Love a newspaper headline that eschews proper nouns
Crock, 12/5/24
If these two guys have names, I don't know what they are -- the Wikipedia Crock article just calls them "the men of Outpost 5," and they don't merit a mention on the official King Features Crock character list -- but their deal basically is that the guy on the right is always reading letters aloud about life in his hillbilly home town back in France (?). Anyway, I find today's bit actually kind of heartening. The guy on the left generally looks uninterested during these recitations, but it's clear he's been paying attention. He knows the lore!
Gil Thorp, 12/5/24
"Coach, let me rephrase that. It's cool that you decided to come back from your extended sick leave and all, but I get the feeling you're only doing it to engage in psychological gamesmanship against your hated rival and not because you're interested in molding a new generation of student-athletes or anything like that. I'm just a teenager who wants to play football! I don't think I should be going out there! I'm not equipped for the emotional complexity of this whole scene!"
Gearhead Gertie, 12/5/24
Some might say that having two near-identical drawings in this cartoon is "lazy," but I think it really hammers home Gertie's emotional state. Her beloved NASCAR is in danger due to internal conflict, and she's not exactly sure who to blame or how it's going to end -- maybe if she stays very still and just vaguely shit-talks the legal system, everything will work out for the best.