It Was the Best of Comics. It Was the Worst of Comics

Let's get going on today's (and a couple from last week) comics.

Mallard Fillmore

Mallard has been yammering on about this stupid study for a week--possibly more.  Mallard also apparently doesn't know how this study works.  This is an article about the study and it says that only 2,300 college students were followed at two dozens universities.  45% of those 2,300 students “demonstrated no significant gains in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and written communications during the first two years of college.”  How many people are in college?  Why does Mallard hate education?

Mary Worth 2/20/11

I have been loving this recent Mary Worth storyline where it's Wilbur vs. Dawn vs. Mary vs. technology. Only one will win!

Mary Worth 2/27/11

"How dare Sarah 'like' my relationship status. I'll show her. I will untag her in all of my pictures and write a Twitter diatribe about how much of a bitch she is."

Here are couple strips that I just found really funny.

Pickles

In the Sticks

Brewster Rockit: Space Guy

Momma

In Francis' defense, he did read "A Tale of Two Cities" and anyone from my generation and younger that can read an entire book by Charles Dickens deserves praise.

Blondie 2/20/11

Twitter has really been making the rounds in the comics lately (psst.  you can follow the DCR and it's authors on Twitter as well) so of course it has to make its way into the Bumstead's lives as well.  Whereas Mary Worth just seemed skeptical about the Internet and all of it's shiny flashy ads, Dagwood is overreacting and is afraid that if he says or does something stupid that a pair of Internet goons will drag him away to be "rehabilitated".

Gasoline Alley

That's not how 3D TVs work. Also, is 3DTV really going to become the next big thing? Somehow I doubt that because there is not enough stuff being broadcast in 3D--ESPN has an entire channel dedicated to 3D but I'm already paying enough for ESPN through my cable bill.

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Hostess Fruit Pies?

Okay, so I don't really have a good excuse for missing the past few weeks of me supposedly doing Thursday and Friday. Let's chock it up to latent emotional problems made worse by the change in seasons. The Meekrat Entertainment Group has updated more or less regularly, though, and I return to you a disheveled mess of a human being. Let's get down to some comic stripping.

Sally Forth

Once upon a time, Sally Forth was pretty dire. Just your standard Mary Tyler Moore-esque comic strip, except with the comic strip usual family dynamic added in. For years, it simply sat there, being on no one's radar and never being particularly good. However, one day, they decided to give Ted a personality, and what a personality it was! Once a bland husband, Ted became extremely geeky, and with this geekiness came some mild humor and the strip became readable. And so it has remained. I pretty much only put this here for the shout-out to the Hostess Fruit Pie ads of yesteryear, which actually encompassed all of their items. You can find a pretty comprehensive collection of them here, but be warned that there's some salty language accompanying them. In case that sort of thing offends you.

Spider-Man

On a semi-related note, I was quite displeased when I found out that the vampire in this Spider-Man storyline was going to be Morbius and not Lugo Belosi. Of course, Belosi might still pop up as Morbius is apparently not a vampire anymore. Does anyone else think it's hilarious that he's claiming to have lost all traces of his vampirism long ago when he obviously has fangs? Silly Morbius! Hopefully you'll use those fangs to sink into a Hostess Fruit Pie.

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Fruit, Watches, and Doors

Hey everyone, Zachary the Stupid Inventor here with this Wednesday's comic review:

F-Minus: Love the concept, but perhaps they should add googly-eyes as well!

Rubes: I like the gag, but for some reason the lack of a more detailed background bothers me, there should at least be the standard "doctors office" desk, diploma, etc. there.

Get Fuzzy: This current "Missing Door" storyline is really weird, but I must say I am very curious to see where it goes.

Wizard Of ID: Is ID an olden day kingdom or is it taking place in modern times? Someone really has to decided once and for all. Either way the whole conversation seems out of place and weird, a street vendor would never admit their watches were cheap, no matter how bad they are.
Pickles: Funny as always. Although the kid can't throw stones since he's only talking to a dog.

