15 Comments

1. 

   Because they’re crash-test dummies?

2. 

   I get that, Fuzzmaster, just not what makes it a punchline.

3. 

   Don Quixote went tilting at windmills, which is not unlike crash-testing. (Drive forward at full speed into an immobile object).

4. 

   More resistance to the transition to greener energy? Teaching Dummies to attack wind turbines?

5. 

   I was going to remark on the painting which looks like a Dali — then noticed it is labelled, “Dali 4 dummies”.

6. 

   It’s a coffee shop ( or whatever) whose clientele is crashtest dummies, so they have provided art and literature specifically modified?, edited? for their clientele. It’s just a play on “for dummies” meaning for actual dummies. Worth a small chuckle.

7. 

   Would it be more funny if the title of the book were “Driving 4 Dummies”? Or would it be less funny?

   A long time ago I had a copy of “Don Quixote for Dummies” only it wasn’t called that because the “for Dummies” series hadn’t been invented. Instead it was called “Cliff’s Notes”.

8. 

   @ MiB – There’s a signature feature that the “…Dummies” books share with “Cliff’s Notes”, but the cartoonist blew it: the yellow & black color scheme.

9. 

   OT, but inspired by the discussion…Random bit of trivia…CliffsNotes are based on an earlier Canadian product, Coles Notes.

10. 

    I thought at first Don Quixote was about the futility of getting in a car again and again… But then I see it is appended to all works. So I don’t think Don Quixote is pertinent.

    But I figured the “for Dummies” because they are literally dummies was very clear.

11. 

    Is this an old cartoon? The “for Dummies” and “Idiot’s Guide to” books may still be around, but jokes about them peaked some years ago. Likewise crash dummies, briefly famous after a series of PSAs had two talkative dummies preaching safety.

12. 

    @ M.A. – It’s dated 30-Sep-2018, but the year was hard to find, hidden under the purple “Gatsby” book.

13. 

    @Kilby – Reprinted comics almost always have the dates updated to the present. I assume it’s to avoid confusion by folks thinking they got it wrong ‘today’.

14. 

    Sometimes both dates appear or the new month/day and the original year.

15. 

    When the syndicate reruns a comic, the redating usually occurs in typeset print in the gutters between the panels. Not only is the 2018 handwritten, it’s buried under a colored part of the drawing. I would be astonished if this turns out to be a rerun.