Comic Strips 2020: Sumpin Arful

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > BSS: Bisexual Super Son > Comic Strips 2020: Sumpin Arful

Kavak: Aug 23, 2009

Selachian posted:

She's using Morrissey lyrics for those strips, so smug and self-righteous kind of comes naturally...

Zelda comes off as "Why isn't everyone as miserable as me" and "I'm visibly worrying about these things, why aren't they, I'm better than them, these SHEEP." It's the mindset of an angry, clinically depressed person.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 18:57

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Dec 12, 2024 16:23

BigglesSWE: Dec 2, 2014

Coney seem to be a particularly stupid Tracy villain, and that is quite a feat.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 18:58

Professor Wayne: Aug 27, 2008; So, Harvey, what became of the giant penny?

They actually let him keep it.

The Far Side

Pickles

Zits

Somebody fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Jul 26, 2022

# ? Aug 16, 2020 18:59

Schwarzwald: Jul 27, 2004; Don't Blink

Haifisch posted:

Origins of the Sunday Comics

This ones basically harmless, but you couldn't get away with it today.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 19:07

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

Johnny Walker posted:

Andertoons

Does literally anyone know what happened in that goddamn experiment?

ikanreed fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Aug 16, 2020

# ? Aug 16, 2020 19:32

My Lovely Horse: Aug 21, 2010

ikanreed posted:

Does literally anyone know what happened in that goddamn experiment?

Charged my time machine battery, didn't I.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 19:42

Poil: Mar 17, 2007

How else are you going to power up your Chron-O-John in the past?

riderchop posted:

Rae the Doe's web archives

Comfort Food

Don't dox me, now I need some comfort food to feel better.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 20:09

Bruceski: Aug 21, 2007; Live, laugh, kupo!

ikanreed posted:

Does literally anyone know what happened in that goddamn experiment?

"Evidence that lightning and electricity were the same thing" is the main one I recall. I'm not sure if the electricity they collected and did tests with was also new exploration or proof that it reacted the same as electricity from other means.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 20:30

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

So no.

The kite didn't get hit by lightening. The key got an electric charge just by being in the cloud. And he already owned batteries to determine the charge with

# ? Aug 16, 2020 20:34

Mercedes Colomar: Nov 1, 2008; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Poil posted:

How else are you going to power up your Chron-O-John in the past?

My Lovely Horse posted:

Charged my time machine battery, didn't I.

These posts make me feel like I could. Take on the World.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 20:35

Bruceski: Aug 21, 2007; Live, laugh, kupo!

ikanreed posted:

So no.

The kite didn't get hit by lightening. The key got an electric charge just by being in the cloud. And he already owned batteries to determine the charge with

Yeah, that would've killed him, but it was a thunderstorm. Didn't similar tests in just rain not do anything? Hence the lightning extrapolation.

Man, now I wanna go dig up the actual paper and see what conclusions were drawn at the time. Slow day, should be fun.

Edit:

http://www.benjamin-franklin-history.org/kite-experiment/ posted:

Sir,

As frequent Mention is made in the News Papers from Europe, of the Success of the Philadelphia Experiment for drawing the Electric Fire from Clouds by Means of pointed Rods of Iron erected on high Buildings, &c. it may be agreeable to the Curious to be inform�d, that the same Experiment has succeeded in Philadelphia, tho� made in a different and more easy Manner, which any one may try, as follows.

Make a small Cross of two light Strips of Cedar, the Arms so long as to reach to the four Corners of a large thin Silk Handkerchief when extended; tie the Corners of the Handkerchief to the Extremities of the Cross, so you have the Body of a Kite; which being properly accommodated with a Tail, Loop and String, will rise in the Air, like those made of Paper; but this being of Silk is fitter to bear the Wet and Wind of a Thunder Gust without tearing. To the Top of the upright Stick of the Cross is to be fixed a very sharp pointed Wire, rising a Foot or more above the Wood. To the End of the Twine, next the Hand, is to be tied a silk Ribbon, and where the Twine and the silk join, a Key may be fastened. This Kite is to be raised when a Thunder Gust appears to be coming on, and the Person who holds the String must stand within a Door, or Window, or under some Cover, so that the Silk Ribbon may not be wet; and Care must be taken that the Twine does not touch the Frame of the Door or Window. As soon as any of the Thunder Clouds come over the Kite, the pointed Wire will draw the Electric Fire from them, and the Kite, with all the Twine, will be electrified, and the loose Filaments of the Twine will stand out every Way, and be attracted by an approaching Finger. And when the Rain has wet the Kite and Twine, so that it can conduct the Electric Fire freely, you will find it stream out plentifully from the Key on the Approach of your Knuckle. At this Key the Phial may be charg�d; and from Electric Fire thus obtain�d, Spirits may be kindled, and all the other Electric Experiments be perform�d, which are usually done by the Help of a rubbed Glass Globe or Tube; and thereby the Sameness of the Electric Matter with that of Lightning compleatly demonstrated.

That was easier than I expected, but I guess it's Franklin so I shouldn't have been surprised. Some organizations really dedicated to archiving his stuff.

