Manic Monday - 7/29/2013

by Hal Bent

I need to come up with a better explanation for my disappearances from the website other than "I have a lot of work to do and I'm very tired."  "Alien abduction" is a distinct possibility.  Maybe I can use "dimensional wormhole generator malfunction" or "accidental disruption of the space-time continuum." 


Adam@Home by Brian Basset:

Oh, silly silly. The word to explain Adam is not "Donut-head", it's "ass-hat". 

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Ziggy by Tom Wilson & Tom II:

Damn it, Ziggy. Why are you watching Sesame Street?  Second, why go to medium? Go all the way to "small bird" or "tiny bird". Third, damn you, Ziggy, you're making me think about your stupid comic strip!

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I know 9 Chickwood Lane is a regular on here, but today was so unfunny that I had to ignore it. That's how bad/sad it was...and it wasn't even that jackalope Amos, either. 

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Wizard of Id by Parker and Hart:

Wizard of Id has the well-established drunk character. So good storytelling has idiot Rodney just wandering by talking about pickled eggs, when instead what would be more visually stimulating and better "showing" of the joke, would to have the drunk character rushing over with an empty "Pickled Eggs" jar (as every humorous event at a bar in the 1950's or earlier involved having a jar of pickled eggs on the bar). 

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Thatababy by Paul Trap:

This comic would be funny...if it was hockey season. 

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OK, until the next time I'm grabbed by a temporal vortex and disappear through a wormhole, have a great day and thanks for reading!

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Funday Sunnies

by Hal Bent

Its Sunday, time for the Funday Sunnies.  A little matricide, a little cross-comics non-humor, some disgusting body hair, and a pinch of unattractive weirdos.  Sounds about right for the comic strips. Enjoy!

Thatababy by Paul Trap:

What is wrong with this comic? 
#1: What time is service that they don't have time to read the newspaper before church? If they have a baby, they aren't sleeping in anytime soon. Rushing home to read the newspaper? That would be quaint in a Norman Rockwell painting.
#2: Umm, read the comics on a computer, maybe?  I love newspapers, but I have long since given up buying them. Let alone wait all day to read something in this Internet age.
#3: In the comic strip, there is no doctor/hospital activity ever going on in Rex Morgan, M.D.  Ever.  It's just bitchy rich people with bitchy rich people problems. 


Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen:

"Remember those days when we were ugly and unattractive?"  
"Yeah, those were great days."
"Both of us too hideous to find another suitable mate.  Rejected by everyone else on those new-fangled dating websites."
"I miss AOL dial-up."
"Now we're still unattractive, with the same terrible personalities.."
"But we have each other!"

Ahh, a true love story, Betty style.


Momma by Mell Lazarus:

The fact that none of these idiot kids pushed the old wind-bag in and started shoveling is god-damn travesty considering how verbally abusive and mean she is to them.  The hole is dug, the hard work is done.  DO IT ALREADY!  END THE MISERABLE COMIC STRIP NOW!


Adam@Home by Brian Basset:

So first panel gives an up-the-nostril view of Adam with his fat stomach poking out under his shirt, then we the readers are forced to endure tales of his body hair.  Look at his expression in the last panel, this pig enjoys nothing more than regaling family with stories of his disgusting body.  Thank God these panels end, before he gets talking about more *cough cough* personal areas. 

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Saturday Specials

by Hal Bent

Welcome to the weekend! Apparently, the theme of the day in the newspaper comics is to have guys sitting on the coach.  Well, that's original. Oh yeah, I threw in some Born Loser, because that strip just raises my dander. 


Thatababy by Paul Trap:

"This Old House" because referencing a television show that was popular when Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the presidential election is how one connects their comic strip about a couple with a newborn baby to their audience.  Oh, wait, the couples creating a family are in the age range where they weren't born yet when Reagan left office, let alone when Carter left office.


