The Comics Curmudgeon

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August 28, 2025

Troubling biology

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 8/28/25

Imagine: You've just finished putting together the script for a perfectly serviceable Barney Google and Snuffy Smith strip, which hinges on wordplay around the phrase "Mr. Right." But then you remember: in Hootin' Holler patois, they never say "mister"; they say "mistopher." Does this make the joke clunkier and weirder, and leave the reader wondering if "mistopher" itself is part of the punchline? Well, yes. But it doesn't matter. You are the keeper of the sacred trust that is Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. You must scrupulously adhere to the lore, or else what's the point? Would you jettison decades of tradition for a single day's laugh? You wouldn't dare.

Pluggers, 8/28/25

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