Tom the Dancing Bug steps forward to stop me from deleting from my bookmarks an entire category of editorial cartoons. I’ve said before that I am losing patience with “bland restatement,” those altie cartoons in which people simply restate in simple terms the things people in power are really saying.It may be an age thing: I’ve […]
This isn’t the best morning to be running this blog. The politics are coming hot and heavy enough that I can’t in good conscience simply feature funny comic strips, but everything remains so ill-defined that it’s hard to offer more than, as Winslow does in today’s Prickly City, a cookie.Well, there’s nothing wrong with Fig […]
Betty puts a thoughtful spin on the usual men-and-housework cliche. Cartoonists have moved away, for the most part, from endlessly bashing women for overdrawing their checking accounts and smashing up their cars, with only a few old dinosaurs hanging on to those condescending gags.But the incompetent, uncooperative hubby remains at the center of a lot of […]
Ruben Bolling has been awarded the Herblock Prize for 2017.I’m strongly on record as saying “Plaques are for Haques” and that awards are for people who need awards. I’ve also pointed out that Pulitzer winners get RIFed just like any other newsroom denizen who has been around long enough to have become expensive.But the Herblock […]
For a comic strip that appears to be written by a law firm (Weingarten, Weingarten and Clark), Barney & Clyde has really been on a roll lately.And my mind is more like a sieve in the traditional sense of the phrase, so don’t look for any extended rants today, but I’m keeping this definition and […]
Jack Ohman leads off with a list of broken campaign promises that didn’t even make it to Inauguration Day. Aren’t you supposed to kind of trickle out the disappointment, so that, a year or two into your administration, your supporters begin to wonder if they’ve been hornswoggled?Never mind. Someone noted during the campaign, and I […]
The classic exchange in Goldoni’s “Servant of Two Masters” comes as the other characters try to figure out Truffaldino, the harlequin of the play:Pantalone: What are we to make of this fellow? Is he knave or fool?Doctore: I really don’t know. Probably a little of both.Brighella: I should say he was just a zany (lunatic). He comes […]
I’m certain there isn’t much that can be said to change the minds of Trump voters. Tom Toles notes the repeated lowering of the bar and yet Trump fans continue to not only defend him but to act as if there is nothing to defend.The latest, most astonishing argument to be advanced in social media […]
Tom the Dancing Bug (see the rest here) offers a simple transposition, proposing that science-deniers apply their (alleged) beliefs to other areas.I’d say it could have been done in four panels rather than nine, and possibly even in one, but Bolling touches on several aspects of denial and sustains within that extended length.Length is a […]
Even if you’re not into sports, today’s Tank McNamara raises an interesting issue: NY Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul blew up his hand in a July 4 firecracker accident last summer and the extent of the damage was not clear until ESPN got hold of his medical records. (Apparently, Pierre-Paul was not simply shutting out […]
I’m not sure when crossovers in comics became “a thing,” though likely with the Comic Strip Switcheroo of April Fool’s Day, 1997. But two years earlier, apparently Zippy popped up in Family Circus, inspiring this Tom the Dancing Bug that is today’s Classic at GoComics.Crossovers generally pose the challenge that readers need to be familiar with […]
All I really wanted was one David Bowie tribute that didn’t suck, knowing that most of them would, so I could talk about that a little.Instead, Antonio Rodriguez Garcia actually came up with one I really like. I hadn’t expected that, but here it is.(UPDATE: Antonio disclaims credit, saying he had simply passed it along […]
I gotta say, digging through the pile of New Year’s cartoons this morning didn’t yield a whole lot of ponies.Good Rule of Thumb: If the idea comes that easily, it probably occurred to everyone else, too.Whatever. You got credit for showing up on the holiday and the holiday is over.Now how’s about everyone getting back to […]
You can read this, Watson. No spoilers, except that, as my 14-year-old critic wrote, “Everyone will go see it regardless of whether it’s any good. Happily, it really is good.”In fact, I was struck by the similarities between his review and the one Tom Racine and Lucas Turnbloom did at Tall Tales Radio, both spoiler free. We’ll […]
(Jack Ohman) (Phil Hands)I’m going to start with what should be the low-hanging fruit.Obviously, the increasing threats and attacks on Planned Parenthood are tied to the increasingly irresponsible accusations against the organization. And, obviously, it is just as unfair to blame all Christians or all Muslims for horrific acts carried out by the most radical, unhinged […]