Ouija boards, strange medical tests, and those annoying horn things

Greetings.  I'm new around these parts.  My name's Ben Carlsen, AKA Arkholt, AKA the guy who also does the comic strip blog The Daily Panel as well as the new web comic The Bird Feeder, bringing you some comic blurbs, in no particular order.


Ollie and Quentin:

This one's just sad, for two reasons: first, the worm got smashed by the seat flipping up, and second, the bird actually has no way of following the rules.  His legs are not long enough for his feet to not be on the seat.  How these animals got into the theater in the first place is beyond me as well.

My Cage:

Wait a second here.  Why is this guy's heart inside his head?  Shouldn't it be in his chest?  Then again, perhaps his head IS in his chest, so his heart can be inside it and still be in the right place.  Wow, this guy's anatomy sure is messed up.

Curtis:

AAAA!!  Curtis' dad will know whatever he does, because he speaks with the dead!  You have much to fear, young Curtis!  Your father is a necromancer!

Heathcliff:

Wow.  I didn't know doctors had a test to determine that.  I'll have to make an appointment tomorrow to find out what I am.  With my luck, though, it's just something that vets are able to do, with their specialized animal tools.  No way my health insurance covers that.

Pickles:

I post this one only because I can also see it as a Pluggers strip.  "Google for Pluggers: ask your wife."

Crock:

This type of thing was funny back in 1920, but not anymore.  Strips had better art back then, too, so it made up for the fact that it was never actually funny to begin with.  I mean, seriously, can't you come up with a funnier way for them to make a bridge?  Have three of the guys span the gap and hold on to each others' feet at least.  That's about as old as this joke, but it doesn't look as desperate.

Working Daze:

Almost as annoying as the actual vuvuzelas themselves are all the annoying comic strips about them that I keep seeing.  Is their goal to make sure that the annoyance of the vuvuzela reaches even the people who haven't been watching the World Cup, such as myself?  If so, it has worked.  You can stop now.

Read more...

The Good, the Bad and the Surprising

So, have you checked out my dog training blog yet? It'll bring a smile to your face or a tear to your eye. Or maybe a sneer. I always get that confused.

Serendipity In The Comics

Today two different strips mentioned fortune telling.

Off the Mark provides the good:

Graffiti, as usual, serves up the bad:

I don't get it. Anyone?

Nice Gags

You can usually count on Bizarro to deliver a laugh. Today is no exception:

I can't go a whole week without mentioning one of the classics. Daily Ink is running "Little Iodine" reruns now. This is another example of a strip I find to be well-drawn, especially the layouts. Hatlo really delivers the slapstick in this one.

While the pencils are definitely an acquired taste and the ventriloquist's dummy gags tend to get a little old, Pros and Cons has its moments:

Just Bad

Morons Girls & Sports:

Ha ha ha! Soccer is so boring! Ha ha ha! Because they don't score a lot! Ha ha ha! Let's watch some people drive in circles instead!

Crankshaft:

Ha ha ha! We'll watch the senile old man blow up the grill! Ha ha ha! It'll be like fireworks! Ha ha ha! Maybe he'll kill a bird!

Hi and Lois:

Ha ha ha! It's the name of a TV show! Ha ha ha!

Surprising

Spider-man:

A different panel layout? Wow.

Unintentionally Funny

Uh-oh. He's been reading blogs about comics at the office.

Read more...

Crazy Straws and Peanut M&M's

Hey everyone, the Stupid Inventor back again, this time with today's comic review!
Sorry it's late, but I had a final exam... anyways, let's get started.


The Bad:

Beetle Bailey: I wasn't sure if people actually ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches, but I googled it and it's a legitimate sandwich... but still the joke just doesn't seem to work here. I think this strip should have been a 3 panel, with him saying "honey" in the second panel, and the third panel should have the angry wife and the "uh oh" thought bubble... just my opinion of course, feel free to disagree.


Blondie: Why is this funny? It's really sad... "Hey Blondie! We're financially ruined! Haha!"

Girls and Sports: Yes, I know I make fun of this comic a lot, but today's strip bothered me even more than usual. First of all, why the guys hand in the 2nd panel going above the frame? I think it was a mistake. Second of all, looking past the chauvinistic joke, I just don't think the sports analogy actually works. I'm no sports expert though. Oh and I'm guessing they originally didn't want to write "kiss"... have I mentioned I don't like this strip?
Pardon My Planet: Wow! A "Medusa getting her hair done" comic? Seriously? Wow...


The Weird:
Funky Winkerbean: I just think it's amazing/creepy that they can make a strip like this one and you just KNOW it's going to end horribly because Funky is probably the most depressing comic strip in history... we'll find out tomorrow!

