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Comment of the Week

These are hate handles, so I'd better draw them in a way I'm sure the audience will hate.

—pachoo
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Pluggers has fallen

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Rex Morgan, M.D., 9/23/25

Last we saw of Truck and Cody, they had agreed to treat each other as honorary father and son and it was all very heartwarming. But here we are several days into Truck and Wanda’s wedding storyline and no sign of Cody! You know who did snag a coveted invite to this shindig, though, is Shorty and the Beanpole. Thank God Truck took my advice and didn’t have them perform, but still. Can you imagine what a dork-ass middle school these two twerps go to where they’re earning “so many points” by spending an evening with a bunch of adult roots country Americana Ameripolitan superfans?

Garfield, 9/23/25

I guess I just have to accept that “Garfield watches a vaguely animal-themed TV channel” is just part of the reality of the Garfiverse now, but I don’t have to like it. What kind of cruel management runs this network? They know he’s a cat, he put that right in his entry, so why are they giving him things cats hate? Are they anti-cat? Is this why they were showing pro-dog content the last time he was watching? Garfield, have some self-respect in your media consumption habits!

Pluggers, 9/23/25

“Pluggers are vain about their appearance and that drives them to buy a variety of personal grooming products.” Come on now. Are you even listening to yourself. You should be embarrassed by this. Embarrassed.

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Up up and away

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Mary Worth, 9/22/25

As promised/threatened, Mary has taken Olive to the Santa Royale Hot Air Balloon Festival! You know, hot air ballooning, the classic California Central Coast activity we all know and love. You’d think Stanley would be a trustworthy and experienced balloonivator (?), based on his old-timey turtleneck/suspenders combo, but he’s too set in his ways to handle Santa Royale’s increasingly erratic weather patterns, and is forgetting the old balloonivation adage: “Pink skies at night, balloonivator’s delight; pink skies at morning, balloonivator take warning.” I actually don’t know what time of day it’s supposed to be but feel free to swap those around to get the correct answer, which is that we are clearly about to see a tragic balloon accident that Olive’s powers, attuned as they are to New York City-specific dangers like air conditioning units falling from the sky, were simply unable to predict.

Dick Tracy, 9/22/25

Sorry I haven’t really covered the Dick Tracy plotline about the two lesbian scientists using their ray gun to kill various dubious men (cartoonish loan sharks, sexually predatory venture capitalists) who stand in their way, and probably some nice guys too. Still, today’s strip is important, in that we get to see some masterful and highly technical investigative work in action. “Hmm, this woman who seems to be at the center of our investigation … what if I looked her up … in the newspaper … on the computer?” Once Dick finds out that you can use the website “google dot com” to look up someone’s name on all publications simultaneously, it will truly be curtains for the villains of Neo-Chicago!

Crankshaft, 9/22/25

Crankshaft experiencing shame? No, I don’t accept or believe this. Crankshaft looking in the mirror and feeling the dull blade of despair? Yes, now we’re talking.

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Odd jobs

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Blondie, 9/21/25

Comics Time is a damn complicated thing. Dagwood and Blondie are both relatively young parents of teenagers, which caused some of you to push back on my contention last week that “Blondie in the year 2025 is your go-to for the pettiest boomer gripes about everyday suburban life imaginable,” given that, going by age alone, the Bumsteads are, like the Lockhorns, Millennials. The thing is, though, that their every word and deed proves that they are not Millennials, but rather exude powerful boomer energy and just happen to be drawn as if they’re 40. If you need more evidence of that, take today’s strip, in which, based on the way Dagwood is holding his phone, I assume he has its speaker set at maximum volume and he’s forcing all these other people at the airport to listen to the conversation he’s having with his boss about yet another nephew who’s stealing his whole bit.

Crock, 9/21/25

Imagine a crazed terrorist bomber running straight for you and yelling “It’s kibosh time!” This may be the first time I’ve ever laughed at something in Crock that I’m reasonably sure is supposed to be funny. It’s not the punchline, of course, but baby steps I guess.

Dennis the Menace, 9/21/25

“Working from home? That sure would be a hassle if your kid was notorious menace Dennis Mitchell. You’d probably prefer not to do it.” –The Dennis the Menace creative team a full five and a half years after the COVID lockdowns led to an unprecedented explosion in remote work, apparently