Nitpicks, Birdbrains, and Death

First off, some nitpick things:
Eek!

The Thing didn't really name himself. Well, he did, but he was so down-trodden by the fact that he was now a craggy misshapen monster that he latched onto what Sue Storm called him when the Fantastic Four's spaceship crashed: a thing.

Graffiti

The card game got its name from actual war. I realize this comic is trying to be clever and pithy, but it usually fails pretty hard.

Meaning of Lila

Not really a nitpick, but it sort of is. I'm going to try not to bring this up every time Meaning of Lila mentions something in or around Cleveland, OH but it's really weird seeing it mention things I know, for a fact, are real.

Next, the evolution of a comic strip. On Wednesday, this was Birdbrains:

...and so it had been since I started as a DCReviewer way back whenever. It was pretty inoffensive. One of those comics that didn't really stick out, save for the way it was colored. It's colored very nicely, I think. Anyway, since Wednesday's comic was for some reason with the Thursday comics, this was right below it:

The same art-style, in a way, but the coloring is less dynamic and the caption is typed, not hand-written like it usually was. Also, I'm not sure what to think about the joke. Part of me thinks it's funny and a but clever, but sort of bizarre and mean-spirited. What sort of sadistic jerk brings the sole survivor of a family massacre to the place his loved ones have been mounted? Anyway, I was willing to continue ignoring Birdbrains, but then I came upon today's strip:

Not colored, but it features the same two humans from the previous strip. It would appear that Birdbrains has evolved from a dime-a-dozen single-panel gag-a-day comic (nicely colored though it was) to something that features an amoral jerk and his chubby mute sidekick. I'll be paying some attention to it for a while, to see what develops.

And now... DEATH:
Ferd'nand

I'm still amazed that so many comics use death and killing as a punchline. This particular strip is done well, though I guess Ferd'nand has some lingering problems if his wife thinks he's going to hang himself. It's not just this strip, though. Lots of other strips also use death as punchlines, though in most cases it's a predator/prey type thing. Then you have things like Dick Tracy, in which stylized death is one of the strip's trademarks. However, occasionally, you get something like this, from Minimum Security:

Yes, that's a cop getting shot through the head and falling to the ground so we can see the exit wound. Which I think is a bit much, to be honest, and rather off-putting.

That's it for me today, folks. For more of my output, check out the Meekrat Entertainment Group.

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Shoes, gold, sharks, bacon, forgetful children, and clutter! Oh my?

It's a new week, so there's no need for delays.  Except for, perhaps, a shameless plug.

Anyway, the comics -

Judge Parker:

This is what happens when someone reads a strip after having not read it in a long while.  I really have no idea what's going on here, and I certainly didn't know the Spencers had a shoe lab.  I'm not entirely sure I know what a shoe lab is.

The upside, however, is that I found the strip quite amusing.  The fact that it makes absolutely no sense to me makes it far more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.

Spiderman:

Just one question here: Why is Iron Man known as "The Golden Avenger" when he's mostly red, at least in this particular depiction?  I don't read very many Marvel comics, so maybe that's why I'm in the dark about it.  Perhaps someone else can fill me in.

Family Circus:

The question he's really asking is whether he has just won or lost, because it appears that the game is over no matter what.  How unfortunate.  If I was the mother, I'd just say, "Doesn't matter.  We'll just start over." If this happened several times, I'd say, "If you're not going to take this game seriously, there's no reason for me to play with you.  Now, this time REMEMBER your role!"

This is why I'm not a mother.  Hopefully I won't do that when I'm a father, either.

Rubes:

But he is the Jaws of life!  He just comes off looking a bit mean.  His teeth are actually quite dull, and he does a great job of prying people out of cars.  Mr. fireman, you don't need to keep holding up that tree anymore, thanks.

Pearls Before Swine:

Wait a second...  Pig eats bacon...?!

I always thought he was Jewish.  Reform Jew, I guess.

Graffiti:

You do realize that you've just insulted every single one of your readers with this panel, don't you?  Okay, as long as you realized that.

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Finding Pesos

It's another pleasant Wednesday afternoon. I hope the beginning of your year is going better than mine.




Drabble 1/6/10

Dude, I want a mailbox that shoots the mail at you. That would be sweet. As long as you don't get anything heavy that might crack a rib. Also, I don't want mine to make the 'Ratta-tat-tat' noise. That's so cliche.



Brevity 1/6/10

That guy is awesome. If there's any group that deserves to be messed with, it's people that use metal detectors that actually think they're going to find something valuable.

I wonder why he chose pesos? There are plenty of metal things that are worthless and wouldn't insult an entire country's monetary system.



Graffiti 1/6/10

Ugh.

This is the perfect example of why Graffiti is a terrible comic strip.

