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Pay Attention, Comics

June 6th, 2011

“But with individual titles costing between $1 and $3 for about five to 10 minutes of enjoyment, it quickly became a habit too costly to keep up.”

This article at GigaOm by Darrell Etherington points to what I’ve long thought of as the elephant in the room in all discussions of the comics industry: comics’ crappy cost-to-minute ratio.

While subscriptions might be an important part of the solution as Etherington suggests, I personally think that a 99 cents price point could be attractive for a one-off comics story. IF that comic was 50 pages long AND formatted to the screen.

Kurt Busiek has long made the argument that comic books took a wrong turn decades ago when they started cutting pages to keep the price the same. That less satisfying read plus a product not earning its shelf space for retailers, led to fewer copies sold, the loss of the economies of scale, and even higher prices in the long run; while in Japan, Manga’s cheap phone book sized anthologies were selling in the millions.

Now we actually have the opportunity, through a potentially more efficient distribution channel, to get prices down AND bulk up the page count (no printing cost for pixels!). Let’s not make the same mistake twice.

Rule #1: Is your comic a satisfying read?

Rule #2: Is the price low enough that your readers won’t mind paying it again and again?

Rule #3: See Rule #1. Repeat.

Posted in Business, Press, Technology
Discussion (33)¬SpaceDinosaurBlue says:June 6, 2011 at 7:50 am

The cost to content ratio is why I stopped reading comics over a decade ago, sorry to say. I buy trade paperbacks once in a while, and I buy a few manga and jump volumes. I think there’s truth to this.

Replydarrylayo says:June 6, 2011 at 8:00 am

Thank you thank you thank you. I dug into DC and Marvel on the ComixCube blog (click my name) on the 99 cent point for their digital comics. And as mean as I am, I think you go the extra step and indicate the additional problem of how slim their product line is, with regards to pages per product unit.

Yes a hundred times!

ReplyBeto says:June 6, 2011 at 8:07 am

Spot on points Scott. Considering there are no printing, logistics nor inventory costs when dealing with digital, pricing these goods equal to (or even higher) than their physical versions is not only pointless, but also ludicrous. We’re no longer living in the times of our grandparents when comics were the supreme king of entertainment and they had virtually no competition. Now we have TV movies, video games and the Internet competing for people’s scarcer free time and attention. Lowering the price of digital comics to ease purchasing decisions won’t solve all these issues by itself, but is an important step forward.

ReplyEric Honaker says:June 6, 2011 at 8:07 am

I definitely agree with you to a certain extent.

I think that $1 for 10 minutes of enjoyment is okay, if it is truly 10 minutes of enjoyment. Too many comics are 10 minutes of reading and 30 seconds or real enjoyment. Or 10 minutes/month of reading, and a good ten minutes of enjoyment once or twice a year.

I’d happily pay $1/month for titles that were consistently good and not just rehashing the same material over and over again. So, Marvel and DC are out for me at practically any price point above free. I’ve read those stories before.

Paid $5 and $10 each, respectively, for copies of “The War at Ellsmere” and “Penance” on Comixology. It read nicely on my computer, and even my phone. “Penance” came in at more that $1/22 pages, but it was a smart story with good art and I definitely enjoyed myself.

ReplyScott says:June 6, 2011 at 8:11 am

Maybe I’m in a wicked mood this morning, but I LOVE the idea of applying quality-of-enjoyment to the equation.

Would some comics drop all the way down to a dollar a minute? Why, yes they would.

ReplyRob Berry says:June 6, 2011 at 8:17 am

Without question this is the REALLY FREAKIN’ BIG elephant in the room. But jumping the price line still is problematic for big titles that might be seen as competing with the print product. It seems ideal for comics that are unique to the delivery system however, and probably better than the subscription model proposed by some people.

ReplyKevin J. Maroney says:June 6, 2011 at 8:23 am

“Kurt Busiek has long made the argument that comic books took a wrong turn decades ago when they started cutting pages to keep the price the same.”

Do you know when he started discussing this? I’ve been saying this since at least the late 1990s, and I’m wondering whether I got the idea from him. But it’s true–in the 1930s, comics and prose magazines had similar trim sizes, similar page counts, and similar prices, and were seen as comparable values. By the 1950s, that was no longer true. There are many reasons for the decline of comics sales, but that’s definitely one of them.

ReplyScott says:June 6, 2011 at 8:36 am

Pretty sure Kurt’s been on that stump since the ’90s and possibly before, though I’m sure others have made the point as well.

ReplyKurt Busiek says:June 6, 2011 at 10:47 am

Sometime in the 1980s, I think.

ReplyToonicorn says:June 6, 2011 at 8:47 am

I stopped buying manga for cost reasons, although I have to say that for that genre, the value-for-dollar ratio is a bit more generous, depending on the manga (big Full Metal Alchemist fan here). For me, manga offers more variety and often more compelling stories. The only American comic books I’ve bought recently were the Scott Pilgrim trades. I think they were worth the money, but I haven’t seen anything else in a while that prompted me to lay down my cash. I’m all for comics being disseminated via iPads and other digital media; it’d mean less clutter in my bookshelf, to begin with, and if I could obtain good comics via subscription, I’d DEFINITELY be interested. Hope it comes to pass. And if you ever revive ZOT!, I’d certainly subscribe to it!

ReplyJohn says:June 6, 2011 at 8:55 am

I just wait and go down the library and get the trade paperback. It’s free (except for my taxes) and I can do 8-10-12 books at a time. That way, when the comic arc is awful, I don’t feel I’ve wasted anything. And if it’s good, i can read it all in one setting.

I do realize that this is not sustainable. if the only sales came from compilations sold to libraries, they would rapidly go broke.

I find there are few books that I would buy to own, once I’ve read them. Invincible, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Legion of Super heroes(out of nostalia, more than anything), Bone, Ghostopolis, I have bought after reading them in the library. But nothing else. That’s about a 20 to 1 ratio.

For example, I’m reading the complicated Green Lantern arcs that establish the color spectrum corps and darkest night and all that. Fun to read once, with nice art but hardly to the level of a keepable story.

For me, there are just so few titles with a story and art that are worth buying. It has to have both.

ReplyComicFan says:June 6, 2011 at 10:16 am

It is NOT the cost of digital comics that is the true issue. Okay, in a round about way it is.

It’s paying 2.99-4.99 for something you DON’T own and DON’T have a permanent digital copy of as the copy sits on some cloud somewhere. Who in there right mind would ever pay for something they don’t have control over. The music industry learnt that years ago, why must comics try to reinvent a failed wheel.
It’s actually quite disgusting in many ways.

ReplyLisa Hertel says:June 6, 2011 at 10:55 am

My husband long ago gave up his $100/month comics buying habit in favor of trade paper compilations from Amazon. No more specialty boxes, it’s cheaper, and easier to reread. Of course, this also means he no longer frequents his indie comics dealer, and no longer browses the shelf. Then again, it was that indie shop’s attitude that helped drive him away.

There are so many good, free strips online that I can see where people would balk at spending a lot of money for an e-issue (and more for the paper version). And let’s face it, how many times has Aunt May been near death? It’s well-known the major players retread the same stories over and over, figuring on a 5-year (or less) reader turnover. When are they going to learn that their audience isn’t a bunch of 12- to 15-year-old boys?

On the other hand, I find the price for most manga pretty high, too. They cost almost as much as a cheap paperback, and take a quarter of the time to read. I usually compare it to a movie, which is about $10/2 hours; manga is slightly higher at $6/30 minutes, but an average paperback book (say, 400 pages, & I read about a page a minute) is $10 (or less) for almost 7 hours of entertainment.

ReplyTheo Macdonald says:June 6, 2011 at 12:07 pm

I think the real problem is that I don’t buy comics unless I know they’re going to be good from popular opinion (sandman, powers) and if I’ve read one volume already and enjoyed it. Therefore new, original idea, comics don’t really get a chance to be brought. Anyway, you Americans should stop moaning. Once shipping is added comics in new Zealand are 1 1/2 to 2 times as expensive as buying in the US.

ReplyCharles H. Bryan says:June 6, 2011 at 12:34 pm

Comics used to also have more panels per page and each panel typically had more dialogue.

ReplyVictor R. says:June 6, 2011 at 12:54 pm

Yup. This is exactly what made me wary of getting into comics for years (so much time wasted!) and why I stuck to satisfyingly thick manga volumes for years after that (so much time well spent!).

Regarding trade paperbacks, another reason I wait is because of the ads. It’s terrible to be sucked into a good story, flip the page in anticipation, and then land on an ad for Nike sneakers. Throws me right out.

ReplyDevin Parker says:June 6, 2011 at 1:44 pm

As a consumer, I completely agree. As a professional (or some aspiring version of one), I get nervous about compensation for the artist/creator/team. If they sell in the numbers of manga in Japan, excellent – but would they sell that way in the U.S.?

