Pearls Before Swine

Quick update--it's just too hot to think about this too much today. Three silent penultimate panels today:

Cow and Boy by Mark Leiknes
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis
Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano and Craig Macintosh

That makes Pearls Before Swine the champion of the week with a total of four.

None

I think it's been a few months since this has happened--no silent penultimate panels today. Of course, this is my ultimate goal, but now I feel sort of lost.

Today's Get Fuzzy probably should have been an SPP, but instead, the strip just ends on the awkward silence. Darby Conley just couldn't think of a zinger, so he figured his drawing was funny enough. It would just have to do. I guess if you can't say anything funny, don't say anything at all.

Smells like a joke

Just three today, the smallest batch of the week:

Overboard by Chip Dunham
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis
Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano and Crag Macintosh


Don't look now, but I think Mallard Fillmore made an actual, honest-to-god, joke:

Now, I'm not saying it's a good joke, but it is a joke. It's not a demented rant, it's not one of those strange non-caricatures, it's a gag. It sets us up with a common, familiar situation--an automated phone message, then switches up with an unexpected twist on the situation--there's an option for pig latin. That's the anatomy of a joke. It looks like a joke, walks like a joke, and smells like a joke... good job, duck. But let's see tomorrow if you don't go back to complaining about immigrants or journalists, or whatever it was Rush Limbaugh was talking about four weeks ago.

Long days

This is turning into a huge week, six more silent penultimate panels today:

Cathy by Cathy Guisewite
9 Chickweed Lane by Brooke McEldowney
Monty by Jim Meddick
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis
Prickly City by Scott Stantis

That's a total of sixteen since Monday. Just as soon as I think I'm making an impact, we get a week like this. These long days of summer seem to cook up laziness.

Non Sequitur

Six! Weekdays have been slow for a while, but days like this prove just how wide-spread the silent penultimate panel phenomenon is:

Andy Capp by Roger Kettle and Roger Mahoney
Bo Nanas by John Kovaleski
Garfield by Paws Inc.
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis
Sherman's Lagoon by Jim Toomey
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller.

That's two days running for Non Sequitur. The Seq has been here an awful lot lately. It's been close to Overboard levels for a while now. Miller just recently took some time off, too, so he should be cliche-free for a bit. Maybe he doesn't realize what he's been doing. Someone should let him know.

Awesome

Four silent penultimate panels for this Monday:

Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau
Monty by Jim Meddick
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller
Pooch Cafe by Paul Gilligan

Wiley Miller tries to shake things up with a double-stuff reaction, but still does not escape the watch.



Did I not say a couple of weeks ago that Mark Trail is at his best when there's a bear involved? Well watch him prove me right.

Presenting the most awesome Mark Trail strip of the year:

Trail's flying tackle! Trail's cool with the angry bear's maw only inches away! And finally, the rousing report of the mighty Pow-Pow gun! Who knew so much awesomeness could fit into one three-panel comic strip? If the awesome density was any higher, it would just collapse in on itself in a black-hole of awesomeness--sucking all that is awesome in with it. Be careful, Mr. Elrod, you hold a mighty power.

Rock is dead

Eight! Sundays tend to be huge and this week does not disappoint:

Animal Crackers by Fred Wagner
Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! by Tim Rickard
Andy Capp by Roger Mahoney and Roger Kettle
Cathy by Cathy Guisewite
Frazz by Jef Mallett
Prickly City by Scott Stantis
Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano
Shermans Lagoon by Jim Toomey

So does every teenage comic strip character have to be in a band?

Jeremy, Pierce, and the other kid (and another one):


Hillary Forth and Faye


And, of course, 4Evah and Eva (April Patterson, Duncan Anderson, and Eva Abuya.)

Even if real teenagers don't listen to rock and roll anymore, at least their comic strip counterparts are keeping it alive.

(For absolute random bizarreness try searching for "4evah" in Google image search.)