Luann: Eric commented yesterday on the weirdness of the story line, the main question being "Why couldn't Gunther have changed in the bathroom?".... but now that I see him in costume, another big question emerges... why did he have to get naked to change into that costume? and why is there water on the floor?

And is it just me or does his costume look like something else?

(Pardon my juvenile sense of humor, but that's what it looks like to me!


Mother Goose and Grimm: First of all, I can't believe they let this joke run in papers... it's pretty funny, but I think they should have made the third panel have the red and the yellow M&M instead of Mr. Peanut... just would have been funnier in my opinion...


The Good:
Rip Haywire: This strip is similar to Brewster Rockit in that they're both modern comedy/adventure strips done in an old style. But this one actually has a plotline to it. (I still think Brewster Rockit is funnier, but maybe that's because I like science fiction more...)

The Wizard of ID: They should totally be allowed to use the carpool lane! Also, I once saw a hearse driving with a ton of packages in the back... weird!

Brevity: Just for the record, a straw with at least one loop is a "crazy straw"... if it has no loops but it's squiggly it's only mildly disturbed... that's just my theory....

Big Nate: This one made me laugh... poor guy!

Ok, that's it for me today, see you all next Wednesday and I will keep you updated about the contest! Wish me luck!

Thanks!
Zachary Snyder
Stupid Inventor

Read more...

I've Made It To The Final Five!

Hey everyone, I'm a bit busy today with a Final Exam, but I should be able to do my weekly comic review later today...

I just wanted to let you know that Stupid Inventor has made it into the Top 5 Finalists in The Washington Post's America's Next Great Cartoonist Contest! Thank you to everyone who voted and spread the word!

http://views.washingtonpost.com/cartoonist/

The next step will be that I have to submit a Sunday strip and then there will be another round of voting, so I will keep you all posted.

I also want to bring attention to Tony Murphy's project. He's trying to start a weekly paper that would be free in coffee shops and the like containing a weeks worth of comic strips. I for one think it's a great idea and have pledged some money, and they need about $500 more to reach their goal.... so if anyone has any spare change please give to the cause (even $1 would be great)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1224216431/reviving-the-newspaper-comic-strip

Thanks again everyone and my review should be here later today!
Zachary
Stupid Inventor

Read more...

How come I'm not happy?

Yesterday DailyInk launched a few new strips in its vintage line. It seems to be a mixed bag so far.

• Big Ben Bolt
  
• Heart of Juliet Jones
  
• Radio Patrol
  
• Barney Google & Snuffy Smith
  
• Jacky's Diary
  
• Mandrake
  
• Quincy
  
• Katzenjammer Kids
  
• Little Iodine
  

I'll go through them all over the next couple of weeks. But don't worry, I'll throw in some extra laughs too. I'll even put them at the top this week!

Bizarro was just plain funny today.

Too Much Coffee Man, which seems to have been partially renamed "How to Be Happy," is one of my favorites. It's not daily, so I had to "cheat" and use yesterday's. I liked this one.

This is from yesterday too.

What's with the rainbow "Ahhhhh!" ? Is that a sign?

And today:

The sprinklers are that powerful? Really? And he has extra clothes to change into stashed at his part-time library job? And the library has no bathrooms? Something's up with Gunther.

Now the vintage stuff.

I'm a little surprised at how well-drawn Barney Google and Snuffy Smith was back in the day.

The idea of them in the city seems interesting too.

Compare that strip to this:

The vintage isn't the funniest strip so far, but I'm guessing it will pick up speed — and it's hard to believe it'll be any worse than the new stuff.

Vintage Mandrake was a surprise too. Take a look at how it compares to the current strip.

The newer Mandrake reminds me a little of the simple art style of the golden age Superman. I had no idea the original was so different!

I will say this for the new ones: I never expected to get a laugh from Mandrake. "Roughshod?" "Doctor Hi-5?" "Club Dubious?"

Big Ben Bolt is a tad quirky.

We're getting a history lesson!

Quincy is a great looking strip. Nice action as a background to the kids talking and nice backgrounds in general.

Eric the Dog Trainer Guy signing off. More next week!

Read more...

Lazy Sunday

I'm doing this blog on Saturday so it will post on Sunday because I will be in Columbia, Missouri spending time with my son because he's visiting his mom over the summer. Anyway, Garfield turned 32 on the 19th.

Garfield 6/19/10

Every year Jim Davis and his slaves at Paws, Inc. celebrate Garfield's birthday which makes Garfield 32. Not quite a record (the oldest cat lived to be 38) but still it's pretty impressive for a fictional cartoon cat.

Wait a minute....

