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Pluggers, 12/11/10

One of the running jokes with which I routinely irritate my friends and family comes up every time anyone discusses their plans for their mortal remains after their death. I always claim that I intend to have my corpse taxidermied and arranged in a heroic pose — possibly holding a sword, definitely naked — and that whoever wants to inherit my vast fortune will be required to place me somewhere prominent in their home. Now, this is all good fun (or at least it will be until my will is unsealed), but it did make my mind go someplace particularly grim upon seeing a typical Pluggers man-animal in a storefront taxidermist. At least pluggers don’t simply feast on the rotting flesh of their dead fellows, as the bird-inhabitants of their sister strip Shoe do. I for one would like to see a “plugger cemetery” (glassed-in display case) if only in the hopes that the taxidermist’s art provides the various schlubby, ill-dressed dead pluggers with a modicum of dignity and dynamism that was wholly lacking from their lives.

Gasoline Alley, 12/11/10

You don’t have to be following the current typically dull Gasoline Alley plot to appreciate today’s strip, in which the loathsome Slim’s mother-in-law does her best to pretend that he simply doesn’t exist.

Gil Thorp, 12/11/10

Oh, also, in Gil Thorp Jamaar died for our sins.

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Your comment of the week in a moment but first, a quick link to me by many reader! Do you enjoy the cheery innocence of Archie but think to yourself, “This would be so much better if it were soul-blightingly depressing?” Well, your dreams are about to come true my friend.

And now! Your week’s top comment!

“Be careful Mr. Brooks — I mean Trey. You don’t want to know where that finger has been. Here’s a hint: Mrs. Bloom’s cat’s anus, piano shopping, Margo. Enjoy your plant!” –Mikey

And your runners up! Very funny!

“If Doc is a vet, shouldn’t he have put Rusty down by now?” –littlestevie

“Jill was wise to turn down Mary’s appetizer-size salmon rounds. When they’re combined with mass quantities of alcohol, projectile vomiting is inevitable.” –Alfred E. Neuman

“Lois does not do a single thing in today’s strip that is inconsistent with initiating a ritualistic mass suicide. My only doubt is whether this is economic collapse suicide or doomsday cult suicide. On the one hand, she is a real estate agent; on the other hand, she’s wearing creepy white vestments and an eerie sense of beatitude.” –Lorne

Barbecue or thinly veiled attempt to thin the brood through pneumonia? That’s for a judge to decide.” –NoahSnark

“For people whose favorite restaurant is the Bum Boat, having a butler at your rehearsal dinner seems like overkill.” –Patrick

“In G.I. Joe, knowing is half the battle. In Crankshaft, it’s just being annoyed with the ‘joke’ in a different way.” –TheDiva

“Is Cherry actually thinking that Mark is off having a romantic rendezvous with a woman? It’s sad that after all these years she still doesn’t know Mark at all.” –Digger

“The only constant in the Gil Thorp universe is Gil’s sullen refusal to give Marty anything remotely interesting for his interviews. But Marty will laugh last, with ‘DRUNK ANNOUNCER MURDERS COACH.'” –Uncle Lumpy

“I think I know why Cherry’s so pissed: No one in the strip ever told her other tops besides button-down shirts actually existed, as she apparently just found out.” –Jason1981

“Dr. Jeff just keeps yakking through the social unpleasantness. Likely a defensive mechanism. His remaining patients probably can’t tell him about their pain and suffering as he talks over them about the curative powers of vitamin D and dips in the condo pool.” –Johnny Knuckles

‘What makes you think Theresa Delgado was in love with me?’ Well, shit, man, just look at how suavely you toy with your Ovaltine. What woman could resist that?” –Chyron HR

“Why, there’s nothing boring about designing buildings! Perhaps one day you can design a building for me, with elevators that have extra-large buttons that I can actually press with my ginormous hand!” –Trilobite

“I’m in love! Jill is the perfect woman for me: drunk with very low expectations from men. Don’t you dare try to change her, Mary Worth!” –Dan

