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Gasoline Alley, 4/30/23

I thought perhaps we were going to get the beginning of a heartwarming arc where Joel learns to read late in life (hey, it worked for Crankshaft!) until Rufus actually reads the letter to him, which is so inane as to make someone actively avoid becoming literate if that’s all that’s on offer. Why not spend your day planting trees rather than reading books and letters written on the stuff they make the trees into, you know? It’s Arbor Day all year, my friends.

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 4/30/23

Another data point for the “Where is Hootin’ Holler” question: probably the only part of the U.S. that has both a rich history of hillbilly culture and a fault line capable of producing earthquakes this powerful is the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which puts today’s action squarely in the Ozarks. Apologies to the millions of people from St. Louis to Memphis who don’t live in a region of mandatory seismic retrofits who are about to wake up under a pile of rubble!

Panel from Slylock Fox, 4/30/23

Ha ha, check out the facial expression on that doctor. That is a guy who’s trying to come up with a schedule for the nurses and his least favorite intern to keep 24/7 tabs on Cassandra’s litter box.

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Shoe, 4/29/23

Sure, we make fun of legacy strips where the punchline is “Ha ha, technology, amiright?” a lot, but they do serve a valuable purpose, in that they show us what the artists think young people look like. In the case of the Shoe team, I guess it’s … beatniks? Kids today, playing the bongos and going to poetry readings and always texting on their damn phones?

Dick Tracy and Hi and Lois, 4/29/23

Shout out to these two strips for showing us the whole spectrum of male homosociality, from the horny (“Good lord, I’d like to bang that chick, but failing that I’d like to purchase the product she’s advertising”) to the wholesome (“We’re just whackin’ balls back and forth over the fence! It’s Saturday and the weather’s great, and we’re a little drunk”).

Gil Thorp, 4/29/23

No we didn’t see it because you didn’t draw it, do you not know how comics work

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We are slipping one last comment of the week for April under the wire, folks:

“It’s the icing on the cake! The cake that we’ll have for dessert after we kill and eat this chicken!” –Peanut Gallery

There were a bunch of very funny comments this week and it was difficult to choose just one! Here are the almost-made-its:

“Wilbur really needs this. And I really need it. But most of all, my TikTok account really needs it. C’mon Wilbur, stop swaying so much, I need to keep you in frame…” –pugfuggly

“Now how should I do this? Shall I subtly intervene by greeting Murphy at a loud volume, thereby cutting off the potentially incriminating sentence, and then make an excuse to get him away from that crowd altogether and re-establish my power over him with honeyed words and reassurances? No, I think I’ll just run at them screaming, that’ll work.” –Applemask

“Wow! I bet this boat accident/failed murder is going to lead to a really exciting week of filling out paperwork and learning about who has jurisdiction on a cruise ship!” –Truckosaurus

“It’s been over 20 minutes and the guy in the blue shirt just wants to leave.” –Kevin on Earth

“Leroy’s actually crying because his desk is only 8 inches tall and it’s crushing his genitals.” –Schroduck

“Scott Barkhurst is also the name of the dog plugger featured here right? Because if a dog plugger should have any name, it should be that.” –The Rambling Otter

“Hank, there is a literally a life saver there, right next to you, affixed to the taffrail. Just throw that. There’s no need to be a hero. Your wife already said she’d sleep with you for just walking around a bit.” –Chance

“‘Are you saying wanted as in his Dad is dead?’ Gil says, excited. Gil is not a monster, per se, just a dedicated alum of the Lee Strasberg School of method acting. Who better to star in the upcoming school play, an adaptation of Field of Dreams (directed by Gil, of course), than a kid who lost a Dad and had baseball as the center of their relationship?” –Philip

“‘Yup’? I’m the guy who doesn’t know what ‘wanted’ means. How am I supposed to know what ‘yup’ means? Stop rubbing your fancy-ass education in my face, Gil.” –made of wince

“Speaking of retaliation, Wilbur is taking a dump on the hood of your car as we speak. It’s SO therapeutic for him to express himself!” –MKay

“All strips should follow Barney Google and Snuffy Smith Present Sparkplug’s Grandson Li’l Sparky’s example and make sure that every character relationship is spelled out in the title of the strip. Judge Parker’s Son Randy and his Recently Unretired Former Law Partner Sam Driver has a nice ring to it. And I for one can’t wait to read the next installment of Rex Morgan, M.D., and Also a Bunch of Randos.” –Drew Funk

“And so Santa Royale’s plague of vampire pigeons, distinguishable by their lack of reflection, continues unabated.” –Vice President John Adams

“Klinique has that ‘overly realistic rendition in a comic strip whose other characters are stylized’ vibe. So does the chicken. I have contacted the Hague.” –matt w

“Great … I’ve got Allen Ginsburg as a roommate!! Best minds of my generation, my ass.” –Voshkod

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