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Spider-Man, 8/11/17

Oh, man, looks like we’re about to learn what the most powerful force in the Newspaper Spideyverse is. It’s definitely not various relative attributes of a spider, that’s for sure! Nope, it’s love, which has transformed our Plutonian tyrant into a sweet suitor for a kindly widow. The question is: will it do the same for his successor? Sadly, no! An tyrant with a healthy relationship with his bride would talk through their differences, and see if there’s a way for them reconcile her sentimental affection for weddings with his need to ruthlessly smash every aspect of the former regime to cement his power. Crossing your fingers is for nine-year-olds, dude, not eternal undead Roman emperors who are [checks wikipedia] probably around 1560 years old but nobody’s sure because our sources for the Latin west in the late 5th century are pretty spotty!

Hagar the Horrible, 8/11/17

Oh, this is a nice touch: today would’ve been Hagar the Horrible creator Dik Brown’s 100th birthday, so his son, current artist Chris Brown, has put a portrait of him on the wall of Hagar’s hut! (Here’s a pretty great picture of him.) Unfortunately, the colorist doesn’t really seem to have a handle on what’s going on with Dik’s beard, so he looks like he’s covered in gravy.

Mark Trail, 8/11/17

Uh, guys? I know we’re all doing a lot of posturing about who guessed who’s identity and everything, but, uh, have you considered not standing out there in the freezing rain? Your skin is an unhealthy shade of blue. Maybe seek some shelter, see if you can light a fire … guys? Guys?

Mary Worth, 8/11/17

Sheesh indeed, Jared! It’s like you can pull out as much charm as you want with a girl and she still thinks it’s OK to make eye contact with other men???? I personally blame feminism for this!

Family Circus, 8/11/17

Oh no, who let Billy know about the devil’s metric system

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Spider-Man, 8/7/17

Ahem, anyone who’s even given a cursory look over the Griffith Observatory’s website would know that “The Observatory does not permit rentals at any time for personal or seasonal events (such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, bar mitzvahs, and holiday parties).” There is a potential loophole, though: you can rent the observatory for an event that furthers “the goals of civic responsibility; promotion of science and astronomy; collaboration on issues in which the Observatory has a functional relationship, such as education; or celebration of Griffith Park, its donor, or the facility itself.” Surely it would advance the cause of science if Mole Man were to give a lecture to assembled surface dwellers on the strange world beneath the Earth’s surface, which we know even less about than we do the other planets in our solar system. And if someone wanted to get married at the end of his talk … well, who could possibly object? You’d have to be a cruel bully like Rebel Without A Cause’s “Buzz” Gunderson to raise a fuss!

Funky Winkerbean, 8/7/17

The point of this is that this caricaturist is going to be yet another Famous Person From The Elaborate Backstory Of Starbuck Jones Who’s Down On His Luck For Some Reason, which I’ll have lots of time to complain about later, but I do want to point out that this lady is basically saying “I hired someone to perform labor, but now I’m mad because I could’ve made one of our guests do the thing he gets paid to do, but for free!”

Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/7/17

Ah ha ha, she’s really going to do it, isn’t she? Dump her kid at the Morgans’ while she heads out to score some pills or possibly die? This is going to be delicious.

Mary Worth, 8/7/17

“LIKE IF YOU WANT TO FUCK OR SOMETHING! I WILL DEFINITELY COME TO YOUR WEIRD APARTMENT IN AN OUTDATED CONDO COMPLEX AND DO SEX TO YOU ON THE TWIN BED IN YOUR CHILDHOOD BEDROOM WHILE YOUR DAD IS OUT OF TOWN! I’LL BE THERE … FOR SEX! YOU SHOULDN’T HANG OUT WITH DR. NED, HE’S A REAL CREEP, BY THE WAY. NOT LIKE ME, I’M NICE!”

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Spider-Man, 8/6/17

Tyrannus is an ageless immortal deposed Roman emperor born in the 5th century A.D., but I’m not sure what aesthetic he and Kala are going for here. Especially Kala, honestly. Tyrannus looks like he’s doing something barely a step above “generic off-brand superhero costume from Party City,” which is fine, but Kala is … a giant bee? A fake “Latin” nightclub act from the 1930s, performed by a white lady from the midwest? A fake “Latin” nightclub act from the 1930s, performed by a white lady from the midwest, and the nightclub act is bee-themed? At any rate, I fully endorse Newspaper Spider-Man continuing its trend of spending all its energy on the domestic lives of its super-powered characters.

Panel from Slylock Fox, 8/6/17

In their native riparian habitat, the Beavers are master architects, building secure lodges to live in and elaborate water-control structures to create an environment that suits them. But post-animalpocalypse, the new ruling class has dictated that all newly sapient beasts must move to the human cities and imitate their near-extinct predecessors’ lifestyle. Completely out of their element, the Beavers are reduced to smearing layers of hideous green paint uniformly over the walls of their newly assigned apartment. You can tell from the expressions on their faces how unhappy they are.