Post Content

Rex Morgan, M.D., 3/2/05

So I pretty much lost interest in this Rex Morgan storyline when it became less about human remains and sexual innuendo and more about this mysterious homeless guy living just off the Morgans’ property and June’s endless treks back and forth between the kitchen and the yard. But the epiphany in this strip hit me like something very heavy dropped from a great height. The filthy, shabby, unfashionable clothes … the six-day growth of beard … the pus-encrusted, self-tended wound … the prickly and evasive attitude … of course he’s a graduate student! Sadly, this is something that those who have never been there probably can’t appreciate, like the time that I found out that our neighborhood’s letter-to-the-editor-writing, quixotical-city-council-campaign-waging, neighborhood-meeting-attending-and-blathering-on-and-on-through crank was, like me, a copy editor. But I spent so much of my early 20s BS-ing my way through grant applications, convinced that their rejection would leave me homeless and destitute, that I feel just a little bit vindicated by this strip.

Post Content

Beetle Bailey, 3/1/05

Boy, Spc. Chip Gizmo must be on leave or something, because Beetle Bailey is trotting out all the supporting characters for their brief moment in the sun. I’ll bet Killer here is wishing that his was a bit more dignified. Rocky at least got to show his free spirit and refusal to be hemmed in by traditional political distinctions; Killer apparently thinks that girls are impressed when you dry hump the landscaping. So, so misguided, my randy, mustachioed friend. I’d say that these two strips offer an intriguing window into somebody’s perception of modern leftist politics, but I think that’s maybe giving Beetle Bailey a wee bit more credit than it deserves. The guy I feel bad for is Sarge, who’s reduced to serving as a dumfounded bystander and setup man for these unspeakably lame jokes.

By the way, is there anyone who was in the army, possibly in the 1950s, who can explain to me the difference between Rocky and Killer’s hats?

Post Content

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.