Three more comic strips

Some new names today:
Boondocks by "Aaron McGruder"
Baby Blues by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman
Frazz by Jef Mallet (third for the week, tying Chickweed Lane and Pearls Before Swine for the week)


Drabble had to go further review, but ultimately I declared it not an SPP.

While silent, it does provide an action that is essential joke--no matter how lame that joke actually is.

A hat trick

Here it is, another triple:
Frazz by Jef Mallett
9 Chickweed Lane by Brooke McEldowney
and, of course, Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis

Chickweed and Pearls are still tied for the week with three each. When will Get Fuzzy make the watch? Soon, so very soon.

Tonight, the Hammer Museum has it's "Hammer Bash". It's the closing weekend for the Master of American Comics show. (Last weekend for MOCA's portion of the show as well.)

A little clarification

Only one SPP to report today:
Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

You may have noticed that today both For Better of For Worse and Boondocks use no words in their second-to-last panel. I don't count these, because those are not really the kind of thing I'm looking for. A true SPP is part of a standard rhythm of joke telling in a daily comic. In the first panel or two says someone something preposterous or otherwise worth reacting to, then we have a silent panel while everyone reacts to what was said (at this point, you would see a bad comic actor saying "beat, beat, beat" to himself) and then you get the punchline in the last panel. Boondocks is off the watch today, but for Aaron McGruder (and his team of assistants,) it just a matter of time.

 

Catch up for the week

I'm packing up the newspapers for recycling, so I'll take the opportunity to catch us up for the week.
Monday, March 6:
9 Chickweed Lane by Brooke McEldowney
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis

Tuesday, March 7:
9 Chickweed Lane

So currently this week its a tie between Chickweed Lane and Pearls Before Swine with two out of the three days using a silent penultimate panel.

What is this?

It's time to find a new way to develop comic timing in a daily comic strip. It seems more and more comics artists are using a silent second-to-last panel to set up the punchline. I'll be watching the Los Angeles Times daily to report on these abuses. If you find one in your newspaper, please let me know. So, the offenders today, March 8, are:
Prickly City by Scott Stantis
Frazz by Jef Mallet
and Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis

Have a good day.