ReplyGeorge Keagle says:June 6, 2011 at 2:33 pm

I’ve got to agree here, and it applies to more than just comics. In this digital age when piracy is so easy anybody with intellectual rights is tightening their grip on their product. I have to string a cord across the apartment to play a 5 minute game on xbox live that I’ve paid for, and can’t even send my music from one program or device to another even though I pay for that as well.
I’ve never done the digital comic subscription because I don’t want to pay for a comic when really I am paying to log on to a site and read it remotely. At least with ebooks you can get the file depending on who it’s from, but quite often those are encrypted as well. I think that format is flying because of the dollar-time enjoyment ratio that comes with way cheaper books and portability. I got out of comics after the Civil War / Brand New Day story lines because I had to pay rent instead of buying comics.

ReplyMax West says:June 6, 2011 at 3:27 pm

I stopped reading superhero comics because they were getting more expensive…and I’m more hardened towards them with the whole thing of reboots too.

The cost of pamphlets has been a big problem with comics IMHO. I see the digital frontier as being a partial remedy to that problem.

ReplyVelda says:June 6, 2011 at 4:33 pm

What’s even worse… I’ve sold some of my old trade paperbacks/manga recently to Half Price Books. It was a mix of “Oh, I’m not going to read these again”, and “Oh, these are taking up way too much space and I don’t want to have to pack these when I move”. It was kind of chilling. I spend so much money on those books and I managed to get some money back (27 dollars for a shelf of these), but the weird thing is I almost, almost, don’t want to buy any more books. It’s kind of sad. I had many conversations with my friend on how we could easily read manga in a few hours, maybe less if we were really awake or something. We also complained about the price. It’s something I’ve thought about for years on and off.

ReplyKelly says:June 6, 2011 at 4:39 pm

I am just thankful to be in such a time of great flux. Embrace the fact that the very nature of this problem is proof of an open frontier in an expanding genre we all adore. This is what keeps me up at night!

ReplyJustin M says:June 6, 2011 at 6:06 pm

Scott and everyone,
I have been paying attention (great subtle play on words in the title, by the way) in multiple ways to these issues and have decided to base what I do for a living on these ideas.
Around a half of a year ago, I started a digital comics publishing business with the goal of being the best method for independent artists to digitally distribute their comics.

My thinking was that since distribution costs are very close to zero, I can make it so that artists can publish themselves for free. They can name their price, keep their rights, and are paid a relatively high percentage of what is made from sales.

Really what has been going on is that there has been an explosion of self-publishing tools for music, video, and more recently, for books. However, sequential art/comics/graphic novels (whatever term that works for you) has been somewhat ignored or left behind in favor of the traditional publishing models. Perhaps that is a little bit because of the technical hurdles (it’s easier to put flowable text on a kindle than it is a comic), and also perhaps because of the prejudism that comics have historically faced as a medium.

Either way, all that appears to be changing, and I’m excited for the prospects also. My intentions were definitely not to advertise myself, but this article so closely matches my ideals I had to chime in (click on my name if you’re interested).

-Justin

ReplyScott McCloud Tells Comics: Pay Attention! « 3 Million Years says:June 6, 2011 at 10:18 pm

[...] the rest here // Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: [...]

ReplyCutting the cord. « Tacos and Beer says:June 7, 2011 at 3:04 am

[...] Like I was saying yesterday, digital comics should be cheaper. [...]

ReplyMike Marinos says:June 7, 2011 at 4:40 pm

And yet some people will pay more per unit if they feel involved.

Is Kickstarter the #3 U.S. Indie Graphic Novel Publisher? http://bit.ly/lLGNTP

ReplyMichael Magee says:June 8, 2011 at 11:09 am

I remember reading about Alex Toth’s reaction to a lot of the new comics that were being published towards the end of his life. He thought they were spending way too much time creating eye candy and not enough on story telling through sequential art. I’m wondering if this is part of the problem with the perceived value on the part of the artists, versus the perceived value on the part of the reader? I can see production costs dropping if creators used a something like a ligne claire style instead of painting every panel as an example. Digital gives them a chance to get a lot of stories out with extremely low distribution costs, if they can focus on what visual storytelling is going to look like to keep their own production costs down, we might see the start of price points that match consumer expectations on digital comics.

ReplyJohn says:June 8, 2011 at 12:35 pm

That’s a fascinating concept that on some conceptual see saw, Sequential storytelling is being reduced so flashy art can be promoted. Form is more important than the Idea.

Does Watchmen count a comic of dense storytelling being important than the art?

While I agree that a ligne claire style might be faster, I don’t agree it’s the speed of the art, or the style of the art being created that’s causing this.

I think we are in an era where we don’t want to risk new ideas. We don’t want to risk new story telling. Swamp thing and Sandman and Enigma and Watchmen and Astro City were great because they took the idea of superheros and went in a new direction. Yet the latest Marvel and DC reboots and variants seem to be the same thing but slight different with updated costumes.

Maybe creators are afraid that if the comic is storytelling dense, then there is more for someone to object to, to disagree with. And for some reason, few want to risk that.

ReplyMichael Magee says:June 9, 2011 at 8:44 am

I think Watchmen is one of those examples of a dense story that also have fantastic art. There is a reason it topped the sales charts for years.
In terms of risk, I think you’re right, I’m not sure if you’ve ever dealt with Hollywood types but when you make the point about the exact same big budget CG movie coming out every year they will quickly fire back that those movies are incredibly expensive and no one is going to take a risk on something new. The same thing is happening in video games, and it seems to be the same in comics. In all those genres the independents are the ones taking the risks, and most of the burden that comes with those risks.

ReplyJoshua Emmons says:June 10, 2011 at 7:39 am

Something I feel compelled to point out: you don’t need to derive 100% of your enjoyment from the comic itself. Comic art is expensive to produce. But its enjoyment (and value) can be enhanced without adding more pages.

In DoubleFeature, we embellish every page with writer and artist commentary and let you dynamically flip between penciled, inked, colored, and lettered versions of the page. This adds some fun re-read value without adding anything to the cost, thus improving cost/minute ratio.

ReplyJohn says:June 10, 2011 at 11:12 am

“writer and artist commentary…dynamically flip between…”
It sounds like a great selling point but I checked out your site but I didn’t see any examples of it.

ReplyBruno Steppuhn says:June 10, 2011 at 11:41 am

@Joshua and publishers. At this point it’s not about adding more stuff to make the entertainment more valuable. Take a BluRay for instance. Do you remember when you poped in this new hidef movie into your player and the first thing that you saw was the gazillion features that you got with that with that dvd? Did you pay your $30 just so that you could have all those features? Or did you buy it to enjoy the movie?

It’s also not a about a race to the bottom. As we’ve seen with even mobile apps, Prices get driven down by the big players because they can afford to take the loss when they test what they’ve learned from the little guys mistakes.

ReplyJohn says:June 10, 2011 at 1:59 pm

Brune, I agree. A billion extra features and behinds the scene commentary is not going to make a boring story worth purchasing. I was commenting earlier that I felt we are complaining about two trends. A trend where form is more important the the idea and a trend where few are willing to risk new ideas.

We see the form ascendant trend in comics and movies where the visuals are beautiful and amazing but after that story is pretty lame. For example, the Green Lantern Spectrum Corp stories have great art, but kind of a ho hum stories. Nothing you would care to read twice. It’s like that example in Scott’s first book (sorry to name drop) with the hollow apple.

The other trend is the timidity of the story telling. Instead of coming up with new characters and new story lines,the comic companies reboot them, changing the costume, tinkering around the edges but just setting it up to tell the same stories again and again and again. Movies are sequels. and threequals, but less new ideas.

The only place I’m seeing riskier more interesting and denser story telling is the web comics by people who have not figured out a finance stream but just feel compelled to do art. Publishing costs almost nothing. All they need is time.

Back to the topic. I don’t care if the delivery is paper or digital, if it’s boring and/or ugly I don’t want it, regardless of the price.
But I see digital being a good delivery mechanism, so a satisfying read can be made by outsiders of the system.

ReplyBruno Steppuhn says:June 10, 2011 at 2:16 pm

Case in point, DC’s reboot. Why? I think that some of their properties are quite compelling. That being said, why are they not coming up with more cool ideas instead of recycling the old ones? The answer is, because they see that what they have sells. There’s no other explanation. If they keep rehashing the same stuff over and over people will buy it. Because that’s a pattern that they can rely on.

On that note, based on their current infrastructure, they would be silly to bank on uncertainty.

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Never mind the comics

Marvin, 4/9/11

Never mind whatever kind of baby HUAC Marvin’s got going on here; why do the infants to his left bear an expression of heavy-lidded ennui, while those to his right have eyes opened wide with horror? Given Mavin’s love of sitting in his own foul-smelling feces, I think we can say with some certainty which way the wind is blowing here.

Archie, 4/9/11

Never mind Archie and Jughead’s inane banter — what exactly is Random Second Panel Gal looking at on her tablet device? It’s a given that all the ladies in Riverdale are hot for our feckless protagonist for no reason anyone can ever identify, so I suppose it’s not out of the question that someone developed an Archie app. Still, I weep for the waste of programming time it would represent.

Momma, 4/9/11

The Hobbes children are so traumatized by their upbringing that their mother’s face haunts even their masturbatory sessions.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 09:12 am and is filed under Archie, Marvin, Momma. | 187 responses to “” boojum
April 9th, 2011 at 9:16 am [Reply]

Hell, Momma isn’t doing much for my masturbatory mojo, either!

