Picture only update

It's Saturday night of a three day weekend; I'm just quickly posting the pictures.

Nancy by Guy and Brad Gilchrist
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller
Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Good night, see you tomorrow.

Grammar

Real quick update for Friday:

Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson
Candorville by Darrin Bell
Frazz by Jef Mallett
Overboard by Chip Dunham


Grammar gags are rarely much to laugh at.

Legitimate

Four today, all found the old fashioned way--in print, in the newspaper delivered to my door.

Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller
Prickly City by Scott Stantis
Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Doonesbury counts, but the SPP is essential to the gag.


So, on the watch, but with no finger wagging. A rare case indeed.

Possible shutout.

So, just one and it may not count on account of technicalities.

Bob the Squirrel by Frank Page

But, this is from the Bob the Squirrel GoComics page, which is reprinting an earlier strip. While on the actual Bob the Squirrel web site, guest cartoonists are filling in for three weeks . The rules committee computer has been unable to sift through all our established eligibility standards and provide an answer. Who knew this thing would get so complicated?

Deconstruction

Three on Tuesday:

Blondie under the direction of Dean Young
Candorville by Darrin Bell
The Meaning of Lila by John Forgetta and "L.A. Rose"

I could say that today's Blondie is actually brilliant:


By directly informing the reader that there is no punchline, it forces the reader to consider the whole artificiality of the standard SPP set-up/pause/punch-line rhythm. It's a self-conscious criticism of form.

Or, it's just another lame Mr. Dithers hates Dagwood gag.

Winnie the Pooh

The week starts out strong:

Bo Nanas by Mark Leiknes John Kovaleski*
Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! by Tim Rickard
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller
Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano and Craig Macintosh
Winnie the Pooh by Disney Enterprises

The official credit for the syndicated Winnie the Pooh strip is "A.A. Milne & E.H. Shepard."

Yes, Milne has come back from the dead to write gags as generic as Costco toilet paper. And Shepard (also reanimated) has decided that the Disney versions of his characters are, in fact, much more charming.


*Edit, 1/9. Thanks to fact-checker Charles for correcting this embarrassing miscredit. (In a post about misleading credits, too.) The biggest difference between blogging and real writing is the lack of editorial oversight. Oh, how I would love to have an editor.

The rise of the antepenultimates

I'm counting three for this Sunday:
Andy Capp by Roger Kettle and Roger Mahoney
Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller
Shoe by Chris Cassatt and Gary Brookins

Does Non-Sequitur count? We think so, but you may disagree.


The most fascinating thing today is the number of silent antepenultimate panels. This is just a small assortment. What is going on here? Instead of awkward silence before the punchline, we now have awkwardness before the setup before the punchline. Just where will this all end?