Sunday December 14th - Alley Oop

Kaitlyn here, again. If you don't like it, you could, you know, comment.

And thanks to comics.com recent revamping, I can give you a link that won't break in a month. (If they don't change everything again.)

I'm going to follow the same format I do at my blog(when I can), which I already plugged pretty shamelessly with my first post that I only read.

So here goes.

The comic:


I've never read Alley Oop before I saw it here. I think MAD mocked it and I saw bits of that in my MAD book about comics, but I kind of skipped parodies of old comics I'd never heard of and assumed were no longer. I mean it's one thing for legacy strips like Blondie and Family Circle to still run, but Alley Oop apparently tries to tell stories - stories more complex than a 75th anniversary with a crossover or a family trip to the beach.

I know they tell stories because Bryce said in the e-mail that Sunday summed up the week, and that only happens in terrible soap/action strips. Plus, while waiting for this, I saw Saturday's comic, which is totally the last 3 panels, minus the threat of "more next week". (I wanted this up before noon - I guess before 2:30 is good enough.)

Now to look at the rest of it.

So Alley Oop is described, by the Comics.com people as "an irrepressible time-traveling caveman" (at least on the google search results page). Why is his girlfriend or wannabe girlfriend dressed in similar attire? Is she also from the same time frame? I'm not looking this nonsense up on wikipedia.

So, Oop rescues some guy's daughter from a sabretooth by being there when lightning strikes, which proves that this ghastly looking thing really is Hippolyta's belt. This time, implying this has happened before. Hippolyta's name rings a bell, but it's too cold to run upstairs and flip through my few books on Greek mythology. Off to the wikipedia! (I'm also too lazy to get off the recliner and walk over to our 40 year old encyclopedias and look her up.)

That's it! She was Queen of the Amazons, which is why it's fitting that Oop's galpal bonked him with a rock. I knew her name because of a version of Heracles (Greek version of events, remember) trials and whatnot where he had to take her belt. Which is probably why they're probably still looking for it.

Though I must say, no self-respecting warrior queen would wear such an ugly belt. Maybe keep it around for ceremonial purposes so douches like Heracles could take it.

One last thing about the Amazons who are so much more interesting than Alley Oop, but this is it! I could have sworn they removed one of their arms, probably their left, since they weren't real and thus were all right-handed. But the wikipedia just says they had no right breasts, because boobs get in the way of shooting. Which they do. It says it was done while they were babies but who had boobies or growing boobies as babies?

Er, I think I'm girling this place up, and it's only my second post! This is my "style and humor" Bryce, random nonsense that forgets the comic for quite some time! I'm not trying to get fired, I'm having fun. Really.

Back to the comic.

If Alley Oop is a time travel- dammit, I have to look him up to make ANY sense of this, not that it will make much sense. Ok, the wiki says a time machine was introduced into the strip, so he did not travel into our time (think Fry in Futurama) or anything like that. It was also called a satire on modern suburban life. Uh-uh. Whatever.

So Alley Oop is most likely living in his correct time, explaining the presence of the sabretooth tiger, but not the Greek myth or the modern people. Oh wait, this is a fantasy comic.

Fantasy still has to make sense within its own rules.

And just gah! This is a summary? How the hell is this a summary? I almost wish for the plodding pace of a Dick Tracy Sunday strip in comparison.

Oh, wait. The modern people were company. Brought by the time machine. They most likely interrupted Oola and Oop's private time, and she is miffed. But he is a cavemen, and like all men, doesn't understand that women are weird and like to spend time with the men they love! They also like shoes! And purses! And ask you "What are you thinking?" Try the veal, I'm here all week.