The Comics Curmudgeon

Mary will, of course, be giving away the bride

$ · November 6, 2022

Mary Worth, 11/6/22 Welp, it looks like Mary Worth does have an important lesson to teach us about love, and it’s that if your gal rejects your marriage...

They can print anything they want in the paper these days, because nobody reads them anymore

$ · November 5, 2022

Gil Thorp, 11/5/22 “Thanks for doing this on such short notice, Gil.” “Of course, Marjie. Actually it worked out great, because it turns out the football...

Metapost: The novel COTWirus

$ · November 4, 2022

Hey folks! Have you ever heard about a little something called karma???? It goes like this: I make an innocent little joke in which I call for the death of...

Tipsy Lockhorns >>>>>>> bored apes

$ · November 4, 2022

Dennis the Menace, 11/4/22 I actually think it’s more or less fine to do a syndicated newspaper strip that takes place in some kind of permanent 1950s boomer...

Will Gil be sleeping on the extra futon in Kaz's sex dojo???

$ · November 3, 2022

Gil Thorp, 11/3/22 The new Gil Thorp writer has definitely upped the strip's confusion game, which used to be centered on two plots you couldn't keep track...

Dennis has been wandering around in that soiled shirt for days, it's sad really

$ · November 2, 2022

Blondie, 11/2/22 I had a whole riff ready to go here about how I’m not a prude and it’s not like I think legacy comics characters shouldn’t feel and express...

Just a tip, kids: try not to fall to your death

$ · November 1, 2022

Funky Winkerbean, 11/1/22 Huh, well, I guess Funky really is shutting down Montoni’s after all? This of course provides a great opportunity to trace the...

Monday is for grudging respect

$ · October 31, 2022

Slylock Fox, 10/31/22 The thing I absolutely love and respect about Slick Smitty is that every time we see him, Slylock and the animal cops have him...

Weekend at the Perfesser's

$ · October 30, 2022

Hi and Lois, 10/30/22 I know it’s not considered “woke” to define a woman in terms of her husband, but I think we can all agree that the Bride of...

Railfans? Comic strips? Time to plug my novel, "The Enthusiast," available wherever books are sold!

$ · October 29, 2022

The Lockhorns, 10/29/22 “Heard joke once: Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening...

Friday FRAUDULENCE

$ · October 28, 2022

Funky Winkerbean, 10/28/22 Sorry, I refuse to get emotionally involved in this sudden revelation, which I'm reasonably sure is some kind of fakeout, mostly...

Plugger kind/ Cannot bear very much reality

$ · October 27, 2022

Shoe, 10/27/22 I’m trying to figure out what the funniest message the Joint Chiefs of Staff could send to a small-town newspaper on an 8 x 11 sheet of paper...

Truly, the man is a muddy mountain

$ · October 26, 2022

Rex Morgan, M.D., 10/26/22 I’ll admit it: I do a lot of bitching and moaning about all the “roots country” bullshit in Rex Morgan, M.D., and I appreciate the...

SUPER-IRIS TO THE RESCUE

$ · October 25, 2022

Mary Worth, 10/25/22 Good (?) news, everybody: Zak didn't fall to his death mid-selfie, or at least he hasn't yet! No, he's grabbed onto a cliffside branch,...

For once, Dithers looks more disappointed than angry

$ · October 24, 2022

Six Chix, 10/24/22 Ha ha, it’s a blood bank, get it? Get it? Anyway, what I find intriguing about this is that there doesn’t seem to be any way to insert a...

Going to a funeral for someone who spells their name "Zak" is objectively hilarious, sorry if this offends

$ · October 23, 2022

Dustin, 10/23/22 The thing about Dustin is that it was originally sold in 2010 as a look at Boomer-Millennial tensions, but also the Boomer dad is clearly...

Zut alors! Le massacre simulatif!

$ · October 22, 2022

Sam and Silo, 10/22/22 Now, I’ve never claimed on here to be “hip” or “young” or “with it” or “not a 48-year-old comics blogger,” but I spend a certain...

Metapost: Depths of COTW

$ · October 21, 2022

Folks!!!!! Just two weeks from today, in Los Angeles, we have a VERY SPECIAL Internet Read Aloud, featuring Annie Rauwerda of Depths Of Wikipedia fame, which...

Live by the app, die by the app

$ · October 21, 2022

Gil Thorp, 10/21/22 Look, we all know that there’s supposed to be an apostrophe in “Yonkers,” and the joke is that Madame Yonker’s fever is up, meaning she’s...

Gloria seems fun, I've always said this

$ · October 20, 2022

Mother Goose and Grimm, 10/20/22 You know what? You, yes you, have made the conscious choice to taked time out of your one wild and precious life to read a...

