I went looking for funny...

Been away from the site a few days (sorry), and decided that today I wanted to laugh. To go to the daily comics and find something humorous.  Shelve the snark for a day and find funny: 

Eek! by Scott Nickel:

I like this one (not just because it references a Batman villain--I mean, that's part of it for sure) but I just loved the expression on the hiking kid next to the Milhouse kid. Look at that facial expression: Milhouse is going to be walking by himself in two seconds, and, really, what 12 year old boy is going to watch out for Poison Ivy? 

Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley:

Get Fuzzy can go back to Curious George and Muppets every day and twice on Sunday and I am all in.  I love the seriousness of poor Satchel.  This was laugh out loud funny.

Lio by Mark Tatulli:

Lio is consistently funny.  The anticipation of the first panel, the surprise of the second panel, and the pleading of the last panel, and Harold's smug pointing to the sign.  A great, funny, creative punch line.  Bravo Tatulli. Bravo.

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Sunday Funnies: Satchel, Baseball, Bass, Lake Ass, and more Dinosaur Fights!

It's Sunday! Time for full-color, expanded panels, and...MORE DINOSAUR FIGHTS!

Alley Oop by Jack and Carole Bender:

On Sunday, the comics either have their extended space utilized to diverge from the weekly serial, introduce a new serial, or wrap-up the week for the Sunday reader.  Today, Alley Oop did the weekly wrap-up, which usually I abhor as laziness.  Today, however, it allows more Dinosaur Fights! YES!!!


Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce:

Big Nate hits a home run today. As you can see by my website/email/other blog, I am a huge Boston sports fan. As a kid, I did this exact report, but used the 1896 Baltimore Orioles National League franchise (I was a MUCH bigger nerd than Nate). I feel for him, because the rest of the class and teacher obviously thought I was a bizarre weirdo. That said, I remember my sophomore year in high school, I did my first assignment on baseball and the teacher made a comment that she detested baseball and hoped that I would something better to write about. After that, I made sure every assignment I could include baseball in any way would happen.  Whether it was sabermetrics, the 1944 World Series, the Sporting News, or the previous evening's baseball game on television, I was going to write about it, and do it well so she had to grit her teeth and give me a good grade.  

That said, the whims of a teen-age boy change like the wind.  Music, comic books, girls, video games, and work began to intrude on my time and baseball began to fade to the background for a while.  Here in the comic strip, however, I completely agree with Nate: $13 million for Shane Victorino is a bit excessive considering the Red Sox were bidding against themselves for him and paid him double what anyone else would pay. Also, Nate is absolutely correct as well in stating that Bobby Valentine was an absolute clown last season as the manager in Boston.  If there is any consolation for Nate and his Red Sox/Baseball oppressing teacher, at least the Yankees are lined-up for a down year due to age and injury.


Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley:

I just love Satchel.  The perfect capture of a big, sweet dog. In Satch's defense, my poor dog is abused by the cat just as much as him. 



Brevity by Dan Thompson:

Six for six, bee-yotches! Got 'em all.  All those music videos, all those hours alone in my room listening to music, it all pays off now: Michael Anthony from Van Halen rocking the Jack Daniels bass, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nikki Sixx from Motley Crue, Gene Simmons and his omnipresent tongue from KISS, the great Paul McCartney of the Beatles with the left-handed bass, and Bootsy Collins getting the funk on for the P-Funk with George Clinton/Parliament.  I will now issue the only criticism I can muster: Where is Adam Clayton from U2? C'mon, he should be there. Is that him being roasted over the fire? 


Little Dog Lost by Steve Boreman:

Being intimately familiar with Lakeville, MA I cannot ignore any pun utilizing the pond (yes, Lake Assawompset is a pond) that I used to skip rocks in when my Dad finally let me skip out of Palm Sunday Mass at the church across the street from the pond.  My mother is Catholic, but we went to a Baptist church (it was in walking distance) and now am a Methodist (No, none of it makes sense, I know), but on Palm Sunday my father always relented to my mother and we went to the church across from Assawompset Pond for our one day pretending to be Catholic. As I got older, I got to skip out with my Dad (he wouldn't sit still for an hour for anything) and go across the street to skip rocks. 

