The Daily Comics Review: Manic Monday

by Hal Bent

Crank up the Bangles, 80s pop music lovers, it's just another Manic Monday here at the Daily Comics Review (and we wish it was Sunday!).  Vacation is over for me, I'm back to the grind at the 9 to 5 job, and now can kick back on the couch with my menagerie of pets so happy to see me home again and ready to kick back and review some comic strips:

Thatababy by Paul Trap:

It was a lot of set-up to get to the punchline, so I have to credit Trap here for putting in the effort, but--I know I only raised two kids so don't call me Dr. Spock or anything--giving an infant Legos to play with? Seriously?  My son choked twice (once on candy that was left on the floor and once on a mint) when he was little and I aged ten years in the very short period of time it took to dislodge it. Little kids pick things up and put them in their mouth. There is a reason Legos are not recommended for small children.  Small pieces like that near a small child and this is a serious health hazard. I may be oversensitive to this, but this is really tweaking me seeing this in print. 


Real Life Adventures by Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich:

Wait, I thought Hugh Hefner got women because of his good looks, charm, and suave demeanor, just like the magazine articles always indicate.  Just kidding, I know. Of course, if you are looking for relationships as real as his "reality shows" like he is, I guess the dollar signs speak the truth there. 


Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis:

Pastis does such a great job here of not only poking fun at every serialized drama in the newspaper comic strips (as he does here making in fun of the insane coincidences that set-up contrived drama sequences ala Gil Thorpe, Apartment 3-G, Mary Worth, et al) but also of including himself and poking fun of himself in the strip. Of course, I would probably have liked this better if he just popped up in the last panel without the word balloon, but I guess that would be a bit too obtuse for some of the audience. 


Nancy by Guy Gilchrist:

At first, I thought: Why is Sluggo in California and why was he thrown out?
Then, I thought: Where did his cousin get $200?
Finally, I thought: Why do I care? This is Sluggo, I hope he ends up in Ziggy's basement love dungeon by the fourth panel. 

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That's all for today, my readers.  Thank you as always for visiting. Have a great day.