Delicious Wednesday

October 10, 2024

Dennis of the Menace, 10/10/24 Not to brag, but I've eaten some tamales in my day, ranging from pretty good to great. For those not "in the know," a tamale...

Crimes against art, and against livestock

October 9, 2024

Blondie, 10/9/24 I have to admit that, not being an artist myself, I'm sometimes a little hesitant to criticize comics art, especially when it comes to...

Another Tuesday, more soaps

October 8, 2024

Dick Tracy, 10/8/24 New Dick Tracy story, everybody! It's with a guest writer and guest artist but in keeping withe vibe of present-day Dick Tracy, it's...

If Curtis starts talking about blogs, it's over

October 7, 2024

Curtis, 10/7/24 While we all like to see a syndicated newspaper comic keep up with times, I'm afraid the occasional bit in Curtis where Curtis faithfully...

Sunday is for lore

October 6, 2024

Judge Parker, 10/6/24 You might recall my earlier irritation that both Sophie and Neddy were involved in family romance drama structurally similar enough...

We all want to do this when our computers make us mad, honestly

October 5, 2024

The Phantom, 10/5/24 One of the more, uh, problematic aspects of the Phantom lore is that the Phantoms have been resident in Africa for 23 generations but...

Metapost: It's Friday, I'm in love (with the comments of the week)

October 4, 2024

There's nothing I enjoy more than reading your funny comments and selecting my favs! Speaking of which, here's this week's top contender: "Those are some odd...

Friday is for the elderly

October 4, 2024

Mary Worth, 10/4/24 Look, Stell, you're clearly a vibrant, attractive woman with an active romantic and sexual life. Nevertheless, you're a woman of a...

I should relate to Gertie's pencil-neck husband, but all I feel for him is endless contempt

October 3, 2024

Gearhead Gertie, 10/3/24 Now, I might be an Ivy League-educated coastal elitist, but the Ivy League school I attended was in fact located in the Finger...

Sexy beasts

October 2, 2024

Beetle Bailey, 10/2/24 Hello, faithful readers! You might recall that last week I opined that Beetle Bailey had abandoned the spirit, though not the letter,...

Soapy Tuesday

October 1, 2024

Gil Thorp, 10/1/24 Ah, well, it seems that Gil's airborne lovefest under old artist Rod Whigham was some kind of hallucination he was having during a massive...

Food for thought

September 30, 2024

Beetle Bailey, 9/30/24 Today, most food service in the U.S. military is outsourced to contractors, and one of the military's most awesome powers is the...

Josh rattles off some lists

September 29, 2024

Mary Worth, 9/29/24 I'm going to remain neutral on some the big moral questions being raised by this storyline for the moment (Is it fair to fall in love...

I always cry at endings

September 28, 2024

Gil Thorp, 9/29/24 As Uncle Lumpy noted last week, longtime Gil Thorp artist Rod Whigham is retiring from the strip, with today being his last entry. I've...

Metapost: New comment of the week, at long last!

September 27, 2024

Shoutout to --2+2=7's long reign at the top, but after my vacation respite, it's finally time to crown a new COTW: "I just realized that I have no idea what...

You don't want to know what a pain it is to get that giant button through the hole

September 27, 2024

Shoe, 9/27/24 I guess if all you want to get out of the daily comics is to briefly linger on each little joke and then move on to the next one, you might be...

The menace and the menaced

September 26, 2024

Dennis the Menace, 9/26/24 Here, in no particular order, is a list of possible menacing reasons why Dennis is wearing street clothes in this exchange when...

They don't have file cabinets on the Moon, they all use computers up there

September 25, 2024

Beetle Bailey, 9/25/24 Once upon a time, your average newspaper reader looked forward to the middle of the week with eager anticipation. That's because they...

Notice how far away Henry is standing. He wants no part of this

September 24, 2024

Dennis the Menace, 9/24/24 Despite being a resident of California for more than a decade, I'm not a woo-woo person who talks about a situation's "energy"...

Sad, unsettling Monday

September 23, 2024

Pluggers, 9/23/24 An oft-noted source of malaise in American life is a rise of loneliness, as "third spaces" -- places where people socialize that aren't...

TRIUMPHANT RETURN COMICS

September 22, 2024

Hello everyone! I am back from my vacation! Did you miss me? Did you realize you liked Uncle Lumpy better? Did you not even notice any changes? Feel free to...

Mostly gripes

September 21, 2024

Daddy Daze, 9/21/24 How it started. Blondie, 9/21/24 How it's going. Archie, 9/21/24 Veronica tries a little too hard to sell Archie's lame observation—not...

What happened to Ol' Bessie, that's the real story here

September 20, 2024

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 9/20/24 Oh no! In this rustic retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jughaid traded Ol' Bessie for a handful of beans. The...

Menace decay, and not Dennis this time

September 19, 2024

Curtis, 9/19/24 Derrick and Onion are canonically the bullies in Curtis, but their game has been slipping steadily for a long time. Way back in '06 they were...

Pity party

September 18, 2024

Arctic Circle, 9/18/24 This strip has been fixated on environmental catastrophe so long it's jarring to see it suddenly switch gears. Or has it? After all,...