Until next time!
Zachary
Stupid Inventor

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Looking On The Bright Side

Because of the overwhelming Monday-ness of this week's Tuesday, I almost forgot to post! Sorry about the brevity and all.

Crankshaft 2/22/2011

Where do I start with this plotline? It's tough to get any lower than an elderly women lying outside in the extreme cold spouting one-liners, but Batiuk never disappoints. Apparently someone cared enough to call an ambulance — but not enough to go outside and check on the poor women, let alone throw a blanket on her or something.

Ha! It's funny because Batiuk is so callous!

Funky Winkerbean 2/22/2011

Did they just notice each other?

Plugger 2/22/2011

I find this drawing here a little disturbing. Aren't some or most of the characters in Pluggers talking animals, including dogs? Why does one get clothes and not the other?

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An Eyeball, A Foam Finger, And A Goldfish

Hey everyone, Zachary the Stupid Inventor here with today's comic review!
I made sure to read the comics early but there wasn't much to report on today, so just a few nitpicks and a rant. Let's begin, shall we?


Girls and Sports: This comic strip is consistently terrible so I usually don't bother posting it here, but today's strip is just so disgusting I'm posting it to showcase how truly terrible Girls and Sports can be. Why strips like this can run in a newspaper but you can write the word "poop" in your comic is beyond me.
The Argyle Sweater: I have nothing against the gag, which is more weird than funny, I just think the cartoonist should have zoomed in on the scene when drawing it so that the eyeball would be bigger and more visible. Just my opinion.

Reynolds Unwrapped: I like how the cartoonist tries to explain this lame non-joke by saying the doctor is into "sports medicine".
Rubes: I'm sorry, the laws of physics and properties of water and fish just won't let me like this panel. Sorry.


Since it's a slow comic day, I'll leave you guys with a question. Where do you fall on the gag-a-day vs. character strip debate? I personally much prefer character based strips, as the comics above show, when doing gag-a-days there's a lot more room for lame filler gags...but that's just my opinion, let me know what you think in the comments!

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Mary Lives!

When we last saw Mary Worth, it looked like her scheming and meddling might be coming to an end.

Cropped to just this panel, her ruminations about "coming back" made me think "Well, it would be if you were a Marvel character."

Mary strives on. There are more lives to ruin!

Mary Worth, 2/14/11

However, spending an afternoon huddled next to this guy looking at Twitter seems to have her considering suicide again.

On the subject of ruining lives, let's check in on the Funky-verse.

Crankshaft, 2/15/11

After being told to stay inside, Jeff's Mother is heading out. Broken hip? Mugging? Getting ripped off on the senior discount at Denny's? Expect the worst in the Funky-verse.

Over in Funky proper, the dreams keep dying. But at least we can milk it for a few nervous laughs.

Funky Winkerbean, 2/15/11

Ha! She's upset because she can't play basketball!

See you next week.

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What Will Mary Choose? Twitter or Suicide?

Social networking sites have been making the rounds in the comics lately with jokes about tweeting and poking and flickring.  Mary Worth is about to get a lesson about tweeting from Wilbur which will no doubt take something already kind of boring to learn about into new realms of boredom.

Mary Worth

What's with the angle in the last panel?  Is Mary about to have an accident or is she going to kill herself rather than subject herself to an online she may not be able to escape.  Also, follow me on Twitter.

Speaking of social networking...

Sherman's Lagoon

Sherman is learning just how dangerous Facebook can be--without even being contacted by prisoners and child rapists.

Beetle Bailey

You would think Beetle would know by now that Sarge is not swayed by beautiful sunsets overlooking gorgeous vistas.  Beetle could've just led Sarge up the mountain and dropped his pants to get about the same reaction.

