Some Thursday soapers

$ · September 29, 2022

Judge Parker, 9/29/22 Now that Sam Driver is extremely divorced, he can really get back to his roots as a character, by which I mean solving mysteries and...

I realize hoping Dagwood will be a responsible adult is a fool's errand, but still

$ · September 28, 2022

Blondie, 9/28/22 Look, I don’t want to dwell on the technical details here, which seem to be based on the misconception that “well you look at Instagram on...

Timecoach >>>>>>> Timecop

$ · September 27, 2022

Daddy Daze, 9/27/22 The lure of doing a comic strip about a baby is eternal, but of course each generation will do their own particular version reflecting...

Monday is for strolling

$ · September 26, 2022

Mary Worth, 9/26/22 A lot of you seemed to think that Mary and Jeff's dinner date was just a little palate cleanser before we moved on to the next, actual...

"I want to show films ... to the three people who are going to show up every night"

$ · September 25, 2022

Blondie, 9/25/22 This is another great example how the top row of “throwaway” panels can actually really alter the meaning of a strip. Without them, it’s the...

Noir Saturday

$ · September 24, 2022

Judge Parker, 9/24/22 Oh, gee, I guess we’ve been spending so much time exploring the wildly seesawing emotional conditions inside the heavily fortified...

Metapost: Live laughs and comment-related laughs

$ · September 23, 2022

Folks! Y'all know what time it is ... actually, it's time for two things, and the first is to remind you that if you're in LA, you should come to The...

One-panel Friday

$ · September 23, 2022

The Lockhorns, 9/23/22 Ha ha, it's funny because the Lockhorns are about to default on their mortgage, leaving them homeless and destitute! Dennis the...

The God of "Crock" is capricious, and bad at drawing

$ · September 22, 2022

Crock, 9/22/22 I know in my heart that this strip is 10-15 years old and started off with just “commercial” in the punchline but then at the last minute the...

Hump day is for MURDER

$ · September 21, 2022

Judge Parker, 9/21/22 Oh, sorry, it seems the Judge Parker brain trust has heard your little diatribes about how Judge Parker is boring now because it's all...

Sorry, young people: You, personally, are responsible for Marvin now

$ · September 20, 2022

Marvin, 9/20/22 You know I am loath to say anything positive about the syndicated comic strip Marvin, but I have to say that I'm reasonably impressed that...

That plane has no external markings so I assume they're all being flow to a CIA black site for interrogation

$ · September 19, 2022

Rex Morgan, M.D., 9/19/22 Say what you will about the glacial pacing and low stakes of Rex Morgan, M.D., but the art in today's strip really nails the facial...

Emotionally twisted Sunday

$ · September 18, 2022

Judge Parker, 9/18/22 Oh, hey, you all remember Marie, the longtime Spencer-Driver maid who, back in 2019, found out her husband faked his death because he...

Fighting for strip dominance

$ · September 17, 2022

Beetle Bailey, 9/17/22 God, I legitimately love this Beetle Bailey. Look at how absolutely miserable Halftrack is in that second panel! Golf is the thing he...

Metapost: THORPIAN DEEP LORE (plus comments of the week)

$ · September 16, 2022

Folks! Your COTW in a moment, but first: when I asked “who is Mel Gordon to Gil?” in my Thursday wrapup, I was failing my job as a Gil Thorp History Knower!...

Where my Dug-heads at

$ · September 16, 2022

Dick Tracy, 9/16/22 Say, folks, remember last year, when Sam smiled wryly when he learned he’d be receiving his copy of Derby Dugan: The Geebus Years two...

"Tears at the Bucket" is my new YA romance "Gil Thorp" spinoff

$ · September 15, 2022

Gil Thorp, 9/15/22 Sure, all the FLASH AND DAZZLE in Gil Thorp lately has been “there are trans and nonbinary characters in Gil Thorp now,” but those of us...

Let's get medieval all up in here

$ · September 14, 2022

Hagar the Horrible, 9/14/22 Feels like someone over at Walker-Browne Amalgamated Humor Industries LLC is trying to feed into my "when exactly in history does...

Sad react theater

$ · September 13, 2022

Dustin, 9/13/22 You gotta respect (and by "you gotta respect" I mean "you are not at all required to respect, and in fact I'd think a lot less of you if you...

Soapy Monday

$ · September 12, 2022

Judge Parker, 9/12/22 Hey, remember when Judge Parker Senior ran a vanity campaign for mayor, and not only didn’t win but ended up dropping out before the...

Sunday quickies

$ · September 11, 2022

Mary Worth, 9/11/22 Man, I wasn’t sure how Mary was going to use her Jedi mind powers to get Dawn to rationalize herself out of her rage over getting dumped...

TRIUMPHANT RETURN from vacation to comics

$ · September 10, 2022

FOLKS!!!! It is I, Josh, your Comics Curmudgeon, and I am back from vacation! Let's all say a huge thank you to Uncle Lumpy for his delightful filling in,...

Friday wrap-up

September 9, 2022

Sam and Silo, 9/9/22 In their book Engineering Happiness, economists Rakesh Sarin and Manel Baucells define the “fundamental question” of wellbeing as...

Into the narrative abyss

September 8, 2022

Mark Trail, 9/8/22 New Mark Trail introduces new characters and subplots so often that it’s easy for readers to get lost. The entire “Jimmy Songbird geese...

