Back in the early-mid-80s, I did an interview with a TV station manager noted for his three-minute editorials on the news, who pointed out that he had a lot more viewers than the station across town that had a weekly, 30-minute public service Sunday morning program called “Involvement.””Involvement?” he said. “Have you seen the ratings […]
We’re still cleaning up Christmas and New Years at too many strips, but I’m also seeing some arcs starting that could be worth following and strips that are worth a heads up.In the latter case, Judge Parker is interesting because the new writer/artist combo has changed it to a two-panel, real-time feature. I’m beginning to adjust […]
Pooch Cafe echoes my own cynical take on all those heart-warming specials that not only come up on TV this time of year but are also parts of Very Special Story Arcs in comics.I’ve said enough about my doubts lately on how much all these “redemption” stories actually change anyone, but Jeff Stahler’s “Moderately Confused” made […]
This is going to seem like a short post, but you’ll see at the end there is some required reading that should soak up any time you thought you were going to have.Pearls Before Swine made me laugh because, back in the ancient days, we’d get calls in the newsroom alerting us to various days […]
I’m not a huge fan of the Olympics, which somehow went from elitist shamateur exhibit under Avery Brundage to the commercial gigantism that followed, though I’m not sure when I switched from being a fan to being vaguely interested to dreading the event.However, Robert Airial captures a factor that has run through that process, which […]
Let’s warm up with Wumo, which raises the question, if this is what Heaven is like, how bad could Hell be?Maybe the one in Hell asks for specific dates, credit card numbers, etc. And note that the one for Heaven is on a clipboard. The one in Hell is on-line, which sounds much better — […]
The “where to start?” question was answered this morning by Keith Knight, who nimbly addresses something I’d been pondering.I, too, had noticed that political diatribes have at least somewhat supplanted dumbass food postings on Facebook. And that the political diatribes are similarly dumbass, in that they have about as much relation to political reality as the recipes […]
Judge Parker is my favorite continuity strip precisely for the type of surprise that kick-starts the week today.Storylines here unfold in soap-opera slo-mo, which is understandable given the four-panel format, and for nearly two years, we’ve been following Neddy’s attempt to start up a domestic clothing manufacturing company, with the combined backing of her own […]
You’re lucky I’m here: Having spent several years sorting out press releases in the newsroom, I think I can track the swaps that came from King Features’ “Editor’s Dispatch” this morning, which at first glance reminds me of those animated cartoons where Bugs Bunny and an adversary would be running in and out of doors on […]
One of the small frustrations I face on this blog is trying to figure out when to point out a promising arc, and Piranha Club is one of a handful of strips that repeatedly triggers it by having “suck you in” pacing, such that you don’t realize how good a story arc is until you’re […]
Valentine’s Day seems to have gang aft a bit aglee this year, with so many strips saluting endangered or destroyed relationships that I can only feature a few, starting with Luann, who appears to have cut things off with her Aussie.I say “appears” because she also “appears” to be jumping the gun and assuming things […]
Bob Englehart with a take on the Chinese corporate espionage case that stands out not only because he makes a good point but because he fails to make a bad one.The Prime Directive here being that we praise the good stuff rather than ripping on the not-so-good, I had despaired of saying anything about the […]
Gocomics has just launched “Origins of the Sunday Comics,” and I guess the best way to explain it is to reprint their explanation:This series will present the earliest offerings—from 1895 to 1915—of the famous and lesser-known cartoonists who where there when comics were born—over 150 creations from more then 50 superb artists, most reproduced here […]
This being the Sunday before Valentine’s Day, the comic pages are full of bow-and-arrow gags and jokes about chocolate. The only strip that struck me as particularly romantic didn’t mention the holiday at all: Judge Parker manages to combine storytelling with classic graphics and a sense of humor that doesn’t involve jokes. And hot, brainy […]
The Heart of Juliet Jones was broken on a fairly regular basis, and the current rerun at DailyInk has her falling for a feckless (Note to Irish readers: That’s not what it means) architect, who dreams great artistic thoughts but doesn’t seem to ever buckle down and get to what other people would recognize as […]