Scott Bot
April 9th, 2011 at 9:28 am [Reply]

Archie – That’s a Hot Hallway Chick (outdoor version)? I thought it was Betty stalking again. It’s so darned hard to keep up with this strip when the girls are all drawn the same.

MW – Dr. Corey seems appalled by the thought that Liza might want to sex him up.

Adfella
April 9th, 2011 at 9:28 am [Reply]

Boy, Jughead is really sticking with that always-in-style, home-made felt crown look, isn’t he?

Buck Ripsnort
April 9th, 2011 at 9:45 am [Reply]

A3G: All this time, Trey was thinking of handjobs? He must have wandered over from 9CL.

9CL: Case in point.

queek, source of Cuteness, Kawaii Commando
April 9th, 2011 at 9:52 am [Reply]

squee will NOT be post-jumped!

a loldog for the comics geeks.

you’ll need to read this with a Scottish accent.

a step too far even for Sequitur.

FENNECS!

bobkitteh.

first days home can be tiring.

TheDiva
April 9th, 2011 at 9:58 am [Reply]

Momma: Mell Lazarus’ Black Swan

9CL: Oh, I’ve got a finger to raise right now…

C’shaft: There you have it, folks. An entire week about closing the refrigerator door. A new nadir has been achieved.

FW: That’s right, Bull was never really a bully, not even one who had the excuse of being abused in his own home and who felt honest remorse for his behavior as an adult. He and Les were always the bestest of buddies, and we have always been at war with Eurasia Eastasia cancer.

Luann: It’s funny because they’re planning on Tiffany being crushed to death by an angry mob.

MT: Dick is suspiciously evasive about the fate of Lonnie and her daughter. “What? Sure, sure, take good care of them…they’ll have the best seats on their deportation back to Cuba, no doubt…”

MW: “What sort of flatware should we register for?”

SM: The promise of a nice cup of hot chocolate is the only way MJ can convince Peter to come to bed with her anymore.

sak
April 9th, 2011 at 9:59 am [Reply]

Stalking a teenage heartthrob? There’s an app for that! That app’s first piece of advice? “While stalking your target in the bushes try wearing a Bluetooth headset. If your target ever starts to notice you, pretend to have a conversation with a friend and make a clean getaway.”

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 10:04 am [Reply]

Judge Parker: In Sophie’s future senior year high school yearbook I foresee her winning the coveted title of “Most Likely to be a Flophouse Toy.”

CanuckDownSouth
April 9th, 2011 at 10:07 am [Reply]

The well-deserved avalanche of FW criticism (which will surely continue from yesterthread here soon) is more confirmation that not only is this strip Dead To Me, it’s well past the point where CPR or electric shocks could help. I don’t care that’s it’s the original authour, it’s fanfic. BAD fanfic.

And Sophie? Maybe if you didn’t think figuring out things you have in common to talk about was manipulative you’d actually have a boyfriend. Or any friends.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 10:14 am [Reply]

Momma: News flash: The Catholic Church issues Momma’s horrid visage to its sixth grade boys as a wang shriveler. Blindness and hairy palms are down by 95% since instituting this policy. In a cruel twist of unintended consequences, teen pregnancy skyrockets as rumor that only sex with a real girl can erase Momma’s face from their brains.

Rusty
April 9th, 2011 at 10:18 am [Reply]

@Baka Gaijin (#10): I remember college friends joking around that a way to prevent premature “endings” with a girlfriend was to think about Yogi Berra or some other withered human. Never your parents.

Scott Bot
April 9th, 2011 at 10:19 am [Reply]

Momma – ‘In my fantasies I can get away with all kinds of things I wouldn’t really do.’ Try the internet. There are any number of websites for that.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 10:19 am [Reply]

Pluggers: Plugger waitress has that disgusted look on her face because Plugger Dog Customer has been rolling around in dead stinky things and poo.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 10:21 am [Reply]

@Baka Gaijin (#13): In bed! [*]

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 10:23 am [Reply]

@Rusty (#11): “Never your parents.” Unless you’re Oedipus or Electra.

Doctor Handsome
April 9th, 2011 at 10:24 am [Reply]

Really, Marvin? You never noticed that Lil’ Eugene Debs was a lefty?

Rusty
April 9th, 2011 at 10:30 am [Reply]

@Baka Gaijin (#15): I suspect the next time Brooke has writer’s block a 9CL character will dabble in some incest.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 10:31 am [Reply]

@Rusty (#17): You wouldn’t understand you beefwit, “It’s WRITING!”

Marie
April 9th, 2011 at 10:32 am [Reply]

Of course the “leftie” is Eugene, and, from Marvin’s perspective all the cynics are sitting to his left while all the terrified future-starers are sitting to his left. Perhaps in reference to the leftists of this country who are bored and cynical because their party’s in power yet things still aren’t getting better… and all the right-wingers in this country who stir up feelings of terror about the future because that’s the only thing that they can unite around any more.

Jim North
April 9th, 2011 at 10:40 am [Reply]

Can Armstrong not draw a left hand making a fist? It’s real easy, Mr. Armstrong . . . it’s just like drawing a right hand making a fist, only backward.

@queek, source of Cuteness, Kawaii Commando (#5): I forgot to mention this with previous squee, but I am totally approve of kitteh squee and would not at all mind seeing more of the same!

@Scott Bot (#12): There’s an app for that. I’m pretty sure it’s the one that the Hot Hallway Park Chick in Archie is checking out, in fact. Unfortunately, Archie himself is the best “forbidden fruit” she can manage to come up with.

Mibbitmaker
April 9th, 2011 at 10:41 am [Reply]

…….Here’s the Sex Pistols!

(couldn’t resist)

Johnny Longtorso
April 9th, 2011 at 10:44 am [Reply]

Momma: In the third panel it looks like the character’s head has been sawed open and his brain has been removed. I don’t have a joke or anything, it just looks weird.

Mibbitmaker
April 9th, 2011 at 10:44 am [Reply]

Momma’s out — Josh didn’t say “Simon Says” “Never mind”.

Marie
April 9th, 2011 at 10:44 am [Reply]

@Marie (#19): D’oh! What I meant to say was that all the terrified future-starers are sitting to Marvin’s right, not left. That’ll leach me to use the “Preview” button!

Liam
April 9th, 2011 at 10:44 am [Reply]

Marvin-Eugene is in trouble now. Marvin doesn’t like lefties.

Professional Mole
April 9th, 2011 at 10:45 am [Reply]

And Momma hits a new low in disturbing. Goodness, I never regret coming here. :D

Marie
April 9th, 2011 at 10:46 am [Reply]

@Marie (#24):
D’oh! D’oh! teach not leach… *rolls eyes*

Mibbitmaker
April 9th, 2011 at 10:47 am [Reply]

@Mibbitmaker (#21): Omigod, “Sex Pistols” could be the name for today’s 9CL! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW! EW!……

Fester Morgenstern
April 9th, 2011 at 10:49 am [Reply]

Josh, you may want to correct the following in your Marvin analysis: “given the Mavin’s love…”

Mibbitmaker
April 9th, 2011 at 11:02 am [Reply]

A3G: Margo, stop reading 9CL!

Archie: You, too, Jughead!

BC: And you, “Fat Broad”!

GT: You also, Buzz and Derek!

HotC: You, too.

H&L: You, Hi, as well!

MW: Liza, PLEASE!!!!!

Popeye: …and Olive!

S4th: ….boss guy……

PBS: HA! Take that, McEldowney!

ZtP: Zippy, no!

***********************************************

~And that’s my 9CL-themed comment string of the day~

Effluvius Erratus
April 9th, 2011 at 11:04 am [Reply]

Just what does the Archie App do? For that matter, what does Archie do?

Katy
April 9th, 2011 at 11:05 am [Reply]

Is it just that the comics are pathetic and so am I? Or is the skinny straggly-haired kid in Gil Thorp “mounting his other stage” with fierce concentration kind of … alluring?

Okay, I’m pathetic. Just checking.

Chyron HR
April 9th, 2011 at 11:05 am [Reply]

@Jim North (#20): It’s real easy, Mr. Armstrong . . . it’s just like drawing a right hand making a fist, only backward.

Slow down. Tom Armstrong still thinks you draw a right hand making a fist by… drawing a foot.

zenvelo
April 9th, 2011 at 11:13 am [Reply]

Margo is really sexing it up. Into the rubber gloves, and unbuttoning Trey’s shirt with one finger. Margo’s guess is going to be a prostate exam.

Scott Bot
April 9th, 2011 at 11:14 am [Reply]

@Katy (#32): I don’t think it’s just you, Gil Thorp has been kinda…suggestive…lately.

I do think they’re trying to do a Team Jacob thing with Derek.

Mibbitmaker
April 9th, 2011 at 11:18 am [Reply]

ECity: I have cassettes, CDs, and something to play them on, so FU, strip!

FW: Batty won’t stop until he destroys the strip’s entire history! (the last 19 years were self-ruined)
Bat, the hate you clearly have for fans of your old stuff is mutual — in spades!

JP: Damn, just when we thought they’d avoided backward thinking about female roles, the “manipulative girl/woman” stereotype gets used. The smugness only makes it worse! Now, of course, they’ll bring Sam in to make him feel left out of his daughter’s life again, rather than not discuss it around him in the first place. Count on it.

