The Comics Curmudgeon

Metapost: Summertime ... and the COTWing is easy

$ · June 23, 2023

Hope you’re all enjoying your June as much as I know you’ll enjoy this week’s comment of the week! "From inside the burlap sack, Jones listened carefully. It...

Remember when Niki used to be cool? Kelly clearly doesn't, because she's still fighting for this relationship

$ · June 23, 2023

Rex Morgan, M.D., 6/23/23 So it seems that Niki is going to turn down the college scholarship he earned by helping Rex recapture some escaped prisoners,...

Genuinely curious as to what percentage of normal people can ID characters from "Pickles"

$ · June 22, 2023

Blondie, 6/22/23 Let's put aside, for the moment, the fact we're dealing with three famous (?) comics couples here. What are the circumstances under which...

Also, I am reasonably sure you could top that one

$ · June 21, 2023

Shoe, 6/21/23 Here's a little free hint for comic strip writers everywhere: if you come up with a line of dialogue and you think, "Well, I can't top that...

Caged lukewarmth

$ · June 20, 2023

Gil Thorp, 6/20/23 Some years back, the state of Maryland renamed the government agency in charge of courts, detention facilities, and parole supervision for...

They're signed "sincerely," how mean-spirited could they be

$ · June 19, 2023

Slylock Fox, 6/19/23 There was a truly incredible report a few months ago that featured extensive quotes from Taliban fighters who, after spending two...

Genuinely curious as to what percentage of normal people can ID characters from "Pickles"

$ · June 18, 2023

Panel from Slylock Fox, 6/18/23 This image is, quite frankly, one of the most horrifying that Slylock Fox has presented me with in all my years of reading...

More like Saint BEEFer amiright

$ · June 17, 2023

Pardon My Planet, 6/17/23 Look, I am not a vegetarian (anyone who’s met me IRL will have a good chortle at me having to preface anything with this), but if...

It doesn't look THAT destroyed to be hones

$ · June 16, 2023

Dick Tracy, 6/16/23 Dick Tracy is, indeed, a rich tapestry: one of its supporting characters, Diet Smith, is a wealthy scientist whose inventions have...

Just shovel the poop overboard, man. Problem solved

$ · June 15, 2023

Judge Parker, 6/15/23 Sorry you're a coward, Sophie, but I actually would've liked to have seen the process by which Abbey decided to "get back out there" on...

Soaptastic Wednesday

$ · June 14, 2023

Mary Worth, 6/14/23 Look, I know I have to tread delicately here, because organized dog fighting is very real and very awful. But since this is Mary Worth...

Varying types of Dennis-free menacing

$ · June 13, 2023

Hagar the Horrible, 6/13/23 Look, it’s fun when I do jokes about how Hagar the Horrible, as a Viking warrior chieftain, would realistically be responsible...

True tales of Josh life (plus some comics quickies)

$ · June 12, 2023

Pearls Before Swine, 6/10/23 I’m taking a slight break from my usual routine here to relay a personal anecdote. On Saturday, I went to a showing of The...

The latest Newsweek hasn't arrived yet but she'll keep Saul updated on what it says

$ · June 11, 2023

Mary Worth, 6/11/23 Yes, blah blah, Saul breaks down sobbing because his beloved Greta has become bait for for fighting dogs (DO NOT WORRY, THERE IS ZERO...

Good news and bad news

$ · June 10, 2023

Mary Worth, 6/10/23 Look, I am a huge animal lover. My wife and I have two cats that we dote on and spend a probably unreasonable amount of time thinking and...

Metapost: Comedy toooNIGHT (plus COTW)

$ · June 9, 2023

That’s right folks: it’s the 2nd Friday of the month, and you know what that means: LIVE ON-STAGE COMEDY IN LOS ANGELES, FROM YOURS TRULY! Here is the...

Friday is time for me to educate you about CINEMA

$ · June 9, 2023

Dustin, 6/9/23 Under The Skin is a truly great and unsettlingly weird movie that is, probably, about an alien who’s been sent to Earth to capture and harvest...

Dog dads and ward grads

$ · June 8, 2023

Mary Worth, 6/8/23 Looks like Santa Royale Action News has gotten wind of the van-based dognapping gang haunting the region, and thank goodness they're...

Wednesday is for weird office stuff

$ · June 7, 2023

Dustin, 6/7/23 I would hesitate to ever say you have to hand it to the syndicated comic strip Dustin, but you do have to hand it to the syndicated comic...

The Perfersser usually wears a shirt and no pants, but at the gym he reverses it I guess

$ · June 6, 2023

Pluggers and Shoe, 6/6/23 How are the various human-animal hybrid monstrosities of the Jeff MacNelly Extended Universe grappling with the concept of the...

Suburban disquiet

$ · June 5, 2023

Mary Worth, 6/5/23 Haha, remember how when Saul Wynter was first introduced to this strip, Toby made a big show of not liking him, and when his original,...

People on the phone can't tell you're barefoot, true story

$ · June 4, 2023

Dennis the Menace, 6/4/23 Part of my whole shtick on this blog is making fun of comics that just do the same jokes over and over, which itself has become...

No, it's a real scam. If a scam was "phoney," it would be a legitimate business offer

$ · June 3, 2023

Gil Thorp, 6/3/23 Keri, I'm not really sure that you need preternatural powers of empathy to "sense of jealousy" from a guy whose dad is lavishing so much...

Metapost: It's comedy ... it's comments of the week ... it's BOTH

$ · June 2, 2023

That’s right folks: next Friday is the 2nd Friday of the month, and you know what that means: LIVE ON-STAGE COMEDY IN LOS ANGELES, FROM YOURS TRULY! Here is...