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Shortest Day Comics

Hope you all are out and enjoying the day because it's the shortest day of the year. On the downside, the sun will be gone at, like 5:30 this evening but on the plus side, the days will now start to get longer leading us into spring and away from this horrible winter which has turned my skin all dry and splotchy. Onward, comics!!

Bizarro 12/21/09

Oh, those wacky Mayans. Sadly, this comic makes a lot more sense then the apocalyptic 2012 theories making the rounds do.

Nest Heads 12/21/09

Not being a regular reader of Nest Heads, do Uncle Albert and Tammy always go off by themselves? Are Uncle Albert and Tammy seeing each other on the side and Little Girl is about to walk in on them? And is Uncle Albert showing Tammy what I think he's showing her?

The Dinette Set 12/21/09

I often wonder what is wrong with The Dinette Set. What are they all looking at? The found keys basket? The to-do list? Why does Julie Larson insist on shoving multiple "jokes" into each panel? Does she think if the actual joke falls flat, people will forgive her because of the clever rhyme in the Valentine's heart on the wall? That's not the way it works.

Also, I found the dumbbell, can you? And I know that you'll be tempted to just circle the entire panel but that doesn't count.

Graffiti 12/21/09

"One false move"? Shouldn't that be "one wrong move"? Wouldn't a false move be a fake move? However I do find it creepy that not only is this comic comparing romance to chess but also to rape.

Reality Check 12/21/09

"I went down to the health department. They were having an H1N1 clinic. They had plenty."

I'd be more worried about how he was able to get that needle and the vaccine out the door.

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Thanksgiving: The Aftermath

Hey there, folks. Hope everyone had a fine Thanksgiving yesterday (or Thursday, if you're not in the United States) and that you didn't die from turkey overdose or excessive football watching or some other drastically real problem you could have experienced yesterday. Anyway, here's comic strip commentary:

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 11/27/09

So does this mean that Loweezy or whatever her name is isn't, in fact, a woman? That explains quite a lot, actually.

Sally Forth, 11/27/09

As someone who has watched the "Star Wars Holiday Special", and owns a bootleg copy, I can honestly say that there is no greater revenge that Ted can have against his parents than making him watch it. For the record, it's not so bad until you get to the part with the holographic circus. Of course, the holographic circus is within the first five minutes.

Candorville, 11/27/09

I would never pay the guy to leave me alone if all his stories are as delightful as the one he's telling now.

Graffiti, 11/27/09

All I remember about Moby Dick is that Ishmael was freaked out by Queeqeg, Moby Dick demolished their boat and Ishmael had to use Queeqeg's coffin as a life-raft, Captain Ahab ate some fresh whale-meat, and there was a chapter about Ishmael having a flash-back to some island he went to with whale-bones on it or something. What I'm getting at here is that it's a pretty boring book and far too long. Sorry if opinion's too funky fresh for all you squares.

The Quigmans, 11/27/09

The headless horseman wasn't Ichabod Crane, comic strip. Even if you're not willing to read the story (or even watch the Disney version) then you should at least have the presence of mind to look it up on Wikipedia.

Real Life Adventures, 11/27/09

I'm going to have to protest "Real Life Adventures" "People who play Dungeons and Dragons aren't qualified to reproduce" stand-point. It is a stupid standpoint and I hate it, especially since I play the game on occasion. And I will fight you on this if I have to, comic strip.

Daddy's Home and Nest Heads, 11/27/09


Here, we have two comics about the "Black Friday" phenomenon. While most people (rightfully) believe that the reasons the first comic strip posits is the reason that the day after Thanksgiving is called that, the minor amount of research I've done actually puts the reason "Nest Heads" forth to be the real reason that it's called that. So it's not because consumers act like raving savages, but because businesses are desperately hoping that one day out of the entire year will allow them to actually make a profit.

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Stop Thinking and Do Her

It is Monday, a fact that I nearly forgot until about an hour ago. Tip of the day: don't eat and drive or else how will you text?



The Doozies 9/14/09

I have come to the conclusion that The Doozies is about one or more persons experiences when they are tripping balls. Totally tripping balls.



Boomerangs 9/14/09

As if videogames have any more meaning that a Rubik's cube. Sure videogames are more sophisticated, but they are still mostly a waste of time. They're a good hobby and can be really fun, but they can be considered on the same level as a Rubik's cube.



Luann 9/14/09

When reading this for the first time, I was pretty sure that the second panel read "Brad, man up willya? Stop thinking about it and go do her now!"

Then I read it again and was disappointed that they felt the need to disguise what TJ is saying.



Graffiti 9/14/09

Too...much...pun...having...pun-related...seizure................

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Another Number Ending In Two Zeros

Welcome to Tuesday. Today is special. Do you know why? Because it's another milestone! This is the 400th post of the Daily Comics Review.

While it isn't incredibly impressive, it is remarkable considering all the problems of late. Several writers are MIA and a few others are out of comission due to life concerns.