Ahh, a slightly funny pun leads to stories of ponds disguised as lakes, a riff on the breakdown of the protestant and catholic rift, and a short history lesson on the area (here it comes!) as Lake Assawompset is currently a reservoir for the City of New Bedford (don't pee in the water, people drink that water there, we were often told), was largely involved in the start of King Phillips War (dead body hidden under the ice! Whooo! Wait, no one outside of this area knows or cares about a minor dispute between Puritan settlers and Native Americans), and IT IS A POND, NOT A LAKE!!!



OK, I'm done. Have a great rest of the weekend, and thanks as always for reading!

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Mutant Undercover Pinko Puppet Espionage Team

Happy President's Day! Today I celebrate the president I share a birthday with, thirteenth president, Millard Fillmore (not to be confused with right-wing, unfunny newspaper comic duck, Mallard Fillmore).  Fillmore's major legacy involved staying out of conflict with Mexico, Peru, France, Portugal, Spain, and England (and importing guano--bat droppings!).  Fantastic stuff. Now on with the comics!

Barney & Clyde by Gene Weingarten, Dan Weingarten & David Clark:

Hah, always kick it off with a urine joke if possible. Apparently, mentioning bodily fluids is the way to getting thrown out of class.  Hmm, would have been good to know back in the school days. Also, I feel the child's pain here, mispronouncing a difficult word.  Look at panel three and that snotty, condescending look by the teacher.  I've been in that situation, having been limited in my television viewing and learning mostly through reading.  Most words I tried to introduce into my vocabulary were words I had never heard spoken.  It's not easy.  Heck, I wish I were witty enough to have whipped out a quick, distracting joke.

Drabble by Kevin Fagan:

OK, Drabble, you lost me here. A vacuum cleaner, I'd understand. A person walking a dog, sure. Someone turning their car around in the driveway, you bet. My dog goes nuts at all three.  But a water bottle, empty paper towel roll, and sock?  What is that? What sense does that make? Is it just me? Why is a dog afraid of a sock???

Thatababy by Paul Trap:

You're not sucking me in. I'm not making another Caddyshack reference now that I already used Spaulding and Judge Smails earlier this week. Not gonna get into Carl Spackler quotes..."He's on his final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2 iron I think."  Augghhhhh! They sucked me in.

Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds:

I'm kind of glad that 4th panel got cut off.  "I like the squeaking too." PANEL FOUR: "Not just the shoes squeaking, but the young men and their muscular bodies, dripping with sweat, jostling for position under the basket..."  Look at her dazed expression in the 3rd panel.  Yup, good thing that missing 4th panel is not there. 

Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley:

Muppets as dangerous pinkos.  I love it. Bucky Katt is on fire.  This is gonna be a great week at Get Fuzzy!

It's only Monday! Have a great night, everyone. 

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Comic Strips and Comic Books: A Match Made in Heaven

It's a snow day here, as work will wait another day since the city cannot manage to clear the roads despite the snow having ended well over 24 hours ago.  With that, it's time to dig into another daily dose of comics and let loose my considerable knowledge gleaned from wasting thousands and thousand of dollars on comic books (rather than the very little bit of knowledge gleaned from wasting thousands and thousands of dollars on my academic education).

Brevity by Dan Thompson:

This is a rare opportunity to complement a comic done right. Thompson combines two disparate worlds into one very humorous scene.  Nick Fury (time to put on my comic book hat...not that I have a real comic book hat, but that would be cool to have a hat that I wear for comic book discussions...hmm...this is gonna have to happen) is from the Marvel Universe, as former Director of SHIELD is well-known for his distinctive eye-patch.  Of course, Jean Shepherd's masterpiece Christmas Story starring Ralph and his quest for the BB Gun for Christmas where his mother leads the "You'll shoot your eye out" group of dissent.  

So we have Ralph and Nick Fury combined here as Nick shoots his eye out due to getting the BB Gun for Christmas and has to wear the eye-patch.  Funny, combines two smart concepts, and captures Fury's father well to just make him recognizable enough....at least recognizable enough to comic book readers...at least Marvel-616 Universe readers...Ultimate Universe and movie viewers not reading the comics will think "that guy looks NOTHING like Samuel L. Jackson, but no need to get into all that...I'm sure I've been confusing enough.

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Eek! by Scott Nickel:

Staying on a Marvel Comics theme here, we have half of the Fantastic Four confronting the villainous Mole Man.  Here the Mole Man takes on multiple meanings, not just living in his subterranean Mole City (nice representation of the Moloids over his shoulder) but also having dermal moles on his face.  Rather than brawling, the Human Torch seems quite concerned about the moles appearing on the Mole Man's face, making me wonder if Mr. Fantastic is back setting up the lab to prep for the Mole Man and check if the moles are cancerous.  