Scott Bot
April 9th, 2011 at 11:40 am [Reply]

Welcome to Funky Winkerbean, the Disney version!

Uncle Lumpy
April 9th, 2011 at 11:52 am [Reply]

The Archie App. What a world.

Mibbitmaker
April 9th, 2011 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

HotC: (looks to the sky, fists clenched and raised, overacting badly) (crane shot looking down on subject)

DAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU, BIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEBERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR CULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLT!!!! DAMMMMMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!

(The part of Mibbit to be played by LaBamba from the Conan show)

FIN

commodorejohn
April 9th, 2011 at 12:09 pm [Reply]

A3G – “Let me guess,” Margo says, while copping an air-feel. Yes, that probably was what Trey was thinking about.

Crankshaft – And thus ends the Refrigerator Door Closing Saga, the most un-aggravating Crankshaft storyline of at least the past five years. So long, story! Bless you!

DT – You might think that the Ghostbusters DVD Sam’s holding is an unequivocal statement that Dick Tracy now takes place in the modern world, but it’s actually the Forrest Tucker/Larry Storch TV comedy.

Dilbert – At least it’s an appropriately audaciously absurd ending to the storyline.

FW – What.

JP – …okay, this I expected. Give June Morgan a ring, Sophie. If she can vamp her way into getting Rex’s attention, she must have forgotten more than you’ll ever need to know.

MT – “Iiiiiiii’m tipping over. CLUNK. Should have gotten this head wound treated earlier. Oh, Andy…is that pancakes I smell?”

MW – Run, Drew. Run.

OB – Bud’s hacky-sack-fu is strong!

Phantom – Punching…a bicep? Well, that’s an interesting technique.

SF – Oh boy oh boy, does that portend Sally’s “descent into unemployment madness?”

SM – That’s not how “in bed!” jokes work!

Esther Blodgett
April 9th, 2011 at 12:15 pm [Reply]

Sorry I’m late, everyone! Congrats to the floaters, who were extra-extra-extra funny this week! I’m going to be self-centered and call it a birthday present to me.

teenchy
April 9th, 2011 at 12:19 pm [Reply]

GT: Is Tim Lincecum pitching for Milford now? I smell playdowns…on weed!

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 12:21 pm [Reply]

@commodorejohn (#40): Never knew about the Storch/Tucker series. I was a big fan of theirs from F-Troop days.

John C Fremont
April 9th, 2011 at 12:28 pm [Reply]

@commodorejohn (#40): @Frank Lee Meidere (#43): Oh, man. Now I’ve got that Ghost Busters theme stuck in my head again.

spike
April 9th, 2011 at 12:28 pm [Reply]

FW: Wha…? Only Bull could beat up on Les???

commodorejohn
April 9th, 2011 at 12:28 pm [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#43): Heh, yes. I found F-Troop because Ken Berry was in it, but they were great, too.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 12:33 pm [Reply]

Dick Tracy: I don’t follow Tracy unless Josh posts. I just took quick look because of commodorejohn’s comment. The artwork looked surprisingly like when I was a kid. I may have to start reading it again.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 12:37 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#41):
Happy happy birthday we’re so glad you came!
Happy happy birthday, from the CC gang!
We are so excited we hope that you are too!
Happy Happy birthday, from the CC crew!

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 12:39 pm [Reply]

@commodorejohn (#46): Ha! Same here. I followed him over from Mayberry RFD (which I never cottoned to as much as The Andy Griffith Show). I think I always like Berry because he reminded me so much of my history teacher at the time. Or maybe vice versa. In F-Troop I came to appreciate the Storch/Tucker chemistry. For a long time, a friend of mine and I would use Tucker’s “I don’t know why everyone says you’re stupid” line.

FafMor
April 9th, 2011 at 12:42 pm [Reply]

Hopefully the writers of Phantom and Dick Tracy will see today’s Dilbert, where Alice dispatches effective vigilante by killing someone in another universe in a single panel.

Esther Blodgett
April 9th, 2011 at 12:46 pm [Reply]

@Baka Gaijin (#48): Thank you! In your honor, there will be no clowns at my party (other than my in-laws).

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 12:49 pm [Reply]

Sally Forth: With the severance pay from her upcoming downsizing and letting the cat die instead of spending a fortune to cure it during its wealth-induced major illness, Sally embarks on making Ted’s dream come true. The “G” rated one. After selling her millionth robot monkey butler, she buys her former employer and puts Ralph through a series of embarrassing and degrading projects, overseen by Alice. Unbeknownst to Alice, Sally replaced her psychiatric meds with thirty-year-old Pez from Ted’s childhood Star Wars collection. Let’s see if anyone can tell the difference!

Needless to say, hijinks ensue.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 12:50 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#51): Do you need any anti-clown mines? Humane harlequin traps? Inhumane harlequin traps? They could take care of that little problem for good you know.

Jym Dyer
April 9th, 2011 at 12:57 pm [Reply]

=v= Archie: Better that programming energy should go into new scenarios for Angry Birds.

=19= Marvin (@Marie): Years of attacks against the left (speaking of HUAC), means that relatively few Americans embrace the “leftist” label. Those who do would not actually consider today’s Democratic Party theirs.

spike
April 9th, 2011 at 1:01 pm [Reply]

@Flummoxicated (#y54): Yeah, that’s what happens whenever the artist thinks he’s smarter than his/her audience and retcons the retconned retcon for the sake of retconning. I think Batiuk’s photo is included in the explanation for the phrase “It’s called writing! in Funk and Wagnalls.

This Guy
April 9th, 2011 at 1:02 pm [Reply]

Luann: Bernice must be getting tired of that cramped closet if she’s openly suggesting a girl-on-girl gangbang.

Marvin: So even babies are trained to hate and fear lefties by the vast right-hand conspiracy.

Ziggy: Ha ha, treating a computer virus as though it were a biological infection! That Wilson certainly has a fresh take on technology-related humor!

Esther Blodgett
April 9th, 2011 at 1:06 pm [Reply]

FW: In other news, Stalin had enemies of the state removed from old photographs and history books. Seriously, someone needs to build a statue of Batiuk so I can topple it.

Curtis: So are the Wilkinses going to move to Beverly Hills with their newfound wealth? Because other than thinking up something to replace the world “Hillbillies” they wouldn’t have to change that show at all, right?

PBS: Aw, I’d kiss Pig on the lips! Rat, not so much.

greghousesgf
April 9th, 2011 at 1:10 pm [Reply]

yeah, i assumed that was Betty too.

Doctor Handsome
April 9th, 2011 at 1:48 pm [Reply]

Restless in retirement, Dick Locher hacks the AJGLU 3000.

ElkMeadow
April 9th, 2011 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#41):

Happy birthday!

Mars
April 9th, 2011 at 1:51 pm [Reply]

If I had to guess I’d say they now offer Archie comics for sale in iPad-readable form, and this is the artist’s way of advertising that. This is probably it.

Really surprised today’s “men should be manipulated” talk between Abbey and Sophie didn’t make Josh’s cut. Even more surprising than Pia.

Hank
April 9th, 2011 at 1:54 pm [Reply]

@Scott Bot (#37): maybe I’m giving Batuik too much credit, but is it possible what we’re seeing is Les and Bull’s lie to Summer because Les, not unreasonably, doesnt want to cause his daughter to view her coach as a former bully?

Scott Bot
April 9th, 2011 at 1:54 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#41): Hey, happy birthday!!!

ElkMeadow
April 9th, 2011 at 1:55 pm [Reply]

How long has it been since Greg Evans took the commentary off of Luann at comics.com? I used to be able to go there to see what in the world his fan base saw in the strip, like if they could figure out what the joke was, but now I haven’t a clue of why it’s still in the newspapers.

Hank
April 9th, 2011 at 1:56 pm [Reply]

Re: 9CL. Am I wrong or did Edda just decide to rat out her roommate to his serious boyfriend just because she’s jealous? What a beyotch.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 2:00 pm [Reply]

@Hank (#62): In that case, why bring it up at all? All she said was, “I gather you and my dad weren’t all that close in high school.” He could have said anything.

Besides, if Batiuk was doing as you suggested, he would be showing one character sparing another character pain. Does that seem likely?

Hank
April 9th, 2011 at 2:06 pm [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#66): As I said before, I’m probably giving him too much credit. But I had assumed that the conversation centered around Summer having heard that Bull used to beat Les up. If so, I thought this could be his attempt to explain away the stories.

Jim North
April 9th, 2011 at 2:08 pm [Reply]

Meanwhile, in an alternate Locherverse, Dick Tracy wakes up and starts getting ready for work for the fifth time in a row.

bats :[
April 9th, 2011 at 2:11 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#41): Happy Birthday! Many more to come and a great day for today!

and as for FW: what unmitigated CRAP.

mollificent
April 9th, 2011 at 2:13 pm [Reply]

9CL: Calling Mark? Oh, that’s low, you little bitch. (Low because Mark doesn’t deserve to have it rubbed in his face…I don’t give a crap about Seth’s feelings. And it makes me sad to write that. Fictional characters…fictionalcharactersfictionalcharacters…)

My Cage: Ed Power, I was reading the Gocomics comments, and…are you SERIOUS?? With all the hand-jiving and generally repulsive salaciousness that goes on in 9CL, you still had to shy away from implying that Norm and Bridget live together out of wedlock? Yeesh. That’s even more ludicrous than the Zits “sucks” fiasco.