Search-engine pessimization

September 17, 2024

Six Chix, 9/17/24 An image search for "batman cat images" yielded mostly AI, fanart, and creepy photos of pets in Halloween costumes. So I'm guessing the...

Shorties

September 16, 2024

Six Chix, 9/16/24 Hey lady, if you want to shut down all the chit-chat, repeat after me: "I'm a Cross‑Fit vegan; let me tell you about my fur‑babies!" On the...

World of Animals VII

September 15, 2024

"Well helloooooo, ladies! … and gents!" "Welcome back to World of Animals, an occasional feature—I'm your beloved host, Carl. My how the time does fly; let's...

More Les, more or less

September 14, 2024

Heathcliff, 9/14/24 One of the hazards of the Backup Comics Blogger business is that you start musing about the interior lives of comic strip characters. To...

When you call me, you can call me AI

September 13, 2024

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. Oh my gosh it's the last day of the Comics Curmudgeon fall fundraiser! Hurry! Phantom,...

No one will be seated during the thrilling "Parker sits" sequence, except of course Truck

September 12, 2024

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. Please support the Comics Curmudgeon with a generous contribution! Gearhead Gertie,...

The horror! The horror!

September 11, 2024

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. Your generous contribution supports the Comics Curmudgeon in its third decade!...

Hey Truck, is that Lisa's bench you're monopolizing?

September 10, 2024

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. Celebrate two decades of quality comics mockery with a generous contribution! Blondie,...

It's the 2024 Comics Curmudgeon Fall Fundraiser!

September 9, 2024

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. The twentieth anniversary Comics Curmudgeon Fall Fundraiser is here! Celebrate two...

Magnets, how do they work? Thorin knows!

September 9, 2024

Dustin, 9/9/24 Deckhand on an Alaskan crab boat. Choker setter for a logging crew. Apprentice roofer. C'mon, Dustin—get it over with. Dick Tracy, 9/9/24...

Sad Sunday

September 8, 2024

The Phantom, 9/8/24 Phantom was growing increasingly vexed That the proles would identify him as John X. So by making up missions and playing a role He set...

Weekend wisecracks

September 7, 2024

Gil Thorp, 9/7/24 Best. Gil Thorp. Ever. Flash Gordon, 9/7/24 Ergon, leader of the Power Men who maintain the capital's tunnels, negotiates concessions from...

Marital mirth

September 6, 2024

Luann, 9/6/24 I won't trouble you with the months-long "Brad and Toni consider having a child, then reconsider after caring for Toni's niece Shannon"...

Metapost: Early vacation-heralding COTW

September 5, 2024

FOLKS!!!! It is time for me, your faithful blogger, to take one of my occasional vacations from the comics and from this site, so you know what that means:...

Thursday quickies

September 5, 2024

Beetle Bailey, 9/5/24 Sarge is correct: his men are extremely vulnerable to the range weapons that are fated to kill them when they finally enter combat....

Jokes and japes for the aged

September 4, 2024

Beetle Bailey, Blondie, and Shoe, 9/4/24 Look, we'd all like to believe that works of art spring from the pure, isolated genius of their creator's mind, but...

Soapy Tuesday

September 3, 2024

Gil Thorp, 9/3/24 I always joke about how the population of the Milford and the greater Valley Conference catchment area at large are completely crazed over...

Don't even get me STARTED on why we don't celebrate on May 1 like everyone else

September 2, 2024

Gil Thorp, 9/2/24 Happy Labor Day, everybody! I guess it's now an annual tradition for a continuity strip character to appear as Rosie the Riveter to promote...

Don't want my furniture talking or even thinking. Sorry if that's not "politically correct"

September 1, 2024

Mary Worth, 9/1/24 Hey guys! Sorry I didn't keep you up to date on the big drama at the Santa Royale Veterinarians Convention, which is that Dr. Ed ran into...

Sammy, stand up for yourself. We're on a deadline here

August 31, 2024

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith 8/31/24 You know, I've been doing this blog for two decades now, and yet somehow until today I've never paused to ask myself...

Looks like somebody got ... [puts on sunglasses] ... burned

August 30, 2024

Gil Thorp, 8/30/24 America yearns to know: What's up with the beloved new character "Torch" in Gil Thorp? Have we figured out if "Torch" is his first name,...

Somebody else planned this convention, so no, you'll actually find it considerably more difficult

August 29, 2024

Beetle Bailey, 8/29/24 I was going to say that Beetle's whining here is unrealistic, as well as being literally, legally insubordinate, but you know what?...

There's not a MONOPOLY on violence exactly, but those IOUs are essentially legal tender

August 28, 2024

Dick Tracy, 8/28/24 I guess the woman in the final panel is supposed to be looking up at a big screen, but it really looks like she's rolling her eyes in...

Tuesday quickies

August 27, 2024

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 8/27/24 Ha, get it, you thought she wanted Ernie to stop smoking tobacco, a dangerous and expensive habit ... but in fact,...

Space is the place ... for love

$ · August 26, 2024

Dick Tracy, 8/26/24 Someone who's had some weird romance arcs in his time is Junior, Dick Tracy's son in the comic strip Dick Tracy. Long ago he was married...