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Rex Morgan, M.D., 12/3/06

I see that Rex Morgan has broken down and introduced its first black character since January. Of course, he’s a drug dealer. I like the fact that, even in the midst of a causal business-related discussion with one of his employees, he’s flashing a gang sign — because he’s that hardcore about being a gangsta. Even though we can’t see his hands in the final panel, I’d like to belive that he’s maintaining that gang sign as his lab goes up in flames. Because he’s that hardcore.

Meanwhile, June’s hit the nicey-nice trough of her emotional roller-coaster ride. As a result, Niki’s starting to warm up to her, but since her reflexes aren’t so hair-trigger at this point in her cycle of psychosis, he should really be using this opportunity to flee. That’s what Rex does.

Family Circus, 12/3/06

A commentor with some kind of inside track on the funnies posted a link to this earlier this week, but I still wasn’t emotionally prepared to see Billy’s monstrous peyote-fueled nightmare in living color in the paper. I think I’m most disturbed by Daddy: everyone else at least gets a human head on an animal body, but the horrifying combination of the man’s face with the prehensile trunk and huge, drooping ears nearly sent me over the edge. I do kind of feel bad for PJ, who has to be a feeble, hapless infant even in this twisted Dr. Moreau-esque hellscape.

Spider-Man, 12/3/06

You know, MJ and Doc Ock’s semantic “web-crawler” vs. “wall-crawler” vs. “web-spinner” debate is the most exciting conflict this strip has seen in, well, ever. If the city is going to be held at bay for the next six weeks by further argument along this line, I for one am willing to accept that.

Mark Trail, 12/3/06

You know, I … I had always assumed that pirates were the pirates of the sea. Call me crazy.

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As this Thanksgiving holiday weekend draws to a close, I really am grateful for a lot of things in the comics pages. For instance, I have to give thanks to Rex Morgan, M.D., for producing this panel:

And to Judge Parker, for this lovely image:

And to Sunday’s Mark Trail, which featured a conversation taking place between a nut-nibbling squirrel and a leaf, while an eight-year-old adds his own commentary, featuring the word “Etc.”:

And, now some full-length comics thanks.

Mark Trail, 11/24/06

Is there anything sexier than a heavily armed and emasculating Kelly Welly? Mark has the vaguely amused and/or smug expression of a man who’s no longer engaged in the little drama going on before him, but appreciates good work when he sees it. By the way, Ella isn’t the only one in the funnies with psychic powers: Mark was so sure that this adventure would be resolved on the 24th, he had the date stitched just above his left breast pocket.

Apartment 3-G, 11/25/06

Man, I guess this goes to show why I wasn’t much of a player back in my single days. Because apparently worming your way into other people’s Thanksgiving dinner by acting mopey rates makes you “Mr. Smooth,” whereas I would have thought it made you “pathetic.”

You can insert your own “stuffing the turkey” and/or “gobble gobble” jokes here.

I earlier touched upon the fact that everyone in this little scenario seems to mysteriously have no family to share Thanksgiving with, but it occurred to me today that Margo in fact lives in the same city as Gabriella, her comical immigrant mother. Presumably as a foreigner she’s unfamiliar with the concept, and nobody’s told her about it in the decades she’s lived in the United States so that they don’t have to invite her to dinner.

Spider-Man, 11/26/06

And finally, we should all give thanks to Peter Parker today, who spent his Sunday thoughtfully narrating the entire current Spider-Man scenario in his head in great detail for those of us who were having trouble keeping up. If only the type in the word balloons had been a little bigger, we might have been able to eliminate the superfluous pictures entirely.

I spent part of this weekend with my mom’s side of the family for our traditional Christmas at Thanksgiving celebration, and one of my little cousins squealed with glee at receiving a set of Spider-Man action figures. Since my main contact with this franchise is through the newspaper strip, I was surprised that that Spidey didn’t come with a couch and television set as accessories, or feature extra whining powers.

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Spider-Man, 11/16/06

You know, you might think that Dr. Octopus has his priorities all in the wrong order here. But when you realize that a good third of Spider-Man strips involve someone yelling at the television set, you can imagine what a hard time he’d have without one.

Apartment 3-G, 11/16/06

OH, SNAP GINA! That is totally not going to get you into Tommie’s pants. Her white, white pants. Jesus, someone teach these people how to dress.