When I first saw an attractive redhead sitting next to a lazy, smug brunette jackass, I thought I was reading Spider-Man. I’m not kidding.” –Zork the Mightly

“Why is Les attempting to give some sort of PowerPoint presentation? It’s a friggin’ book tour! You usually read a part of your book, chat with the audience, sign copies … just like he’s been doing up to this point. What the hell does he need visual aids for? ‘And this is my wife Lisa … before she was STRUCK BY CANCER.’ ‘Here she is, WITH CANCER.’ ‘This is a picture of her grave …’ ‘This is a picture of me dancing on it while caressing all the money I’m getting from suckers like you …’ ‘Here she is as a ghost overseeing my sex life …'” –Rana the Pedantic Wet Blanket

“That bookcase is indeed clearly resting on the step-stool, which means this is probably yet another unbelievably stupid ‘plan’ that someone thought was a better idea than trying to use their words. Granted, I have no idea what the intended outcome is, but that’s never stopped these people before.” –This Guy

Mark Trail does ‘sexy’ like a four-year-old girl holding a tea party does ‘sophisticated.'” –commodorejohn

“I like the way Scott’s facial expression softens considerably in panel two, like he’s thinking ‘Well, she’s right about lies. Maybe we should let her stay.'” –Jaliben

“This would be the best Mary Worth plot ever if they hauled Jill out of the rehearsal dinner, still shouting insanity and bludgeoning people with her ketchup bottle, and then we never hear from her again. From now on when someone mentions Adrian’s wedding in the comic, there needs to be two panels of awkward silence where none of the characters make eye contact with each other, and then they messily change the subject. ‘…SO, you know who else is still crazy? That creepy shop-a-holic hoarder lady. I mean yikes.'” –Tophat

“You’re a Plugger if somebody suggests bowling as a metaphor for sex and you don’t know what a metaphor is.” –Ed Dravecky

“I feel kinda sorry for Jill. Actually I feel sorrier for Adrian; Mary Worth is touching her.” –Sarah

“JILL SMASH PUNY SOCIAL MORES!” –Mr. Goboto

“I like to think that the bouncers were lazy, and just put her right outside. Now, she is just sort of looking in and cursing, and has been for the last 45 minutes.” –lord-z

Big thanks to everyone who put cash in my tip jar! And we must of course give thanks to our advertisers:

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Panel from Mark Trail, 12/10/10

Let’s cap off a hilarious week in Mark Trail with this hilarious panel! Longtime Trail readers know that the idea of Mark having sex with anyone is utterly laughable, but this panel pretty much seems to tease us with the concept of a Mark-Kelly tryst, as Mark tidies himself up and Kelly offers the first T&A cheesecake shot ever to involve a polo shirt and mom jeans. Our first clue that something is amiss is that Mark is combing his hair. Mark’s hair doesn’t require anything like “combing” for maintenance! It’s a single ink-black unit that hugs his head, needing only the occasional regreasing. Clearly we’ve slipped into some sort of parallel universe, or perhaps are seeing only the images in Kelly’s fevered imagination.

Panel from Mary Worth, 12/10/10

And let’s cap off a hilarious week in Mary Worth with this poignant panel, as two strong men attempt to drag Jill out to the back alley and she desperately pushes her face back into the reception hall, trying to get in one last cuss word. You have to admire her stamina, and her determination to save Adrian from herself. “*@^%$#!” she shouts, as if this is the “*@^%$#” that’s going to push Adrian over the edge and get her to realize that marriage really is all a scam. “Yeah, what am I doing, committing my life to this guy,” Adrian thinks. “*@^%$#ing A!”

Apartment 3-G, 12/10/10

Because of Apartment 3-G’s weird fashions, which seem to be representative of no particular era or cultural milieu, it’s hard to get a sense of exactly how old the main characters are supposed to be. Well, here’s your proof: they’re somewhere around 13.