Adventures in time

$ · June 2, 2023

Family Circus, 6/2/23 Nextdoor, the social network that's like Facebook except instead of people who you actually like or at least know it's full of people...

Yet more youths

$ · June 1, 2023

Rex Morgan, M.D., 6/1/23 Many, many years ago, God, so many years ago, what have I done with my life, is this all there is … wait, what was I talking about?...

That chicken is ready to do some karate chops

$ · May 31, 2023

Beetle Bailey, 5/31/23 The whole “Beetle and Miss Buxley are dating” bit is a recent development in this strip and I’m on the record as strongly opposed to...

Mostly teen Tuesday

$ · May 30, 2023

Gil Thorp, 5/30/23 One of the things I’ve always respected about baseball (the men’s version) is that, as with all sports, sometimes a level of disrespect is...

Spiritual Monday

$ · May 29, 2023

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 5/29/23 You might think that the inhabitants of Hootin’ Holler would object to the fact their only clergyman is a grifter and...

Unfortunately, heaven is other people too

$ · May 28, 2023

Family Circus, 5/28/23 The Good Place was a great philosophical afterlife sitcom, and in its later seasons you learn that the titular Good Place (its...

Soapy dullness

$ · May 27, 2023

Judge Parker, 5/27/23 Oh, can’t remember if I mentioned that the CIA let April out of prison, but: the CIA let April out of prison, presumably because they...

Metapost: Long weekend COTW

$ · May 26, 2023

Whether you have Monday off or you’ll be working hard on Saturday and Sunday, let today’s comment of the week lift you up: "Harwoods! Just checking to see if...

Please do not mistake me for a snob, I love a starch

$ · May 26, 2023

Shoe, 5/26/23 I know that restaurants generically calling side dishes like potatoes or rice or whatever “starches” was a thing at one point, but is it still...

Mostly baseball

$ · May 25, 2023

Shoe, 5/25/23 I'm not sure if we's supposed to understand here that Skyler is literally running away from home (if he is, he's violating the cardinal rule...

Trixie will be rendered using what critics are calling "the most unsettling CGI yet"

$ · May 24, 2023

Six Chix, 5/24/23 Six Chix is a long-running feature that dares to ask the question, “What if women wrote a comic strip? What would we learn about the female...

How many dead Houndstooths (Houndsteeth?) are there exactly

$ · May 23, 2023

Mary Worth, 5/23/23 We don't know a ton about Saul's past, but we do know that he was forced by his family to abandon his true love and enter into some kind...

Soapy catch-ups

$ · May 22, 2023

Gil Thorp, 5/22/23 Oh, were you wondering if the Great Vape Caper was still underway and still funding the Milford Athletic Department and/or the lifestyles...

Sunday is for old people

$ · May 21, 2023

Rex Morgan, M.D., 5/21/23 We all know that newspaper comics in general and newspaper soap opera comics in particular are being kept alive by a readership...

Can't stop staring at that blatantly traced grill

$ · May 20, 2023

Blondie and Hi and Lois, 5/20/23 As a participant in the childfree lifestyle, I appreciate what representation I can find in the comics, even if it's just...

Metapost: C! O! T! W!

$ · May 19, 2023

It’s that time of month, y’all … time for the comment of the week! "I see why Jeff bought a much bigger boat. If you want to discuss Wilbur's sex prowess and...

Several opinions from Josh about comic strips

$ · May 19, 2023

Beetle Bailey, 5/19/23 It is of course a long-established joke in Beetle Bailey that Sarge is a cartoonish glutton, but every once in a while they also do a...

Only Thirsty has the wisdom necessary to transcend samsara

$ · May 18, 2023

Dick Tracy, 5/18/23 A question I have often had reason to contemplate is “Who is [any given legacy comic strip still being produced in the year 2023] for,...

It's hard for Mud to think clearly, up there where the oxygen is so thin

$ · May 17, 2023

Gil Thorp, 5/17/23 How is Gil’s arch-rival Luke Hernandez dealing with Gil’s secret baseball weapon, a blind pitcher teaching the Mudlarks to open their...

No Apologies Needed For Being Basic As Hell: The Jeff and Mary Story

$ · May 16, 2023

Mary Worth, 5/16/23 Look, I'm a guy who likes to eat out, and LA has an great food scene with amazing high- and low-end restaurants, but definitely at the...

Also that rocket doesn't have the fuel capacity to reach orbit, like at all

$ · May 15, 2023

Slylock Fox, 5/15/23 I genuinely love the contrast in Max and Sly's affect here, in line with the tale spun by the mystery. Max is just in the midst of a...

Even more sexual Sunday

$ · May 14, 2023

Hi and Lois, 5/14/23 This is truly one of the wildest throwaway panels I’ve ever seen. Readers of space-constrained newspapers are just getting a classic...

Sort of sexual Saturday

$ · May 13, 2023

Shoe, 5/13/23 We talk a lot on here about the Shoe goggle eyes of horror, with the horror in question being experienced by the Shoe character and the goggle...

Metapost: COTW (and virtual laffs only)

$ · May 12, 2023

Folks! Apologies to anyone who had planned to come to the Internet Read Aloud in LA tonight – the theater is having both plumbing and HVAC problems so I had...

The shirt was designed by someone who likes mud as a concept, it's not licensed merch

$ · May 12, 2023

Gil Thorp, 5/12/23 Gil Thorp is notorious for bringing back beloved characters from years past, and so when I recognized Gregg Hamm’s name I was excited to...

The frolicking dolphins are eager to welcome Wilbur to the watery grave he keeps dodging

$ · May 11, 2023

Six Chix, 5/11/23 So the thing about "sudden," as a noun, is that it has completely fallen out of use in English outside the set phrase "all of a sudden,"...