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Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley:

Great job here understanding the dog motive.  I can picture my own dog (if capable of answering the phone) being the same way as poor, sweet Satchel here.  Just as any noise has him panicking that SOMEONE is outside the door, imagine his terror at not knowing who was on the end of the phone.  Perfect representation of dog behavior. And Bucky Katt, of course, as all cats, has lost interest almost immediately and fails to ascertain the canine motive of desperation in needing to know "IS ANYONE THERE?".  

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Rose is Rose by Don Wimmer / Created by Pat Brady:

Yeah, so many young, college-loan debt-laden elementary school teachers are halfway to spring break vacations.  Sure, on their salaries its not like they are juggling paying off the loan, putting gas in their ten year old vehicle, paying the rent, and collecting enough nickels to enjoy a dinner of Ramen Noodles.  Heck, no. Those affluent teachers are all about Cabo-Wabo and partying their asses off in the Caribbean. 

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Dude, it's a bear!

It's Wednesday again, which means it's time for some more comics review brought to you by Peter.

Get Fuzzy

How is Satchel familiar with a Goya painting? I thought he is supposed to be dumb as rocks. Rob is often seen smacking his head is disbelief at having to explain another common expression to his linguistically challenged pets. Now one of them is putting together artsy-fartsy costumes. The inconsistency of the characters knowledge base is one of my few gripes about this strip.

The Argyle Sweater

Question: Why is there a shotgun blast in the tent? Was this man supposed to be firing through the fabric? I don't think that gun could even fit in there.

Break of Day

Insomnia and a paralyzing self-awareness? Check. The mental capacity to count sheep? Not so much. Yeah, this kid's development is coming along just nicely.

The Grizzwells

How does this strip manage to mangle such an easy pun? The final panel implies that his bear cousin is bisexual (referencing a classic Seinfeld episode in the process). If bipolar disorder is too sensitive a subject to make light of in a comic strip why bother with the stupid pun in the first place?

Rubes

The depressed/irritated look on Scarecrow's face suggests that he is not "clearing his head" or meditating, but rather his floppy, straw-filled limbs have become twisted and stuck, and instead of helping him out of his predicament, his "friends" are using the opportunity to poke fun of his mental deficiencies yet again. It won't be long before he snaps and kills them all.

Dude and Dude

Kind of funny. But I hate the cut-and-paste artwork. Dude, spend some time drawing your strip! There are cartoonists out there that fully illustrate multiple strips a day. If you don't have the time, have one of them do it.

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Bad Pun Wednesday

Hello. Peter here again for your Wednesday comics review.

Flo and Friends

Larry's smirk in the second panel suggests he is way too amused with himself for making this horrible, horrible pun. Or maybe "logging" is slang for some obscure fetish involving firewood, and Larry is smiling lustfully with anticipation for the quickly approaching fall and winter.

F Minus

Ha! It's funny because the father of the bride is rather sexist and equates his daughter to old magazines.

Frazz

Haha! Cute joke about the classic peas-peace mixup... oh wait, this strip just turned preachy. Damn you, Frazz!

Get Fuzzy

There have been jokes in this strip before about how Satchel will eat anything. I mean anything, shit off the ground, dead things, I think a hammer once. So it's a bit weird that he's suddenly gotten rather picky over Bucky's fish flavored concoctions.

Drabble

Ug... this has been a day for terrible puns.

The Grizzwells

I thought I'd end today with a poop joke. Enjoy!

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A Genuinely Funny Comics Page

Hello Hello! This is Cara with my thoughts on today's unusually great comics!

Cow and Boy:

Hmm I hope this doesn't persist. Formication is a real disorder and I dont think it would be pleasant to deal with.

Heart of the City:

I really just love the cameo of Adventure Time's Finn the Human here.

Get Fuzzy:

Now this is comic showcases why I fell in love with Get Fuzzy years ago in the first place. Satchel just has this sincere charm to him and his dialogue in this comic(particularly the second panel) really shows it off.

Pickles:

This is just hilarious. Enough said.

Pearls Before Swine:

Now if only he'd do this for WTF and Kawaii.

Cul De Sac:

I just love how they are sneaking free cookies this way. It makes for a really funny gag.

Pooch Cafe:

I love this one because it could have stopped twice and had a decent gag but with each insight the joke gets funnier and funnier. The final panel is priceless.

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