18 Comments

1. 

   Maybe she’s still mourning the loss of her arm tone, and he’s consoling her with a meal of healthy food?

   No, this looked worse and worse as I was typing it. Time to check last month’s obits!

2. 

   Freddie Starr, the English comedian who died May 9th? The most famous thing about him was a 1986 Sun newspaper headline “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster”, based on a story made up by his publicist. It boosted ticket sales in the short term but the story pursued him to his grave and beyond, with The Sun announcing his death thusly: “Freddie Starr Joins His Hamster”.

   Starr was apparently a vegetarian since his teens, to boot. So this cartoon marks his passing and then deals with it with a nice bowl of lettuce and toasted pine nuts.

3. 

   I personally didn’t understand this until showing up here with Bill’s comment. The first person to come to mind was Anthony Bourdain, but he died almost a year ago. Maybe she is mourning the anniversary of his death?

4. 

   Could it just be “A hug makes things better,” no specific reference? She’s sad, he hugs her, everything’s fine.

5. 

   Roky Erickson died yesterday. Jimmy is clairvoyant.

6. 

   @ignatzz is correct, but Bill has already said he will refuse to believe it.

7. 

   @ignatzz is how I interpreted it, ’cause one of our dogs just crossed The Rainbow Bridge and I feel exactly like Janis looks. It’ll take more than one hug and a salad . . .

8. 

   Que sera sera

9. 

   Grumpy Cat? Tim Conway?

10. 

    No, I think B.A. has it. The whole week was “I’m getting old, this sucks” from her, but he finally manages to cheer her up.

11. 

    The last years of Tim Conway were particularly bad; such a shame for such a talented funny man.

12. 

    guero’s answer makes a lot of sense, especially since they’re cooking in the final panel.

13. 

    Carlfink, you misquote me: I wrote “until persuaded otherwise.”

14. 

    My impression was along those lines. She’s sad, no specified reason, he comforts her and then they participate in a fun activity. Maybe more fun activities later, given that it’s A&J.

15. 

    If memory serves me right, didn’t Arlo don a white chef’s jacket with a black arm band when Anthony Bourdain died? That could be the connection, but the anniversary of his passing is still a week away on June 8th. I think this is simply a well timed hug makes things better.

16. 

    Hang on, didn’t Sadly “Hugs” McSalad die about three weeks ago? Of course!

17. 

    Art is open to individual interpretation. (Amd my interpretation aligns with @carlfink’s.)

18. 

    I had the same thought as Brian in STL.

    When I need a hug I give Robert the signal by holding my arms out. We hug as long as needed and then return to life – such as making dinner.