It may be that the purpose of my life is to serve as a warning to others.
Similarly, hearing one side of a juicy conversation while on public transportation. If you are going to be talking loudly on your phone in public, please put the other person on speaker so we can get some closure. What did Betty say to Barbara? This Gordo is from 1974. I had to memorize this in [ ]
billr sends this in: Mike does puns ad infinitum. This is a recurring motif. What I don t get is the text thread in the newspaper being held by the counterman. I know who Tom Waits is, but don t know his music well enough to know if this is a reference to one of his songs. [ ]
The basic joke is clear: he wants to pretend to be a better person than he is. And if those are clouds they seem to be in line at the Pearly Gates but, if so, how can he use his phone? And what s the significance of the way the others are portrayed: golfing, eating [ ]
That s the top award. The NCS is 80 years old: not quite as old as Walt Wallet. Here s some classic Lio comics:
From Marrose: who notes: I get the maniacal laughter (it is a Mad Scientist convention) but what does it have to do with a stroke?
A famous use of OOPS occurs in this old routine by Bill Cosby: Oops!
Mitch4 sends this in, along with today s important medical information: I noted this because it was a misunderstanding I used to have. The point of the turn your head part of the hernia check is really just so that you don t cough on me! . But I long thought it had something to do with some connection [ ]
guero sends this in:
New Adventures of Queen Victoria is now irregularly updating, and the 3 after this one have also just been thought balloons in the dark. Per Wikipedia: The strip ended on February 14, 2021; according to Sungenis, 15 years is long enough to do anything. In January 2026 the comic returned to GoComics with new strips. [ ]
Mitch4 sends this in as a momentary CIDU:
I feel like this is a parody of a popular song lyric, but I m not finding it in my memory.
The fun part of this one is figuring out what real cereals Nathan Pyle is referring to: I had dessicated grape chaff for breakfast this morning. I may have the citation wrong here. This is a comic that resurfaced among the ones I ve saved over the years, but this one was saved without citation, and [ ]
How cartoonists at a convention decide what bar to go to.
July, 1931. The Great Depression is in full swing. Still over a year until the 1932 election. The New Yorker has always had a subscriber base with a richer demographic than average, but these cartoons from the 7/4/31 and 7/11/31 don t show much awareness of the Great Depression. Another ping-pong related cartoon. Was there a [ ]
Mitch4 sends this in. So, what sort of seed would be used? The general theme of car parts stuck in the ground also occurs in Sally Forth s current storyline. I m not going to explain any of the time-traveling aspect of this, though. The inspiration is perhaps the Cadillac Ranch in Texas.
Today s vocabulary test.
The distance from Troy (near modern Çanakkale, Turkey) to Ithaca is a bit over 600 miles. At a rowing speed of 4 to 5 knots, that s not a terribly long journey, without the involvement of the gods. If we went from Troy, New York to Ithaca, New York by water (Erie Canal, then portage to [ ]
There s limited continuity expected in a gag strip, particularly between Sunday and the rest of the week, but there s an interesting contrast between the Sunday strip and the Monday strip here: (7/12 and 7/13) Reminds me a bit of that meme where you are supposed to punctuate this sentence: Woman without her man is nothing. [ ]
Mitch4 sends this in:
Yes, this comic is often confusing, but to me this one should be understandable (except the life cycle of caterpillars is often too short; 7 to 14 days is common). Is this some mythical creature? My first thought was that this was part of a series, but this is the previous one, which has no [ ]
Did I miss some subtle shift in the meaning of a period which used to be the dullest of punctuation marks?
So many comic elements here: dog, dog eating at a table, bones on the counter, Trix, silly rabbit. Can t quite get this one to add up.
I get Tudor Cat out of this, but are Tudor Cats a thing? A quick search pulls up this gruesome information: Cats were not a popular Tudor pet due to their association with the Devil and witchcraft. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII decreed in his bull against witches that cats were unholy creatures and were [ ]
Hinches sends this in: I think it has to do with the doughnuts being the crime scene, The white circles were drawn by the cop with the white marker in his hand around the alleged dropped donuts. The look on his face seems to suggest after drawing the circles, either he or both of the [ ]
Mitch4 sends in the LOL (and Geezer Alert): From 1954. Usual John sends this in: This appeared yesterday, so that makes today Ice Cream Day. I plan to celebrate!
