The Comics Curmudgeon

Can't believe Buck lost this agenting gig to a guy named "Buzzy"

$ · September 4, 2023

Mary Worth, 9/4/23 Folks! Mary Worth is taking a moment off from her tale of old people engaging in state-sanction monogamy in order to acknowledge that Hot...

Who's the last comics writer who wore a tie while working, do you think

$ · September 3, 2023

Mary Worth, 9/3/23 For those who haven't been keeping up with Mary Worth in the aftermath of the Saul-Eve engagement, what happened was that Mary ran into...

This is a medical drama strip, take the courtroom drama over to <i>Judge Parker</i>

$ · September 2, 2023

Hi and Lois, 9/2/23 If you want a glimpse of how in mid-century America, syndicated newspaper cartooning used to be your ticket to a comfortable life,...

Metapost: Comment! Of! The! Week!

$ · September 1, 2023

No fuss, no muss, just the first COTW of September: "If he won't get down on his knee for the proposal, he won't be getting down there for the honeymoon...

The cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon, etc.

$ · September 1, 2023

Marvin, 9/1/23 I usually wouldn't describe the syndicated newspaper comic strip Marvin as "realistic," but I gotta say, Jenny in panels one and two really...

Fingers crossed the strip remains Ben Stiller-free

$ · August 31, 2023

Gil Thorp, 8/31/23 So before we get football season underway, Milford's students are doing some kind of Night At The Museum sleepover thing, only without the...

Get forgiven or die trying

$ · August 30, 2023

Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/30/23 I guess Mud Mountain Murphy's apology tour has now become Mud Mountain Murphy's relentless attempt to extract forgiveness from...

Hopefully this won't be as bad as the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars

$ · August 29, 2023

Hi and Lois, 8/29/23 Look, I'm just a simple city boy who's always had his trash collected by a municipal service department, and I don't understand the wily...

Love and death

$ · August 28, 2023

Mary Worth, 8/28/23 Big news: in the presence of their beloved dogs, Saul and Eve have agreed to marry one another! Since their last attempts at matrimony...

Fun and/or games

$ · August 27, 2023

Hi and Lois, 8/27/23 All the Walker-Browne golf strips are sad, of course, because they're about golf when they could be about literally anything else. But...

Animal nightmares (non-<i>Pluggers</i> edition)

$ · August 26, 2023

Gasoline Alley, 8/26/23 Hey, remember the bear in Gasoline Alley who can talk? Well, he found a human baby abandoned in the woods and brought him to the...

Metapost: Top comments? Of MY week? It's more likely than you think

$ · August 25, 2023

Friday morning means COMMENT OF THE WEEK! "I'm intrigued by Gil's 'Did I forget to...’ What rituals does he usually perform to ensure those 'OK to Burn' days...

Deadly Friday

$ · August 25, 2023

Judge Parker, 8/25/23 Look, Sophie, your parents might have accidentally kinda sorta agreed, under a certain amount of duress, to assassinate somebody, OK?...

Soapy quickies

$ · August 24, 2023

Gil Thorp, 8/24/23 "Take it up with mother nature, coach! Ever since the Great Blight killed most of the trees, we can't spare wood for frivolous purposes...

Lotta sicko material here today, quite honestly

$ · August 23, 2023

Dick Tracy, 8/23/23 Hey! Remember, Sprocket Nitrate, the ancillary Dick Tracy character whose whole deal is she goes around barefoot all the time? Well,...

How many ways times do we have to say "Pluggers are dying" before they actually die?

$ · August 22, 2023

Gil Thorp, 8/22/23 I guess Coach Hernandez didn't realize that his redemption and plush new job at Milford would come with a price, until Gil informed him...

Four runners is pretty weak turnout for a marathon, honestly

$ · August 21, 2023

Dick Tracy, 8/21/23 Hey, remember that Dick Tracy storyline that I wasn't really bothering to try to follow in any detail? Well, it's ended (?) with the main...

Grumpy Sunday

$ · August 20, 2023

Marvin, 8/20/23 You well know that I do not consider the syndicated comic strip Marvin to be the pinnacle of sequential art, but today's strip is even more...

"So, hypothetically, which level of hell am I in for?"

$ · August 19, 2023

Judge Parker, 8/19/23 Not to toot my own horn too much about literally doing my job (which is, and forever more shall be, reading and in some basic way...

Metapost: A new COTW, at last!

$ · August 18, 2023

After a long vacation sojourn, the comment of the week is BACK, everybody, and this is it: "'Truck? It's Mud.' Yep, that's how I expect Rex Morgan characters...

Are they in ... construction? Publishing? C'mon, throw us a bone

$ · August 18, 2023

Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/18/23 Not to be an old guy waxing rhapsodic about the past, but remember when Mud used to be fun? When every one of his word balloons was...

Don't do it, Mary! Don't leap into the comforting embrace of the sea

$ · August 17, 2023

The Phantom, 8/17/23 As noted by me and Uncle Lumpy, the "Death of the Phantom" arc is, after literal years, maybe going to finally end in the Phantom's...

The cyber-outlaw Mark Trail

$ · August 16, 2023

Mark Trail, 8/16/23 Look, I'm the first to admit that I'm an old person now, and if I accidentally clicked onto anyone doing a video livestream on any social...

Many soapy returns

$ · August 15, 2023

Hello, everybody! I'm back from my relaxing vacation, tanned, rested, and ready to mock the crap out of some comics. I must as always give thanks to Uncle...

