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When I first started this blog, I wasn’t sure if anyone other than my friends would read it, let alone comment on it. As the 100+ comment post below demonstrates, today the Comics Curmudgeon has a large and chatty readership. Though I rarely respond to the comments, I love reading all of them — they provide the ego-stroking that powers this blog, and are frequently funnier than anything I have to say.

This last does give rise to one side-effect, though: frequently, if I don’t get around to doing a comic for a day or two, someone will post something to the effect of “I sure hope Josh does Tuesday’s Wizard of Id” (or whatever) and then goes on to describe that strip’s horror in vivid detail. Generally speaking, if I don’t do that comic, it’s not because I’m ignoring you: it’s because you did such a good job commenting on it that I don’t have anything to add.

Take this past Sunday, for instance: I had originally planned to do Curtis, but then a dare in the comments section of an earlier post led faithful reader Saint Chree to record this dramatic reading, upon which nothing I can say could possibly improve. If your media player won’t play this audio file (it’s in Ogg Vorbis format), you can download Audacity for free for all major platforms. It’s sooooo worth it.

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Hagar the Horrible, 2/28/05

Okay, so I don’t claim to have any special insight into the creative process over at Hagar the Horrible Central, but I think the line of thought that led to today’s comic went something like this:

1. Come up with uproarious joke involving cannibal natives and Hagar and Lucky Eddie in a big cast-iron pot.
2. Realize that cannibal natives don’t fit into the carefully constructed and meticulously researched ninth-century AD European milieu of the strip.^*
3. Refuse to give up on joke because, I mean, you’ve already thought of it, and golf doesn’t just play itself.
4. Replace cannibal natives with random medieval-looking knights/villagers; replace pot with stakes.
5. Taste the hilarity!

*Yes, sometimes Hagar and Lucky Eddie are stranded on what appear to be tropical islands. I say they’re in the Mediterranean, off the coast of North Africa. The historical accuracy of Hagar the Horrible is not to be impugned! Feel free to impugn its humor level, though, because that’s generally very, very low.

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Hi and Lois, 2/27/05

My fiancée says that Hi’s bug-eyed, sweaty expression in the last panel is his “having fun” face. I say he’s out of his mind on helium. Look at Lois’ expression in the rightmost panel in the middle row: she knows that trouble’s brewing; clearly Hi has a longstanding “problem” whip-its and the like, and she’s been down that light-headed, squeaky-voiced road before. I don’t mean to blow the cover off the seamy side of an ostensibly family-friendly strip like this, but obviously substance abuse is the only logical explanation here: nobody has that much fun just blowing up balloons.

Also: Hi seems to have purchased his drug paraphernalia at a “Fun Store,” surely a euphemism for a head shop if I’ve ever heard one. Also also: Lois appears to be wearing black lipstick in the final frame, which both complements her skeletal visage and signifies her S&M lifestyle.