Post Content

Rex Morgan, M.D., 1/20/19

I like that Rex’s reaction to some uncouth ruffian making a scene is to stare approvingly out at the bleak, barren land below. “Look at it, Brayden,” he says. “No people with their messy emotional or biological needs. Just vast, endless silence. If this plane were to drop out of the sky and smear itself across that austere landscape right now, it would honestly be a blessing.”

Family Circus, 1/20/19

Pretty sure this is actually a demonstration of two very different kinds of child’s mind: Dolly’s, which has just begun to understand what a metaphor is, and Jeffy’s, which very much does not and possibly never will.

Post Content

Pardon My Planet, 1/19/19

Pardon My Planet is a strip (panel?) I’ve added to my rotation in the new year, and honestly I can’t really tell if it’s supposed to be a Far Side-esque series of out-of-context gags that happens to only have three or four character models, or if I’m supposed to be recognizing these people as distinct characters with persistent personalities and such. Either way, though, today’s panel, which implies a rapid descent into body horror as this haunted-eyes dude tries escalating techniques for transforming his anatomy in impossible ways, represents a sharp turn that I am very much here for.

Dennis the Menace, 1/19/19

God damn it, is it possible to be less menacing than adorably comforting your dad with a lovable teddy bear??? The only way I can accept this is if I imagine Dennis as being extremely sarcastic. “Here, dad … mom says you’re havin’ a rough day and whining like a little baby, so here’s a stuffed animal, like a baby would want. Fuckin’ baby.”

Post Content

Friday wouldn’t be Friday without the comment of the week!

“A better example of unintended consequences would be: I have slowly morphed my humor strip to misery porn over the decades and now I am stuck trying to write dramatic scenes about people with names like ‘Funky Winkerbean.’” –Rob

And you should also kick off your weekend with some runners up! Very funny!

“Drinking a bunch of wine always helps with insecurity.” –TeacherBoss, on Twitter

“If the storm forced Slylock to make an emergency landing, he sure did a shitty job of it. There’s a vast empty field behind the one tree he managed to crash into. Worse, Max survived.” –nescio

“Y’know, Brayden, most people don’t realize this, but strictly speaking ‘we’ll be in the air momentarily‘ means we’ll only be in the air for a moment and then come crashing back to earth like a ton of bricks. Funny, huh?” –Peanut Gallery

“Fish fry, eh? Well, although I can’t relate to a horny professor/sea captain and a milfian blob sculpturer that live together in a condo, I can relate to what it’s gonna smell like in there for the next three days. Kind of the perfect background aroma for this storyline when you think about it.” –Mikey

“Jannie! Hurry up and lure your professor to a second location so we can harvest his organs already! I’m only one of a dozen handlers scouting potential replacement organs for the Rolling Stones and I’m telling you time is an issue!” –iagbegreg

“Pluggers spend so much time ranting about the War of Northern Aggression that their grandkids assume they had a personal stake in it.” –TheDiva

“Don’t tell her you’re ‘game!’ If she is so vile to push Ian to adultery, she will have no qualms about organizing the hunting of human beings!” –Ettorre

“Why is ‘Jannie’ sucking on one of the nails from the crucifixion? I know that all the females in this strip are sub-human and morally-challenged (EXCEPT MARY OF COURSE), but this is the first time I’ve seen one depicted as actively initiating a Salem-era witches’ curse.” –Hopester

“Other papers are talking about the ongoing government shutdown or China arresting a Canadian. Meanwhile, Milford’s headlines read, ‘LOCAL TEEN SAYS VAGUELY NEGATIVE THINGS ABOUT SOME FORMER COACH OR TEACHER OR SOMETHING.’” –JJ48

“As much as I admire the current Mary Worth artwork, I miss the challenge of trying to puzzle out which characters were supposed to be attractive from context alone.” –Violet

“Uh oh, looks like Dolly’s breaking up with God.” –jroggs

“Heh heh … there’s no way I’ll get lung cancer from vaping if I stick the thing right up my nose instead of in my mouth! [later] My nose is connected to what?!” –Enlong

“It’s a good thing this is just a radio show. The public is not ready to get up close and personal with Robby’s face. They may never be ready.” –Joe Blevins

“Although I’m surprised any research ethics board signed off on the cruel gene splicing experiment, I’m glad we finally have an explanation for why Dagwood’s knees are halfway down his shins.” –Schroduck

“Say what you will about the pacing of this strip, but Moy certainly knows what the audience wants: the eventual humiliation of Ian and/or Wilbur.” –The Mighty Untrained FOOZLE

“Hmmm … time to increase the stimulus pressure [pours hot coffee onto his forehead]” –pugfuggly

“Since the words aren’t in the thought bubbles, is this guy talking to himself, or are they going to reveal some poor costume person cleaning the vomit off his costume and going, ‘Mmhmm … yeah … mmhmm … do you still need the fake chins or can we aerate them?’” –Jenna

“What’s bothering me? Well, it started when my brother and I made a bet, and the loser had to get the world’s stupidest-looking haircut.” –seismic-2

“How can you overlook the masterpiece that is Gil Thorp today? You’ve got Marty Moon, looking like semi-bearded Mr. Spock from the Douchebag Universe, sitting contentedly as his hapless minion does his dirty work. From this position you can imagine him shifting back in his big chair, tapping his fingertips together, and saying ‘Excellent.’ Meanwhile, Robby sits there with an idiot grin on his face, so thrilled to be listened to that he gives a thumbs-up to the radio audience. Of course they’ll do it again tomorrow: even though trashing a high school coach couldn’t possibly fill 10 minutes of real air time, these men have nothing else in their lives but this pathetic campaign.” –Banana Jr. 6000

“I, for one, can’t wait for additional political insights from Funky Winkerbean. ‘Well, you know, raising tariffs on farm goods generally imported by the Chinese might be an effective disincentive to prevent the Chinese from raising their tariffs[1], but will also impact the livelihood of the farmers[2], who will all get cancer anyway from the insecticides they use[3].’

[1] Ashley, Percy, Modern Tariffs
[2] Marx, Karl, Theories of Surplus Value, vol. 2
[3] Batiuk, Tom, Funky Winkerbean, passim” –Voshkod

Thanks to everyone who became a Comics Curmudgeon Supporter to get an banner-ad-free site, put some scratch in my tip jar, or backed me on Patreon!. And we need to give a big shout-out to our advertisers:

• Ghosts Are Assholes: James Kirst is a new author with a new novel entitled Ghosts Are Assholes, a different kind of ghost story, that he thinks you’ll love so why not read a free preview to see if you agree. Learn more about it on his site and while you’re there, why not check out one of his short stories too?

If you’d like to advertise on the Comics Curmudgeon, and get your very own shoutout in this space, head on over to my BuySellAds page!