Appearances

Four, with pictures, today:
Dog Eat Doug by Brian Anderson
Garfield by Paws, Inc.
La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz
Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis

This marks a rare appearance for La Cucaracha. Of the non-serial strips I see each day in the L.A. Times, La Cucaracha, Jump Start and Dilbert are the rarest offenders.


Garfield, which I avoid everyday except when there is a gaping, wordless panel to draw my attention, is one of the most common offenders.

Every once in a while, someone tells me that I'm misguided in my crusade, that silent reactions are a classic comedy staple, and that a certain gag needs the SPP. What gets lost in the argument is that most often the punchline that the SPP precedes is terribly lame. In these instances, SPPs provide the appearance of a gag when there is none actually there. Today's Garfield, for instance.