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Slylock Fox, 4/10/06

You know how else you can tell Shady Shrew is guilty? His name is frickin’ Shady Shrew. If only non-cartoon-dwelling, non-fox detectives were confronted with a criminal element that chose names with such blatant disregard for blending in to the population at large. “Chief, we’ve got three main suspects for the knife murders: Hunter Vanbecelaere, Merrill Colagiovanni, and Stabby ‘The Blade’ Stabokowitz. If only we could find one clue that could break this case wide open!”

I was fascinated by Slylock Fox, which alternates between simple-minded mysteries and jokes for particularly dull children, since its debut when I was in junior high; I seem to recall that my interest was piqued by an appalling installment in which an adorable tot speculated as to whether our Lord in Heaven, Almighty God, could beat Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fight. I do enjoy a lot of the incidental art in its panels, like the baby elephant’s sleepy eyes contrasting with Mrs. Elephants righteous, mascaraed rage, or the skateboarding rat who’s wearing a bowler cap for no good reason. The fact that Shady Shrew is a transparent anti-Semitic caricature reminds me that I used to think that this strip was called Shylock Fox, which would be an amusing, but much different feature.

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The Phantom, 4/9/06

Great Caesar’s Ghost-Who-Walks, has there ever been a more gratuitous sexy-woman-in-her-underwear panel in the history of the Sunday comics than row two, panel three of today’s Phantom? I mean, sure Diana lives in the jungle and all, but of course it didn’t actually occur to her to change into sporty safari gear before flying home, so obviously she’ll have to change in the middle of this jungle clearing. Yup. Obviously. Don’t bother going behind a tree or anything … there’s nobody here but your lawfully wedded husband, and millions of comics readers.

But for my reader who’s always demanding that Rex take June to the beach: This may be as close as you’re going to get, so enjoy it.

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Get Fuzzy, 4/8/06

Considering the amount of energy that commentors put into the discussion, I feel obliged to weigh in with my opinion on this week’s Get Fuzzy, which, with the conclusion finally revealed, I must say is: a swing and a miss. Still, Get Fuzzy is never about the punchline; “He never did tell good stories,” and Bucky’s deranged attempt to look philosophical, paw gestures included, in panel two, are each funnier than anything that’s happened in Hi and Lois, ever.

Meanwhile, Apartment 3-G’s happy trinity is enjoying a group hug:

Notice the blinding radiance being emitted by Margo, the central figure, proving once again her quasi-divine status. With that topknot, she’s looking positively Buddha-like. Notice also that it’s really mostly Margo hugging Lu Ann, with Tommie, as usual, desperately hoping someone will notice that she’s still there.