Crankshaft will not let the world off so easily

$ · October 19, 2022

Funky Winkerbean, 10/19/22 So, I guess several years ago Susan Smith thought about killing herself, but she was saved by the fortunate arrival of Ed...

Hellish and heavenly Tuesday

$ · October 18, 2022

Mother Goose and Grimm, 10/18/22 Yesterday, we learned that dogs are granted an automatic free pass into Paradise by God himself, overriding even the...

Let's get ready for SAAADDNESSSS

$ · October 17, 2022

Funky Winkerbean, 10/17/22 Look, I’m kind of face blind in real life, with actual human faces, and so since I’m dealing with a cartoon face here it’s wholly...

Poop and money

$ · October 15, 2022

Hi and Lois, 10/15/22 My first thought reading this was “Wow, who funded this strip?” because I refuse to believe that any ordinary person would just place...

Metapost: It's that time again. Time .... for your comments of the week

$ · October 14, 2022

No fuss no muss just COTW! "At that age, you should only have two possible items on your bucket list: either 'not dying' or 'dying.’” --Ettorre The runners...

Friday is for ass

$ · October 14, 2022

Beetle Bailey, 10/14/22 There’s a lot to potentially get hung up on here – Otto has a date, Otto and his date are talking rather than using thought balloons,...

I too am still trying to figure out what's going on, just in general

$ · October 13, 2022

Marvin, 10/13/22 Well, Marvin’s been at it for 40 years now, with the “it” that it’s been “at” mostly consisting of poop/piss jokes about the title...

At sea, scientifically

$ · October 12, 2022

Mother Goose and Grimm, 10/12/22 Whoops, I was going to do a whole bit about how this bulldog straight-up murdered someone in prison "the kennel," but it...

Tuesday is for old people

$ · October 11, 2022

Shoe, 10/11/22 If you want a sense of how very old the actual imagined target readership of the newspaper comics is, consider today's Shoe, which uses as the...

Remember finger quotin', folks? We're bringing it back

$ · October 10, 2022

Six Chix, 10/10/22 Man, it’s been a while since there’s been a Six Chix with so many specific inexplicable details as this one, and I feel like we need to...

Starting to see a pattern with all these losers, hmm

$ · October 9, 2022

Mary Worth, 10/9/22 Oh, God, remember when Tommy proposed to his girlfriend with an onion ring but she rejected him and then thought he had lapsed back into...

How is even saying that? OH WAIT HE ISN'T

$ · October 8, 2022

Hi and Lois, 10/8/22 A fun fact is that the Major League Baseball postseason expanded to a multi-round playoff format in 1969, and there's no timeline where...

Metapost: COME SEE MY DARN SHOW (plus COTW)

$ · October 7, 2022

Hello y'all! It's the first Friday of the month and that means if you are in or near Los Angeles, you should be coming to The Internet Read Aloud, live on...

Meanwhile, Loretta is cutting her goop (?) with a knife and fork

$ · October 7, 2022

Mary Worth, 10/7/22 Ladies! You want to know what it takes to get a man to "put a ring [not pictured] on it"? Well, apparently you just have to cook the same...

Various narrative takes on crime fighting

$ · October 6, 2022

Judge Parker, 10/6/22 Oh, were you excited about Sam's old partner Steve making a triumphant return to the strip? Well, too bad, it's been less than three...

Let's make Skeleton Wednesday a thing, folks

$ · October 5, 2022

Slylock Fox, 10/5/22 I'm very tickled by the fact that a mystery comic strip for kids (it's right there in the title! Slylock Fox and Comics for Kids! surely...

"Zak", "Kaz," hmm, there's something there, I think

$ · October 4, 2022

Gil Thorp, 10/4/22 Oh, isn't that nice, the Thorps are being hosted by Kaz and his girlfriend [record scratch] Rachel????? Huge news! Kaz had been dating...

Tasty Monday

$ · October 3, 2022

Mary Worth, 10/3/22 Ahh, after a little stalling, it's a new Mary Worth plot, and it looks like we're finally going to see the magic that makes the...

Also, Ed is absolutely going to destroy something in that yard in short order

$ · October 2, 2022

Crankshaft, 10/2/22 Huh, I'm a little surprised by "the Crankshafts" in that final panel. I guess I actually don't know off the top of my head what Pam and...

Sam and Detective Yelich are doing shots of Tang, I see

$ · October 1, 2022

Judge Parker, 10/1/22 Look, Sam is being yanked out of years of tedious domestic drama and thrown back into his derring-do role kind of abruptly, so I...

Friday quickies

$ · September 30, 2022

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 9/30/22 "So, guys, it's been a couple years and we've crunched the numbers and the new 'Sparkplug's Grandson Li'l Sparky'...

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...