But there is hope! Later this week a very special contributer will be joining me. You might have heard of him, or at least his own comic blog. That's right, non other than Mike P of Meekrat Entertainment (AKA The Amazing Spider-Blog) will be taking a few days to keep me from insanity.

Enjoy the supersized comics review.



Graffiti 7/7/09

Somebody please kill me now. I don't care how you do it, just be quick about it.



F Minus 7/7/09

How did that guy get a clipper on the plane? Did he smuggle it in inside his ass? That's a lot to go through just to clip your toenails on a plane.

Also, is the joke about how annoying the guy is or is it about how scary nail clippers are or is it about how ridiculous it is that you can't bring nail clippers on planes?


Cow & Boy 7/7/09

I see what Boy is talking about, but I think he could have gotten a better mashup of Twitter, Myspace, and Facebook. Something like MyFaceTer. Or Twpacebook. Those are harder to understand, but are more creative than Tweet-Face-Space.

One day we will all be Twpacebooking.



Andy Capp 7/7/09

I realize this is an old, old strip, but is it really necessary to keep the headscarf on all the time? She's in a jogging suit for christ's sake. And wouldn't the scarf just get in the way of trying to jog? Unless you had it tied extremely tight, I'm pretty sure it would fly off. Unless you jog really, really slowly.



Home and Away 7/7/09

Why can't you show a female a magazine that sells female undergarments? I realize that it is a young female, but there is no reason to keep a VS catalog away from her. She's going to start learning about way worse things than bras and panties pretty soon, if she hasn't already. Why didn't they just make it a young male? Then it would make sense.



Dick Tracy 7/7/09

Yes, thank you Dick. You saved my business that exploits the poor and stupid from someone else that was exploiting the poor and stupid. Now all the money is MINE!!!!



Loose Parts 7/7/09

This just seems mean. You shouldn't make fun of someone that can never leave the house to defend themselves.

Also, what would the awards even be for? Most weight gained?



Frog Applause 7/7/09

I know, I know, I'm getting repetitive. But this is another case of not being creative enought with your madeup names. Why spell out all of catapult, but not spell all of spork or spoon? Sporfoonapult would be much better.

Also, if it's a catapult, why do you stab with it? It should be launching things.

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A Friday Without A Boss

As you may have heard, Bryce is gone today, so you get me instead. I hope you are enjoying your Friday the 13th as much as I am. I walked under a ladder, behind a black cat, and shattered a mirror this morning. But it's okay because I knocked on some wood and threw some salt over my shoulder.

Isn't weird how our supposedly religious culture has all these stupid superstitions that go against everything modern religion teaches?

Cow & Boy 2/13/09 Ah, yes. I remember when all we had to fear was being melted by radiation and being taken over by the Reds. Those were the days.


Flo & Friends 2/13/09
Who here really believes that Friday the 13th is a day when bad things happen? How about 7 years of bad luck after breaking a mirror?

Well, if any of you said yes to those questions let me tell you this: you are an idiot. Bad things happen every day, a plane crashed last night. Does that mean that Thursday the 12th is an unlucky day? No, it means that something shitty happened, get over it.

As for mirrors, I don't know why you would think that. Mirrors break all the time and we're not all having bad luck. Wait, maybe that's why the economy sucks, the Wallstreet guys were breaking mirrors for fun and now we're all screwed for 7 years!


Graffiti 2/13/09
This is actually a good question. I don't have an answer except that it is the time when most everybody is asleep.



Ferd'nand 2/13/09
So the joke is that the bum is pissed that Ferd'nand gave him a small amount of money before getting into a private car. I would say the bum has no right to be angry, he should be glad Ferd'nand didn't kick him like most rich people would.



Rip Haywire 2/13/09

I had such high hopes for this strip when it first started. But is seems to have gone into a tailspin of lame jokes, like just about every other comic strip.




I do enjoy the LEAP! sound effect. It's as if the guy is screaming it as he jumps.

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Merry Boxing Day!

Watch Your Head 12/26/08I'm not sure why this is supposed to be funny. Most people I know don't like to tell people bad news, especially not to the female types that are already feeling vulnerable. It's just not a smart thing to do.

Girls & Sports 12/26/08This one made me chuckle inside(which means I thought it was really funny). Mostly because it sounds like something I would do in real life. Not that I'm boring or anything ladies ;)

Graffiti 12/26/08A couple things: 1. If that were true the networks wouldn't have so many of them. 2. How is this a comic? Doesn't a comic need to have a drawing of some kind, not just words? Those things with just words are called commentaries.

Well, that's one more day down. As you might recall I said something about Boxing Day yesterday. Well, here's the thing, I don't know anything about Boxing Day because I don't live in Canada or where ever they celebrate that crazy holiday. Sorry to disappoint you but you can always go to Wiki to find out.

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