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Funky Winkerbean, 11/14/19

It’s actually been kind of amazing over the years to watch Les get lavished with more and more praise and material benefits even as his personality veers further from “irritating” into “completely insufferable.” This week, we’re finally getting the closure we’ve wanted about Bull’s suicide arc, and that closure is naturally all about Les. Remember, in the early, “fun” days of the strip, Bull was a vicious bully who made ever day of Les’s life a living hell; ever since the various time jumps, the strip has tried to retcon it so that secretly Bull liked and respected Les all along, even when they were kids, and Linda has invited Les over to make sure he knows this. Why, Bull had even been donating money to Lisa’s Legacy Fund all this time, unbeknownst to Les, even though they were friends and colleagues for years as adults and there was no real reason for Bull not to tell him, and Les is also presumably in charge of all the finances of Lisa’s Legacy Fund so he would’ve known anyway. But still, what really counts is that Linda is spending her mourning making sure Les knows how beloved and respected he, personally, is.

And hey, you might’ve noticed from that old strip linked above that way back before time jump #2 Bull and Linda were talking about adopting a child! Well, after the time jump, they had in fact adopted her and she was a teen, and we haven’t seen her in years and years and years but probably she’s … dealing with her father’s death in her own way? Her response isn’t as important as Les’s, of course, but it might be an interesting part of this storyline to explore, just a suggestion!

Family Circus, 11/14/19

One Family Circus narrative conceit I really enjoy is when Billy (age 7) subs for Daddy as the artist for the Family Circus. There’s just so many narrative layers involved! First, it acknowledges that Big Daddy Keane within the world of the strip is both a character and the universe’s creator; then, of course, there’s the fact that real Bil Keane passed away years ago, and that the strip is now drawn not by Glen Keane (the real-life Billy analogue) but rather the grown-up Jeffy, pretending to be his father pretending to be his brother. Today, he’s really leaning into the fact that his version of his father’s version of his brother (age 7) sure sucks at drawing the Family Circus! Look at this chump’s hackwork! He can’t even draw a circle properly! He’s going to ruin the family business! Probably it should be handed down to one of the other sons, I guess?

Mary Worth, 11/14/19

“Mary Worth ill-advised wedding dream sequence” is a phrase that I never knew until this moment that I so badly wanted to see acted out. The giant question mark obviously represents Estelle’s questions about her future with Wilbur, which somehow haven’t been answered quite definitively by a week of drunken antics, but I really hope that the door pops open tomorrow and we see The Riddler, there to perform the ceremony.

Pluggers, 11/14/19

You’re a plugger if you refuse to give your wife this one thing, just one thing, just dress nicely just this once, no matter how happy it would make her.

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Dustin, 11/13/19

Hey, everyone, did you know that beloved Dustin character Dustin’s mom “Helen” is a talk radio DJ, or [squints] possibly a podcaster? Anyway, a thing I think would be pretty wild would be to go back to 1968 and try to explain that someday there was going to be a “battle of the generations” newspaper comic strip and the strip’s Baby Boomers would be the ones making fun of marijuana legalization advocates.

Slylock Fox, 11/13/19

Hey kids! Death comes for us all, for each and every living thing on this Earth, and will come for you, eventually; but due to variations in biology, some species have fewer happy days in to spend in this one and only precious life than others! Which of these adorable animals is most statistically likely to feel the icy hand of the Reaper on their shoulder first, guiding them through the Veil into nothingness? No matter how you answer, remember, someday we’ll all be there together! Ha ha, that turtle is an angry policeman!

Mary Worth, 11/13/19

Having finally gotten a moment to stop thinking about what this double date means for her romantic situation, Estelle realizes what this double date means for the next 24 to 48 hours of her bathroom situation. She’s not living her best life, guys!

Dick Tracy, 11/13/19

Sorry, guys, but no attempted on-purpose joke in the comics this week will be even a fraction as funny as the police diver flashing a thumbs-up to Dick to let him know that “Yep! They’re dead!”

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Dick Tracy, 11/12/19

Folks, another Dick Tracy plot has come and gone without me bothering to keep you up on the details much, but trust me when I say it was generally kind of confusing and there’s been absolutely no in-story explanation of why Det. Frisk’s hair, once blonde, is now abruptly Manic Panic pink. I didn’t even bother to inform you when the storyline’s villains, whose motivations I never had a particularly firm grasp on, drove their car off a bridge and into a river. But I thought you might enjoy today’s strip, in which Tracy makes an extremely half-assed attempt to radio for help, and then he and Frisk calmly discuss the fact that their antagonists’ souls will be tortured forever in hell, probably.

Mark Trail, 11/12/19

Remember, kids, if you encounter an enormous six-foot ‘gator, a few well-placed WHACK KA-WHACKs will be enough to defeat it! Definitely feel free to just bonk that ‘gator with whatever big stick you have handy. No ill will come of it, for you!

Mary Worth, 11/12/19

Estelle thinks not taking Wilbur’s glasses off after gently tucking him in on the couch and then thought ballooning about how she had an unpleasant evening constitutes an appropriate response to this evening’s mayhem, which is why Estelle needs to learn to respect herself