Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment to the mysterious Misty Isles, I’m Brian Fies.When I began my temporary stewardship of the Comic Strip of the Day, I said that I don’t do politics on the Internet. It just makes people mad and never changes anybody’s mind. On the other hand, presidential elections […]

Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment driving La Cometa Halley through Oaxaca, I’m Brian Fies.Why “Planck Length?” Because a regular feature of “Comic Strip of the Day” is Mike’s “Short Takes” commentary on strips that struck his fancy. Today’s comments will be even shorter than short. The Planck Length is the smallest […]

Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment to tranquil Santa Royale, California, I’m Brian Fies.Today’s Bizarro by Dan Piraro spoke to me because this is pretty much how I spent my weekend.My brother-in-law Marc came to town, and when he does I always try to have a couple of new microbreweries lined up for us to […]

Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment in the trackless jungles of Bangalla, I’m Brian Fies.This weekend: an extended (long!) interview with Alexis Fajardo and Justin Thompson, two cartoonists whose comic strips appear on GoComics.com. They also work together at Creative Associates, the studio that manages Charles Schulz’s Peanuts empire under Creative Director Paige Braddock. […]

Friday afternoon, CSOTD CEO Mike Peterson left a comment on my post of July 12. He wrote:”First time on line since Tuesday and little energy but if it goes south it likely won’t be for a while. Could be a while before I feel too blabby.”I figured few visitors would see his note there, so […]

Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment in picturesque Mtigwaki, Ontario, I’m Brian Fies.Today I’m spotlighting three comic strips I liked and explaining why I liked ’em. It doesn’t get simpler than that.  In one sense, Zits is the sort of family strip that’s been in the paper for a hundred years. Mom, dad, […]

Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment to the rogue planet Mongo, I’m Brian Fies.Sometimes you start writing about one thing and it leads you right down an unexpected rabbit hole to a place you never meant to go. This is one of those days.Syndicated since 2000, the comic strip Six Chix has an […]

Filling in for Mike Peterson while he’s on assignment in colorful Coconino County, Arizona, I’m Brian Fies.Daily Doonesburys have been reruns since February 2014, when Garry Trudeau went to work on his Amazon streaming comedy “Alpha House” (never seen it; is it good?). At the time, Trudeau told Washington Post writer Michael Cavna that his hiatus […]

I’m Brian Fies, your CSOTD guest host (see below for Mike Peterson’s note explaining why). When I volunteered to fill in, I told Mike I had two goals: keep the lights on, and return his toys in the condition he left them. His Prime Directive is also mine: no snark or abuse. Creating something is […]

(Bizarro, 2007) (Arlo & Janis, 1998)A pair of classics express my station in life: I’m not retired but have my work down to a level at which I do things I enjoy at a pace that works for me and that gives me time to assume the role of the kindly old fellow. It’s a […]

I score about a .667 with xkcd, which is to say, about a third of the time, it’s too geeky for me to get the joke. That’s not a knock on the cartoon: I imagine there are people who don’t always get Tank McNamara because they don’t follow sports closely. I like the idea of […]

Start off with Matt, less to salute the prospect of another woman in charge than because it reminds me of a quote I had over my desk in the newsroom.I was hardly a fan of Margaret Thatcher, but Denis was, as Matt Pritchett suggests, a very entertaining First Spouse, which ought to count for something.In […]

In today’s Medium Large, Francesco Marciuliano speaks for many, I’m sure, though he has the advantage of a strip that is extremely meta, such that commenting on commenting is within his mission.Other cartoonists are in a position similar to 9/11, because they are required to say something at a moment when it’s hard to do […]

The news over the past 48 hours or so is such that any commentary available at the moment is likely to seem at least short-sighted as details emerge.Fortunately, over on the non-political side, there are a few sorely needed distractions.For instance: It’s county fair season, and, at Rhymes with Orange, Hilary Price salutes County Fair Fare.For […]

Nick Anderson contrasts the UK’s Chilcot Report with the American flood of partisan witch hunts. The facial expressions alone are worth the price of admission, because, while the captions suggest the exhaustive effort involved in one and the partisan slapdash work in the other, the look of gravitas on the left suggests an inquiry done not […]