Herb and Jamaal free online comic strip library at comics.com
Strange Brew free online comic strip library at comics.com
Brevity free online comic strip library at comics.com
Inspired by a comment of the week on the Comics Curmudgeon: http://joshreads.com/?p=3231 and Garfield Minus Garfield, I present Mary Worthless - Mary Worth with the dialogue removed.
This cartoon cracked me up. I found Noah keeping up both the pirate and pairs motif (check out the Jolly Roger flag) especially funny. He even has two parrots. Well played.
January 2, 2009 edition of The Devil's Panties
I guess the last panel is how one young woman perceives Unitarians.
I expect to receive an e-mail from Dr. Murano (not a personal one but a university-wide one) asking everyone to stop pointing out today's Baldo to her or asking her about it. Baldo does not run in the Eagle but it does appear on the Houston Chronicle website. Tomorrow, the Eagle might mention Dr. Murano's appearance in the funnies. Then maybe not because the Eagle might have to explain its tiny comics section (tiny both in terms of selection and print size). I bet the comments will be turned off for that article online.
For those who do not follow Baldo, Gracie, the little girl writing, has been working on her essay for Hispanic Heritage month since Monday. Baldo is a good comic strip and would make a great replacement for any of the zombie strips*.
Speaking of zombie strips, it looks like Terry Bryson is working on her escape from Toby's stupid. Don't bother using the door, Terry; go out the window, that way you will avoid walking behind Toby and catching some of her stupid. As a security expert, Terry has already mentally scoped out the room and knows which objects she can grab quickly and use to defend herself.
I'm no longer certain about background continuity anymore. When Terry and Toby first entered this room the window was directly behind them. Now it appears the window has moved but it is consistent with yesterday. What is that in the lower left hand corner of the second panel? That better not be Toby's monitor. Gah! Now I have a headache!
The sad thing is that despite Joe Giella's age and funky scenery shifting he still draws way better than I do.
*Zombie strip - a comic strip that continues to run in the papers despite the death of its creator.
The UTI has passed or at least no longer causing me discomfort.
I finally found a way to get up in the morning and make it to work on time. I use my cell phone's alarm clock feature and have the sound set to the chirps of Salvador. The sound wakes me gently rather than jarring me out of a dream and Walter does not hear it and get disturbed. I've tried it successfully for two days so far. I haven't experienced the 9:00 am - 11:00 am struggle to stay awake, either.
I've accomplished a few minor but overdue tasks.
Things have become a bit busy at work but I don't mind. Keeps me out of trouble and justifies my existence at work.
I feel good about how this week has unfolded so far. I'm a bit behind in scanning my cartoons but I still have four days worth on the hard drive. I have three cartoons in the box awaiting scan.
I still read the comics but nothing has been worth commenting on. At least the Charterstone Tales did not happen as I feared.
I finally saw the Chocolate Rain video on YouTube. Oddly enough, a reference to it appeared on both South Park and Lewis Black's Root of Evil tonight. I did not go looking for the video. I received a subscription update - looked at that video which lead to the Chad Vader parody of Chocolate Rain and finally to Chocolate Rain. I'm glad I caught that bit of pop culture when I did or else tonight's line up on Comedy Central would not have made as much sense, especially, South Park.
Massage therapy is winning the Mary Worth poll. Still time to cast your vote. If you want to know what being a super delegate feels like vote 1,000 times.
At its best a comic can convey in a single panel more spiritual truth, meaning and insight than the most eloquent sermon or hours of meditation.
I cannot describe the essence of my life in words but this Hagar the Horrible comes close. Charging toward a mission that I did not have much of a voice in deciding, forces trying to push me back and still making time to play.
Mary Worthless Mary Worth: Day 23.
People who have lost loved ones have achieved "closure" faster than this. The intelligence gathering community should add Mary Worth to its list of enhanced interogation techniques.
I do admire the residents of Santa Royale's ability to hold coherent conversations and live fairly normal lives despite the constantly changing environment.
I won't waste anymore time thinking about whether I put the apostrophe in the right place in the above sentence.
I find this Momma comic strip creepy. As I thought about this Momma comic strip, the fact that I spent time thinking about Momma caused a small part of me to die, not with a scream and a fight but a resigned whimper. I would curse Mell Lazarus but because of the clouds and Monday, I cannot muster the strength.
I suspect the little bits of selves that Mell Lazarus kills with his comic strip sustains his life beyond his allotted years. Somehow Mell Lazarus has developed the technology to capture those little bits of self for his own use. Multiply the number of papers and the number of readers plus the online readers and it is like receiving a single penny from everyone in the world. (Someone else can delve into the implications and irony of Mell's last name.)
Momma, Cathy and other crappy comic strips that still take up space in the newspapers - proof that the invisible hand of the market does not work.
