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Wizard of Id, 2/22/10

There’s something I find pleasingly subversive about today’s Wizard of Id, in which a gaggle of peasants treats the supposedly deadly serious business of war as little more than a game, with no real importance. Does the artist intend us to take a Marxist interpretation of this scene, with the implication being that the working classes ought to stick together in solidarity rather than fighting in the wars orchestrated in the interests of their exploiters? Or does the strip merely attempt to paint an accurate picture of its medieval milieu, in which serfs often felt little or no affinity for the clique of specialized warriors who ruled them? Whatever the case, those peasants sure are looking cheery, considering that they’ll almost certainly be enslaved or killed for sport by whoever wins this battle.

Mary Worth, 2/22/10

Sometimes, when poor unlovable Wilbur isn’t in this strip, I forgot how much I love him. Watch him angrily pour something brown and unappetizing out of an oddly shaped bottle! Watch him clumsily grab at his daughter in an attempt to keep her moored in physical reality, and watch her recoil in palpable disgust! Oh Wilbur, this sad little episode will be all over Dawn’s password-protected LiveJournal tonight, but don’t worry, I still love you!

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Momma, 2/15/11

Wow, if you had asked me which nationally syndicated comic strip would be the first to reference recent political upheaval in the Middle East, Momma would not have even made my top ten. Mother Hobbes knows that there’s nothing that scatters a group of revolutionary troublemakers like a good snowfall. She longs for the day when a great cleansing snow comes for all of us, crushing political dissent and calls for freedom under an icy, silent blanket.

Mark Trail, 2/15/11

It appears that Mark has been shot directly in the head, and the bullet has struck with such force that it’s knocked a few hairs out of place. He’s really going to do some serious punching, once he shakes that off.

Family Circus, 2/15/11

Did you look at this comic and not immediately imagine a thought balloon emerging from Mommy Keane’s head that reads “Ahh, yes, my intra-Keane breeding project is proceeding apace!” Then you are a much better person than I, my friend.

Wizard of Id, 2/15/11

If one constructs a sexual partner out of pieces of disinterred corpses and then reanimates it using dark magic or forbidden science, does that count as necrophilia? Discuss.

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Herb and Jamaal, 2/14/11

You guys, sorry these comics are so late in appearing! The Houston Chronicle’s usually convenient comics page was missing about half of its comics for much of the day, and then my evening was dedicated to Valentine’s-related activities. But I’m sure glad I waited, because I was rewarded by the triumphant return of Herb and Jamaal! Yes, this beloved comic was missing for the past … several days? Week? Indeterminate time-unit? I can’t really be bothered to remember. Apparently this absence was a not a result of the Chron’s accounts payable department neglecting to write a check to Creators Syndicate, but rather because the Chron’s upper management was locked in heated negotiations to get this coveted strip back in the paper. Did we miss the moment when Jamaal and Yolanda, who became America’s Sweethearts by default when Seth and Summer were cancelled, finally got together? No, according to this conversation between Yolanda and some mail carrier person whom we’ve never seen before!

Rex Morgan, M.D., 2/14/11

It’s hard to look at Rex’s freakishly oversized mitt in panel one and not imagine that he’s going to follow up “Dex has already had a taste of unbridled spending” with “and now I’m going to give him a taste of my pimp hand!” Sadly, he instead goes on to actually show a shred of empathy with another human being, which is frankly not the sort of thing the Rex Morgan I know goes in for.

Wizard of Id, 2/14/11

Ha ha, the Wiz — who, as one of the king’s chief advisors, is surely well off — is stealing from impoverished peasants, using sinister magic! At least he isn’t just physically assaulting them, for the crime of being poor.

Mary Worth, 2/14/11

Based on Mary’s nervous coquettishness and Wilbur’s frank leer as he closes the door, this scene reads to me as if Mary’s come to learn some perverse sexual technique — one that only Wilbur can teach her, and one that Mary needs to know if she’s to keep Dr. Jeff’s interest in her. Oh, I’m sorry, did I just disgust and repulse you to the extent that you’ll never want to experience sex, or even human affection, again? Well, too bad. Happy Valentine’s Day!