Happy Birthday, Esther Blodgett!

Scott Bot
April 9th, 2011 at 2:14 pm [Reply]

@Jim North (#68): I wonder if that storm they were having ever subsided?

Silhouette Crusader
April 9th, 2011 at 2:25 pm [Reply]

Based on the proximity to Generic Second Panel Girl and Archie, I’d say someone lojacked Archie and that device helps you hunt him like a sexy animal whose head you burned with a waffle iron. That face is a crudely Flash-animated to give you directions, like “Cold. Warmer. Hot hot hot!”

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 2:25 pm [Reply]

@Hank (#67): Possible. But I still think that the idea Batiuk would ever spare anyone’s feelings argues against it.

Jim North
April 9th, 2011 at 2:26 pm [Reply]

9CL: Forget about the finger, Seth, and just concentrate on how Fern’s head is spinning around to the back Exorcist style in the first panel.

@Scott Bot (#71): Well sure, it started to clear up after the granary collap- oh, wait, the granary is back up again and the storm is getting worse. I’m gonna kill you, Tracy!

queek, source of Cuteness, Kawaii Commando
April 9th, 2011 at 2:41 pm [Reply]

@Scott Bot (#71): It happened.

Joe Blevins
April 9th, 2011 at 2:52 pm [Reply]

Did you see the movie Quarantine? No? Well, here’s a Ziggy/Zomby parody anyway.

SecretMargo
April 9th, 2011 at 3:01 pm [Reply]

It does make a grim sort of sense that even fantasy within a Hobbesian universe would be dominated by the ultimate image of all that is nasty, brutish and short.

Aaaaaaaaviatrix
April 9th, 2011 at 3:07 pm [Reply]

@Hank (#62): NICE! Whether or not Batiuk is that smart, your way is the way I’m retconning my reading of Batiuk’s retcon to his retcon.

I can say for with confidence that it’s not simply retconning I object to, because I loved when they did it in Back to the Future II and the DS9 episode where they revisited The Trouble With Tribbles.

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 3:09 pm [Reply]

@Aaaaaaaaviatrix (#78): What did they retcon in BTTF II?

Aaaaaaaaviatrix
April 9th, 2011 at 3:11 pm [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#73): But you have to choose one of the two scenarios, each of which features someone reducing the amount of hurt visited upon another person. Unless you postulate that Les is sparing his daughter now so that the revelation that this man beat Les on a daily basis is all the more painful after she has developed ties of friendship and trust with him.

Bryan
April 9th, 2011 at 3:13 pm [Reply]

@commodorejohn (#46): Heh, yes. I found F-Troop because Ken Berry was in it, but they were great, too.

Ken Berry also had a small role in the Tony Randal/Janet Leigh wacky comedy about undersea life “Hello, Down There!” also starring a very young Richard Dreyfus and a not-murdering-anyone-with-window-cleaner Merv Griffin.

Aaaaaaaaviatrix
April 9th, 2011 at 3:14 pm [Reply]

@Baka Gaijin (#79): Most people wouldn’t term it retconning, I just mean the whole shtick of there being multiple copies of Marty running around and alternately messing things up or fixing them. I can’t think of an individual thing that appeared to be done by Marty#1 in BTTF1 but was shown to be done by Marty#2 in BTTF2, but that kind of “you thought this happened but really this happened” stuff is generally fun to me.

jayjaybear
April 9th, 2011 at 3:20 pm [Reply]

@SecretMargo (#77): Oh, bravo! *applause*

Marion Delgado
April 9th, 2011 at 3:22 pm [Reply]

Say what you will against Les Moore, but at least he still makes sure his daughter is safely off to rehab before masturbating to cancer obituaries. Take the time to be a dad!

Rhekarid
April 9th, 2011 at 3:38 pm [Reply]

Judging by the earpiece and dossier, I’d guess that that woman is an assassin, and Archie is her target. He’s not shaking his head in surprise at Jughead’s response, he was just hit in the back of the neck with a poison dart.

Chance
April 9th, 2011 at 3:46 pm [Reply]

It’s sad when Josh’s commentary, normally so humorous, can rise to nothing more than an accurate description of a comic, as it is with this Momma. Not subtext, not hyperbolic, not exaggeration for humorous effect… just a plain, true analysis. The girl tries to think up a sex dream, sees her mother’s nasty, judgmental, gnomish face instead, and dies inside a little. That’s what happens in the strip. And even the Master Curmudgeon, Josh, cannot make this into a joke, only point it out in bleak despair.

None of this is any way a slam on Josh, who is wonderfully talented. The point is simply that some horrors resist all attempt at parody.

Chance
April 9th, 2011 at 3:47 pm [Reply]

whoops

Aaaaaaaaviatrix
April 9th, 2011 at 3:48 pm [Reply]

@Rhekarid (#85): I knew it was surveillance, her having somehow set up a remote camera she could monitor from her iPad, but I assumed it was merely data collection, not assassination.

Artist formerly known as Ben
April 9th, 2011 at 3:49 pm [Reply]

Momma: Josh on
The Hobbes children are so traumatized by their upbringing that their mother’s face haunts even their masturbatory sessions.

And never–I say never–have I been more grateful for Mell Lazarus’ lack of detailed art.

Archie: Archie says he didn’t say anything while his iPad avatar is shown with an empty word balloon. Fuckin’ eerie man.

FW: “Well all right. I’ll suppose we can mark Moore as ‘bullied’ on the triplicate forms and clock out now.”

RMMD: Wha-? Am I missing something, or should Berna have no idea which lowlife Dex is with?

A3G: If Trey was thinking about something that rhymes with “schmostate exam”, he’s in luck.

OBH: Middle aged white lady be trippin’.

DT: No no no, “Garcia” is unacceptable. This is Dick Tracy. He has to be called NG Neer or Plaz Mascreen or the like.

BC: For a gag comic not set in Westview, Ohio, this is rather a downer.

FC: “But you had to get all macho and make me stop screwing the manager.”

M-Dawg: “The iced tea will have to wait. I’m all worked up now. I have to invade Poland.”

Artist formerly known as Ben
April 9th, 2011 at 3:53 pm [Reply]

What’s that scent rising from @Christian Louboutin Boots,Christian Louboutin Flats,Christian Louboutin Hot Red (y43): ? Could it be Eau de Spam?

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 3:57 pm [Reply]

@Aaaaaaaaviatrix (#82): Oh good. I’ve seen the movie a few times and one of the things I liked is how they kept track of all those details between the movies. I especially liked near the end of the first movie when he returns to the mall, the mall’s name changed to “Lone Pine” because Marty ran one over one of the twin pines in 1955.

spike
April 9th, 2011 at 3:59 pm [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#66) and @mollificent (#70): Our Edda??? :-) Great minds think alike!

@Esther Blodgett (#41): Happy Birthday!

bats :[
April 9th, 2011 at 4:07 pm [Reply]

@mollificent (#70): hush, hush. It’s time to think sweet, feliney thoughts…

Aaaaaaaaviatrix
April 9th, 2011 at 4:29 pm [Reply]

If that’s the actual dialogue in 9CL today, I just don’t want to know.

ElkMeadow
April 9th, 2011 at 4:33 pm [Reply]

@ElkMeadow (#y37):

Hey, Berna, along with doing *69 and checking your phone’s memory, you might also find the “lowlife”’s phone number on the prospectus you kept and on the business card June collected. You might also think about where Dexter likes to visit, or maybe where the two of you go for Sunday dinner. Maybe some place where there are young, cheerful waitresses who serve pie and who can be heard in the background.

[Old Man] Muffaroo
April 9th, 2011 at 4:34 pm [Reply]

Archie – Cammie’s got that new iStalk app for the iPad.

Curtis – Think nothing of it, Curtis! Grampy Wilkins was probably laughing at some funny, yet heartwarming, observation from dead Grampaw Keane: “You know, from up here, they look just like ants! Undersized, melon-headed ants.”

ElkMeadow
April 9th, 2011 at 4:35 pm [Reply]

@Aaaaaaaaviatrix (#94):

It is. So sorry.

[Old Man] Muffaroo
April 9th, 2011 at 4:35 pm [Reply]

Dick – Ghostbusters, eh? Looks like the Tracy’s working on a way of arresting all his dead enemies. And perhaps re-killing them while he’s at it.

R=R – Why am I not surprised that Li’l Canteloupe also thinks in fun netig jib er ish? Why assume a mere speech impediment in a comic universe populated by walking brain impediments?

[Old Man] Muffaroo
April 9th, 2011 at 4:36 pm [Reply]

Zits – Please forward royalty payments for this gag to Punch, 1916.

Esther Birthday – Happy Blodgett!

[Old Man] Muffaroo
April 9th, 2011 at 4:37 pm [Reply]

@TheDiva (#6): There you have it, folks. An entire week about closing the refrigerator door. A new nadir has been achieved.
I’m not so sure. I think Rex Morgan (MD!) has spent longer than that actually closing a refrigerator door.