Snuffynomics

$ · August 14, 2023

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 8/14/23 Recessions are grim in a barter economy. As scarce goods are consumed or worn out, folks commence to hoardin', losing...

World of Animals VI

$ · August 13, 2023

"Hello kids, and welcome back to World of Animals—I'm your beloved host, Carl. My goodness, it has been such a long time; let's dig right in to those...

His henchman drives a Volvo; how evil can he be, really?

$ · August 12, 2023

So ends the 2023 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Thank you, generous readers one and all! Blondie, 8/12/23 Herb may not be much of a neighbor, but he's...

Crime and punishment; sin and redemption

$ · August 11, 2023

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the last day of the 2023 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Hurry! Mark Trail,...

Donut daze

$ · August 10, 2023

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the 2023 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Mother Goose and Grimm, 8/10/23 The...

No guts; no gory

$ · August 9, 2023

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the 2023 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Baby Blues, 8/9/23 C'mon, Darryl, you...

Confusing relationships Tuesday

$ · August 8, 2023

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the 2023 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Dustin, 8/8/23 Pardon me, Dustin, but...

It's the 2023 Summer Fundraiser!

$ · August 7, 2023

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the 2023 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! When Josh launched The Comics...

And ask the doc to do something about those blackheads, OK Ed?

$ · August 7, 2023

Blondie, 8/7/23 … and my OnlyFans clients are insatiable! Crankshaft, 8/7/23 Medical Economics: Crankshaft pines for the days of general practitioners, but...

Is that a cigarette? Is that even allowed?

$ · August 6, 2023

Bizzaro, 8/6/23 Josh's dogged (foxxéd?) seventeen-year investigation into the post-animalpocalypse world of Slylock Fox has given us deep insights into the...

Robots also can't mock newspaper comic strips, what a relief

$ · August 5, 2023

Judge Parker, 8/5/23 Poor Sam looks so hangdog there trying to mumble his way out of a jam. But Abbey senses the glimmer of a Business Plan aborning: "You …...

Metapost: So long, farewell [for a week] [plus COTW]

$ · August 4, 2023

Hello, friends! Your COTW in a moment, but just a note that it'll be your last COTW for a little bit because I'm heading out on a li'l vacation tomorrow and...

Soapy Friday

$ · August 4, 2023

Mary Worth, 8/4/23 Greta and ... Max? What about Greta's prison love, Holly? Man, if you had told me that Mary Worth's grimdark tale of dogs being held...

Are the goalposts edible? And would it stop Dagwood if they weren't?

$ · August 3, 2023

Blondie, 8/3/23 It's a little unsettling that Blondie just produces this elaborate sandwich tray out of nowhere between the second and third panels. I'm...

Crows are terrified by merchant capitalism, it's true

$ · August 2, 2023

Gil Thorp, 8/2/23 God, can you imagine being part of an institution so dehumanizing and destructive to your identity that it strips your very name away from...

Need to break out of this "Oops! All prophecies!" narrative loop

$ · August 1, 2023

The Phantom, 8/1/23 The current Phantom storyline, broadly defined, has consisted of Old Man Mozz prophesying for our hero multiple different versions of how...

"Dustin" must end the generation war by admitting everyone sucks

$ · July 31, 2023

Rex Morgan, M.D., 7/31/23 OK, I actually can't decide now if this is supposed to be Mud being canny or if this app was made by Rene, who got Mud to sign...

Mud's gonna see if any of the weird culty stuff will work on the kids

$ · July 30, 2023

Rex Morgan, M.D., 7/30/23 Welp, it seems that, now that he's unshackled from his scam artist guru, our boy Mud Mountain Murphy is going all out to license...

"Your dog is fine," Dr. Ed sighs, unable to think of how to bill for this

$ · July 29, 2023

Mary Worth, 7/29/23 Are you suffering from depression? Well, the good people at Mary Worth suggest that you simply reunite with a long lost friend, which...

Metapost: An appeal to tweason (and COTW)

$ · July 28, 2023

Hello all! Your COTW in a moment, but first ... your boy Josh has somehow become banned from Twitter? And was given no specific reason why or told anything...

Innocent youth

$ · July 28, 2023

Family Circus, 7/28/23 Ah, sweet, unlearned Jeffy! Having heard his parents and grandparents telling treacly stories of guardian angels, he assumes that...

Europe would be much higher level of difficulty

$ · July 27, 2023

Crock, 7/27/23 The thing about ladies' butts is that the societal consensus on their optimal size has waxed and waned over the years: some decades have...

EXTREMELY sweet bolo tie on the warden there

$ · July 26, 2023

Gil Thorp, 7/26/23 Oh, wow, when I called for a wacky summer storyline, I didn't expect a dystopian plot where an flaboyantly dressed warden named "Reno...

Honestly, as Beetle's brother-in-law, Hi's thoughts on the troops are probably fairly ambiguous

$ · July 25, 2023

Crock, 7/25/23 Say what you will about the newspaper comic strips, but each one is a rich world filled with details that even dedicated daily readers might...

Begin the week SOAPY

$ · July 24, 2023

Dick Tracy, 7/24/23 I think, over the years that I've done this blog, that my brain has developed a protective layer that stops truly terrible (in a boring...

Dog-gone traumatic

$ · July 23, 2023

Mary Worth, 7/23/23 Oh, so I forget to tell you that when Greta was being held captive, she made friends with a fellow dog-prisoner, the one the cops were...