The Comics Curmudgeon

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Comment of the Week

Wizard of Id has succintly portrayed the difference between Early and Late Medieval modes of warfare: while his Dark Age companions are boldly dying for their feudal lord, the canny Sir Rodney treats war as a profession. He is akin to the condottiere who would dominate later Italian warfare. That sly look and crooked smile is that of a man who sees human corpses as nothing more than money in his purse, arguably far more barbaric than his predecessors. But trebuchets suck for hitting single guys so we're probably about to see Sir Smarty Pants' insides in spite of his historically progressive role.

—m.w.
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Soapy memories

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Dick Tracy, 7/12/21

Oh, hey, remember when Dr. Ghost and Dr. Sail stole one of Diet Smith’s space coupes and Diet sent it careening off into deep space, and we all assumed the villains had suffocated, or maybe ate each other? Well, good (?) news: it seems they actually were crushed into pulp as they plunged ever deeper into Jupiter’s thick atmosphere, or — best case scenario, in terms of visuals — were blasted into pieces by some of the planet’s intense lightning storms.

Judge Parker, 7/12/21

Oh, hey, remember how Judge Parker Senior has spent the last several months moping around the house in a drunken fog? Well, good news! Now he’s in a much better mood, apparently because he’s traded in alcohol for some powerful stimulant.

Rex Morgan, M.D., 7/12/21

OH IS THAT HOW YOU REMEMBER IT, JUNE?

BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CHARITY BOOK TO BENEFIT THE ART MUSEUM TURNING INTO A BIG PAYDAY FOR YOUR FAMILY

GUESS WE’RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO AGREE TO DISAGREE ON THIS ONE

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Sunday is for children of various ages

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Hi and Lois, 7/11/21

I don’t really care much about the lazily structured “joke” about Chip not mowing the lawn, but I am very interested in the tiny adult Hi (Himunculus?) in the top-row throwaway panel. Since Hi has been trapped in amber at the age of fortysomething since the strip launched in the Eisenhower Administration, his mental images of his youth and the past are understandably confused. “I was a child … in the ’50s, I think? And I smoked a pipe? I think I smoked a pipe in the ’50s?”

Dennis the Menace, 7/11/21

I am honestly very much here for Dennis the Menace strips where Dennis himself doesn’t even appear. Maybe the strips should be about his very absence, or maybe they should just be about what the other characters get up to without him. We haven’t had a comic strip character get Barney Googled in ages, and I think Dennis is a great candidate!

Marvin, 7/11/21

Me reading the first two panels of today’s Marvin: “Ah, a Marvin that isn’t about shitting for once!”

Me reading the the third panel of today’s Marvin: “Wait, unless…”

Me reading the first fourth panel of today’s Marvin: “Oh no”

Me reading the rest of the panels of today’s Marvin: “Oh NO”

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Death, love, and taxes

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Funky Winkerbean, 7/10/21

Hey, do you guys remember Phil Holt, who was (I guess?) a thinly veiled stand-in for Jack Kirby, and who Darrin met at a children’s party once, and then he died and left his valuable comics to Darrin, then took up residence in the same spectral hell-dimension that Lisa haunts? Well, he and Flash Freeman had some bad blood, which I guess is supposed to mirror some real-life comic book drama from the Good Old Days, but one of my constant positions is that I love newspaper comics and am extremely lukewarm on comic books, and that was true in 2004 when I started this blog and remains true today in 2021 when comic book franchises have swallowed all other media, so I refuse to do the research as to what the real-life analogue of the “subterranean” is. The point is that this is setting up the real identity of the figure who’s mysteriously interested in Flash and Ruby’s Hall of Fame induction. Do you think it’s supposed to be Phil Holt? Do you think that everyone involved in making Funky Winkerbean forgot that he was dead, or maybe assumed even ghosts needs some kind of pass to get on the Comic-Con floor?

Mary Worth, 7/10/21

Wait, hold on, I had always assumed that, what with her substance abuse problems and her legal issues, Shauna had in fact been the dumpee in her relationship with Drew, which led her to strut her way back into his life looking her best (?) in an attempt to win back his heart. But no, she left him! This is delicious. No wonder Ashlee is so determined to hold onto Drew, this is a guy who will absolutely stick around while you extract all the emotional and financial value from him that you can.

Gil Thorp, 7/10/21

Ugh, it’s a bad idea because the labor necessary to pull this off represents a huge new expense, and you wouldn’t make the money back because libraries don’t charge people! Honestly, Abel, I know this is (hopefully) the last day of it but it’s like you’ve forgotten what your entire deal in this storyline is.