Dogs and Verbage!

I've been remiss (because I've been treating Sundays as "forget we own a computer day") to mention that "Non-Sequitor" has been absolutely brilliant in its story of Basil and the city of Atlantis. You just don't see that kind of whimsy in the funny pages every day. Which is why, I suppose it's only on Sundays.

That strip can be forgiven for its verbosity since it usually has more of a point than a punchline. However, other strips were quite wordy today, including "Hagar The Horrible" and "Luann". Sometimes you don't want to read a book. Sometimes you just want to laugh without accompanying eye-strain.

There was also an odd little 'L'-shaped block of dogs in the pages today - "Beetle Bailey", "Fred Basset" and "Mother Goose and Grimm" were all very much "Dogly."

The customer service tech plotline in "Baldo" (depicting them literally as clowns) has been uproarious, but today's featuring the hispanic clown was a total gem!

The Gall!

It's only a matter of time before Therese's mom gets told off in "For Better Or For Worse". The idea of asking for no gifts-just money has already got April and Ellie steamed. Today's strip suggests that at some point, there's going to be some "listen here!" smack-down.

Delightful Discoveries

I'm always amused by comic strips that reference other comic strips or cartoon characters - like Toontown in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", it underscores the idea that the characters in strips and toons all live in an alternate universe. Today's "Beetle Bailey" enforces that concept with Sarge taking punching lessons from Popeye.

While checking out some of the many syndicated comics websites out there, I happened upon a delightful strip that's offered at Comics.com as a web exclusive. It's the story of a fairy and her misadventures in the real world and I've been instantly hooked. Pibgorn is a fun discovery!

Everything's Relative

I've been watching "Luann" deal with the rigors of high school since 1978, which is to say that she's either in a state of suspended animation (ha-ha) or that time moves super-slow in that strip. This kind of time continuum is present in a few comics that feature perpetually ageless characters that never seem to age one bit. Strips like "Dennis The Menace" and "Beetle Bailey" are stuck in a universe that preserves them simply as they are - only their lines change ever-so-subtly due to the aging of the artist. Other strips, like "For Better Or For Worse" handle change with admirable aplomb, aging characters before our eyes - growing them up, giving them children and marriages. It truly is one of the best strips out there today, and this week, young April, who is certainly growing up right before our eyes, is finally about to give the superficial and shallow Becky her very valuable two cents.

"Sally Forth" this week is diving into the past when Sally and Ted first met - and I have to wonder, is she the most sarcastic and snide woman in comics today? Ted is some guy, to be able to not only put up with that, but to return fire. I like Sally, but I'd love to see a strip that gets into some origins with her. What makes her that way?

And did I miss something with "For Better Or For Worse"? According to "Mother Goose And Grimm", I did. When did "the dog" die? After a little research, I realized that the current sheepdog, Edgar, is the son of Farley, whom did indeed perish while saving young April from a river (I missed that one!) Thankfully, the site's archives helped me to catch up. Poignant and amazing stuff.

Gotta Skim

Between being sick and running like a madman, I've been skimming the comics lately. There's been some spillover - "Zits" had a few strips about Jeremy's gratuitous cel phone bill, which is now also the subject of "Baldo".

Question: does anyone find "Fred Basset" funny? It took me awhile to realize that it's actually a British-flavored (or is that "flavoured") strip, which would account for some of the head-scratching, but it totally seems to exist in a different world than most other comics. I suppose it has to grow on you.

Rushed

I hate it when there's no time in the morning to read the funnies, or if I have to rush through them. Seems I never get around to picking back up where I left off in the evening. Here's a question: do you read the funnies from top to bottom and left to right? Or do you skip around, saving the best for last?

In The Orlando Sentinel, your average reader will finish up with "Dennis The Menace", "The Family Circus" and "Doonesbury" (in today's strip, I'm getting the impression that Duke and Honey are about to take a trip down memory lane....)

Doonesbury's Duke

All eyes are on Duke this week.

The Extremes of Tooniness

My first commentary on a Sunday strip has to do with "Boondocks", normally a quizzical little comic that prominently features an angry young black kid and his somewhat dysfunctional family (a universe that so-far features only one female figure, a sister of some sort). The strip is more chuckle-inducing than flat-out funny, and spends a lot of time toeing the line of severe social commentary, but yesterday's one-panel gem featuring Pinky and the Brain of "Animaniacs" as new Wal-Mart employees was an absolute scream.

Well, it happened. In today's Doonesbury, the reaction to the death of Hunter S. Thompson has surfaced as a madly funny bit of surrealism. I don't know if it will be a one-strip joke or if the concept of Duke's "nasty karmic shift" will play out, but the third panel pay-off, rendered in all its Ralph Steadman-esque glory, is totally priceless.

The Extremes of Tooniness

My first commentary on a Sunday strip has to do with "Boondocks", normally a quizzical little comic that prominently features an angry young black kid and his somewhat dysfunctional family (a universe that so-far features only one female figure, a sister of some sort). The strip is more chuckle-inducing than flat-out funny, and spends a lot of time toeing the line of severe social commentary, but yesterday's one-panel gem featuring Pinky and the Brain of "Animaniacs" as new Wal-Mart employees was an absolute scream.

Well, it happened. In today's Doonesbury, the reaction to the death of Hunter S. Thompson has surfaced as a madly funny bit of surrealism. I don't know if it will be a one-strip joke or if the concept of Duke's "nasty karmic shift" will play out, but the third panel pay-off, rendered in all its Ralph Steadman-esque glory, is totally priceless.

Whaddya call it?

Just a brief popping-in to say it's been busy - quite a few times this week, I had to rush out of the house so fast that there was not even times to read the funnies.

I know - GASP!

I happened to notice that "Zits" was very, very funny this morning, however (the personification of Jeremy's mom as a can of chopped liver was hysterical), I also noticed that a suit of armor popped up two days in a row, first in "Hagar" and then today, in - well, I can't think of it off the top of my head, but it brought to mind something that I think of as "comic synchronicity".

It's when, for one reason or another, two or more strips carry similar themes, punchlines or visual gags on the same day. I've often wondered if some cartoonists don't consult with one another and plan that sort of thing or if it just happens. Excepting holidays and national tragedies.