that’s been playing the long game! It’s not quite the same as, ‘Here, Rex Morgan, have $10,000 for existing,’ but it’ll do! (Can diabetics be sugar daddies? Will need to think on this.)” –jroggs

“Mary Worth and the Condo of Dr. Moron is my least favorite of the old pulp strips.” –Dunkelcopter

“Rex Morgan … the M.D. stands for ‘musicians dining.’” –Where’s Rocky?

“But I’m hopeful for the future. I piped the bus exhaust back into the cabin, we should be able to start again with a clean slate in about half an hour. Oxygen mask?” –pastordan

“Pluggers block you by going to a thrift store, buying an old phone, and leaving it lying around. You’d never guess that pluggers are basically low-grade conceptual artists.” –Spunky The Wonder Squid

“I think one of the important differences between the two panels is that the second one acknowledges that it is illogical for a family of anthropomorphic termites to use pencils. They’d just eat them, right? I mean, if our pens were just Slim Jims with ink in the center, my teeth would be permanently stained blue.” –pugfuggly

“The question of the termites’ size becomes even more perplexing when you notice the tiny salt and pepper shakers on the table. Has sentience imbued them with the desire to season their habitual diet? If they have not gained humanoid proportions, how did they come to not only harvest peppercorns from vines many times their size, but grind them into a powder fine enough to digest? The mind boggles, at least until the ADHD medication kicks in.” –TheDiva

“I assume a beast-man is in the panel, it’s just that pluggers block callers by having massive coronaries and giving in to the sweet release of death. THAT is how a plugger avoids talking to someone. Every time you hear a landline dial tone, a plugger gets their wings.” –Mike Ainsworth

“Grinding out puns like that takes an heroic effort.” –Shrug

“Having failed to gain traction with its Boomers v Millennials concept, Dustin will now pivot to full-time Philadelphia pandering. Next week, Dustin buys a cheesesteak at a Wawa from Gritty.” –Schroduck

“Wait — the Smifs can properly pronounce words with ‘th’ sounds now? I get that hillbillyifying seemingly every word is tedious, but that doesn’t mean you can shirk your duty to no one in particular.” –Irrischana

“We haven’t found any comfy furniture at Dekko’s place yet, Tracy. Are we done yet? We have to leave this place before our legs get tired.” –made of wince

“Rather than telling Beetle that Otto can impersonate him, Sarge played the long game and waited for Beetle to ask if Otto can do any tricks. Sure, it took several years and countless hints, but damn, it was worth the wait.” –Weaselboy

“My guess is Wilbur is stalking Estelle and Estelle is going insane. Hilarity (and hopefully violence) will ensue when they seek help for their respective problems and turn up at the same therapist’s office at the same time.” –erdmann

“Do they live near a nuclear plant? That squirrel is MASSIVE. If I were Dot and Dashes, or whatever their names are, I’d get the hell out of there before the helicopter-sized vultures arrive and decide they want something with a little more meat on its bones.” –Old School Allie Cat

“It isn’t so much that Wilson yells at his old Texas Instruments pocket calculator, which he identifies as a ‘robot,’ that has Martha concerned. After all, who doesn’t get frustrated with modern technology. The fact that he thinks it, and apparently other electro-mechanical devices lying around the house, talks back to him worries her.” –Hibbleton

Remember: If you want an ad-free version of this site sent to you every day via email, for $3 a month you can become a Comics Curmudgeon newsletter subscriber! And if you never want to see banner ads on this site, and want to get cool comment-editing features to boot, for the same low price you can become a Comics Curmudgeon website subscriber! And if you just want to give me money directly, you can put some scratch in my tip jar, or back me on Patreon! Thanks to all for your support and readership!