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“What on God’s green Earth is Crabgrass supposed to be about”

Published: November 9, 2025 1 minute 17 comments

Lancaster Eagle-Gazette columnist Mark Kinsler (or here) gets lost during the flights of fancy in Crabgrass:

I grew up reading the daily newspaper comic section, and my father’s humor has kept me at it since. One quote from perhaps 1956: “I wonder when Rex Morgan, MD, will make an honest woman out of Nurse June Gale.” We read the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which contained two full pages, from “Dondi” to “Miss Peach.” “Terry and the Pirates” was in there with “Steve Canyon.” Did anyone ever figure out who Poteet Canyon was, exactly? And “The Jackson Twins” seduced every male, including me.

Having said that, I’d like to know what on God’s green Earth “Crabgrass” is supposed to be about. Yes, there are some exceedingly good ones in the paper. But “Crabgrass” is another story altogether. I looked it up: it officially describes the adventures of two best friends who live on Crabgrass Lane in Kentucky. This fails to explain why customs and cuisine from South America are continually referenced.

Crabgrass by Tauhid Bondia – February 22, 2023

I am left wondering about the following: “As time went on, the comic also started shifting from a more or less realistic setting with slice of life gags to more fantastical storylines that involve the supernatural. These include an arc where Gene discovers a hidden society of living mascot costumes, a story line where Kevin becomes a purple-skinned mutant with telepathic powers and a story arc involving a supernatural ice cream truck,” (source https://the-official-gocomics.fandom.com/wiki/Comic_Strip:Crabgrass)

No doubt Tauhid Bondia‘s recent Legend of Candy Cain episode left Kinsler’s mind boggled.

Crabgrass by Tauhid Bondia – October 28, 2025

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Comments 17

  1. It’s about three panels. Sometimes it’s about four.

    It’s also about how you can have a best friend who eats food from South America. Even if you live in Kentucky.

  2. Ugh, it’s just one yet one more “old guy is uncomfortable because a comic is different from the comics of his childhood”.

    “Crabgrass” following extended story arcs that go into far-fetched storylines isn’t that much different from “Terry and the Pirates” and old Micky Mouse comics, really. At the same time, it’s similar to TV cartoons that my own kids watched like “Phineas and Ferb”. Doesn’t he want more young people reading the funnies?

    Good grief, there’s a reason nobody talks about Blondie over the water cooler anymore.

    If I didn’t know better, I’d think this editorial was rage bait.

  3. It’s almost like a tv show. If you don’t like it, switch the channel.

    Not sure why he can’t just gloss over “Crabgrass” and read the comics he likes. I read a handful of the 25 comics on my newspaper’s comics page. I don’t curse the ones I don’t read.

  4. It seems Tauhid Bondia sold the strip as a Peanuts remake, then got bored with the idea and turned it into something else.

    I personally think that it’s one of the more compelling strips out there. It’s kind of like Calvin and Hobbes, but with more people being able to see the tiger as an animate being, not just Calvin.

    I mean, “arc where Gene discovers a hidden society of living mascot costumes,” is about a grownup (Gene is a father of one of the lead characters), and the magic Ice Cream truck involves the main character’s teenage older brother.

    Maybe it was always going to be ‘STANGER THINGS: THE COMIC STRIP’ or “Welcome to Derry,” I dunno, but it actually works most of the time.

  5. What in God’s green Earth is Peanuts about? One could put nearly every comic strip in that question. Rule #1 in reading comics…Don’t overthink it.

  6. Somebody explain talking stuffed tigers and magic purple crayons to this guy…

  7. In the “featured image” that appears for this article in the menu on the D.C. main page (but is no longer visible after you open the article – hint, hint), the binary ASCII decodes to “King logic” (so the complete dialog would be “All rise for the honorable judge King logic!“.

  8. Even as an editorial, I would have liked to him give Crabgrass some positive commentary. This just reads as “I’m old and hate change,” which is not interesting to those of us trying to create. I also found the comment, “freedom of the press notwithstanding” concerning.

  9. Simple answer. It’s all about a couple of kids who occasionally head off into flights of fancy. Well, more than occasionally these days. I’ll give him that.

    I will remind Mr. Kinsler of comics like Dick Tracy, which in the 60’s, had him visiting the people of the Blue Valley on the MOON! And the frequent interactions with the Moon Maid. Or the mystical doings of Mandrake, and occasionally The Phantom. And leave us not forget the antics of Krazy Kat, Popeye, the Toonerville Folks, and of course, the great Betty Boop! Surrealisr, absurdist, and just plain silly comics have been around a lot longer than him.

    Ultimately, it’s just a matter of having fun and letting the mind run free. Speaking of free, one is always free to skip a comic (or movie, or tv show) if it doesn’t suit one’s taste. Me? I’m going to watch some Looney Tunes now.

    1. Sorry, misspelled surrealist. Dang keyboard.

  10. Also, Crabgrass wasn’t existent in 1923.

  11. I question whether the first strip shown was really published on February 22, 1923.

  12. I had some thoughts but then got completely hung up on the writer being grateful to USA Today Inc for saving their newspaper…

  13. Comic strips, anime, movies, live theatre, books &’music. All have extremely wide ranging and varying themes, creativity, artistry, social commentary and personal relevance. I think most of us spend time with media we prefer, but I find it can also be fun and interesting to explore the unfamiliar. I also like learning what media the people I interact with find enjoyable.

  14. Crabgrass wouldn’t be in so many papers if it wasn’t for the demise of Dilbert. I think it is one of the worst strips out there, akin to Get Fuzzy and Heart of the City. And as reprints GF should be put out to pasture. Flash Gordon, Gasoline Alley, Dick Tracy, and Terry Beatty’s lusciously drawn Rex Morgan. For Sundays every paper should be required to have at least half a page of Prince Valiant.

  15. What on God’s green Earth are these “customs and cuisine from South America” Kinsler thinks Crabgrass is continually referencing? I read it daily and have no idea what he’s referring to.

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