Record breaking day

Just a couple weeks ago, I was bragging that my work might no longer be necessary. I thought I had successfully ridded the comics world of thoughtless, useless silent penultimate panels. Mission accomplished, indeed.

Baby Blues by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman
Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau
Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller
Over the Hedge by Michael Fry and T Lewis
Overboard by Chip Dunham
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis
Soup to Nutz by Rick Stromoski
Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! by Tim Rickard

I'll have to check with my statisticians, but I believe this is a single day record. Also, for the Monday through Saturday week, Get Fuzzy used an SPP five out of six days. That is a single week record. I feel like I'm starting all over again.

Oh, and Johnny Hart either misuses the word penultimate or is once again making a joke that makes sense only in the context of his own dementia. Deficient in the dictionary or cuckoo in the coconut--you decide.

Friday

Whoa, almost missed a day. It's technically Saturday morning, but we'll talk about Friday here.

Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley
Luann by Greg Evans
Heart of the City by Mark Tatulli
Pooch Cafe by Paul Gilligan
Broom Hilda by Russell Meyers

I've got some questions to answer tomorrow. For now, goodnight.

Garfield

Only two today, an all cat day:
Garfield by Paws, Inc
Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley

Pearls Before Swine almost counts, but the silent panel is necessary, and it's not exactly silent. Zebra is whistling.


Garfield has been using the same punchline all week:



Ugh. Two more days of this?

Making fun of Garfield is the comic strip blogger equivalent of airplane food jokes. But, oh my god, Garfield is lame.

Dilbert daily debut

A big old pile of silent penultimate panels today:

9 Chickweed Lane by Brooke McEldowney
Dilbert by Scott Adams (daily debut!)
Garfield by Paws, Inc.
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis
Pooch Cafe by Paul Gilligan
Prickly City by Scott Stantis

9 Chickweed Lane uses a silent double. This is the second one recorded this week.


And Dilbert, believe it or not, makes it daily debut. Dilbert has been on the watch multiple times on Sunday, but this is the first daily SPP for Dilbert in watch history.

And arguably, it may not belong here. The silent panel is essential to the gag. Scott Adams uses the fastest, punchiest rhythms on the comics page. Hate his drawing or not, hate his popularity or not, day in and day out, his gags are among the sharpest anywhere.

Eddie-Do

Four today:

Fisher by Philip Street
Foxtrot by Bill Amend
Get Fuzzy by Darby Conley
Mutts by Patrick McDonnel

Fisher only appears in the Toronto Globe and Mail. Ugliness Man was able to round up a scan of it today. The watch has eyes everywhere.


If there's one thing I hate, it's maudlin emotional manipulation:

But Eddie-Do is so cute. How could I possibly hate this little fellow?
Stay proud, Eddie-Do, a good family will find you by Saturday.

A very special Watch

Two silent penul--hold on a second, I need to get my self together here--two today. Sniff.

For Better of For Worse by Lynn Johnston
Mutts by Patrick McDonnell

This is the saddest edition ever of the Watch:



I sure hope someone adopts Eddie-Do.

But Schulz does them right.

Back in business today--five silent penultimate panels

Between Friends by Sandra Bell-Lundy
Momma by Mel Lazarus
Overboard by Chip Dunham
Peanuts (1959 reprint) by Charles Schulz
Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano and Craig Macintosh

Momma fills out the Sunday space with a silent double.


And, when they work, I need to point them out. If Charles Schulz didn't invent the SPP, he perfected it. Very few can do it as well as this. (Click image to see it in a readable size.)

Step one to create a good SPP: Start with a funny gag. This is the part the bad ones miss.