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Mary Worth, 3/6/08

Self-Satisfaction Week continues at the Charterstone Compound. “Wrong advice? Ha ha my dear, I’ll have you know I’m well-intentioned! And as someone once told me, “The road to . . . er . . . a happy outcome is paved with good intentions!”

Mark Trail, 3/6/08

Poor Johnny Malotte has had to endure a lot of exposition this week — yesterday from Mark; today from Sergeant Mountie McQueen. Fortunately none of it reaches him, aloft on his jimson-weed pinnacle of bliss: “Eez zat zo? Come, mon ami, ‘ave a word eenstaid weeth M’seiur Marc — I must return, return now to Eextlan! Oooh, look down zair — eet ees ma fran’ M’sieur ‘Awk! ‘Allo, M’sieur ‘Awk!”

For Better or For Worse, 3/6/08

OK, anybody would have to be blind not to see how this will work out. Nicely played, Warren, but wasted on Anthony — what’s left to crush?

– Uncle Lumpy

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Curtis, 2/27/08 and 3/5/08

What? He can’t take it off? No mystery there: just the sad, predictable end of another “magical Gunk” story arc. But what’s with Gunk’s eyes in panel four of today’s strip? They seem . . . oddly . . . normal. Is this the end of magical Gunk? It’s a mystery!

Rex Morgan, M.D., 3/5/08

OK, looking for moral coherence in Rex Morgan isn’t likely to pay off, but let’s give it a shot. Niki is apologizing: why? Alternatives are: a) he did something wrong, b) his efforts turned out badly, c) he wants to bond with Rex. Did he do something wrong? He rightly refused a thief’s offer of the bank’s money, but later took possession of some of it himself. Maybe a little bad — he intended to keep the bank’s money — but c’mon. And he nobly turned down a reward. OK, did his efforts turn out badly? Rex, not Niki, burned the damned money! Finally, why would Niki want to bond with this dangerous, sanctimonious idiot? It’s a mystery!

Mark Trail, 3/5/08

OK, giving English usage advice to Mark Trail is likely to fall on deaf fists, but the fact that Luke’s operation might save him for prison isn’t ironic — nobody, including the author, is saying one thing and meaning another. But what is it? Karma? Cosmic justice? It’s a mystery!

– Uncle Lumpy

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Apartment 3G, 3/4/08

Today, sullen wastrel Alan interrupts his power-dive at Jones’s Crank ‘n’ Skank to reconnect with his Muse. The bottle in panel one is a nice touch. Oh, yeah, and there’s another Margo clone. Wait, could this actually be three different women, or one woman with three different heads? Who counts? Who cares?

A3G is the collaboration of two cartooning talents: Margaret Shulock writes the strip; Frank Bolle illustrates it. Both have other gigs, Shulock as one of the Six Chix, Bolle as the new illustrator for Gil Thorp, inheritor of the Mantle of McLaughlin. So: can we deconstruct Apartment 3G into elements found in Six Chix and Gil Thorp? Let’s see!

Six Chix, 3/4/08

Well, sometimes life just hands you a gimme, don’t it?

Gil Thorp, 3/4/08

Wow; characters you can tell apart, limbs connected to bodies at reasonable angles, Newtonian sports action: not what we expect from Gil Thorp! Still needs work on drawing people between 9 and 35, but we’re on our way! Frankly, though, it doesn’t look much like A3G: it’s already better. Nice work, but maybe it’s time to pay some more attention to the core franchise?

– Uncle Lumpy