Summoning Shady Shrew

September 7, 2022

Slylock Fox, 9/7/22 (panel) Well, you could find all the S-words. Alternatively, you could assign names beginning with the letter S to all the elements:...

Losing the thread

September 6, 2022

Judge Parker, 9/6/22 Spencer Farms gets relabeled Spencer Ranch, and now the local news runs a picture of former Mayor Sanderson over the name of current...

Labor Day labor-saving quickies

September 5, 2022

It's Labor Day in the U S of A and Canada—let's see how our pals in the comics are kicking back on the unofficial Last Day of Summer! Mary Worth, 9/5/22 Mary...

World of Animals V

September 4, 2022

"Hello kids, and welcome back to World of Animals — I'm your beloved host, Carl. Well, it seems like it's been forever, so let's all catch up — on...

God help us when they get to Pluggers

September 3, 2022

So ends the 2022 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser. As much as the blog depends on its regular subscribers, it's one-off, "drive-by" contributions from...

Since when did Dick get all prissy about due process?

September 2, 2022

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. Omigosh, it’s the last day of the 2022 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Hurry! Dick...

Gil, grilled and gutted

September 1, 2022

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the 2022 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Crankshaft, 9/1/22 "With no access to...

Twee spree

August 31, 2022

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It’s the 2022 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Soapers, joke-a-day, and occasional...

At least they're not flatworms yo, that stuff is gross

August 30, 2022

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the 2022 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Sherman's Lagoon, 8/30/22 Sharks mate...

It's the 2022 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser!

August 29, 2022

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It’s the 2022 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! When Josh launched The Comics...

As the World Thorps

August 29, 2022

Gil Thorp, 8/29/22 Seems its new author is transforming Gil Thorp from one of newspaper comics' few remaining sports strips into a full-blown soaper, and at...

It's Spencer "Farms," Marie, you're supposed to know that

August 28, 2022

Judge Parker, 8/28/22 It’s excruciating watching poor Marie’s unspoken pleading as Abbey looks past and through her, slamming back those screwdrivers. “B-but...

Changing lanes

August 27, 2022

Arctic Circle, 8/27/22 Arctic Circle boldly swerves out of its lane (preachy environmental half-jokes) directly into the oncoming traffic of toilet humor....

Lots of exposition here; not gonna lie

August 26, 2022

Between Friends, 8/26/22 Between Friends mixes joke-a-day and soapy arcs about three middle-aged women and should therefore be called Among Friends, but...

Metapost: Pre-vacation comments of the week!

$ · August 25, 2022

FOLKS! You’re getting an early COTW because I, your friend the Comics Curmudgeon, am going on a li’l vacation! I’ll be back on September 10th but until then...

Thursday is for makin' quick jokes about the LADIES, amiright?

$ · August 25, 2022

Crankshaft, 8/25/22 I love Jeff's sly little smile in the second panel here. He seems to be saying "Ha ha, the ladies, amiright? Can't live with 'em (because...

These guys need a high school DEunion if you ask me

$ · August 24, 2022

Funky Winkerbean, 8/24/22 This week’s Funky Winkerbean is about Holly and Funky going to their high school reunion, which I think is hilarious, and to be...

She got two words of Spanish into that sentence, just enough to watch them start to panic

$ · August 23, 2022

Gil Thorp, 8/23/22 Ohhhh, I get it now! All that bluster from Gil’s new nemesis? It was just flirting! His aggressive on-airpod proclamation that he was...

The trades are very lucrative, this is a fact and not funny at all

$ · August 22, 2022

Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/22/22 Oh ho. Oh ho ho. It's a new week and a new storyline in Rex Morgan, M.D., and the game, as they say, is afoot! Buck's about to be...

Criminal Sunday

$ · August 21, 2022

Panel from Slylock Fox, 8/21/22 You ever think that Count Weirdly is just kind of greedy? I mean, he already has an extremely cool customized rocket-plane...

Saturday is for ass

$ · August 20, 2022

Hagar the Horrible, 8/20/22 What do you think the origin is of "grotesquely exaggerated cleft chin" being a comics shorthand for "handsome"? Was it a Cary...

Sadly, I understood that reference in Funky Winkerbean

$ · August 19, 2022

Crankshaft, 8/19/22 “Slight markup” is my favorite part of this. Crankshaft isn’t doing this for the money! He’s doing it so he can make a big show out of...

Jared Strikes Back

$ · August 18, 2022

Mary Worth, 8/18/22 Oh, man, Mary is truly, truly cruel, because after having a brief cafeteria talk with Jared, she's decided she's going to force Dawn to...

"Inconstancy," the adjective normal college students use all the time

$ · August 17, 2022

Family Circus, 8/17/22 The Keanes have been on vacation in New York City for a couple weeks now, in a series of panels that are actually reruns from decades...

Is Dawn going to stop talking long enough to choke down that muffin

$ · August 16, 2022

Beetle Bailey, 8/16/22 Feel like it’s been a long time since I saw someone actually smoking a tobacco cigarette in a newspaper comic strip, and while I...

By Friday someone had better either be terminally ill or so healthy they have superpowers

$ · August 15, 2022

Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/15/22 Ah, good news, everybody! It looks like Andrzej and Tildy may have had some health scares, but they're on the mend and all this...