These are two great comic strips that deserve to be in more papers and other venues that will result in financial rewards for the artists. I especially love the battery low detail in Watch Your Head (the second strip). I'm glad that printed newspapers are not the sole source of comics. Thanks to the web (the Houston Chronicle and the Seattle P-I websites do a great job of using the web to expand the selection of comics available to the reading public without having to shrink things to include all the comics in the print edition.) I can enjoy some great comics. Of course this leads to some frustration because with all the great material to choose from why are some comics still in print?
The last panel of Saturday's Rex Morgan M.D. I will hold this image in my mind next time I find myself annoyed by a cell phone user.
Visited the mothers this past weekend, mine on Saturday and Walter's on Sunday.
Codeine enhanced Sunday's visit. I attempted to kill some pain - some of the worst menstrual cramps ever. I took large doses to kill the pain. The pain went away after I took 1,000 mg of Ibuprofen. My liver will suffer but at least the pain stopped.
The Bible says women have those pains because of Eve's sin. Something is seriously fucked up about that logic.
------------------------------------------------
What the hell is happening in panel 2? My artistic skills are lacking but damn it Giella, you are a professional! Is this what cartoonist Alzheimer's looks like? Perspective goes out the window. I'm glad that both characters are female. The character arrangement in panel 2 is making my head hurt. Curses upon you, Giella!
Huh!? Explain this joke and I'll send you some original A Perfect World artwork. Seriously, I'm running out of room to store the pages and I really want to understand this joke.
I'm trying a centered layout so that my comments match with the comic.
Standing close to the edge of what's allowed in the papers.
Singing is not the only thing Daddy does in the shower.
How can I meddle? Geez, Mary, let the guy answer a question before bombarding him with another. The unseen third panel: Ben responding to Mary's last question, "None of your damned business, you meddling old hag."
Ruthie had gone insane and she knows how to take apart and put back together a toy. Dad is frightened. Will they finally get some help for Ruthie?
Oh dear badly drawn god, I've been on the receiving end of a conversation just like this. It was a small dose of hell.
Nothing particularly interesting in the funnies. Ballard Street made me laugh out loud.
Took Loki to Petco to purchase some dog food and then I got the car washed and the oil changed. Loki's presence made the oil change guy uncomfortable. Loki enjoyed the attention he received from the people in the car wash waiting room. The car looks good. They got most of the dog hair out of the upholstery.
Finally, have some sunshine today. Ground is still soggy so Loki won't be going to the dog park.
I did not update last night. I was tired last night and did not feel like getting out of bed early this morning to update. It takes a couple of days to get the hang of the time change. I have some time off coming. I need it. I've been easily distracted lately.
I would use this excuse if I were a bus driver or better, an ice cream truck driver. Can't get in trouble if the kids don't get ice cream. If the kids don't make it to school, big trouble. I don't think for a minute that they are learning anything other than the stuff on the standardized test but at least they are in one place for a while rather than roaming the streets.
I need to go clothes shopping more often so that I can understand this cartoon. I need to buy some new pants. Too bad the artist did not draw examples of "editor" and "publicist" style pants so that I can determine whether or not this will be one more source of frustration when I shop for pants. My pants needs are simple: two legs, fly on the front, the hem lands at minimum on the top of my feet, pockets, straight legs, waist lands somewhere between my navel and hip bones, machine washable, and not required to purchase accessories, peripherals or shoes just to wear them.
The best daylight savings time cartoon. I'm amazed that Mark Parisi can come up with this brilliant stuff day after day.
Who still owns a little radio without headphones? Maybe that's why the old man is pissed off - some kid using a transistor radio. From the balloon coming out of the radio, the kid must be listening to some form of punk bluegrass. That would make me take up my cane and start cursing at the top of my lungs.
Cartoonists cannot help themselves. The fourth wall demands to be breached occasionally. It's funny most of the time but there are some cartoonists that can still screw it up.
First two bonus icons:
The first one is from F Minus, a usually funny comic strip and the second icon is our old pal Mary Worth trying to show remorse. May have played a role in Aldo's death? Mary, your rejection was the ignition. The smoldering cigarette butt carelessly thrown out the car window that started the forest fire.
Ella, I hate you. You have no authority to grant absolution. Only Mary's own higher truth has the authority.
Mary Worth feels self-reproach over killing a man!? Intuition? Hell, Ella could have just picked up the gossip around the condo complex. Who does Mary think Toby spoke to during her adventure in Vietnam?
I admit I'm not the most qualified to critique another artist's abilities. Looking at a few of my comics makes that abundantly clear. I include Watch Your Head as a contrast to the art in Mary Worth. See, Giella, depth can be portrayed within the limits of two panels without Escheresque spatial contortions.
Look Giella! Look and learn. Call Cory Thomas. Review your art lessons.
Yes, I am jealous that both Giella and Thomas can draw much better than I can.
Call your paper and demand Watch Your Head. Cory Thomas deserves every bit of success he can get.
