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So today a lot of comics artists have inserted some symbols into their strips to pay tribute to essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. And, naturally, there was a range of approaches to this!

Dustin, 6/7/20

You could, for instance, take the Dustin route, where the symbols are explicitly explained in text, and then used in the comic itself to further the cause of recognizing various heroes, sung and unsung!

Baby Blues, 6/7/20

Or you could take the Baby Blues technique, which is to integrate the symbols naturalistically into the comic itself, on the assumption that readers will pick up news stories about this campaign and understand what they’re looking at.

Six Chix, 6/7/20

Or — hear me out — you could do it the Six Chix way, by which I of course mean the most half-assed way imaginable, wedging symbols into a joke that’s already terrible by itself so as to make them fully incomprehensible. What’s the most insultingly placed of the icons here? Lotta people are gonna say the steering wheel at the bottom left corner, held by disembodied human hands, but don’t sleep on the picture (?) of the microscope that the pigeon is wearing (?) on its chest.

Funky Winkerbean, 6/7/20

Funky Winkerbean, of course, can not accomodate any misery that is not Funky Winkerbean, so it will not be acknowledging the coronavirus pandemic nor any of the essential workers ameliorating it, but I did enjoy today’s strip, in which Cayla desperately begs Mason not to try to get inside the mind of a madman, it’s too late for her, but he can still save himself, there’s still time, there’s still time.

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The Lockhorns, 6/6/20

Probably most people reading this blog know that syndicated newspaper strips have to be submitted some time in advance of publication; generally the minimum is four weeks but some prefer to work months in advance. And so it can be a fun game to play: how long ago was this drawn? That especially applies in These Troubled Times, with history happening so quickly. Can you imagine that just a few short months ago, we thought that we’d be enjoying ourselves this summer by heading down to the cineplex to enjoy Scoob! (which was released straight to streaming) or the live-action Little Mermaid (the filming of which was delayed)? I guess in the Lockhornsverse, the COVID-19 pandemic never broke out, possibly because Leroy and Loretta’s powerful rage-radiation has antiviral effects that scientists don’t yet fully understand.

Funky Winkerbean, 6/6/20

Longtime Funkyverse trufans know about Frankie, Darrin’s biological father, who in the original long-ago storyline had a consensual sexual relationship with Lisa that got later retconned to sexual assault. Frankie makes occasional appearances for no real obvious reason beyond causing misery, and Les seemed to think that he had come back and was stalking him, but it turns out it was [comical BOI-OI-OI-OING sound] Mason??? As yet it’s unclear whether he was trying to “go method” by observing Les in his natural habitat so he could really bring Les’s brand of depressing unpleasantness to the screen, or whether he was just planning to murder Les before Les decided to once again tank the movie project that Mason has inexplicably become extremely passionate about.

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Folks, a reminder that the Zoom show scheduled for today has been postponed but will happen in the future! Please email me at jfruh@jfruh.com and I’ll put you on the list to receive updates, and the URL when it eventually happens!

Happening today right on time: Your comment … of the WEEK!

“Today we address the age-old philosophical question: can Mary Worth create a storyline so dull that the strip itself cannot maintain an interest in it? The answer is ‘yes, if it’s about Toby.’” –Mr. A

And your very funny runners up!

“And that’s why I can leisurely sit around and drink on the job.” –nescio

“Notice the crude patches on both Doc Pritchart’s gown and the curtains. In Hootin’ Holler they don’t know how to spell ‘sterile’ and they’ll never have to learn.” –Artist formerly known as Ben

“Funky Winkerbean on weekdays: ‘Hollywood pursues dumb entertainment instead of supporting meaningful art like Lisa’s Story.’ Funky Winkerbean on Sunday: ‘I too would rather draw exciting and funny space operas.’” –Ettorre

“‘Just back from Miami‘ combined with sunglasses. Josh, that bird is on cocaine.” –Fattig, on Twitter

“I hope Toby just blindly follows a brownie recipe she finds online and accidentally gives everyone edibles.” –Eric Borer, on Twitter

“Has anyone ever said ‘Is that the face you’re going with this morning?’ and stayed married afterward? No, because no one in human history has ever uttered that sentence and lived to tell about it. Luckily, these two are about to jump right into an argument concerning dream interpretation, without even feeling sad that it’s the most interesting thing they’ll talk about today.” –BigTed

“Of course Alan Parker, the man who didn’t care one bit about prison reform until he spent a few days in minimum security lock-up, needs to contract COVID-19 in order for it to be taken seriously.” –TheDiva

“Listen, Mary, all that’s happened is that dumbass Toby has agreed to provide a dessert. That doesn’t merit an ‘all things happen for a reason,’ it’s not like she found Ian face down in a bathtub full of scotch.” –Northernlurker

“Is she cussing a swear or listening to that horrible swear music the kids listen to? When I was a kid, we just listened to [checks notes] never mind.” –Phil Gonzales, on Facebook

“Well Madi’s not a toddler anymore! She has PINK HAIR! and a PHONE! and listens to music with, uh, NEAR-PALINDROMIC SWEAR WORDS! Also, is she FAIRUZA BALK?” –pugfuggly

“This should be the shortest Mark Trail story arc ever. Andy’s owner is a vet, a vet who no doubt micro-chipped his dog that he lets wander around aimlessly all day. Truck driver, after cleaning what is no doubt 15 pounds of dog shit from his trailer, takes him to a vet, chip scanned, Andy returned. But this is Mark Trail so we probably won’t even see the dog shit until August.” –Terry McG

“This kid is going to be reformed in the process of making an instagram account for Saul’s bow tie wearing dachshund.” –Conynaut

“Ah, Westview, where red stop signs are considered too cheerful.” –Voshkod

“I was hopeful that Les was referring to Crazy Harry the Muppet, because Lisa’s Story with Kermit and Miss Piggy in the lead roles is something I really would pay money to see.” –Spunky The Wonder Squid

“Clearly, Dennis asked to be here. He probably made up some impish excuse about being frightened. In truth, with his deep understanding of human frailties — gained from many hours of painstaking research on Mr. Wilson — Dennis knows that by acting as chaperone, he gives Alice and her dashing dentist the excuse they need to express their desires more openly. ‘Go ahead,’ he says, menacingly. ‘Nothing you do with me in the room could be that wrong, could it? Don’t you want to live deliciously?’” –Navigator

“I like how Lyle is putting so much emphasis on the word ‘living’ while saying ‘closest living relative.’ Um, does Madi have a lot of close dead relatives? How close are they, exactly? Is their house just stuffed with rotting corpses? I can’t decide whether staying with Saul is an improvement or not.” –made of wince

“Tater’s look of indignation in the second panel makes it clear he has no intention of divulging the secret of eternal youth to these degenerate hayseeds. It’s the Illuminati or no one!” –Peanut Gallery

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