Bruceski fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Aug 16, 2020

# ? Aug 16, 2020 20:37

BigDave: Jul 14, 2009; Taste the High Country

Franklin was trying to invent the strobe light so he could host the world's first rave. :colbert:

# ? Aug 16, 2020 21:15

El Spamo: Aug 21, 2003; Fuss and misery

EasyEW posted:

You Totally Knew This Was The Other Shoe About To Drop-bean

# ? Aug 16, 2020 21:19

riderchop: Aug 10, 2010; av by @daikonquest!

hope everyone in Funky Winkerbean dies tbh

# ? Aug 16, 2020 21:45

amigolupus: Aug 25, 2017

Manuel Calavera posted:

Note that the boy who's interested in musicals is wearing pink, or that the chubby child's main interest is eating.

gently caress off, OBH!

Mikl posted:

Ugh. Holbrook may say Rudy has liked Fiona before all this, but Rudy sure is acting like her makeover makes it easier to be interested in her. I think someone told Holbrook off about this, because I can vaguely remember something happening to Fiona's appearance down the line and Rudy having to re-learn his lesson or something stupid.

readingatwork posted:

More evidence for the Uncle Max is gay theory.

After reading Wallace, Phoebe and Crabgrass, I find myself agreeing with uncle Max here. Calvin really doesn't have any friends, and that's depressing to think about. And I don't know if Suzie counts, since she and Calvin don't really spent that much time together.

EasyEW posted:

I thought he'd already be inside the cave and come out to find the fire's spreading toward him, not that he's just been standing outside like an idiot all this time. Batiuk really wants us to believe that this guy just stared at the cave entrance and didn't notice the approaching heat or smoke in the sky.

And I guess his supposed friends never thought to call him about the fire, when we saw they had their phones on them just the other day.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 22:11

readingatwork: Jan 8, 2009; Hello Fatty!; Fun Shoe

OH MY GOD PULLA FRENCH TOAST IS AMAZING!

# ? Aug 16, 2020 22:18

How Wonderful!: Jul 18, 2006; I only have excellent ideas

Dykes to Watch Out For #95 (1990)

Ruth Westheimer, aka Dr. Ruth, was a popular sex therapist and media personality who became a star after her 1980 radio show Sexually Speaking took off. She was remarkably frank for the time about all sorts of issues of sexual health and enjoyment and notably was an advocate for queer sexuality and for gay men during the AIDS crisis. She's led a pretty interesting and harrowing life.

This is a remarkably languid and low-back strip after the heightened tension of the last two. Even the punchline unfolds in a leisurely fashion with the actual comic beat coming in the second to last panel and the last panel being devoted to just a small moment of Mo and Harriet being close and comfortable with one another. It lacks some of the visual and narrative spark of the last little bit but it feels like a nice, even interlude. Even some of the ongoing problems and subplots involving Toni and Clarice are put on hold and they're just allowed to be the happy couple for a moment.

"Outrageous fortune" is a pun on a line from Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy.

Hamlet posted:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep;

Just a cute little joke, sure, but we also see Harriet and Mo here suspended in their own "to be or not to be," weighing their options and trying to decide whether they're better off pushing through their issues or just ceasing to exist as a couple.

As a side note I love the drawing of the other family eating in the background. They're totally just set dressing but I think Bechdel gives each of them a lot of personality. My favorite is the kid just going to town.

How Wonderful! fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Aug 16, 2020

# ? Aug 16, 2020 22:54

ikanreed: Sep 25, 2009; I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

amigolupus posted:

After reading Wallace, Phoebe and Crabgrass, I find myself agreeing with uncle Max here. Calvin really doesn't have any friends, and that's depressing to think about. And I don't know if Suzie counts, since she and Calvin don't really spent that much time together.

Calvin's deeply cynical nature and distrust of others is a central theme of the strip.

Waterson wrote about how Calvin being a member of the cubscouts undercut his loner nature, and dropped that part of the strip.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 23:02

catlord: Mar 22, 2009; What's on your mind, Axa?

Conan the Barbarian Jul. 21st- 27th, 1980

Howard frequently compared Conan to panthers, or described him as "pantherish." It was kinda neat seeing that here.

# ? Aug 16, 2020 23:06

coronatae: Oct 14, 2012

A glimpse of the real reporters behind Breaking Cat News:

# ? Aug 16, 2020 23:41

Vox Valentine: May 30, 2013; Solving all of life's problems through enhanced casting of Occam's Razor. Reward yourself with an imaginary chalice.

I really appreciate how real Mo and Harriet's whole "the pot bubbles over but it's crying and communicating instead of anger" thing shook out, it really feels authentic for two people to just tearfully talk poo poo out.

coronatae posted:

A glimpse of the real reporters behind Breaking Cat News:

So much for journalistic integrity!