@Bryan (#81): also starring a very young Richard Dreyfus and a not-murdering-anyone-with-window-cleaner * Merv Griffin
*that we know of

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 9th, 2011 at 4:44 pm [Reply]

Mother Goose & Grimm/Holy Molé — It’s lemming Saturday again!

Everything you wanted to know about Holy Molé (but were afraid to ask!):

http://www.holymolecartoon.com/

bats :[
April 9th, 2011 at 4:45 pm [Reply]

@Artist formerly known as Ben (#90): didn’t Lady Gaga wear platform shoes made out of Spam at the Grammies or something?
Or was I dreamin’ it?

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 4:49 pm [Reply]

@Aaaaaaaaviatrix (#80): Damn. You’re right. Either way indicates a quantum of solace. Okay, I’ll officially sign onto Hank’s explanation, because while the coach is sparing her feelings, he’s also inflicting pain through the physical therapy (which he is obviously unqualified to give). So it kind of balances out in a Batiukian universe.

FOOBed again
April 9th, 2011 at 4:51 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#41): Happy Birthday!

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 9th, 2011 at 4:58 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#41):

Here’s a cake to go with that birthday present:

http://images.ncix.com/forumimages/EE86BFE3-36D0-440C-BFD4C372BC757C5A.JPG

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 5:00 pm [Reply]

@Esther Blodgett (#41): Happy Birthday. Stay drunk.

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 9th, 2011 at 5:10 pm [Reply]

@Artist formerly known as Ben (#90):

Buy a pair and Christian Louboutin will throw in a merkin free of charge:

http://www.tyeyb.com/images/Christian_Louboutin_Carnaval_Black_CL05003.jpg

AceofPlaces
April 9th, 2011 at 5:25 pm [Reply]

It’s finally happened. The AJGLU-3000 is portable!

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 9th, 2011 at 5:55 pm [Reply]

4-9 Weird Sound Effects:

Baldo — CRASSH
Phantom — WHAM!
Piranha Club — BLAAT
Close to Home — CRASH!
Rose is Rose — [musical notes]

Dog Eat Doug —

http://comics.com/dog_eat_doug/

Hibbleton
April 9th, 2011 at 6:42 pm [Reply]

@Chance (#86):

Satire only works when the people are already laughing. No one laughs at Momma.

mgj
April 9th, 2011 at 6:44 pm [Reply]

Luann – Will the new chick a) join Luann, Delta, and Berniece, thus forming either a 4-way or two couples; or b) join Tiffany and Krystal, forming a threesome?

SoapWatcher
April 9th, 2011 at 6:46 pm [Reply]

And until the girl in the foreground hits the escape key, Jughead and Archie will remain in an infinite loop.

Artist formerly known as Ben
April 9th, 2011 at 7:38 pm [Reply]

@Aaaaaaaaviatrix (#94): Up until the last panel, yeah. (Oops, now you no. I’ll try not to let it happen again.)

Comcis Fan
April 9th, 2011 at 7:51 pm [Reply]

Archie: This is a Mary Worth PSA, presenting Mary’s notion of teen sexting, which is what she suspects happens on an electronic reading device. The fact that Worthian sexting doesn’t go beyond a wink from Archie makes no nevermind. It’s uncommitted, unsupervised, unmeddled, untenable, unbridled, underage shenanigans, and no good can come of it.

Artist formerly known as Ben
April 9th, 2011 at 7:51 pm [Reply]

@mollificent (#70): Mark is better off without both his faithless Aryan (presumable) ex and said ex’s pet goblin.

@Rocky Stoneaxe (#107): The account at the link has been suspended, so I can only imagine.

@Esther Blodgett (#41): Happy birthday, Esther. My but you’re easy to shop for. :)

Hank
April 9th, 2011 at 7:56 pm [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#73): Ah. but his is LES MOORE we’re talking about and he’s Batuik’s Mary Sue. You don’t think Batuik fancies himself some sort of magnanimous artist-god who would spare the feelings of a former tormentor, thereby making himself look even more wonderful in the process?

KarMann
April 9th, 2011 at 8:20 pm [Reply]

S-M: Looks like Spidey & MJ have both been calling Iris’ Fortune Cookie Hotline. [*]

Mark B
April 9th, 2011 at 8:24 pm [Reply]

Oddly enough, the iArchie app doesn’t sell well outside of Riverdale.

terrapin
April 9th, 2011 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

RMMD: Ha ha. Berna is sad because Dex has friends that aren’t her.

MT: “Uh, yeah…your family. About them. Cherry is in jail for assaulting some nature photographer, her dad moved to an island off the coast for ‘medicinal purposes’ and Rusty, well…we suspected he wasn’t even human and had him dissected.”

UncleJeff
April 9th, 2011 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

@AceofPlaces (#108): Even worse. It’s given BIRTH!

queek, source of Cuteness, Kawaii Commando
April 9th, 2011 at 8:28 pm [Reply]

@Artist formerly known as Ben (#115): Mark used to date Sesshomaru?!?

boy howdy, are Cherry and Rin going to be shocked at THAT news.

Austria
April 9th, 2011 at 8:39 pm [Reply]

Arch: Whoa! Check out that angle! The AJGLU-3000’s attempting to go all artsy-fartsy on us.

FW: I’m pretending this didn’t happen and the flashback ended with Thursday’s strip. Yup. That’s the way it is in my world.

MW: Wow, this guy is pissed. You do not “eventually” get to your shift in front of Dr. Drew Corey, that much is plain to see.

reNuts: As meh as I am on Snoopy, I d’awwed inside.

SF: …Ouch.

Zits: THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN! DO YOU EVEN KNOW TEENAGERS?! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A TEENAGER IN YOUR LIFE, OR DO YOU ONLY BASE YOUR STRIPS ON WHAT YOU HEAR FROM OTHER PRETENTIOUS BOOMERS ON “KIDS THESE DAYS”?!? MY GENERATION IS COMPETELY CAPABLE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION! TEXTING IS NOT A PUNCHLINE!!
(Technically I’m no longer a teenager, but this still offends the crap outta me, and I don’t offend easily.)

Austria
April 9th, 2011 at 8:43 pm [Reply]

Queek, your link is broken. Try this one.

I’m totally going to take this opportunity to stretch my hatred for today’s Zits across several posts.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Baka Gaijin
April 9th, 2011 at 8:46 pm [Reply]

@Austria (#123): How about change your name to “AAAAAAAAAAAustria?”

kkarenb
April 9th, 2011 at 9:09 pm [Reply]

FC – Ah, the family that drags their four kids to the grocery store. How perfectly charming. The only thing that would make it even more adorable would be if Thel was pushing one of those humongous shopping carts that have a kiddie car in the front. Nothing adds to the grocery shopping experience like putting up with other people’s brats.
And how tall are those cretins supposed to be? Shouldn’t at least one of them be as tall as the shopping cart? If they were normal people, that is?

queek, source of Cuteness, Kawaii Commando
April 9th, 2011 at 9:12 pm [Reply]

@Austria (#123): works for me. :-(

it’s a wallpaper that includes Jaken, which is sort of required for the joke. (I loathe Jaken, and he very much is the Rusty of the anime, with his Sassy of Two Heads.)

Bill Thompson
April 9th, 2011 at 9:31 pm [Reply]

@Austria (#122): Austria, not only have the perpetrators of Zits never met a teenager, they never were teenagers themselves. They emerged middle-aged from a vat, were trained at a corporate art institute and are still unaware of what connects the words “teenager” and “zits.”

[Old Man] Muffaroo
April 9th, 2011 at 9:40 pm [Reply]

@Mark B (#118): Oddly enough, the iArchie app doesn’t sell well outside of Riverdale.
Odder still, it’s a huge hit in Korea. Nobody knows why.

Aaaaaaaaviatrix
April 9th, 2011 at 9:42 pm [Reply]

@Artist formerly known as Ben (#113): It’s actually okay, because with the floating kitties it makes no sense at all.

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 9th, 2011 at 9:44 pm [Reply]

@Rocky Stoneaxe (#109):

4-9 More Weird Sound Effects:

Alley Oop — ZAP!
The Knight Life — WAP
Freshly Squeezed — RING!
Scary Gary — [musical notes]
Rip Haywire — KA-CHOP! BOP! POW!

Broom Hilda —

http://www.gocomics.com/broomhilda

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 9th, 2011 at 10:10 pm [Reply]

@Artist formerly known as Ben (#115):

(Re: Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Missing Merkin) According to my trusty Magic 8 Ball, you should Concentrate and ask again…

http://www.christianlouboutin2bridal.com/images/christian_louboutin_evening_006_1.jpg

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 10:11 pm [Reply]

@Hank (#116): How twisted is your mind? Enough, I think, that you may have truly plumbed the depths of Batiuk’s. Now go have that seen to.

Esther Blodgett
April 9th, 2011 at 10:19 pm [Reply]

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! Is it bad that my blow-out-the-candles wish had to do with Funky Winkerbean and a botched cancer diagnosis?

