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Today I atone for posting slack by presenting you with three quickies:

The Lockhorns, 1/10/06

I spent an inordinate amount of brainpower trying to work out if this was supposed some sort of double entendre (involving the words “pussy”, “ball”, or “yarn”), but I think it’s just the typical, straight up, please-God-kill-me-now Lockhorns shtick. I draw your attention to the emotionally deadened faces of the non-Lockhorn half of this foursome. There are no non-Lockhorn recurring characters in this feature; presumably Leroy and Loretta inevitably pull their dinner-theater George-and-Martha routine in every available social situation and never get a second invite.

Mark Trail, 1/10/06

How much of a square-jawed, raven-haired badass is Mark Trail? He’s totally ignoring this heavily armed overalled hillbilly to have a conversation with his dog about how the two of them are going to escape from said heavily armed hillbilly’s animal-napping compound. It’s that sort of devil-may-care attitude that will get him and Andy busted out in no time, or get him shot in the back of the head. Either way, it’ll make for some good readin’.

One Big Happy, 1/10/06

Ah, James, Ruthie’s white-trashy friend: you think you’re hardcore, with your squirty cheese and your squirty desert. But if you’re just balling up a glob of your squirty cheese and popping it in your mouth with a jaunty FTTT, you’re not hardcore, do you hear me? You’re not hardcore unless you squirt that squirty cheese directly into your mouth. I’ve done it, James. Have you? Huh? Are you hardcore, James? Huh? Are you?

Ahem. Apropos of nothing, I would like to direct the attention of all you Ted Forth haters to this post on yellowjkt’s blog. If you don’t come away with newfound respect for the Tedster, you are a lost cause.

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Curtis, 1/9/06

Are Curtis‘s Kwanzaa storylines loopy, meandering, and incomprehensible? Yes. Do they generally last for days or sometimes weeks after January 1, the actual end of the holiday? Yes. Do they almost always take place in some sort of pre-modern Africa, despite the fact that the holiday was developed specifically for African-Americans in the 20th century? Do the storylines generally speaking fail to dovetail with any of Kwanzaa’s principles? Yes and yes.

On the other hand: do these Kwanzaa stories provide Curtis with an opportunity, generally lacking in this strip, to depict frickin’ awesome bat-winged bear beasts? That is a definite, hearty yes. Rock on, bat-winged Kwanzaa bear, rock on.

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The Phantom, 1/8/06

Keen-eyed readers spotted Rex and June Morgan, out for a stroll in Manhattan, in the final panel of this Phantom comic. (This makes sense, to the extent that anything that happens in either of these features makes sense, because the Sunday Phantom and Rex Morgan, M.D. are both drawn by Graham Nolan.) Harder to identify is Little Orphan Annie, now 52 and nearsighted, but with normal pupils restored after six agonizing surgeries, grinning out at us from just to their left.

Least exciting sentence ever in an ostensible “adventure” comic: “I need to get on-line!” I’m really looking forward to next Sunday’s Phantom installment, featuring Google search after thrilling Google search. My appetite is just whetted by the adrenaline-fueling “NEXT: DEAD END!” teaser box.