Seriously Righteous

I would just like to point out that, in a moment of meta-connection that bridges the divide between 'Mics and Reality, two righteous dudes are totally on the same page. The same comics page. Read my last post. Then read today's Sally Forth.




Me and Ted, dudes, me and Ted. And I mean, have you ever seen us in the same room at the same time?

TWSNLUD vs. Serious Business

My friends, it's summer! These are the months of Bruckheimer and Bay, of barbecues and baseball: fun is the order of the day. And where should we find more fun than in the Mighty 'Mics? But what is this I see before me? Things have taken a turn for the serious in our beloved panelled pages. Not to say for the worse, it's not like that, no. But for reasons unknown to any save perhaps the shadow conspiracy which lurks behind the scenes of King Features Syndicate, the mysterious Illuminati responsible for strings pulled and decisions made at United Features, yes for reasons known only to these illustrious and terrifying nether beings, our Summer Strips have been hijacked for darker purposes. Doonesbury (ever a bastion of the serious, but always tempered with the humane and humorous) is telling a disturbing and singularly un-amusing tale of "Command Rape." Lio (though never actually funny to begin with) has embarked on an uncharacteristically narrative tale of Summer Camp travails (hope you're ready for the same, PSin'A). Brad's dad is stuck in a tree (ok that one is just funny). But Garfield! Oh my sweet dear Garfield! Those of you who know me, whether through our traffic on the blogosphere or through more corporeal means, know that Garfield is everything to me. The platonic ideal of the comic strip. And what have we here????? A sordid and sad tale of jealousy and heartbreak. The sardonic feline fortress that is Garfield's implacable psyche has been emotionally breached by.... a woman! I have been all for - and I mean ALL FOR - Liz and Jon's relationship. 25 years coming, I say. But what is this? Is she the Yoko* who will break up the metaphorical rock band of the Arbuckle household? A wedge driven between the homo-inter-species love of Jon, Garfield and Odie? What next? A sapphic tryst with Nermal?? Mmmm, oh yeah. Nermal is a boy. Uh. Oh, ok. What next? A sapphic tryst with Arlene? Where the fuck is Arlene anyway? maybe they could go on some double dates, and everything would be fun and hilarious again.
In any event, I'll take this opportunity in my closing remarks to point all eyes towards the truest stalwart on the 'mics page, They Who Shall Never Let Us Down. I of course am referring the Dagwood family, a font of love and humour undiluted for 75 years (and counting)!. Who can resist the charms of an enormous sandwich, a restorative kiss on the doorstep, the hilarious "Snnxxxxx" of Dagwood's snores... or today's comic gem, the ol' pants switcheroo! I'm sure some of you are grumbling about the chrono-specific reference to "capri pants" in the strip, but come on! Look how funny he looks in pants that are too small! As someone who has been known to perpetrate this self-same brand of humour in real life, I say huzzah to you, Dean Young! Do not submit! Let the upbeat river of Blondie's world flow on, forever running high on its banks through the ever shifting landscape of the 'micsville. So raise your glasses to TWSNLUD, I say! Three cheers for Blondie! Three cheers for Dagwood! Three cheers for Daisy and whatever the hell the son is named! Three cheers for Mr. Dithers, his wife, and for the carpool! Three cheers for the mailman, and for the dog! Three cheers for Elmo, the inexplicable neighbor boy who is always around and seemingly has no parents of his own! Three cheers for TWSNLUD! May your refrigerator always remain stocked! And let us pray on bended knee that those at PAWS Inc. will hear the revelry of the Feast of Blondie and see the error of their ways. Now read on my friends, ever on and on.

p.s.: Here's a special treat from the vaults! The strip in which Dagwood Bumstead and Blondie Boopadoop (I shit you not) get hitched. That's right kids, they were unmarried lovers before this one!






*Let me also make it clear that Yoko Ono was in no way responsible for the breakup of the Beatles, and is in fact a hip, hip lady. The blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of Paul, goon among goons.

