On Katzenjammer

There are a lot of strips out there that should've came to an end years ago. Typically it's because their original creator has passed away and the strip is only a shadow of its former self. Very rarely do strips make a rebound after hitting a low point. We're used to see so-called "Legacy strips" just languish on the vine because comic strips polls in newspapers are mainly filled out by older people who like their comics to remain the same and don't understand why that Mouse is so mean to that cute pig. Typically, sooner or later a strips get what it deserves and is sent off to the comic strips graveyard where comic strips enthusiasts and historians can determine if the strip can hold up to other generations. But what if that strip is 114 years old and shows no sign of ending? The Katzenjammer Kids started in 1897 and continues to this day. When its creator, Rudolph Dirks, wanted a vacation after 15 years, The New York Journal refused to let him go. Dirks left anyway and the Journal replaced him with Harold Knerr. Dirks sued the Journal for his creation and in 1914 was granted permission to continue the strip he created, just with a different title. So from 1914 until 1979, Dirks (and later his son John Dirks) wrote and illustrated The Captain and the Kids. They were essentially the same comic strips just owned by different syndicates.

I bring this up because I've read the recent strips. The Katzenjammer Kids is only syndicated to about 50 newspapers and magazines and its current creator, Hy Eisman (who also does the Popeye Sunday strip), is pushing 90. When Eisman decides to call it quits, will The Kids fade into the comic strips graveyard or will King Features keep it going just continue having the longest-running, still-in-syndication newspaper comic strip in the world?

Here is today's strip which I feel is actually better than some of the other strips I've read.

Daddy's Home

The thought of President Obama stealing someone's wallet and watch made me chuckle.

Baby Blues

I read in OK! Magazine that the Kardashian sisters grocery shop like Zoe and Hammie.

Get Fuzzy

Get Fuzzy lately has been pretty hit and miss. At least they still have the occasional strip (like this one) that can still get me to laugh.

Momma

Now, his face indicates that he is awake and just thinking this but I think he is actually dreaming and Mell just forgot that Francis was dreaming. Either way, it's pretty pathetic that Francis sucks at women both in his thoughts and his dreams.

Blondie

Gotta love a boss who comes over to your house, uninvited, just to fire you and humiliate you in front of your family, friends and neighbors.

Mark Trail

Yeah. Peppers are good and all for forcing criminals out of their hideouts but Mark still prefers to use his fists.

Born Loser

My local baseball team is the Kansas City Royals. Interesting fact: Alex Rodriguez makes almost as much as the Royals, combined. A-Rod makes $32 million while the Royals make a combined $36.1 million. It is any wonder that we suck?

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Lazy Sunday

I'm doing this blog on Saturday so it will post on Sunday because I will be in Columbia, Missouri spending time with my son because he's visiting his mom over the summer. Anyway, Garfield turned 32 on the 19th.

Garfield 6/19/10

Every year Jim Davis and his slaves at Paws, Inc. celebrate Garfield's birthday which makes Garfield 32. Not quite a record (the oldest cat lived to be 38) but still it's pretty impressive for a fictional cartoon cat.

Wait a minute....

Mark Trail 6/18/10

People who work for the board of health dress like this:


Police officers dress like this:


There is a huge difference.

Hi & Lois 6/18/10

So Chip cologne smells like gas fumes and failure? Also, why is Ditto getting that close to his bus driver?

On second thought, I don't want to know.

Momma 06/19/10

No, it's called So You Think You Can Dance? and it's been on since 2005.

Born Loser 06/19/10

How does Chip know about Maximilien Robespierre, one of the best known and influential people of the French Revolution? Robespierre was influential during the Reign of Terror and was executed in 1794. The Daily Comics Review: Talking About Comics and Maybe Teaching You Something, Too.

Wilberforce and Kewpie must be coming from the bar because we all know Wilberforce is underage but Kewpie is obviously hammered.

Shoe 06/19/10

*Thunderous applause*

Shoe has become relevant again! Let's see if this continues into the Sunday strip:

Shoe 06/20/10

Borders, immigration--possibly a knock against Arizona and a slap against the Federal government not doing anything about immigration. I consider it relevant!! *More applause*

Praise Jebus!!

And Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.

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Rivers Deadly

Sorry about the late post, folks. I started a new job and it's taking a bit of a toll on me. I've spent nearly 80% of the past week asleep. Hopefully my body will get used to it soon, and I'll be able to continue posting things in a timely manner. Here's your incredibly late comic reviews:

Nancy, 4/2/10

I doubt that Little Orphan Annie will have to resort to becoming a weather-girl. I'll agree that her constant singing would get pretty annoying, though, and that gimmick only works when there's sunny days coming up.

