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Slylock Fox, 3/23/08

So many good things are going on in Sunday’s Slylock Fox! First of all, it features my new favorite anti-hero Reeky Rat, trying to move up the social ladder but so ignorant that he thinks that stealing a nice suit will make him respectable automatically. As usual for Sunday, the solution to the mystery is too small for me to read; I’m guessing it’s supposed to be something about how the suit would be wet if Reeky had worn it in from outside, but really, the tip-off that he’s lying about it being his suit is that Reeky Rat doesn’t own any God-damned suits. His wardrobe consists entirely of stained t-shirts he shoplifted from the Goodwill.

Also charming are the plight of the Six Differences duck, trapped in the paws of a sleeping bear; a trumpet-playing rabbit thinks that startling the bear awake will free his feathered friend, but it will likely just get both of them eaten. Speaking of ducks, “how to draw” teaches the youth of today to draw a duck in a bucket, because really, why not? I can see that being an important part of any graphic novel you have planned. And, finally, it looks like our unfortunate baseball player is about to be eaten alive by birds in part of the worldwide animal revolt we’ve already seen brewing.

Panel from Judge Parker, 3/23/08

I just wanted to point out to everyone the extent to which Judge Parker is the King Of Not Moving Things Along: Biff Dickens buzzed the horses yesterday? Yesterday was sometime around Thanksgiving. And this is positively breakneck speed for this feature.

Panels from Mary Worth, 3/23/08

Mary’s big flashback continues to be lame and anticlimactic, but this pair of throwaway panels pretty much epitomizes the strip: a baffling and dubious traditional proverb from a random country, and then Mary talking over whatever her interlocutor was trying to get in edgewise to move the conversation back to her.

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Rex Morgan, M.D., 3/22/08

With Niki adequately rewarded and Rex’s gun returned to its holster, an exciting new adventure in Rex Morgan, M.D., is brewing, and if today’s panel one is any indication, it should be lovely. Check out our good doctor’s look of raw panic as he gets the news; it’s less “An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant staph in our town? As a medical professional I need to do all I can to fight this scourge” and more “AAHHH! THE PLAGUE! EVERYONE RUN FOR THE HILLS! Ha, I’ve got the car keys — June, Sarah, you’re on your own, see ya!” Rex’s stammered hedging in the final panel definitely seems to indicate that he plans to spend the next few months in his sealed, bacteria-proof underground shelter and not mucking around with some do-gooder task force.

Funky Winkerbean, 3/22/08

Ah, now we find out why Les is going to ruin his oldest friendship by taking a second job he doesn’t need: he wants to make sure he can obsessively control every aspect of his daughter’s life. Thank goodness they live in a town as pathetic Westview; Les can be sure that if Summer’s on a date and isn’t eating crappy pizza under the flickering glow of Montoni’s fluorescent lights, she’s definitely having an unprotected “solo car date” in an empty parking lot somewhere.

Pluggers, 3/22/08

Pluggers are so stupid and thoughtless that they find even basic gestures of courtesy to be total mysteries if they aren’t explicitly spelled out for them.

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Apartment 3-G, 3/21/08

Ha ha, Margo fleeing in panic from human affection will always be hilarious to me. Lu Ann is really making a go of it, though — it looks like this is less an attempted hug and more a running tackle. Margo has her deadly pointing finger deployed in defense, ready to take out an eye if that’s what it takes.

For Better Or For Worse, 3/21/08

What’s the best reason to pledge a lifetime commitment to someone, and to have a big, expensive wedding with several attendants? A desire to share your love with your family and friends? Ha ha, no, silly, it’s revenge.

Gil Thorp, 3/21/08

That’s supposed to by Tyler Jay? Say what you will about the previous artist, but he was at least able to conceive of two spit-curled characters in the same strip. On the other hand, maybe Tyler’s new ’do, which appears to be heavily shellacked, is meant to serve as a final defense measure if the urge to club himself again became overwhelming.

Marmaduke, 3/21/08

Marmaduke has recently killed and eaten a leather daddy, a go-go dancer, and an aerobics instructor, and is wearing a few items of their clothing as grisly trophies.