"You Darkies"???

What explains this Comics equivalent to Birth of A Nation? Well, I guess the sotry is:

I think the idea is that there's an alien computer mindcontrolling a small town and keeping it "Traditional". or.

Actually, to clarify the plot: An alien probe bases small town life on the mindset of the guy who it first encounters...who happens to be racist, sexist, etc.

It still sounds kind of stupid to me.

from over yonder

Comics Damnation of the Day:

Diamond Previews p. 392: Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer TP -

Dorian: "The solicitation says it's written by 'the world's foremost authority on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, its characters, and its themes.'"

Me: "'Foremost authority.' So it's written by Joss Whedon?"

Dor: "Apparently not."

Rock and Roll Part Two

... and so, with Sunday September 25, 2005's Comics section in hand, I go down the list of comics and see what I have here:

#1: Dilbert


Again, the "Yes, I know... Safe placation for the fumes of the bourgeoise for the ultimate goal of societal corporate hegenomy" syndrome. Boss. Clueless. Falls to a garbage bin. Hardey Har Har.

#2: For Better or For Worse

Herein lies the problem: I know that is how surly teenagers are supposed to act; I know that is how dorky fathers are supposed to act; I do not know that this is in actuality how surly teenagers and dorky fathers do in fact act. Thus... it's a bad sitcom

#4: Get Fuzzy

Funny. I like the closing comment.

#5: The Wizard of Id

Curious. Is this a political commentary?

#6: Rose is Rose

So is the first two panel construction, ie: one scene broken into two panels, all that there is to this to make it above average strip-wise? I do not know.

#7: Elderberries
An above average episode. Gnomes are funny, right?

#8: Mutts
An above average episode, and I don't get the queasy feeling I usually do with Mutts this time around. We all relate to acorns, right?

The Comics page, circa 2005 courtesy of the Oregonian

The Comics Page, as it is these days. Better than it was ten years ago, but maybe I'm stuck comparing the Yakima Herald with the Oregonian.

What's worth a gander:

#1: Pearls Before Swine. I was wondering how the strip would handle the Blondie celebration... we now get the story arc of the cast not being invited to Blondie's big party. (Though it would have been more timely if it was being printed a few weeks ago.)

#2: Get Fuzzy. Hey! A Garfield rip-off, of sorts. I like it.

#3: Doonsebury. The old stand-by. If it's not on the funnies page, maybe it's on the editorial page.

#4: Dilbert. Yes, I know... soul-less clip art that makes a mockery of the term "art" and "comics". Safe placation for the fumes of the bourgeoise for the ultimate goal of societal corporate hegenomy. Do I care?

#5: For Better or for Worse: I can't figure out at what point this became everybody's favourite strip.

#6: Mutts. I can't tell if this is a good strip or just faking it with a few tricks that suggest it to be a far superior strip. I lose myself in its syruppy sweetness.

#7: Zits. The cartoonist at least knows the language of comics. Getting beyond this hokish "Kids are All Right after all" vibe, and I must acknowledge I have only really nodded my head in "been there" once: when Pierce spoke to the father character in all haikus.

#8: Luann: Hm.

#9: Foxtrot: The gummy-worm strips are clever.

#10: Elderberries: created out of corporate segment marketing... the art's nice.

#11: Non-Sequitur: oddly enough, the more overtly political strips are annoying me a bit these days.

#12: Rose Is Rose: Is my standard so low that I value an otherwise lackidasical "kids are cute, aren't they?" strip for tossing in a few clever visual elements?

Honorable mentions go to the "Calvin and Hobbes" reprints, Bizarro, and The Wizard of Id. Why? Probe into them and figure it out yourownself.

Mutts

Is it just me, or is today's Mutts cartoon an homage to Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey? (Or perhaps Tony Millionaire introduced sock monkeys into the public domain of comics?)

There was this moment in 1995 when I had, as a gift from my sister Rachel who knew that I read comic books of some sort, a subscription to Wizard Magazine.

It wasn't an altogether embarrassing experience. Or at least huge swarths of it weren't. Interviews with Howard Chaykin were informative and entertaining enough, the token "indie comics" column wasn't particularly informative but it was nice nonetheless, and it was amusing to watch the inflated prices of Too Much Coffee Man comics in the price-guide.

But...

A basic tenor of things comes into focus where the magazine published an article about a genre of comic book storytelling called "Bad Girl art". Expert interviewed to heap scorn on a fairly abysmal and puerile form of comic booking -- Sarah Dyer, editor of the anthology "Action Girl Comics", and girlfriend to Evan Dorkin (Wizard knew what "Milk and Cheese" was). The article provided a cursory criticism of a type of comic book Wizard Magazine was pushing and promoting, with an egregiously disingenuous caveat to the effect of:

"But balancing the bad are strongly realized characters such as Lady Death and Vampirilia."

Or something to that effect...

All of which is by way of bringing you to this, link taken from "Progressive Ruin" blog... Boob War Week. A show of how embarrassing comic books can be, and what I'm thinking I can avert my eyes away from. (Though the glut of this comic type is largely gone and done with.) It is a good train wreck. yep.