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Dick Tracy, 12/2/09

So it turns out that one of my earlier assumptions — that Dick’s reference to “long hair stuff” meant that he and his wife would be attending one of those subversive rock and roll shows, put on by some damn hippie band — was off by several centuries. It turns out, intriguingly enough, that up until the 1960s “long-hair music” denoted classical music. You can find the etymology here, but the gist is that 19th century artists and intellectuals (the damn hippies of their day, like this shaggy-haired punk here) tended to wear their hair long; by the 20th century, the term came to denote intellectuals generally, most of whom by now had gotten respectable haircuts, and by the 1930s it was being used by jazz musicians and journalists to refer to classical musicians, who apparently appealed to a more high-falutin’ educated audience.

Obviously this whole association between classical music and long hair in American vernacular English was abruptly and definitively ended by the advent of the aforementioned long-haired hippies and their rock and roll music. Thus, Dick’s persistent use of it is revealing. Like all right-thinking American law enforcement officials, he hates hippies with every particle of his being; in his fight against what they and their dope-smoking have done to this nation’s moral fiber, he simply refuses to even acknowledge their existence, and will speak as if the 1960s never happened and everyone associates long hair with tempestuous 19th century German artists.

Almost as interesting as all this social etymology is how depressed Dick looks in panel two. “Am I ready for long-hair music?” he asks himself, as if this was the last stage in a man’s life before death. “Normally the only music I listen to is made up of perps begging for mercy as their bones are shattered. Has it really come to this?”

Mary Worth, 12/2/09

AAAUUUGGGGGHHHH WILBUR CLOSE-UP TOO CLOSE ABORT ABORT ABORT

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Rex Morgan, M.D., 12/1/09

What must it be like to be part of a couple in which both you and your spouse work in the demanding but rewarding medical field, with human lives literally in your hands, day after day? Since I’m a terrible person, I assume it mostly involves petty score-keeping. “Oh ho, Peter, it looks like you managed to kill someone — again — while I nobly went above and beyond the call of duty and found one of my missing patients just before she developed deadly pneumonia. Advantage: Becka!”

Family Circus, 12/1/09

I’m going to skip over Dolly’s chilling views on mother-daughter relationships (“I can’t believe she’s wasting her time talking to that old bag! When I grow up, I’m not even going to tell Mommy where I live!”) and focus on little Jeffy, wearin’ his best penny loafers and just stone cold maxin’ and relaxin’ in that doorway. I love the way he’s holding that book in his lap like a little table. Obviously he has some dim idea that education might be his ticket out of the Keane Kompound, but since literacy will be forever beyond his capabilities, he just grabbed a thin little brown volume (the Reader’s Digest abridged version of Leviticus, probably) from whatever shelf he could reach and carries it around the house with him, hoping it will help, somehow.

Mary Worth, 12/1/09

Mary’s expression of palpable and inappropriate relief may indicate that even a master meddler has her limits; even she doesn’t have the spiritual strength to deal with the emotional problems of a sad sack like Wilbur. “She’ll only be gone a few months, but who will wipe all this dirt off my face? I’m far too sad without her to deal with basic hygiene! Will you do it Mary? I think there are some towels over by the side of the pool.”

Dennis the Menace, 12/1/09

“An’ that’s why we’re buryin’ this snitch in a shallow grave.”

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Hey kids, here’s your abbreviated COTW list! (Not including the awesomely long Thanksgiving weekend post, alas.) First, the week’s top comic:

“‘You were under a lot of stress at the circus … How about a nice relaxing concert’ sounds like the opening lines from a badly-dubbed Czechoslovakian porno.” –Patrick

And the runners up! Very funny!

“In an inspired crossover from Sunday’s MT, Ruby accessorizes with kelp.” –Écureuil Écumant

“After all he’s been through, shouldn’t Scott be a little more … withered? Instead, he has soft, rounded arms, and rosy, fleshy thighs; he’d be in perfect health if he were a 19-year-old girl.” –bourbon babe, unbuckled

“I’m not a big fan of piercings, but on Cue, they seem to work. At least they look no worse to me than Ruby’s hair ribbons, the poachers’ long sideburns, and Adrian’s alleged ‘hands.'” –Poteet

“Let’s give Rusty a big hand! Seriously, anything would be less disturbing than that tiny prosthesis he is currently sporting.” –Victor Von

On the possibility of a marijuana-themed Cue-featuring t-shirt: “Anything mentioning weed reduces the number of folks who can buy it. It’s far more socially acceptable to wear incomprehensibly weird t-shirts than those promoting drugs. Sort of like how smoking weed is less acceptable than choking and punching someone because they don’t know where your mother is.” –Aviatrix

“Brad took one off-screen panel to turn a bowl of potatoes into a glass of wine. I’d respect him more for this if he hadn’t apparently also broken down the table into atomic energy to fuel this conversion process. Where will they eat now, Brad? Where will they eat now?” –Dragon of Life

“Sure, it looks like Bob may have gotten off easy, but as the ominous foregrounds in panels 2 and 3 show, the animals have not forgotten. They know the truth, and they’ll be waiting. Wildlife control, Bob? I think we’ll see who controls whom here.” –Joe Blevins

“The smallest species of squid will barely cover a dime, while the giant squid will stick you with a bar tab for eight. Squid are fucking cheapskates.” –Uncle Lumpy

DT: “‘Impaled by a trombone slide’. I’m calling it right now.” –One-eyed Wolfdog

“Got to appreciate Rod Whigham and the class he’s brought to the Gil Thorp artwork. Many’s the time I’ve wondered what All the Right Moves would look like if Tom Cruise’s face began melting.” –Edgy DC

“I believe that the poster is of Spook himself, having been forced into prostitution as part of his entrapment. It was meant to be punishment, but he seems to take a lot of pride in his erotic accomplishments.” –dondie

“I’m sorry, but that is not Toby. Look how little she is next to her Dr. Ian! No, Toby’s off doing girl stuff, leaving Dr. Ian to attend the party with a special made 3/4-scale blow-up Toby.” –Matt Algren

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