# ? Aug 16, 2020 23:47

goatface: Dec 5, 2007; I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.; Grimey Drawer

readingatwork posted:

OH MY GOD PULLA FRENCH TOAST IS AMAZING!

nekonaughey_success.png

# ? Aug 16, 2020 23:49

EBB: Feb 15, 2005

El Spamo posted:

Plots repeated ad nauseum
Still comic lovers read him
He's always got me screaming
That Funky Winkerbean

# ? Aug 16, 2020 23:54

FrumpleOrz: Feb 12, 2014; Perhaps you have not been to the *Playground*.
The *Playground* is for Taalo and for Orz, but *Campers* can go.
It more fun than several.
You can go there for too much fun.

The Lockhorns

Brewster Rockit Space Guy

On The Fastrack

No Safe Havens on Sundays!

Kevin & Kell

Mother Goose & Grimm

Hagar The Horrible

Sherman's Lagoon

Ella Cinders

Zorro Sorry for the hosed up scan. It's still legible at least.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 00:49

goatface: Dec 5, 2007; I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.; Grimey Drawer

So are we all voting E or what?

# ? Aug 17, 2020 00:54

Green Intern: Dec 29, 2008; Loon, Crazy and Laughable

LazyQ posted:

M�mmil�

1. Leevi should probably not be saying "we are having sourcing problems" in front of the people backing his operation.
2. I am sure that Isopaljo's mystery letter is just some fond congratulations and nothing more. Mhm, yup.

EasyEW posted:

You Totally Knew This Was The Other Shoe About To Drop-bean

They run into the cave, the fire engulfs the surrounding area and sucks up all the breathable oxygen while choking the cave with smoke. Batiuk collects another Oscar for Comic Strip Writing.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 01:15

EBB: Feb 15, 2005

Green Intern posted:

1. Leevi should probably not be saying "we are having sourcing problems" in front of the people backing his operation.
2. I am sure that Isopaljo's mystery letter is just some fond congratulations and nothing more. Mhm, yup.

This one raised my eyebrow but I'm not sure what to make of it yet.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 01:22

amigolupus: Aug 25, 2017

goatface posted:

So are we all voting E or what?

The sidenote says he's ignoring all votes for E anyway. :sigh:

Green Intern posted:

They run into the cave, the fire engulfs the surrounding area and sucks up all the breathable oxygen while choking the cave with smoke. Batiuk collects another Oscar for Comic Strip Writing.

It's not 'they', it's just the old man hallucinating that his younger self is there and interacting with him. With his condition, it makes Mindy and Pete even more irresponsible for letting him out of their sight.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 01:49

Medenmath: Jan 18, 2003

readingatwork posted:

OH MY GOD PULLA FRENCH TOAST IS AMAZING!

Can confirm :yum:

goatface posted:

nekonaughey_success.png

FrumpleOrz posted:

On The Fastrack

I guess spiders are gothy, but I would not have thought that Spider-Man is particularly gothy.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 02:03

kidcoelacanth: Sep 23, 2009

i think th^{at b looks pretty neat tbh}

# ? Aug 17, 2020 02:13

Medenmath: Jan 18, 2003

kidcoelacanth posted:

i think th^{at b looks pretty neat tbh}

No joking, if I cared to cast a vote it would be that one.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 02:24

Green Intern: Dec 29, 2008; Loon, Crazy and Laughable

amigolupus posted:

It's not 'they', it's just the old man hallucinating that his younger self is there and interacting with him. With his condition, it makes Mindy and Pete even more irresponsible for letting him out of their sight.

This is just sad now. But in a really hamfisted way.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 03:04

Slammy: Mar 30, 2011; Great speech.
PPHPFT!!

And He Did. (May, 1917)

Outbursts of Everett True (August 3, 1917)

Hitz and Mrs. (April 19, 1923)

They'll Do It Every Time (January, 1941)

Feiffer (1976)

Wee Pals (June, 1972)

# ? Aug 17, 2020 03:44

Alhazred: Feb 16, 2011

Zelda

This is Blekkulf:

# ? Aug 17, 2020 04:03

Maigius: Jun 29, 2013

Slammy posted:

And He Did. (May, 1917)

And He Did isn't living up to its old nickname of And He Died recently.

# ? Aug 17, 2020 04:05

Kavak: Aug 23, 2009

Slammy posted:

Feiffer (1976)

I don't get it, also why is Jimmy Carter a pig-zombie hybrid in the first panel?

# ? Aug 17, 2020 04:07

Julet Esqu: May 6, 2007

I don't mind that Zelda has strong political opinions, or that her strong political opinions are sometimes contradictory, or that she doesn't always practice what she preaches, or that her friends are sometimes annoyed by her constant harangues. She generally comes off as well-meaning, if irritating, and all of that is clearly intentional on the part of the writer.

When the strip itself is preachy, though. Ugh. Give it a rest, Zelda, the comic strip. (I do generally enjoy it, though.)

Darthemed posted:

Retail

I suddenly want a poster that just says "MST3K" on a black void and nothing else.

Here's a fun(?) game you can play with this week's Junk Drawer! For two of this week's three comics the featured comment at Go Comics was the same poster saying "I don't get this." Can YOU guess which comics our friend doesn't get???