Mark Trail 6/18/10

People who work for the board of health dress like this:


Police officers dress like this:


There is a huge difference.

Hi & Lois 6/18/10

So Chip cologne smells like gas fumes and failure? Also, why is Ditto getting that close to his bus driver?

On second thought, I don't want to know.

Momma 06/19/10

No, it's called So You Think You Can Dance? and it's been on since 2005.

Born Loser 06/19/10

How does Chip know about Maximilien Robespierre, one of the best known and influential people of the French Revolution? Robespierre was influential during the Reign of Terror and was executed in 1794. The Daily Comics Review: Talking About Comics and Maybe Teaching You Something, Too.

Wilberforce and Kewpie must be coming from the bar because we all know Wilberforce is underage but Kewpie is obviously hammered.

Shoe 06/19/10

*Thunderous applause*

Shoe has become relevant again! Let's see if this continues into the Sunday strip:

Shoe 06/20/10

Borders, immigration--possibly a knock against Arizona and a slap against the Federal government not doing anything about immigration. I consider it relevant!! *More applause*

Praise Jebus!!

And Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.

Read more...

Please vote for my comic, Stupid Inventor!

Dear readers,

My comic, Stupid Inventor, is one of the 10 Finalists in The Washington Post's "America's Next Great Cartoonist Contest". It truly is an honor to be one of the 10 selected out of 500 entries!

But in order to make it into the Final 5, I need your help!

Please check out my entry and vote for it.
You can check out my entry here: http://views.washingtonpost.com/cartoonist/contestants/ZacharyS/2010/06/stupid_inventor.html
And vote for it here: http://postfun.washingtonpost.com/post/entry/americas-next-great-cartoonist-vote

The deadline is Tuesday I believe so please vote and send this to as many friends as you can!

Thanks!
Zachary Shlomo Snyder
Stupid Inventor

I attached my entry here too, feel free to comment on it!

Read more...

The Ol' Switcheroo

Hey everyone!
Zach the Stupid Inventor here, back again to give you another comics review.
Let's get started:

The Bad:

BC: I don't consider myself to be a prude, but I never find infidelity jokes to be funny, even if the cheater is an ant... What really shocks me about this strip is that it's from B.C., which is a very openly Christian comic.... It also bothers me that you can have openly unfaithful characters and still have to fight to say the word "poop" in your comics... just seems off to me!

The next three comics suffer from the same problem. It seems to me that the cartoonist had a joke he thought was funny, and had to reverse the truth in order to make the comic work. While you'll still laugh if you're just browsing the funny pages, If you think about these comics for more than a seconds you realize the blatant flaw in the cartoonist's logic:

Zits: The cartoonist wanted to make a joke that parents are so out of touch that they still watch TV on TV, which is true and funny. but notice how they make the parents look huddled together so you think that watching TV is somehow inferior to watching it on the computer? Anyone who has watched TV on the internet knows it's smaller, pixelated, and has plenty of commercials too! I still do it, I'm just saying watching TV on TV is 100% fine in my book.



Grand Avenue: Same problem here, if she loves doing crossword puzzles, should she be always "Living On The Grid"? You might say that it means Living Off like "Living Off The Land", but that's still the opposite meaning of the original "Living off the grid" phrase...

Heathcliff: Again, why is the fish having a say if it's Heathcliff's dream? Because it wouldn't make sense for the cat to enjoy this dream, so now we're getting the dream fish's perspective.... I guess I'm just nitpicking, but noticing the same kind of problem in 3 different comics just made me have to rant about it.

Croc: Not particularly funny, it just strikes me as an attempt to stay current and namedrop Betty White...

The Weird:

Family Circus: Totally ignoring the actual joke here, why is he just wearing his underwear? And why is his blanket all ripped up? There's more to this story.... very weird!


Curtis: I love this strip because I feel the same way about toes.... to me they look like someone tried to clone a pair of hands and the experiment went horribly wrong and out popped... toes!

Rubes: Another funny one, but the image of Yogi Bear as a carpet might give me nightmares tonight....

The Good:

Brevity: I never did understand that phrase.... waving your hands in the air would show that you care, no?

Henry: Just wanted to point out another great strip that manages to function with a main character who never talks... a truly amazing feat in my book!

On A Claire Day: I had never heard of this strip before today, and I don't think I'm going to start reading it daily anytime soon, but that last panel made me crack up! Awkwardness at its most awkward!


Jump Start: Seriously, people always pick up the phone when I call, because since I text so much if I'm actually taking the time to call they know it's important...

Anyways, that's it for the review this week. I'll be back next Wednesday with another review!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think in the comments!

Until next week!
Zachary
Stupid Inventor

Read more...