The Comics Curmudgeon

Third-degree Wednesday

$ · September 15, 2021

Gil Thorp, 9/15/21 [clears throat] [extremely Beavis from Beavis and Butt-Head voice] FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! [takes a long,...

Kind of Menace

$ · September 14, 2021

Dennis the Menace, 9/14/21 I am absolutely in love with the idea of Mr. Wilson’s identity as a jazz hepcat suddenly becoming another weak point that Dennis...

Nonsense is more tolerable when the art is good, it turns out

$ · September 13, 2021

Six Chix, 9/13/21 I know I often slag on Six Chix for doing strips that are opaque, baffling nonsense, so here’s a change of pace: today’s strip is opaque,...

Leroy as a clarinetist? So wrong it's right

$ · September 12, 2021

Daddy Daze, 9/12/21 Guys, look. I never wanted to have a non-trivial percentage of my waking hours haunted by thoughts of what caused the marriage of the...

"Should I NOT be insufferable and angry all the time?" thinks Wilbur

$ · September 11, 2021

Shoe, 9/11/21 Spending too much energy thinking about world-building in newspaper comics is probably a waste of time, but [gestures at thousands of posts on...

Metapost: COTW is BACK, baby!

$ · September 10, 2021

I returned from my absence this week to once again judge the living and the dead, the funny and the not-funny, and I decree the following to be this week’s...

Friday is (mostly) for children

$ · September 10, 2021

Family Circus, 9/10/21 A lot has changed for me, both in my life and vis-à-vis my relationship to the comics, since I started this blog in 2004, and...

Soapy Thursday

$ · September 9, 2021

Gil Thorp, 9/9/21 Big news, everybody! Usually football dominates the Gil Thorp fall storyline, just like it dominates the American sports fan's mind, but...

Excited for Halftrack's collaboration with Mr. Brainwash

$ · September 8, 2021

Dennis the Menace, 9/8/21 We all know, of course, that every time the Henry and Alice Mitchell attempt to make friends, their very first social engagement...

TRIUMPHANT POST-LABOR-DAY RETURN COMICS!

$ · September 7, 2021

Hello, everyone, I have returned to my comics mocking duties! Everyone who gave to the summer fundraiser will be getting a personal thank you note, but I...

Ah, Wilderness!

$ · September 6, 2021

Mark Trail, 9/6/21 I’ve been enjoying Mark’s fish-out-of-water misadventures in wildlife-themed social media, and especially Cherry’s return to Elrod-era...

World of Animals IV

$ · September 5, 2021

“Hello kids, and welcome back to World of Animals — I’m your beloved host, Carl. Well, it’s been quite a while, so let’s all catch up — on entertaining...

The future lies ahead - or DOES it?

$ · September 4, 2021

So ends the 2021 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Thank you, everybody! Mark Trail, 9/4/21 It’s charming that with Mark’s long-running Woods and Wildlife...

Never again four hairs—now am I like unto a god!

$ · September 3, 2021

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. Oh my gosh it's the last day of the 2021 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Hurry!...

Time after time

$ · September 2, 2021

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It’s the 2021 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Choose your own payment modality!...

Quandries (now with visible comics!)

$ · September 1, 2021

Apologies for the HTML screwup in this morning's newsletter -- here's the real thing! Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options....

Quandries

$ · September 1, 2021

<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_donations"/><input type="hidden" name="business"...

Farther afield

$ · August 31, 2021

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It's the 2021 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! Contribute, subscribe, send cash,...

It's the Summer 2021 Comics Curmudgeon Fundraiser!

$ · August 30, 2021

Click the banner to contribute by PayPal, or here for other options. It’s the 2021 Comics Curmudgeon Summer Fundraiser! When The Comics Curmudgeon started...

Back to school

$ · August 30, 2021

Oh my gosh it’s the last week of August, and if kids haven’t already gone back to whatever passes for school in 2021, they’re thinking hard about it. Let’s...

Hollywood blues

$ · August 29, 2021

Funky Winkerbean, 8/29/21 Oh, poor Les is leaving Hollywood—a place he slags relentlessly, creeps out, ham-handedly bilks, and now pretends to relish...

"It's a matter of honor now, me and this cat"

$ · August 28, 2021

Funky Winkerbean, 8/28/21 "Wait, you don't have cancer? And here I thought you were coming on to me, you little tease!" Judge Parker, 8/28/21 A Christmas...

Metapost: I'm outta he-e-e-e-e-re (plus COTW)

$ · August 27, 2021

Hey everybody! I’m off on a little vacation for the next week and change, but have no fear: your favorite Uncle Lumpy will be here to keep you up to date on...

Sorry to get even grosser but I must speak my truth

$ · August 27, 2021

Funky Winkerbean, 8/27/21 Oh wow, oh wow, not only did the actress playing Lisa have breast cancer, just like Lisa, but in a very real and meaningful way,...

Freud would say there are no accidents, piss-wise

$ · August 26, 2021

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 8/26/21 I'm a big believer that most comic-strip level gags should include exactly the amount of information they need to...

Glad it's good for SOMEONE

$ · August 25, 2021

Slylock Fox, 8/25/21 Based on the animal quiz that accompanies this drawing, that's clearly supposed to be a wolf out there howling at the moon, and I'm very...

