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Family Circus, 2/19/21

I’m not too proud to admit that I’m extremely terrified of my brain slowly (or perhaps not so slowly) dulling as I age, and so when I’m confronted with something like today’s Family Circus, which like all Family Ciruses seems simple enough but which today I nevertheless cannot quite parse — well, I start to worry. Like, Jeffy’s “too” implies that he’s reacting to something, but what exactly? Ma Keane telling him that she can’t carry him because she’s tired? But the “nobody is carrying ME” part would only make sense if someone was carrying her. Does he want to be carried like the boxes from her shopping trip? Does … does Jeffy think the boxes are tired? Anyway, all that aside, you know I enjoy a good Jeffy meltdown, and I like the composition of the panel, with Jeffy kind of hidden from the hustle and bustle of the street by this wall. Nobody can see him, Thel. You could just start walking away, and then keep walking. Nobody would ever know. Nobody would ever know.

[UPDATE: ah ha yes Thel is the one delivering the line, actually, the puddingification of my brain is proceeding apace]

Rex Morgan, M.D., 2/19/21

So after Buck binged on fast food and had to do some mild exercise to fix his blood sugar, and then he got very mildly and passive-aggressively sassed by his nutritionist, he seems to have resigned himself to his fate. And, look, I slag on Buck a lot here, because I consider him unlikeable and irritating, but that said I find his current predicament extremely relatable! I don’t have a great diet and I like greasy fried food in (what I tell myself is) moderation, and so I truly feel the pathos in his facial expression in panel one as he contemplates what might constitute a “tasty diabetic-friendly chicken recipe” and whether a swift death as he rides the high of an insulin spike would be preferable.

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Dick Tracy, 2/18/21

I just kind of assumed that, as a high-ranking detective in the Major Crimes Unit, Dick Tracy was, if not living on easy street, then at least financially comfortable. But today we learn that he’s so short of cash that he’s been reduced to using leftover Chinese food for gambling purposes, and thinks a single dollar bill represents “pay dirt.” Truly sad that those snitches in Internal Affairs say you’re not allowed to put stuff from the evidence locker up for auction on the dark web anymore!

Six Chix, 2/18/21

I … guess this is a riff on the “I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast” bit in the beloved 1996 Adam Sandler film Happy Gilmore? Except that cats really do eat fish, and it isn’t gross at all or embarrassing for the cat say that? I suppose if Six Chix were going to do a strip where the entire joke was substituting the word “fish” for the word “shit” because they sound vaguely alike, they could’ve made it a lot more disgusting than this, so let’s count our blessings.

Dennis the Menace, 2/18/21

Dennis has a plan for rising sea levels in the wake of melting ice caps, everyone: he’s gonna climb this tree! It’s not a plan with a lot of thought towards next steps or long term consequences, but it is a plan nevertheless.

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Shoe, 2/17/21

“But then I caught a Cirque show and fell in love with the artistry of clowning. I did an intensive study at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris. Did you know that clowning is a long and storied theatrical tradition? We weave narratives and produce all kinds of emotional effects through our stylized performances. Our troupe is in town for the next week if you’re interested in tickets! The congressman thing isn’t really relevant, just wanted to give you some background on how I came to it, I guess.”

Dennis the Menace, 2/17/21

hey uh Mr. Wilson he’s sitting right there and I’m preeettttty sure he can hear you