Happy Birthday, MG!

We all know what original Cat with 'Tude has the market cornered on those wacky birthday blues, so without futher adieu:

Dont worry Logan...the secret of your age is safe with me.

HOLY SHIT DUDES

So, I have been shamefully unblogriffic (what? sp?) these days, and honestly I haven't even read the 'mix in like 3 days. AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU'RE NOT VIGILANT? Only like, the biggest deal in the history of fictional Canadian romance my friends. We all knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. TOTAL SMOOCHFEST. Consider my heart officially warmed. Not that I really need to reprint this, because I know you have all already ordered your framed editions of today's strip, but I'm going to go ahead and do it anyway.



Totes epic dudes, totes epic.

Off The Beaten Path, Part II

I've mentioned Ruben Bolling's "Tom The Dancing Bug" here once before, but I don't think I talked about how much I love it. Oftentimes when I'm bored at work, like say fifteen minutes ago, I will peruse its back strips and amuse myself to no end. It is a comic that can be found in greatest volume online over at salon.com for whatever reason. It has recurring characters every now and again but mostly every week you get something new, which I find pretty awesome.

Every now and again, though, he'll do these "Super Fun Pak" strips where he lampoons well-worn mixual tropes. Since this one references another comic not found in the Chron (and one that I'm sure would find little love in this community), I thought it was doubly appropriate that I share it here. I can't figure out how to make this thing stop sizing it automatically, so if it's too small to read, the original can be found here.

This one's for you, 'MG

knowing her oft-professed love of sexual innuendo on the 'mix page, I thought our blog's founder might care to see this chestnut from the FBFW vaults, circa 1981:

Kids!

Off The Beaten Path

In response to a question raised by a faithful member of our community, I thought I'd discourse a bit on "Prickly City," a comic that I don't think has made it to the pages of the Chronicle.

What it basically seems to be to me, is political cartoon in which the girl represents the right, and the dog the left. I think. I haven't read it faithfully enough to back this argument up that well. The person who draws it certainly owes a debt to Bill Watterson in terms of the pacing, the phrasing--up to the standards of 'MD420, I'd say--and the general wistful/droll tone of the proceedings. Even the art, to a certain extent, although whoever draws it is no Watterson (not even a Brady/Wimmer in my opinion).

I'm not sure whether the girl is supposed to be black or not, but um, let's charitably use the word 'refreshing' to see a child of color repping the Right's political ideals on the comics page.

Sigh.

I just looked at Wikipedia, I promised myself I would finish writing the post before I checked what limited exposure I've had against the world at large's impression. Apparently this is just a right-wing comic, plain and simple. The following is from a strip published during the Terri Schiavo controversy, apparently Carmen was upset her womens' NCAA team lost so the dog took her food away:

Carmen: Stop denying me food, Winslow!

Winslow: I'm doing it to stop your suffering, Carmen. Besides, suicide and euthanasia are cool now. Hunter Thompson, Million Dollar Baby. It's all the rage.

Carmen: But my parents want to take care of me. They love me and don't want me starved to death!

Winslow: Well, don't come whining to me because you're not a cool dead person.

I know that I sure wanted Terri Schiavo's family to pull the plug back in those heady days of 2003: all my "cool" friends were saying Terri Schiavo would suddenly become "cool" too, once that happened, and I still have my Terri Schiavo pillowcases and action figures that we're all so familiar with, because man her popularity just went off the charts when she died, right? Comedy and salient, relevant political commentary, working together to bring the funny: THAT'S how it's done, you Trudeaus, you Wileys and McGruders and dudes who draw Pearls Before Swine. Look no further than within the limits of one Prickly City, AZ.

Speaking of politics and comics, I wiki'd GARFIELD the other day and was amused to learn that in 1978, Garfield briefly touched on the topics of inflation and labor unions, but such references were "ultimately pruned from the strip to give it a more universal appeal."