Mitch4 sends this in: Somewhat disappointing that at the end he seems to give up at disguising the names when he just outright names the presidential libraries. I m missing whatever s hidden in I m just saying I m going to forbid encampment anyways til this is done. The phrasing seems Taylor-made for having some president hiding. Mitch4 [ ]
Yes, it s still hot here in Editorland. But the big problem is smoke, and the Air Quality Index (AQI) not the heat index (although it s still hot). I cancelled a bike ride I was supposed to lead yesterday when the AQI got over 200 very unhealthy and the visibility was limited by smoke. [ ]
Straightforward, if not funny: But what about those papers that might print 4-panel Nancy as a 2 2? or some other orientation? In earlier days, Bushmiller would sometimes do a 3 panel, but in the examples I looked at the third panel was double-width, so it would still fit within a 2 2 orientation. But perhaps the [ ]
Marrose sent this in. Yes, we ran it a few weeks ago.
Mark H. sends this in: If there s actually a wall at all.
Mitch4 sends this in: Usual John sends these in:
Mitch4 sends this in: Mitch4 sends this in: This one s a keyper!
they don t have roads? Jack Applin writes: I was puzzled by the “off-road trim”, because cavemen don’t have roads. Then I recalled “Dip in Road”. OK, fine. Why would the triangular wheel cause political arguments? It’s not pink. Is it simply “That other political party is so stupid that they promote triangular wheels! Haw haw!”?
In honor of CIDU Bill (Bill Bickel and definitely not Idiot Bill Bickel) here s a bit of a tribute: Usual John sends this in: I can’t help thinking of Idiot Bill Bickel, and the name Bilden Bickworm makes me think that may not be just coincidence. FYI for those who have not been following [ ]
Found on the internet, with some speculation about its origin. One theory is that it was Ernie Bushmiller s cheat sheet, so he could be consistent in his expression of various emotions. Another person speculated that he could use this for some early version of cut-and-paste, in particular to save time with that hairdo. Perhaps it [ ]
Jack Applin has a quibble: Yes, a squibble. Olaf is unquestionably a squibble. Certainly, he’s not a squiggle—he’s a squibble. WTF is a squibble!?
JMcAndrew sends this in, noting I understand what the joke is supposed to be but Pringles can’t even legally be called potato chips. they are made from a dough using dehydrated potato flakes combined with corn, rice, and wheat starches. Not sure why but this really bugs me. More on the topic of Pringles from comedian [ ]
In Congress, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the [ ]
billr sends this in: A mystery . If the name Juan Valdez doesn t ring a bell: 1985 100% Colombian Coffee Juan Valdez This is how you pick the richest coffee TV Commercial
Mitch4 has some questions: 1) Are the shoes in the last panel meant to be actually larger, or just drawn that way to call our attention to them? Are these her own shoes with left and right exchanged, or maybe even somebody else s shoes? 2) What does her seating behind that tall, bald man have [ ]
BVCC sends this in, suggesting: How about a new category: Joke or Typo? Is chipmonk some pun that I don t understand, or was the editor asleep at the switch? Thanks for the suggestion, BVCC. Category added. There are a variety of chip monk jokes, such as this one: A monastery in the English countryside has [ ]
Consul, the Almost Human wonders What is that falling into (or being flung from) the pool?
Editor ZBicyclist is on vacation, and taking a cue from comics that repeat old episodes is dipping back into the past: June 2021. This was originally posted by Winter Wallaby. From dollarbill.
OK, not really an LOL to your editor. It s a comic that brings back painful memories of actual events. Adding staff to a project in the middle is problematic: (1) you have to bring them up to speed, and (2) you re likely to get staff that can be spared from other projects not necessarily [ ]