Post Content

Spider-Man, 1/29/16

Ah ha! I knew Dr. Liz Bellman’s introduction was meant to imply that there was something significant about her identity. Seems she’s the granddaughter of Betty Dean, who, according to Comic Vine, “played a large role in convincing Namor to aid America and the Allied Forces in the fight against Nazi Germany,” so I guess she only convinced him that some of surface men were not his people’s enemies, ha ha! Comic Vine goes on to say that “Betty would eventually be reunited with Namor and the two would engage in a romantic relationship,” and that her “powers” include “Attractive Female”, which, come on, Comic Vine. ANYWAY, I guess Namor’s Surface-Dweller Fever will probably save humanity again, or at least give Spidey enough time to regain his strength and run away.

Gil Thorp, 1/29/16

Speaking of soap opera plots I don’t care much about, over in Gil Thorp the basketball season plot is about Kenzie Hanley, a very tall and strong elite rugby player whose athleticism has earned her a spot on the basketball team but mostly as a hulking enforcer, as her actual basketball skills are lacking, demonstrated by an egregious airball from the foul line earlier this week. I’ve been so bored by this that I don’t even have any strips posted to demonstrate the fact that up until two days ago, Kenzie was white! But never mind this colorist mixup, because we’ve at last arrived at what I hope will be the hilarious heart of this storyline: Kenzie switching to Rick Berry-style underhand free throws. Will this start a craze of underhand free throws, with the usual gang of Mudlark idiots working to outdo each other in how awkward they look? We can only hope!

Family Circus, 1/29/16

Ha ha, how much do I love Jeffy’s facial expression here? It’s like he’s finally figured out that he’s not the dumb one.

Pluggers, 1/29/16

Pluggers peaked in high school and are 100% OK with that.

Post Content

Hi and Lois, 1/28/16

“Why can’t we ever have a sleepover?” Trixie thinks. “Why can’t the sun remain forever in the sky, quickly warming our side of the globe beyond the ability of any life to survive, until the seas boil and the air burns away, while the other hemisphere is locked into eternal, icy night?” Fortunately, she isn’t one of those babies who have God-like powers to control time and space with her mind. She can just form adult sentences and concepts but can’t verbalize or act on them, so we really dodged a bullet here.

Judge Parker, 1/28/16

You know, I poke a lot of fun at the Spence-Drivers for their vast wealth and privilege, but let it never be said that they don’t deal with hardships! For instance, Abby spends so much time on her vast, lucrative farm that she’s no longer physically capable of smelling horse shit. Give Sam a few months in his new home office and his nose will be similarly damaged!

Marvin, 1/28/16

Meanwhile, Marvin’s friends, in defiance of all medical logic, are still fully able to experience the toxic miasma that surrounds him at all times. Today, though, the cold weather has caused whatever foul brew is in his diapers to freeze solid. This seems like it would be bad for him, health-wise, so it’s a good thing I don’t care about his well-being.

Rex Morgan, M.D., 1/28/16

“So you see, honey, I get to decide who lives and who dies and I have an excuse to ignore you while we eat. It’s what grownups call a ‘win-win.'”

Post Content

Rex Morgan, M.D., 1/27/16

June and Heather have spent the past several days discussing the fact that Heather loves June’s new baby and wants to have a baby but is married to a man vanishing into Alzheimer’s and thus will never have a baby and is very sad about it. But remember, Heather isn’t just a sad Scottish ex-nanny with a senile husband; she’s also a criminal conspirator who has masterminded schemes of corporate skullduggery not once but twice. She is going to feel zero moral qualms about kidnapping that baby the moment June leaves the room, is what I’m saying.

Momma, 1/27/16

This is a joke about … STDs, maybe? “Bad colds” being code for “herpes”? That’s the joke? Or maybe the joke is “Francis thinks it’s OK to say ‘My new girlfriend is always kissing me! Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!’ to his mother, which isn’t a ‘joke’ so much as a ‘nightmare from which we will never wake.'”

Dennis the Menace, 1/27/16

There are few things more unsettlingly menacing than spending hours each night poring over old Calvin and Hobbes strips and then passing off the behavior you’re carefully mimicking as “naturally weird.”

Hi and Lois, 1/27/16

See, you thought the joke of this cartoon was going to be that these little kids unthinkingly reminded the old man that he would be dead soon, but in fact the joke is that they’ve reminded him of the many terrible, terrible things he’s seen and done. It’s nice when a long-standing feature like Hi and Lois can keep you guessing!