I understand what he’s saying, but what’s the actual joke?
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When you’ve been in the comic strip daily grind for 40 years you can tend to confuse the effect of being uncomplimentary and blunt with the effect of humor of a slight gag.
What, you don’t find sniping at the dead funny?
Or to explain further… the joke is that the GI, comeback, white suit are all somewhat neutral but bloated one foot in the grave is negative. The nastiness is jarring.
On the surface the reaction to a jarring insult and a slight humor gag are similar enough for a cartoonist grinding them out every day to confuse them.
I think the joke is supposed to be that when people talk about being robbed, they tend to make the robber scarier… bigger, stronger, better-armed, younger… than they really are, because they’re embarrassed about how easy it was to rob them. So the cop offers young, fit Elvii but the truth is that the bad guy was not so young and fit.
I don’t think that the artist is confused about anything. It’s common knowledge that Elvis let himself go in his later years and jokes about him were common even while he was still alive. And a secondary joke is that the officer is able to rattle off all these “stages of Elvis” and he still misses one.
James and Mark pretty much said what I have to say.
“. It’s common knowledge that Elvis let himself go in his later years and jokes about him were common even while he was still alive. ”
‘He’s bloated and has one foot in the grave’ is a joke?
Elvis Presley is alive and well and living with Janis Joplin in a trailer in Tennessee.
“He’s bloated and has one foot in the grave” is a joke?
To some people, yes. Redneck and dumb blond jokes have been popular at times too.
“Redneck and dumb blond jokes have been popular at times too.”
Not to mention my poor mamma. She’s not fat. Portly, perhaps, but come on guys. Jeeze.
Joke is suppose to be that Elvis is not enough of a description. He looked like President Kennedy. He looked like Arlo Gutherie. She looked like Marilyn Monroe. No one would ask at one point in any of their lives did they look like the person being described.
Comics I Don't Understand 
When you’ve been in the comic strip daily grind for 40 years you can tend to confuse the effect of being uncomplimentary and blunt with the effect of humor of a slight gag.
What, you don’t find sniping at the dead funny?
Or to explain further… the joke is that the GI, comeback, white suit are all somewhat neutral but bloated one foot in the grave is negative. The nastiness is jarring.
On the surface the reaction to a jarring insult and a slight humor gag are similar enough for a cartoonist grinding them out every day to confuse them.
I think the joke is supposed to be that when people talk about being robbed, they tend to make the robber scarier… bigger, stronger, better-armed, younger… than they really are, because they’re embarrassed about how easy it was to rob them. So the cop offers young, fit Elvii but the truth is that the bad guy was not so young and fit.
I don’t think that the artist is confused about anything. It’s common knowledge that Elvis let himself go in his later years and jokes about him were common even while he was still alive. And a secondary joke is that the officer is able to rattle off all these “stages of Elvis” and he still misses one.
James and Mark pretty much said what I have to say.
“. It’s common knowledge that Elvis let himself go in his later years and jokes about him were common even while he was still alive. ”
‘He’s bloated and has one foot in the grave’ is a joke?
Elvis Presley is alive and well and living with Janis Joplin in a trailer in Tennessee.
“He’s bloated and has one foot in the grave” is a joke?
To some people, yes. Redneck and dumb blond jokes have been popular at times too.
“Redneck and dumb blond jokes have been popular at times too.”
Not to mention my poor mamma. She’s not fat. Portly, perhaps, but come on guys. Jeeze.
Joke is suppose to be that Elvis is not enough of a description. He looked like President Kennedy. He looked like Arlo Gutherie. She looked like Marilyn Monroe. No one would ask at one point in any of their lives did they look like the person being described.