Ziggy

Poor Ziggy.  He's just minding his own business watching the latest "The Biggest Loser" with a rare smile on his face and now some mouse, who has somehow obtained experience in interior decorating, says he has to go.  It's one thing when waiters, dry cleaners and vending machines insult Ziggy but it's crossing the line when actually insulting Ziggy when he's happy.

Birdbrains

This comic frightens me.  It frightens me a lot.

The Flying McCoys

Nothing wrong with this.  I just liked it.

That's it for today, now go read my site.

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Bizarro Day

Hey everyone! Zachary the Stupid Inventor here with this weeks comic review! Today a lot of consistently bad comics actually tried something decent and new! Let's check it out!
9 To 5: I'm not even going to comment on the actual gag, that "happy grim reaper" is atrocious!

Reynolds Unwrapped: Now that's a happy Grim Reaper!
Beetle Bailey: Another comic coincidence today as Beetle Bailey copies a joke that was in last week's Dennis the Menace. Now obviously neither cartoonist actually stole the joke, but I always find these type of things interesting:


Today's Dennis the Menace also happens to be pretty funny, it's a good line. Quite a shock.

Girls and Sports: Even more of a shock is a semi-decent strip from girls and sports! What is going ON today?!?!?!

Sally Forth: Acknowledging that the plot device in your story is lame and unoriginal does not make it any better.... I hate it when strips (and tv shows and movies for that matter) do this.
Luann: I realize that cartoonists try to think of situations where they can change the scenery in the 3 panels while still maintaining a conversation, but please don't have two characters talk to each other while they're both on the toilet.... thanks!
The Doozies: The Doozies never fails to make me laugh!
Wizard of Id: And finally, Wizard of Id tries something totally new by putting all of it's characters on a cruise ship. I think it's an interesting idea and a way to make some new jokes in an old strip, but at the same time it doesn't seem to really "fit" the strip. What do you guys think of this storyline? Let me know in the comments!

Well that's it for the comic review, but I figure it's fair to post some work that I've done so that you can review me! Here's a Stupid Inventor animation I just finished, let me know what you think!


See you next time!
Zachary
Stupid Inventor

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The Miracle of Schadenfreude

Almost daily I ask myself why I still have Millard Fillmore in my Daily Ink e-mail, then a gem like this comes through.

Mallard Fillmore, 2/8/11

Strips like today remind me that there are actually people that see the media, Congress, the White House, and education, as some grand unified conspriracy. Against them, no less. I need the occasional reminder that such a delightful mix of cluelessness, narcissism, and credulity is really out there.

Bruce Tinsley is obviously an angry white man that feels left out by society. And honestly, why shouldn't he? He's a talentless hack and the only job he can get is as the token conservative in the funny papers. Poor him! I'd be pissed too. And with "The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee" allegedly making people laugh sometimes, maybe he should be a little scared too.

Bizarro, 2/8/11

I love punslike this, but the vegan preaching we're bound to get on the Bizarro Blog almost writes itself. (Don't get me wrong, most days I enjoy Piraro's blogging.)

Beetle Bailey Classics, 2/8/11

Ugh! This strip used to be really gross sometimes.

Funky Winkerbean, 2/8/11

Comics Curmudgeon already commented on this, but I wanted to take time to chime in too. I was starting to wonder when the real pain and suffering was going to return. Phew! Glad to see some strips have maintained their artistic vision. Of course in this case it's a mixture of Sam Peckinpah and Nihilism...but still.

Pluggers, 2/8/11

Curmudgeon riffs on this strip a lot too. Is there a joke here?

Lio, 2/8/11

This is very clever, and very well executed.

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Peanut Butter and Death

Mary Worth

"Oh, yeah? At least I'm addicted to being popular online unlike you, Dad, who is addicted to ham sandwiches! Ham sandwiches don't love you, Dad. Random people you meet through other random people online do love you though!"

Marmaduke

This is, by far, the most disgusting Marmaduke I have seen a very long time. Now instead of Marm's breath smelling like death, it also smells like peanut butter. And peanut butter smells worse than death.

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