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Blondie, 2/8/05

It took me a while to figure out why the first two panels of this otherwise bland installment of Blondie looked so odd to me. Then I realized that, most of the time, people in Blondie are about the size of Dagwood and Alexander in panel three; panels one and two offer an unusual closeup view. Which is not to say that we’re given any more details or a better view of things in those panels. In fact — and remember, this is just my entirely uneducated first impression — one might get the impression that panels one and two started life as standard-perspective Blondie drawings that were then just magnified electronically, for unfathomable but presumably aesthetic reasons.

One might also point out, if one were unkind, that panels one and two are nearly identical to one another, with only a few lines tweaked. But to do so would be gauche.

Question for you: has anyone ever worn both an old-school letterman jacket and a jauntily angled backwards baseball cap as Alexander does here? Discuss.

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Get Fuzzy, 2/4/05

See, this is why I was excited about the Sun getting Get Fuzzy. It’s also more proof that a strip can be good without depending on a specific punchline in the last panel that’s been elaborately set up in the lead-in panels (yeah, I’m looking at you, B.C.). Everything Bucky says in this strip made me laugh aloud. Keep up the good work, Pinky! (I also like it when Bucky calls Rob “Pinky.”)

Meanwhile, a quick recap of the serials, since there’s a lot of action going on: in Apartment 3-G, Lu Ann’s niece reveals that she has gotten herself knocked up (apparently, she’s fled to NYC because she’s heard it’s all full of “roadside” “gigs” who won’t judge her moral flaws); in Rex Morgan, M.D., Rex is being suspiciously nonchalant about the discovery of human remains in his backyard; in Mark Trail, Mark seems destined to swim to the safety of an oyster bar, where he sadly won’t be eviscerated by razor-sharp shark teeth; and in Mary Worth, Elaine, the third point in our suddenly interesting love triangle, shows up and offers to give the good Dr. Good a family (if you know what I mean) right then and there. This last incident gives the Mary Worth artists the opportunity to do what they love most, which is to draw arm hair. I offer this retrospective for your edification.

And finally, to start your weekend off, here’s a case of life imitating Gil Thorp:

Melee Erupts at Alabama Girls Basketball Game

“People were screaming and running,” Prattville cheerleader Cherish Cartee said. “Girls lost their cell phones. Keys got lost. It’s something I will never forget.”

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Some readers have said that the new ad pictures in the sidebar are causing rendering problems on the site. If you are seeing these problems — or, for that matter, if you aren’t — can you email me and tell me what you see? Please include the operating system (e.g., Windows XP, Windows ME, Mac OS X, Linux) and browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Netscape, Safari) that you’re using. If you could attach a screenshot, all the better. Thanks in advance.

Update: OK, I think I’ve fixed the problem, but keep those comments coming if you’re having trouble. Sheesh, who knew that turning the future Mrs. Curmudgeon and myself into media superstars would be such a pain? Which reminds me: if you want to be a media superstar, just buy some Comics Curmudgeon crap fine products at my lovely CafePress.com store, have a friend photograph you wearing and/or drinking out of it, and send me a digital version of the picture, and I’ll put it into rotation with the fiancée and myself. The logos should be at least vaguely legible when the photo is reduced to 200 pixels wide. I reserve the right to reject photos that are in wildly poor taste, or that depict people so much more attractive than me that it makes me look bad.