Libby does not even want any delicious barbecue, this is entirely an attack move

$ · August 24, 2021

Mary Worth, 8/24/21 Well, Libby sure didn't ask for this war, but it seems she is determined to win it. We have every confidence that she will, of course....

TIME DRONE: The Drone That Experiences Time

$ · August 23, 2021

Gil Thorp, 8/23/21 Say what you will about Gil Thorp, and I’ve said a lot, but at least it has a certain level of realism that other strips lack, in the...

Something's happening (barely)

$ · August 22, 2021

Funky Winkerbean, 8/22/21 Continuity comic strips are actually a great example of how you can have a long-running narrative art form with very little...

Not sure if Dolly is trying to make out with that tree or eat it

$ · August 21, 2021

Family Circus, 8/21/21 I have already shamefully admitted that I kind of like Billy when he's being surly and aggressively ignorant, so this this panel is a...

Metapost: The COTW you demand

$ · August 20, 2021

You want this week’s top comment? You got it, buddy. "I'm actually super-impressed with the couch. Yes, it's drawn super-low and weird... but the cartoonist...

Mostly apocalyptic Friday

$ · August 20, 2021

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 8/20/21 The residents Hootin' Holler were vaguely aware that some catastrophe had caused the collapse of the flatlanders'...

Don't get me started on the rest of the room, empty except for a table with nothing on it

$ · August 19, 2021

Six Chix, 8/19/21 Only I have the guts to say it: this is the worst couch anyone has ever seen in the comics. At first glance it looks kind of like it might...

Mr. Wilkins ... if you're nasty

$ · August 18, 2021

Judge Parker, 8/18/21 Damn it, Judge Parker, it’s fine when I accuse the Spencer-Drivers of doing a little light insurance fraud, but I don’t like the vibes...

Libby absolutely knows how important Wilbur's opinions are in the grand scheme of things (not important at all)

$ · August 17, 2021

Mary Worth, 8/17/21 Ha ha, remember that time Wilbur got drunk and obnoxious on a double date with his Estelle and his ex and his ex's new hot young...

WIL-BURRRRRRR

$ · August 16, 2021

Mary Worth, 8/16/21 Oh, snap! Did Drew get emotional closure on the whole getting-dumped-by-Ashlee situation? Nope! Did we ever really find out why Ashlee...

The "Comics Curmudgeon" is a brand name, that's a totally different situation

$ · August 15, 2021

Daddy Daze, 8/15/21 When I first read this strip, I felt an immediate spike of anger when I got to panel four. "Damn it," I thought. "It's Superman for whom...

"In our house, we call it 'YWHW's Gorge'"

$ · August 14, 2021

Family Circus, 8/14/21 So what’s changed in the 17 years since this panel last graced my blog? Well, for one thing, Ma Keane’s attitude on theological...

Metapost: Just another COTW-day Friday

$ · August 13, 2021

Your comment of the week is here for your enjoyment! "We are discounting the possibility that Mary's 'vegetables’ were just real roots of some remnant plants...

Old favorites

$ · August 13, 2021

Funky Winkerbean, 8/13/21 So, in case you haven't been keeping track and/or want to feel a million years old, Lisa's death in Funky Winkerbean happened...

Can't really explain the ice bucket, maybe he just keeps them stashed all over the house

$ · August 12, 2021

Mark Trail, 8/12/21 Oh, uh, the “Mark parties with influencers” storyline has wrapped up, and I’m not going to describe everything that happened (it was...

Billy dreams of the greatest Kompound yet

$ · August 11, 2021

Daddy Daze, 8/11/21 I think we're all well aware that the actual cat poster caption is "Hang In There, Baby," which led to me read this strip and immediately...

This golf grift seems very complicated and honestly deserves to succeed

$ · August 10, 2021

Gil Thorp, 8/10/21 I’ve been making lots of jokes about not being able to understand any of the golf lingo in Gil Thorp, but guess what: I’ve been carefully...

Funkyverse complaints

$ · August 9, 2021

Crankshaft, 8/9/21 You know, after many years in the comics-mocking biz, you get somewhat inured to the foibles of the daily strips. That's why it's good to...

"Dubs vs. subs" is the argument that will finally tear Rex and June apart

August 8, 2021

Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/8/21 ME, MERE DAYS AGO: ugh, this whole thing with Sarah is so boring, can we please move on to someone else, even Buck would be better...

The circle of life

August 7, 2021

Blondie, 8/7/21 Elmo’s friend – and look, probably, somewhere deep within Blondie HQ, there’s a whole character chart with a name and a backstory for this...

Metapost: Getchya comments of the week right here

$ · August 6, 2021

Psst. Hey buddy. Wanna buy a COTW? "The whole point of nephewism is that it doesn't come with the baggage of parenthood. When Skyler is unnecessary and...

Gloomy Friday

August 6, 2021

Mary Worth, 8/6/21 One of my favorite things in Mary Worth is when we cut away from the main action of the current plot to other characters, commenting...

First as hilarity, then as snooze

August 5, 2021

Rex Morgan, M.D., 8/5/21 It is truly amazing the way this strip has retconned its Sarah storyline from 2014, in which she made a lucrative book deal with the...

Joshreads dot com will NEVER respect the corporate language police!!!! (Unless they even vaguely threaten to sue me)

August 4, 2021

Baby Blues, 8/4/21 You ever see a tiny, almost invisible piece of writing that just ruins your whole day? That happened to me today, and that piece of...