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Funky Winkerbean, 2/24/20

There are some days when I deliberately misconstrue the obviously intended meaning of a comic strip for comedic effect, but then there are others where I just … genuinely … don’t get the joke. Today is one of them! I don’t get the joke in Funky Winkerbean! My only clue is that every joke in Funky Winkerbean is about how we’re all dying, just some of us more quickly than others, so … maybe it’s that the Winkerbeans are too old to drink beer while watching sports anymore so now they’re drinking hot chocolate instead? Feel free to point out how I’m obviously wrong, in the comments, I’m dying to know what’s up here!

Pluggers, 2/24/20

Say what you will about the art in Pluggers, but I think this drawing of the cat-plugger has nicely captured the facial expression of someone on the nonconsensual receiving end of a long, rambling anecdote who has no obvious exit strategy.

Mark Trail, 2/24/20

Speaking of nicely captured facial expressions, Mark is definitely wearing the frozen mask here of someone who expected to get a lot less pushback from his family about the mildly annoying guy that he left to die in the harsh Himalayan foothills. “I don’t know for sure, Cherry,” Mark says, “but he sure posted a lot on Instagram! Isn’t that the real story here?”

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Gil Thorp, 2/21/20

I know I’ve been “letting you down” when it comes to the Gil Thorp updates this basketball season, but I think I’ve built up a lot of trust over the years as the guy who reads the comics so you don’t have to, so please believe me when I say that it’s because the strip has been extremely dull. Alexa Watson is very smart and competitive and has to learn to be moderately more aggressive on the court, and so has been trying to shift her everyday mindset a bit to get her there and that’s been … it? Sports? Sports action? In Gil Thorp, the comic strip about sports? I know, nobody is more disappointed than I am.

Dennis the Menace, 2/21/20

One duty I will never shirk is the fulfillment of my ongoing mission to keep you appraised of Dennis Mitchell’s wild oscillations between menacing and non-menacing, and I don’t think I need to tell you where “extremely excited about the possibility of electronic correspondence” falls on the spectrum.

Pluggers, 2/21/20

Pluggers will grab onto any possible human connection, even if it’s tenuous and accidental, as tightly as possible. All their friends are dying and they’re terribly, terribly lonely!

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Beetle Bailey, 2/7/20

I admit that I’m fascinated with the way that comics use fire hydrants as just a visual signifier for “dogs peeing”. Like, most people know that dogs just pee … pretty much anywhere, right? They like vertical surfaces and like peeing where other dogs have peed, but in a pinch, they’ll just go wherever. Inside the house, or barracks, for instance, if nobody lets them out, despite their clear signals that they want to go outside. Weird the Sarge assumes “horny” or “hungry” but not “has to pee, the thing we all know dogs have to do several times a day.” I do kind of enjoy how big the hydrant is in Otto’s vision, almost filling the frame, as if when a human had to use the bathroom all they could visualize was an enormous toilet floating in an otherwise featureless void.

Pluggers, 2/7/20

Welp, it finally happened: all the “pluggers are old/indulgent grandparents/the salt of the Earth/owners of crappy cars/better than city folks/hate and fear technology” suggestions have finally, finally run out, and all that’s left in the barrel is gibbering nonsense like this. I’m really looking forward to this new direction!