To say it again, timing is everything in comedy, and when the first of these Rhymes With Orange comics appeared last month, it put me on the floor but it also happened to coincide with the verdict in the Jerry Sandusky trial, which demanded more urgent cartoon commentary.So I filed it away because I wanted […]
Nelson Mandela — “Madiba” (his clan name in Xhosa, used affectionately throughout his multicultural nation) — turns 94 today, and South African cartoonists joined in a sort of benevolent conspiracy to wish him a happy birthday. My favorite is this gentle thank-you from Nanda Soobben, which is not only a very nice caricature of the man […]
Between Friends is always good reading, and I like the current arc, where Susan is in the midst of a deep dithering period and Maeve has become the voice of reason.Mostly, I like the idea that Sandra Bell Lundy has created characters with enough nuance that, while the idea of Maeve being “the voice of […]
Timing is everything in humor. No, wait, timing plus writing is … no, timing, writing and evocative artwork …Never mind. Loose Parts cracked me up this morning, largely because I recently got caught up in discussions of an utterly ridiculous “Whatever happened to patriotism?” story that was, as in nearly all these cases, just someone […]
The report on the Penn State sexual abuse scandal has unleashed a predictable torrent of political cartoons, most of them predictably not very good.I like Steve Breen’s take.The scandal has certainly brought out the obvious, including the weepers. In this case, timing is as critical as subject matter: Back in November, when the grand jury […]
Mike Luckovich has (barely) standing to make this wisecrack, which is doubly appropriate in light of Matt Groening’s recent decision to shut down “Life in Hell” while the Simpsons goes on, and on, and on, and on. In any case, Luckovich was around when the Rolling Stones were formed, a half-century ago, though only just.He was […]
Shaenon Garrity is doing something that dances teasingly along the borderline between stupid and awesome. Or hilarious and obsessive. Well, it dances teasingly, wherever. But she’s watching “The X-Files” in order and compiling a series of comics called “Monster of the Week” commenting on, rather than replicating, each episode.Since I never got into “X-Files” and she’s […]
“In the Bleachers” with a commentary underlined by a depressing gag. The fact that the kid wants to go sit among the loudmouths, jerks, idiots and imbeciles kind of deflates the whole “family section” concept, doesn’t it?Some major league franchises are featuring “family sections,” or at least talking about doing that. I have no idea […]
Jan Eliot has been celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX and also having some interesting character-expanding fun with Alix lately, and the combination is one of those moments when Stone Soup rises so far above the norm that I shouldn’t have taken this long to point it out.But I’m glad I did, because today’s […]
“Non Sequitur” gets into the “so old” jokes, which is particularly funny to me since I just referenced Leno the other day, and admitted then that I have no idea how he’s doing today because I don’t stay up that late anymore. I saw him live about five years before he took over the “Tonight Show” […]
The Lockhorns are CSOTD today in part because I love stupid and in part because of timing.”Stupid” not in the sense that the gag is stupid — the gag is brilliant — but because Leroy is stupid today on a level I would expect more from Willie in Willie and Ethel. The kind of stupid […]
You can count on Richard Thompson to take a look at a common element of parenting and come up with an answer that’s half absurdity and half sly insight.The humor in Cul de Sac comes with a bit of bite to it, bringing forth a response of “HAHAHAHA … oh …” which is why the […]
There was a moment in 1996 that seemed like that point at which the clank-clank-clank ends and the rollercoaster slips over the top of the first hill and starts into freefall.Jay Leno started making wisecrack’s about Bob Dole’s age, and, sitting at home, I said, “uh-oh,” not because I supported Dole but because, once Leno […]
Liza Donnelly is a fine cartoonist and so is Garry Trudeau and when you put them together, I have nothing to say except that you really need to read this excellent interview on the subject of sexual assault in the military, which ties into a documentary film on the topic, “The Invisible War.”It’s short. You […]
Okay, I did a complete post on the changing world of fathers just a few weeks ago. Click on that for a serious discussion of the topic.Today’s Baby Blues made me laugh, however, and I suppose I could have gotten all in a lather about male-bashing or something or other. (Scroll down to yesterday’s entry […]