When it first hit the comic pages some 20 years ago, Dilbert was a breath of fresh air, attacking workplace targets that had previously gone more-or-less unassailed. Those targets having been shredded regularly by the strip itself and a host of imitators, it’s become tougher for Scott Adams to come up with fresh work. […]
I don’t often agree with Ted Rall, and it’s certainly worth noting on the occasions I do. I’m all in favor of a vigorous debate over what the facts mean, but I don’t know how you can run a democracy when it becomes impossible to draw a line between obvious facts and obvious nonsense and […]
Comics don’t have to make you laugh. I’ve been impressed with the turnaround in “Doonesbury,” from a funny but kind of snide wise-cracking strip to one that has really turned out some fine storytelling. I think Garry Trudeau has grown up with the rest of his age cohort and has gained some perspective on the […]
I could probably feature “Cul de Sac” three times a week, but today’s is particularly special: Alice brings up a topic, Petey responds to it and Alice actually responds to what he said instead of simply continuing her eternal, external monologue. It is a rarity to be remarked upon.(With some Googling, I could probably find […]
(This is a profile of “Mutts” cartoonist Patrick McDonnell that I did in 2003 for the Post-Star of Glens Falls, NY) To begin with, the rotary dial telephone doesn’t really work.But it’s not entirely out of place, there in the background of the picture,along with the analog clock. The candle, admittedly, is a bit of […]
I’m not going to champion cartoons that you have to be 60 years old to get, except when they crack me up, as was the case with “The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee” this morning. Anyway, I’m pretty sure John Hambrock isn’t old enough to have many memories of “Beat the Clock.”Although, if he is […]
Looks to me like Heart of the City is about to feature a Mrs. Angelini story. I don’t remember the last time we had one of these, but they’re always worthwhile, as Heart takes a break from her adventures with Dean and her housekeeper provides a flashback story about earlier days.I don’t get to read […]
Dave Whamond’s Reality Check is probably up to six weeks of hibernation by now; The panel turned 15 at the beginning of the month. And sometime next month, he’ll find out if he won the National Cartoonist Society’s award for Best Gag Cartoon.None of which is why I chose this panel today. It just cracked […]
Arlo & Janis is one of the rare exceptions to the complaint that newspapers are killing themselves by targeting all their cartoons to older readers. Jimmy Johnson is actually a couple of years — two or three — younger than I am, and the strip gets better the closer we come to retirement. Which puts […]
I almost hesitate to point out how well Hilary Price does humor about pets, because I’d hate to see her abandon her other observational humor. This, you will understand, is not about the amount of influence I think I have, but about the amount of superstition I know I have. Besides, she already knows about […]
Brian Anderson’s “Dog Eat Doug” is a quiet little cartoon that regularly provides nice artwork and funny ideas. I suppose it helps if you like dogs and very small children, because it’s clear that he does, and, while he sometimes sends them into fanciful arcs of make-believe, much of the time, he simply chronicles the […]
(This is a profile I did of Jerry Scott in 2003 for the Post-Star of Glens Falls, NY) Jerry Scott didn’t want a partner for “Zits.” He already was writing “Baby Blues” with artist Rick Kirkman as a partner, but that was another matter. Scott and Kirkman were longtime friends and had determined years ago […]
Mike Luckovich addresses both the story of the wise-guy diplomat who made a flight attendant think he was trying to run her plane into the ground and the ongoing issue of the wise-guy kleptocrats who actually are running the airlines more or less in the same direction.
Maybe today’s “Off the Mark” hit me right because there’s a work day tomorrow at the dog park. Hey, I like topical humor!
Vic Lee’s “Pardon My Planet” is a social-commentary panel that mixes observational humor with straight-up gags. Think of a New Yorker cartoon with a little more grit and a little less sense of entitlement. There is a permanent cast, but they’re more of a rep company than established characters — each has a personality but […]