Reality Check by Dave Whamond:

Speed Bump by Dave Coverly:

Yup, it's all about spaced-out fathers/husbands in a daze on the couch watching television, the drug of a nation. No laptop, no iPad, no other device. Out of date? Check. OK, let's keep the couch theme going!


Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen:

Gotta give props to Betty today: with that sentence construction in the second panel setting up the punchline in the third panel, I am excited to see next week's strips where the husband uses his phone to productively search craigslist and the personal sites for the white man he presumably is adding to his marriage.  I refer back to the first panel, as the husband's double-entendre is referencing what kink will be ongoing once he works out the kinks.  


Born Loser, The by Chip Sansom:

Umm, the answer is corn syrup.  Manufacturers load ketchup (and catsup) with high-fructose corn syrup (aka sugar) to sweeten it enough for the American public and their never-ending quest for the consumption of sweets.

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Funday Sunnies

by Hal Bent

Happy Sunday, all. Thanks for coming back.  A busy week for myself here kept me from posting a bit, but have no fear, the Funday Sunnies are here.  In college (you know, almost 20 years ago...God, I am almost old enough to enjoy "Pluggers") we were taught to write what you know and from personal experience, so I figured today was a day off from work, and even though I got my chores and to-do work done, today is all about me. I made a chili for lunch (and dinner! It was that good.) and now the Funday Sunnies are all up in my business.


Thatababy by Paul Trap:

This is how I imagined it for my kids when I was putting on the Beatles albums for them to listen to in their cribs. Of course, what effect playing so much Beatles and U2 had on them is hard to know. Now, my son is 11 and listens to Eminen (is that like oldies to a kid?) and my 9-year old daughter is all Taylor Swift and Katy Perry and pop stuff all the time.  Ah, well, at least I enjoyed the music.


Prickly City by Scott Stantis:

Oh that is awesome.  A wonderful Americanization of a Hispanic holiday.  I guess its better than Mexican Restaurants overloaded with drunks happy about another unofficial drinking holiday like St. Patrick's Day . "I know,let's all drink Corona's! So authentic!"  Ugh. I like the fake holiday idea...I have been crashing my best buddy's authentic Irish St. Paddy's Party since I was a teenager, but I think it's best to use it to teach diversity and let the kids see there is a great big world beyond out little slice of the world. 


Pooch Café by Paul Gilligan:

In Poncho's defense, my wife's wiener dog only eats cat food. She bought so much dog food after we got him (yes, he was a rescue, not a puppy pound pooch) and he simply would it eat for one day then starve himself until she got another. Instead, he wanted to eat with the cats, so he ate with the cats.  The vet gave it the OK, so here we are three years later and the maniac still eats with the cats. 

Alright, everyone, thanks as always for reading. Have a great week!

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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.

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Just Another Manic Monday

It's late. I worked too much and slept too little (plus I shoveled snow all week-end). Forget this and get to the quickies: 


Wizard of Id by Parker and Hart:

I'm not even a wizard and I do that every time I can.  (In my defense, I read LOTR back when I was 9 and that gives me serious geek cred).


Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau:

I just think about what bands, pop or rock stars I would pay to watch my kids or work in the yard....hmmm.


Adam@Home by Brian Basset:

I just put this comic because I fought with city recycling for years.  They never took anything because I did not schlep down to the recycling center to get the City Blue Plastic Recycling Container. I would sort and put it out and they would ignore it and leave it at the curb. After years of frustration would these bozos, I cracked the code: Any blue plastic tub works. Since the city charges by the bag of trash, I now overflow the tub each week and still have the satisfaction of never taking time off or wasting a day home during the week to go pickup a stupid City Blue Plastic Recycling Container (the small victories are the big ones!).



Thin Lines by Randy Glasbergen:

Now both of these wedding individuals seem quite surprised by the vows here. I'm guessing she told the justice of the peace here to throw something in about making sure he didn't get really fat or something. 


Thatababy by Paul Trap:

I've been trying to get my wife to dress up in a Wonder Woman costume for years! (Is that too much sharing?)

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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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