Comment of the Week

Really liking that accusing look on Dennis's face. 'I was promised some kind of circus freak who lived like a dog, and instead I get this boring suburban schmoe? Boo! Zero stars!’

pugfuggly

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OK, so I was planning on pounding out comics entries until the bitter end of the week, but it turns out that I can’t. So, this will be the last entry of 2005. We’re departing for our various wacky Christmukkah journeys tomorrow and won’t be back for a while, so this will have to sustain you until January 2. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Morons in berets … on parade!


Other than that, I got nothin’, comics-wise.

I do, however, have something that I’ve been planning for a while that you might enjoy: Josh’s blog-n-alternative-comics roundup! First, the blogs. Unlike many bloggers, I don’t have a “blogroll” of favorite links in my left-hand column. This is because my left-hand column is already too damn cluttered, plus I think I’m better than everyone else. But for those of you who are interested, here are some blogs that I read regularly and that anyone who’s anyone should also read:

  • First off are blogs by three of your fellow Curmudgeon readers and commentors. There’s Subdivided We Stand by Smitty Smedlap, possibly the only man in America more obsessed with Mary Worth than I am; Foma* by yellojkt, who keeps it real in the E.C. and goes into a lot of depth on the FBOFW front; and The Conical Glass by loudfan, whose brilliant Mary Worth/Black Eyed Peas “My Humps” mashup I somehow managed to neglect to link to.
  • Then of course there’s Drink At Work, whose awesomeness you should already be familiar with, though you should reacquaint yourself with it frequently.
  • Waiter Rant is an excellent blog written by an anonymous waiter at a fairly fancy bistro in New York. Find out everything you wanted to know about just how badly — and, sometimes, how well — people treat their fellow human beings when they think they’re in a position of power over them. You’ll never order dinner the same way again.
  • Mini Proportions is a blog written by a friend of mine who goes by the name of “Little G.” She has recently taken on the life of a lesbian ex-pat hausfrau in Vancouver (well, the lesbian part isn’t recent, but you get the idea). With lots of time on her hands, she blogs about the absurdities of being an American north of the border. One thing you’ll learn is that Canadians really don’t like it if you don’t finish your food.
  • Mlik.org is the online home of our friend Dalton. He’s recently taken to promoting a nonexistent New Age band called “Star Magick,” so I’m starting to get a little worried.

And then, of course, there’s comics. My schtick here is all about the newspaper funnies, but there’s a bevy of comics I read online that you won’t see in the daily news:

So that’s it for me for 2005! It’s been a swell year, and I hope you and yours have a happy end-of-year celebration of your choice. See you in 2006!

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Rex Morgan, M.D., 12/20/05

Wow, how much do I not find the current Rex Morgan, M.D. storyline interesting? A lot. I find it a lot not interesting. I’m not even going to bother summarizing Scrap Iron Jack’s boring quest for a good poker game, which seems to have occupied the last umpteen weeks. I do have to say that our one-eyed vet’s sweaty brow and vibrating head don’t really match up with what I understand to be the typical symptoms of compulsive gambling. He’s looking for Texas Hold ‘Em, not smack. Unless this is about the painkiller subplot that was dropped like a hot potato towards the beginning of this tedious slog, I’m unimpressed.

Anyway, the only reason I find this comic worthy of mention is the coif on our fetching bartender here (you probably can’t read it in this low-res graphic no matter how much you stare at her ample bosom, but her name tag indicates that she’s “Iris”). It’s shiny. Very, very shiny. Why is it shiny? How is it shiny? Is the answer to either question related to her daring decision to wear black lipstick to work? It’s the answers to these questions that Rex Morgan, M.D. should be tracking down, but Iris will no doubt be long forgotten by the time Jack gets to his first Gamblers Anonymous meeting sometime in 2009.

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Hagar the Horrible, 12/19/05

OK, let’s leave aside the fact that Hagar and Lucky Eddie are Odin-revering pagans and wouldn’t care about this so-called “Christmas” anyway. They could still have themselves a rockin’ solstice party on their boat. A little yule-log worship, a lot of mead, and then some savage pillaging of northern France, burning scores of villages to the ground, killing the men and enslaving the women and children. Should be a hoot!

Mainly, this comic struck me because it’s further proof that major comics artists are stealing my thoughts. Think I’m a paranoid loon? Well, read this article in today’s Baltimore Sun and then decide for yourself. But if you want to see a picture of me in my robe, or of a faithful reader of this blog wearing a lampshade for a hat, you’ll have to go out and lay your hands on a physical copy of the paper. (It’s not too late, Baltimore-area folks!)

Update: Hmm, since last I looked, they’ve added pictures to the online story, so save your 50 cents. (You’re really not going to understand what I’m talking about without looking at it now, so click the link, I beg of you.)