Knight Life, 4/2/10

Wait, so if you mock Kevin Smith, his legion of fans will come up to you and attempt to sell you his movies at really good prices? I'm not even a fan of Kevin Smith and I'd buy his movies if they were that cheap. I do like the "Clerks" cartoon, though. That was a good show.

Close to Home, 4/2/10

Instead of looking like a geezer, you'll just look like a stupid jerk. Pick your poison.

Brevity, 4/2/10

I like this one, and wish that rivers would restructure themselves to spell things in real life! Yes, it would cause untold amounts of death, destruction, and ecological damage, but it'd also be really neat. Imagine waking up one day and a bunch of streams were now spelling out "Hey, I gots some fishes in me" or the Mississippi river cajoled all the other rivers into spelling out "OH GOD I HATE MARDI GRAS". Each day would be a new surprise! Also, potentially, deadly as your house might be swept away by a moving river. I'm sure mankind would have evolved to a point where we lived and worked with that in mind, though.

Mark Trail, 4/2/10

Wait, did they have a net-gun in Mark Trail? Or is he just blathering on about it? If it was actually in there, I certainly don't remember it, but if it wasn't, then I'm angry that they're referring to it. Net-guns are something you show people, not just tell them about.

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A Bountiful Harvest

Today, the comic strip harvest is bountiful, as is the bounty everywhere else. Carafe has two new comics since last week, as does Time-Mind Sync-Warp. You can also check out my new-ish project (with comics from over a year ago) at Retro AoMP. And, while I'm only doing weekly comic strip commentary at the Meekrat Entertainment Group, there's still a wealth of new stuff for you to read and participate in. Now then, on with the commentary:

Rhymes with Orange, 3/25/10

One time, a gang-banger assaulted me because I said that "Rhymes with Orange" sucked. I still don't think it's the best comic, but I liked this one. I can easily see later Golden Age/Silver Age Superman doing this. I especially like the first little panel, where Superman tells the guy that next, they'll go tubing.

Mark Trail, 3/25/10

I try not to comment on soap strips. Josh Fruhlinger has them pretty much covered, and each one has their own separate blog. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out the second panel, where it appears that a giant duck is flying head-first towards the nefarious Parker Brothers.

Grin and Bear It, 3/25/10

Why do you need to be told about Massachusetts?

Flight Deck, 3/25/10

It's been years since I had cable, but if I recall correctly, the Playboy Channel is also a Pay-Per-View channel. Which means that most people (save for people who really really want to see soft-core pornography) would probably watch the Food Channel instead of the Playboy Channel.

BC, 3/25/10

This comic made me hungry for rice cakes. Not the diet ones, though. The white cheddar ones. Those are delicious.

Adam@Home, 3/25/10

There's these laser washes around here. For some reason, going through them brings me an immense amount of glee. The other ones, though, where you have to get out of the car? Or even non laser washes? Not nearly as much glee. Probably has to do with the lasers.

Today's post was brought to you by the letter "F", because it's rather needy. If you'd like to sponsor a post, contact us somehow. My e-mail address is meekrateg@gmail.com, so perhaps use that?

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A Return

Well, your worst nightmare has come true. I am back with some hopefully funny commentary for you. For my return, I've decided to choose five strips from yesterday and five from today. After this, maybe you can go to my site. No pressure or anything.

Zits 12/14/09

I'd want freedom too if I were being fondled by the Black-Suited Santa of Death.

Crock 12/14/09

OK...so whose feet did you expect to have?

Mark Trail 12/14/09

I'm kind of hoping the rest of this week consists of that guy trying to dispose of Mark's body. "Hello, Reverend Parsons! Fancy meeting you in the middle of woods while I'm digging this hole. What's rolled up in the tarp, you ask? Not a dead body if that's what you're thinking!"

Hazel 12/14/09

"No, Hazel! That's not a toilet!"

Notice how her body is literally absorbing the tricycle? Also, where'd her package go?

The Better Half 12/14/09

Now I'm no economist but I think what's happening is that since no one has any money, businesses have to lower their prices to compete and stay in business meaning they make less and less profit and make less money to run their company. Companies that do not, are the ones hit the hardest during a recession leading, possibly, to shutting down. If Stanley did raise the cost of his thoughts roughly 2000% (right?) then he has just priced his brain out of business.

Mary Worth 12/15/09

Now, you know what would be awesome? If Wilbur agreed to meeting this young man and it turned out to be Ted with a new haircut and no mustache.

Broom Hilda 12/15/09

Are they just goose-stepping around town screaming "Deck the halls"? I ask this because the lyrics of Deck the Halls are pretty self-explanatory although I guess if they sang the whole song they'd be wondering what the hell a bough of holly is.

Beetle Bailey 12/15/09

"Naked? Isn't that a little gay?"

"It's not gay if both of us do it."

"I guess that makes sense."

Drabble 12/15/09

And why does Drabble care? It's just a Secret Santa--not the KGB. He should just take comfort knowing that he gets free brownies.

