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Family Circus, 3/29/16

I’m usually pretty meh on the art in the Family Circus. Still, the trailing shoelace in today’s panel is a nice idea, despite the fact that those shoes look to be loafers and the lace is sort of emerging out of nowhere. It gives a nice air of childhood whimsy and innocence to the drawing; it also gives hardcore Billy haters like myself hope that he’s soon going to trip and break a tooth, or, even better, his watch.

Crankshaft, 3/29/16

Tom Batiuk famously writes Funky Winkerbean almost a year in advance, which I assume is also true for Crankshaft. So it’s actually just a total coincidence that this storyline is running the same week a guy in North Carolina was stopped because he had a broken taillight and then literally handcuffed and taken to jail for not returning Freddy Got Fingered to his local video store in 2002. (The local video store, I think it goes without saying, closed down years ago.) Anyway, if we live in an absurd world where decades-old civil judgements for very small amounts of money can lead to actual arrest, maybe you should be careful, Lillian! The cops in the North Carolina case were nice enough to let the guy drop his daughter off at school first, but they didn’t have to! Probably they could just drag Lillian off to jail and leave the twins in the car, miles from anywhere. (Is Lillian even supposed to be driving these kids around?)

Mary Worth, 3/29/16

Looks like Dawn’s starting to make a bolder personal effort at school! Step one: just don’t do things you don’t want to do! If she were being a little bolder, she just would’ve said “Nahh, not my scene. Later, blondie!” But this is definitely an improvement over signing up and pretending to enjoy it.

Funky Winkerbean, 3/29/16

“…what if I looked him up … on the Internet? And so I did. He’s got a Wikipedia page. Turns out he’s dead! Cool story, huh?”

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(Brief correction: Guys, due to a cut-and-paste error, this week’s Comment of the Week was inaccurately attributed! It is actually from Steve S. Now fixed!)

Marvin, 3/28/16

The daily comics are a medium that rewards complacency, which is why I find Marvin’s commitment to innovation impressive. The strip could’ve rested on its laurels as “that awful thing where a baby smugly pees and poops all the time,” but no: they introduced sapient dog characters who can communicate with the baby characters, and the dogs’ peeing and pooping are also a source of laughs. But the creative team did not stop there! No, today we see the dawn of a new chapter in Marvin: a chapter in which the very bodily organs responsible for the elimination of waste now have minds of their own and speak and interact with others. Can’t wait to see what pithy witticisms Marvin’s G.I. tract has in store for us!

Judge Parker, 3/28/16

Hey, were you worried that Neddy was going to actually suffer consequences of some sort for her terrible, reckless driving. Well, don’t worry, these Chubbs (actual name) are clearly scam artists, determined to soak the local trillionaires, dressing up in comically outdated medical dressing that they probably borrowed from the local amateur theater company or something. Look, even their fat little dog has some on! This is just yet another example of the put-upon rich being abused in this country, and I for one will cheer when Sam sues them back to the stone age.

Dick Tracy, 3/28/16

“Welp, another adventure done. Looks like it’s all over but the shouting!” [in the background, as Dick and his friends smile at each other smugly: literal shouting from the dozens of people who have been horribly injured in this huge explosion]

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Mary Worth, 3/27/16

You know, if you want proof that Mary’s reputation as a fixer of lives isn’t quite deserved, check out Dawn Weston. She’s been living in Charterstone under Mary’s watchful gaze since childhood, and still she’s as sad and pathetic as ever! But soon she’s going to be the coolest kid at her local junior college: remember, every great tale of social climbing begins with a unappreciated teen violently clinking coffee mugs with an old woman. Let the aggressive friendship-establishment montage … commence!

Judge Parker, 3/27/16

How often has this happened to you? You think your country music star husband has run off with his secretary … but nope, he’s just flown to Los Angeles to buy some solid gold cookware, probably as a gift for the Sultan of Brunei or something. Ha ha, what a kooky misunderstanding! Thank goodness the crack Judge Parker investigative team was on the case to figure this stuff out before things got out of control! And all they had to do to figure it out was abuse their wealth and privilege and use the power of the state for their private interests.

Oh, and, hey, remember that lady that Neddy sideswiped with her monstrously large RV without noticing? Well, she’s not a sexy lady like Neddy at all, but is instead a heavyset woman literally named “Mrs. Chubb,” so probably the whole thing was her fault and she’ll be writing the Spencer-Drivers a check soon enough.