Fashion Police
April 9th, 2011 at 10:20 pm [Reply]

We cannot imagine that Miss Magee would have let Mr. Brooks in had she known he had neglected his necktie in his rush. If one is to go about in a suit and no tie one had best be a woman. Clearly however, Mr. Brooks is in some sort of frenzy, judging from hislightning-fast move to undo his collar. Perhaps it was the sight of Miss Magee’s ratty yellow sweatshirt, or the rubber gloves. He is a strange man.

Elsewhere, we are wondering about the quality of life in Milford, where it appears that the nightlife consists of high schoolers performing in saloons. We are not sure we wish to explore the matter further.

KarMann
April 9th, 2011 at 11:01 pm [Reply]

@Fashion Police (#134): At least the Milford high schoolers don’t entertain in those saloons with the ping-pong ball trick.

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 9th, 2011 at 11:15 pm [Reply]

@KarMann (#135):

Heathcliff laughs at your puny ping pong ball trick:

http://www.creators.com/comics/18/39794_thumb.gif

[Old Man] Muffaroo
April 9th, 2011 at 11:29 pm [Reply]

@Rocky Stoneaxe (#136): Man, it’s all in the exact second the artist chooses to depict, isn’t it?

terrapin
April 9th, 2011 at 11:32 pm [Reply]

@Austria (#122): I have a 17 year old son and Zits often offends me because he isn’t stupid and neither are his friends. I don’t understand any of the “It’s so tough being a parent and my kids are so stupid!” strips. I think the writers of such strips have some growing up of their own to do.

Poteet
April 9th, 2011 at 11:35 pm [Reply]

I couldn’t drop by until now, so please allow me to offer belated congratulations to MaryAnnTheRest and the other fine floaters. A really great list of funny this week — I laughed like a drain.

Rusty
April 9th, 2011 at 11:36 pm [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#132): I think he nailed it here.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 11:49 pm [Reply]

@Rusty (#140): Sadly, so do I.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 9th, 2011 at 11:58 pm [Reply]

@terrapin (#138): There are a lot of really stupid teenagers, and a lot of really stupid parents. I find they tend to go together. I’ve got the same problem with Between Friends and a few of the other “family” strips. “My life is so hectic, my kids are so helpless…” Yeah, yeah. And who set up that particular dynamic? When you glower at your kid because her chicken teriyaki and chocolate chip cookies end up being grilled cheese sandwiches, you can’t expect her to be trying that whole “cooking” experiment again any time soon.

And if you want your kids to pay attention to you — be interesting, for crying out loud.

Unless you live in a Mary Worth strip, in which case half an hour of flying kites should do the trick.

bats :[
April 10th, 2011 at 12:21 am [Reply]

4/10

Phantom: are the folks at Phantomland trying to merge the Sunday and weekday stories? That seems to be the case (it would’ve been helpful during the “Diana is Dead and I’m Sad” weekday storyline, when she looked quite hale and hearty on Sundays).

Speaking of which, there’s got to be a link between the Ghost-Who-Walks and Mark Trail’s mention of India’s bhut jolokia, or “ghost chili.” Is that what’s written on the inside waistband of his stripey trunks so Kit know the front from the back (yeah, “he said ‘butt’!”)?

ElkMeadow
April 10th, 2011 at 12:33 am [Reply]

Get your Sundays….

The story line for the last two days is shot at Mary Worth./a> It’s like Liza never tried slack off!

Mudhen Maldubh shows professional skills at potions, by covering her hair so that dandruff and stuff isn’t falling into the mix. She’s also following the basic rules of safety, using a recipe book to avoid unwanted complications, has the hot bowl over a flame on a sturdy surface, and is standing a safe distance from the flame.

Aleta holds a steaming bowl in her hands, with no hot mitts and gets burned. Professor Snape would call her a dunderhead and take points, if he were a time-traveler.

Prince Valiant must be a time traveler himself, thinking that people would think he was insane if he claimed witchcraft was being used against him, as back in those ages, almost everyone believed in witchcraft.

And at Rex Morgan, the kidnapping scheme gets its legs. Poor Dexter.

bats :[
April 10th, 2011 at 12:45 am [Reply]

@ElkMeadow (#144): I really hadn’t thought that the RMMD plot would go into kidnapping/ransom territory…how do you folks figure stuff like this out? Am I among criminal masterminds?

Walker of Dog
April 10th, 2011 at 12:55 am [Reply]

FC: “No. Remember when you used to let me touch your boobs?”

MW: Liza, read the facial cues. Drew is definitely not going to pull your finger again.

S-M: By the time Peter gets home, he has forgotten about the wager and settles in for a Frazier rerun. Meanwhile, MJ enjoys some alone time while stranded on the rooftop of some random building. It’s compromises like this that make a marriage work.

Plug: I’m surprised Pluggers aren’t restricted to booth seating only. The risk of buttcrack exposure seems unacceptably high.

DT: I’ve never been so happy to have my view obscured by a corporate logo. (And big surprise, Sam’s not a considerate lover.)

Maggie the Cat
April 10th, 2011 at 1:06 am [Reply]

Drew Corey is no fool. He knows you don’t provoke a lunatic. Saying “no” would’ve unleashed the beast inside. He will need Mary Worth’s help in wriggling out of this predicament!

Maggie the Cat
April 10th, 2011 at 1:09 am [Reply]

@bats :[ (#145):

If I were Berna and someone said I’d have to pay to get Dex back, I’d laugh maniacally and hang up. It’s like holding a bag of dog shit for ransom.

Anonymous
April 10th, 2011 at 1:14 am [Reply]

FW: “Well all right. I’ll suppose we can mark Moore as ‘bullied’ on the triplicate forms and clock out now.”

“Yeah, I’m going to need you to come in and bully some kids on the weekend.”

Jim North
April 10th, 2011 at 1:33 am [Reply]

Sunday strips!

Blondie: “Say, you’ll never guess what I have a craving for . . . cuckolding!”

Crank: “Security Analyst Pat Downs“? Oh, Batiuk. You’re not Chester Gould. You’re not even Mike Curtis. Don’t bother trying.

Curtis: Given the way all of his limbs are pointing in directions they shouldn’t, Curtis will pretty much have to concentrate on his education after they get him hooked up in one of those Stephen Hawking wheelchairs.

FC: What we’re seeing isn’t an actual Family Circus strip. It’s an artist’s rendition from the testimony given during Bil Keane’s filicide trial.

FW: “Hahaha, but seriously folks, the point is that he wasn’t just incompetent, he was almost criminally stupid. Thank you and good night.”

JP: “We broke up when it turned out I preferred the kinds of cars that other people drove for me while I snorted coke off a prostitute’s ass in the back while he liked NASCAR.”

MW: Somehow Liza has managed to reset things so she never made that horrible professional faux pas! This one’s a keeper, Drew! She controls the Sands of Time!

SF: Wow, Ted is talking about the more recent Doctors? I always thought he’d be a Classic Who kinda guy.

S-M: Go to hell, NEXT box! We don’t care about the stupid vampire! We want to know who’s going to get the hot chocolate! Give us the goddamned HOT CHOCOLATE!

mollificent
April 10th, 2011 at 1:40 am [Reply]

@bats :[ (#93): Hee! Love it!

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 2:03 am [Reply]

April 10 – Sunday

SM: “You thought I was what? Swinging through the sky on a webline? Like a spider? Like some sort of man spider? Is that what you thought? That I was…”

In this rare, in-house training video from Justice League archives, Peter Parker gives tips on how not to keep a secret identity.

Baka Gaijin
April 10th, 2011 at 2:05 am [Reply]

Sunday’s Doonesbury: For those of you following the “Red Rascal,” the exciting ending to that storyline begins NOW! Hell, even if you don’t read Doonesbury, read today’s episode.

The Lockhorns, lower right: Loretta, no one’s near Leroy because he’s been out in the yard rolling around in dead smelly things and poo.

Slylock Fox Mysteries: It’s obvious Harry is covering up for Reeky Rat. As if Harry could fit inside that tiny getaway car. Pshuh, right. And monkeys might fly out of Slyock’s butt!

Garfield: The title panel. Just stop reading at the title panel, it goes downhill from there.

Apartment 3-G: Someone’s getting a digital rectal exam, and it ain’t Margo!

Col. Havoc
April 10th, 2011 at 2:10 am [Reply]

@terrapin (#119): Early float nomination!

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 2:12 am [Reply]

April 10 – Sunday

Blondie: Damnit! A concise set up. A predictable plot and resolution. And a snicker-worthy punch line.

Who are you, and what have you done with the writers of Blondie?

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 2:17 am [Reply]

Crank: “This time it was the terrorists who failed to connect the Datsun.”

What am I missing? What does this mean?

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 2:25 am [Reply]

Curtis: Oh, crap! I just laughed at Curtis. Not in the face-saving ironical way, but in the punch-line-made-me-laugh kind of way. Suddenly I do not feel comfortable about my universe.

Dr. Weird
April 10th, 2011 at 2:44 am [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#156):

I think this might have been part of a Pearls Before Swine setup that somehow got drawn as a Crankshaft strip… Perhaps the last panel features Rat hitting the TV with a baseball bat.

It’s a reference to “connecting the dots” as in “Drawing together pieces of known evidence to uncover a plot in advance,” a term used after 9/11.

