Comment of the Week

Maybe it's just that the standards of menace have been so raised by the likes of Calvin and Hobbes or Bart Simpson but I can't remember ever seeing Dennis engage in behavior that would make him a poor children's party guest. He wears a tiny suit to church for goodness sake! He's really just a menace because the strip is called Dennis the Menace but who told the inhabitants of the strip that? Who is going around badmouthing this precocious kid who at worst doesn't always live up to 1950s standards of etiquette? I ask but we all already know it's Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wilson is making the neighbor kid a social pariah out of a sort of misplaced dissatisfaction and inadequacy that his pension wasn't enough to settle him in a gated community with no children.

BananaSam

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Mary Worth, 7/26/13

Sorry I haven’t been keeping you up to date with Mary Worth Brings The Healing, but … it’s been mostly like this? Mary wants to be remembered well after her death, like her husband, who I’m reasonably sure hasn’t gotten more than a sentence or two’s worth of attention in this strip for more than ten years.

Apartment 3-G, 7/26/13

“So you resisted all treatment from medical professionals for your debilitating mental illness and then … things got better? That’s a scenario that plays out all the time, right?” Man, sometimes Lu Ann really works to make sure we all remember she’s the “dumb one” in this strip.

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Dennis the Menace, 7/25/13

The dark heart of Margaret and Dennis’s relationship is this: despite her prissy condemnation of his antics, Margaret genuinely wants Dennis to be her friend (and, in an inchoate prepubescent way, probably something more); on the other hand, Dennis is a creature without subtlety or inner life, and his open contempt for Margaret is exactly what it looks like, without any nuance or subtext. Of course, when Dennis needs her smarts, he’s glad to invite her over and pretend, for as brief a time as possible, that they’re pals. This is emotional menacing. This is the hardcore stuff.

Momma, 7/25/13

The “parliamentary procedure” gag here may be a little obscure, but longtime Momma trufans like us know that the whole Hobbes family has a weird fascination with prime ministers and the Westminster system of parliamentary government. A weird, sexual fascination. These are the opening moments of a twisted incestuous orgy, is what I’m saying. YOU’RE WELCOME FOR THE INSIGHT, EVERYBODY.

Mark Trail, 7/25/13

Whoops, looks like Mark isn’t just a cool meat fan! No, he went into that meat cooler looking to take pictures of … something, something glowing, something magical, like the contents of the mysterious briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Take all the pictures you want, Mark! They’re not going to do you any good! This evil bad guy is going to imprison the heck out of you, with the glowing thing!

Slylock Fox, 7/25/13

There’s four balloons, and they’re all off-white! There’s one party guest, and he has to stay outside! Welcome to the saddest birthday party ever!

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Spider-Man, 7/24/13

Good news, Spider-Man! These cheery American tourists have decided that they’re going to protect you from the heavily armed soldiers of some thuggish Latin American dictatorship! This act of solidarity should last right up until the guys with guns actually board the plane, at which point everyone will sit silently and/or pee themselves in terror. The only sound will come from this kid, who will narc out Spidey immediately, and will presumably be awarded the Order of the Eternal Costa Verdan Revolution by the country’s Supreme Generalissimo for his trouble in a ceremony attended by thousands of bussed in spectators.

Mark Trail, 7/24/13

Oh man, I am super looking forward to the explanation of why Mark wandered into this fake hunting camp’s free-standing meat cooler. “Oh, hello, fellows! I was just spending some quality time here in the meat cooler! The only thing I enjoy more than meat is meat that’s been properly cooled!”