Post Content

B.C., 7/16/04

I almost invariably hate B.C., so I’m rather surprised to find that my first mention of it this blog is positive. Jokes about golf and/or toilets date back to the Paleolithic Age themselves, but what made me laugh in this strip is the use of the word “SKULL,” apparently as a verb, between the two panels.

I’m always curious about strips that are set in specific time periods in the past and then indulge in anachronisms. Does Johnny Hart find the idea of prehistoric golf courses inherently funny? Or did he just get to a point in his career when he ran out of caveman jokes and said, “Darn it, Beetle Bailey does golf jokes, so why can’t I?” Hagar the Horrible is in a similar place today — Hagar and his wife are hovel-shopping with what I presume is a bloodthirsty Viking realtor — but this strip gets bonus points because it features a character talking into an 1890s-style phone mouthpiece that’s embedded in a tree.

By the way, mad “props” to TopFive.com, Acorns from an Oakie, and Clea’s Cave, all of whom linked to me on my second day of public operations.

Post Content

Herb & Jamaal, 7/15/04

I’m almost certainly not the person to turn to for cultural authenticity, but do you ever get the feeling that some African-American-themed comic strips are actually written by 75-year-old white guys?

This strip really caught my eye in this regard. There’s really no better way to casually deploy a hip slang word that all the kids are using than by putting quote marks around it.

Herb & Jamaal certainly isn’t the worst offender in this category, though. I think every instance of the word rap in Curtis is surrounded by quote marks and followed by the word junk.

Post Content

The Boondocks, 7/14/04

I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought this.