It’s also tying in with a brand of car that hasn’t existed for 25 years.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 2:56 am [Reply]

April 10 – Sunday

FC:

Prissy! Prissy! Look at this. The Family Circus Sunday comic. See? All those little kiddies getting off the school bus? See how they’re going out of their way to step in a puddle?

That’s so true, isn’t it, Prissy? Kiddies will go out of their way to step in a puddle. That’s true. Yes it is, and you know it! You’ve seen them do it, Prissy! You know you have.

You used to do it yourself when we were little.

Got me in all sorts of trouble, you did. Mom would tell me, “Susan,” she’d say. “I want you to make sure Priss stays clean.” And you weren’t more than a year younger, anyway. But I always was the responsible one, and you can’t deny it. So we’d go off, and if there was a puddle anywhere, you’d find it and step in it. And then all I’d hear when we got home was, “How come you can’t keep your sister out of mud puddles?”

Anyway, that’s why I thought Family Circus was funny. Because it’s such a true observation. Yes it is, Priss. It’s true. It’s true, and it’s fresh.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 3:06 am [Reply]

@Dr. Weird (#158): Huh! Now it makes sense. Except for the whole thing about Datsun not having been around for 25 years. However, since no two people can agree what year it is in the Batiukverse, maybe the Datsuns are contemporary.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 3:08 am [Reply]

FW: I chuckled. What is happening to me?

IagoPogo
April 10th, 2011 at 3:14 am [Reply]

…, here comes Lenny Bruce & The Sax Pistels! Spring is in the air!!!

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 3:20 am [Reply]

April 10 – Sunday

MT I just figured this strip out. It’s like the old TV show, I-Spy. Only instead of being a tennis star, Mark is a globe-trotting horticulturalist, and instead of being a spy he’s a ventriloquist’s dummy on a PBS kid’s show.

dale
April 10th, 2011 at 3:26 am [Reply]

@Dr. Weird (#158):

A fundamental problem with the “connecting the dots” analogy is that in the pictures, the dots have numbers.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 3:30 am [Reply]

Queen Victoria: Yes, they did.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 3:32 am [Reply]

@dale (#164): You’re lucky! When I was a kid, we were so poor we couldn’t afford numbers for our connect-the-dots!

Baka Gaijin
April 10th, 2011 at 5:33 am [Reply]

@Frank Lee Meidere (#166): You had dots? Stop rubbing it in you rich bastard.

Baka Gaijin
April 10th, 2011 at 5:36 am [Reply]

One Big Happy: VERBAL PIMP SLAP!!! Put you in your place, you wannabe home wrecking bitch.

Luann: On April 11, 1954, “Fred Basset” was syndicated. Is anyone really surprised.

Baka Gaijin
April 10th, 2011 at 5:41 am [Reply]

Archie: I waited how long this morning for Archie to show up and it’s a recycled joke from Zits. Zits! I guess next Sunday I should expect a recycled Pluggers.

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 10th, 2011 at 6:00 am [Reply]

@Jim North (#150):

Speaking of Doctor Who:

http://comics.com/dog_eat_doug/2011-03-08/

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 10th, 2011 at 6:25 am [Reply]

@kkarenb (#125):

Ah, the family that drags their four kids to the grocery store. How perfectly charming. The only thing that would make it even more adorable would be if Thel was pushing one of those humongous shopping carts that have a kiddie car in the front. Nothing adds to the grocery shopping experience like putting up with other people’s brats.

And how tall are those cretins supposed to be? Shouldn’t at least one of them be as tall as the shopping cart? If they were normal people, that is?

You must be prescient. What you said about Saturday’s Family Circus goes double for Sunday’s Baby Blues!

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 10th, 2011 at 7:15 am [Reply]

Funky Winkerbean — So basically Coach Stropp died of complications from crankshaftosis. And what’s the deal with Batiuk and red ballcaps?

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 10th, 2011 at 7:30 am [Reply]

Mark Trail —

I’m a Pepper, he’s a Pepper,
She’s a Pepper, we’re a Pepper,
Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper, too?

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 10th, 2011 at 8:01 am [Reply]

Weird Sound Effects (Sunday Edition!):

Hi & Lois — WAK
Baldo — SKREEEE!
B.C. — ZOK… THWAK… THWAK… WIF

Edge City —

http://www.jsonline.com/comics/32402404.html?feature_id=Edge_City

Rocky Stoneaxe
April 10th, 2011 at 8:03 am [Reply]

More Weird Sound Effects (Sunday Edition!):

Zits — FLASH
Curtis — BUMP! x 7
Blondie — DING-DONG

Beetle Bailey —

http://www.jsonline.com/comics/32402404.html?feature_id=Beetle_Bailey

Bill Thompson
April 10th, 2011 at 8:11 am [Reply]

@Rocky Stoneaxe (#172): I dunno. I was going to suggest that the red cap is a reference to The Sixth Sense, where red means the presence of death, but this is Westview, where everything means death.

gleeb
April 10th, 2011 at 8:15 am [Reply]

Zig: Most people do not golf. Try again, Wilson.

Mark: Classic Mark Trail. It starts out all nature documentary, then turns all weird-cop story.

Abbey and the Dreamy Dentist!: And now, whenever she gets her teeth worked on, he always gives her gas. Plus, why is Sophie eating spaghetti with a turkey baster?

‘bean: What, doughy dead guy Jock Strapp doesn’t rate sepia tones?

’shaft: What?

Flummoxicated
April 10th, 2011 at 8:35 am [Reply]

I have to hand it to Tom Batuik: by killing off classic characters, he’s figured out how to recycle his previous work while still paying homage to his beloved cancer. Well played, sir!

Bryan
April 10th, 2011 at 8:36 am [Reply]

@Jim North (#150):
Blondie: “Say, you’ll never guess what I have a craving for . . . cuckolding!”

That’s how I thought that strip was going to turn out: “Blondie, I won’t fire Dagwood if you let me at those big melons of yours.”

SF: Wow, Ted is talking about the more recent Doctors? I always thought he’d be a Classic Who kinda guy.

“Of couse, Hil, Patrick Troughton was the best Doctor, but many of his episodes were erased by the BBC in a short-sighted cost cutting maneuver.” Yeah, I see Ted as a Classic Who fan, too.

queek, source of Cuteness, Kawaii Commando
April 10th, 2011 at 8:39 am [Reply]

9CL: Caturday, a day late. (It’s safe to look, folks!)

Dilbert: that’s actually a pretty good description of task fixation, and the results of overload.

FT: yeah, it works like that.

GF: civit!

Lio: heh. nice concept.

Luann: Sunday suck, in sepia. (srsly, Luann, along with GF and Tank, suffer from a major “Sunday’s suck worse than the weeklies” factor.)

NAoQV: arrrrgh! they got me! *qlunk*

NS: this passes for whimsy in Wiley’s world.

SB: har!

JP: in the back seat. . . .

Blondie: subtext, it haz it.

Bizarro and Crank both try to be PBS, and fail beyond words.

FW: fail, but without puns. makes it even worse, or not?

RwO: shows how it’s supposed to be done.

MT: guest-written by Dick Tracy.

MG&G: *fliptake* I LOVE it!

Mutts: d’awwwwwwwwwwwww! [*]

OB: HAR!!! o, well played, Mr. Weber Jr.!

PMP: OOOP!

Ghost-who-mixes-continuities: meshes the weekly and Sunday plot lines quite well, actually.

SFx: it was Momma Hobbes in the car!!!

Zits: heeee!

standard snarpologies.

Doug Puthoff
April 10th, 2011 at 8:59 am [Reply]

4-10 S4th–If Ted believes Sally wanted him to talk to Hil about DOCTOR WHO, he needs a life. And Sally needs a divorce.

queek, source of Cuteness, Kawaii Commando
April 10th, 2011 at 9:06 am [Reply]

For True Fable. (Insulin required.)

Baka Gaijin would agree. (language)

Red Panda eyes.

Firefox uploading.

happy mix iz happy.

jump pup! (more insulin required.)

John C Fremont
April 10th, 2011 at 9:29 am [Reply]

You’re a Plugger if you still call them Datsuns.

Baka Gaijin
April 10th, 2011 at 9:45 am [Reply]

New Thread, Just Ahead!

Professor Fate
April 10th, 2011 at 10:07 am [Reply]

FW: Oh death and grief and sorrow – which in the funkyverse means it’s time to Party!

MW: Dinner tonight? How long is her damn shift anyway? 20 minutes? Most nurses I know work very very long hours. 12 hours shifts in some cases. Mabye she’s just some mental case that wanders about the hospital pretending to be a nurse.

DB: While I know the joke’s a bit recycled (“Best we could do Bald one”) it’s been a while and it’s been well set up soooo okay.

PBS: could someone do a mash of of this strip and FW? I lack the skills.

Frank Lee Meidere
April 10th, 2011 at 12:00 pm [Reply]

@gleeb (#177):
Zig: Most people do not golf. Try again, Wilson.

Judging by the way he’s holding the club, neither does Ziggy.

js
April 10th, 2011 at 12:12 pm [Reply]

AJGLU 3000: “Human consciousness only experiences time in a linear manner. Ha. Ha.”

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