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Mark Trail Wins!

Mark Trail 5/6/09

The year is over 1/3 over already and you might as well stop reading all comics for the rest of the year. Without even trying, Jack Elrod has created the funniest comic strip you will see for the next 200 some odd days. I can honestly say it is fucked up and disturbing how excited I am to see Mark ride his horse down the hill and kick these two amateur bankrobbers (and worst kidnappers ever) asses with his fist. Actually, that sounds pretty gross. And poorly phrased.


It's All About You 5/6/09

I've often wondered what I would think if I ran in to someone else who was exactly like me. Probably "I'm not gay, but that guy right there is pretty attractive."


Family Tree 5/6/09

INGRID? HA HA HA WHAT A STUPID ASS NAME! Sorry if that is your name, but I don't personally know any one named Ingrid, so I don't feel bad making that joke. By the way, saying "made up-sounding African names is still a little racist. A little.

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And on and on and on...

I did kind of a big one year post yesterday so today I'll keep things short and sweet, including the comic reviews.

Edge City 4/27/09

"How am I supposed to cut up the bodies in the dark?!? Jeez!


Mark Trail 4/27/09

Rusty should really change his name to Fail. Fail Trail. Has a nice ring to it.


The Argyle Sweater 4/27/09

Ha ha, creepy movie from almost 20 years ago reference! And it's never been done before by anybody else, like Gary Larson or some one.

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NEWS ALERT: Facebook Redesigned, World Internets In Meltdown

Overcompensating 3/15/09

Even though we think of ourselves as the tech generation, whenever someone changes something we're used to, the forecasters always call for at least three days of steady bitching. Thankfully our own recent redesign garnered nothing but a smidgen of praise and some complete ambivalence.


Natural Selection 3/16/09

HA HA HA HA HA! A comic about a lady killing her 3 previous husbands! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA. Did she kill them all within the last week? Because that grass would be growing over those piles in the time it takes to marry and kill three people. Do jokes about mariticide ever get old? Being a husband myself I cant get enough!


Gasoline Alley 3/16/09

It's days like today where I really miss Going Antisane. It was a blog written by a guy named Greg and he handled the strip daily like a consummate professional. He has dropped off the face of the earth (at least the blogosphere) and hasn't posted anything since last July. Hope everything is going good Greg, if you ever want to come back we'd love to have you here! On to this comic; is it appropriate to use the word "spunk" in a comic in the year 2009? It has been thoroughly corrupted by everyone from the porn industry to, well, me. And why would you draw a character with her hand right in front of her face? If it would be considered a bad photograph it probably wouldn't make a good comic panel either.


Frog Applause 3/16/09

When Frog Applause chooses to write cohesive strips instead of their usual acid-induced, hallucinated events, it is one of the best comics out there. The middle finger has been played out folks, and we do need a new gesture just like Ms. News-anchor says. "The Shocker" has been co-opted and put on t-shirts by frat boys, and the thumb bite is too old school to pack much of a punch. I think we may have run out of options.


Mark Trail 3/16/09

It's not apparent from the facial expressions if these two guys are intensely private individuals who are pissed at being photographed or if they are super pumped up that they were in it! Either way this looks to be an awful new storyline. Two pillars of the community, in a torrid gay love affair, are unexpenctantly photographed by the son of the worlds most famous wildlife detective. Hilarity and hijinks ensue!

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Half-assed Friday Comics Review

Don't forget to vote in our poll for the worst comic of February! It ends today at midnight. Have a great weekend everyone!

Gil Thorpe 3/6/09

Devotee - a slang term for an "Acrotomophile". This is a paraphillia, or sexual fetish, in which sexuerotic arousal and facilitation, OR attainment of orgasm, is dependent upon their partner being an amputee or unable to use all of their limbs. Also can mean a follower of the DCR. Notice the male character in this strip, who also bears my name, is a big fan of this gimpy girl? Where am I going with all this? We want you to become a DCR devotee by clicking the link at the bottom of the page, all the way down there!


Alley Oop 3/5/09

I am going to ask you to all to do one more thing today and that will be it. Email the Benders @ contact_alleyoop@sbcglobal.net and tell them to stop posting all these rediculous fan drawings and get back to drawing more than a signle panel every day. Ask them to please get the story moving again. The lack of effort has made me so sick I am actually asking you readers to write these people and maybe they will listen. GET BACK TO WORK!


Mark Trail 3/6/09

I don't know how he did it but Ken managed to be wearing a t-shirt with today's date on it even though he's been in the hospital for the last few days. Does he have some sort of time traveling ability?


Popeye 3/5/09

Gorsh Dam Popeye is the worst ferking comic strip don't cha knows? Anyone who spent years ta git an engrish degree in college must wanna spoon they're own eyes's out when they reads it.

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