Here’s one kind of meta idea taken to a logical conclusion.
This one I wanted to make a daily standalone CIDU, but couldn’t really justify that.
OK, it’s a general picture of some sort of “bad boyfriend behavior”, but what exactly is he saying, to get rid of who or what? (Secondarily, since the absent partner here is a stand-in for the cartoonist, she might well be taking a share of blame for so often provoking exasperation.)
But then again, here they are together for some creative brainstorming!
Oh and BTW, for others who follow this strip, does this mean he is part of the spinoff “Side Gig” business that she and her pal from work are planning to quit their jobs to go launch? Or I guess he’s just being supportive about it…
A piquant FA
And didn’t we recently see a “CTRL-Z” comic?
Comics I Don't Understand 
The recent Ctrl+Z appeared in mid June, but a far more interesting Baldo post appeared in 2019, in which the final concensus was that the strip was written in Spanish, and only translated into English.
Yes, but a couple other times we have looked into the same question and both internal and external evidence suggest that it is written in English first and translated for the Spanish edition. And in this referenced thread, the discussion did not go far into it or present much evidence.
Technically, it wasn’t a Ctrl-Z, but rather a Command-Z.
For those who follow Reply All, this one will remind us that the boyfriend or spouse does have a name (it’s Drew); but does not settle the question of whether he is a part of the “side-gig” project the protagonist and her friend-from-work are starting up, as the conversation she is having today – from which Drew is isolated, thanks to a chip – is with her mom instead.
(And further …) Today’s update makes it clear Drew is at least helping make the business plan, and maybe is considering being a silent partner. Not that he could stay silent.
I don’t get either the fancy panda one or the Frog Applause…
Because we have received The Wizard of Oz largely from Dorothy’s limited point of view, if there was something that happened there which she just did not remember upon returning to consciousness in our world, those people or events would not be a part of her memory, nor the book/movie. But here we have a glimpse from an omniscient standpoint, and it shows us one of those characters who won’t make it into the Dorothy-based narrative.
In the Frog Applause, why do all the buildings have their lights on in the second panel?
Actually, I can suggest two answers. Maybe our insomniac’s yelling is waking everybody up. Or maybe it’s just getting on toward local getting-up time, and we sadly note this guy is still awake (and telling the world).
Mitch, I think it’s the first: if he can’t sleep, he’ll yell loudly enough that nobody else can sleep, either.
I’m not sure why I didn’t participate in the 2019 Baldo thread. Anyway, I disagree about Spanish first. The writer was born in the US (Texas I believe) and most of the translation problems go the other way, especially puns. Also, while running “bigote” through a translator gives “mustache”, going the other with “whisker” returns “bigote”.
There are lots and lots of odd characters and creatures in the Oz books. I haven’t read them, so I don’t even know if there are characters in the first book that didn’t make it into the movie. For all I know there could be a Fancy Panda.
1 There were substantial discussions of Baldo and its language in these threads
2 Brian, you did comment on the language of Baldo in a previous thread even though not the one you mention.And in this one you are, albeit briefly, on the English-firdt view.
3 Later one with afterthoughts but an agreement that the English comes first
Kilby, you seem to change your mind on this in alternating years :-)
Arnold Zwicky discussed a Baldo that works in English but falls apart in Spanish, at https://arnoldzwicky.org/2021/03/04/an-inscrutable-comic-strip/ . (Is that our Dana K he credits for sending it in?)
I commented on the Zwicky blog, first about an entirely different case of cross-language puns, but then to mention a CIDU thread which linked back to this one at Zwicky, and provided more Baldo material. The thread here was https://godaddyandthesquirrelmustbothdie.wordpress.com/2021/04/03/bonus-baldo-a-pun-before-and-after-translation/
Barring an official statement from the authors, I simply do not think that the evidence in the strips is 100% conclusive. I would be willing to agree that many (perhaps most) of the “weak” translations tend to support the “original English” hypothesis, but there are also anfew strips out there in which the Spanish versions have seemed to be better.
Are both Cantú and Castellanos Texans? Maybe some strips start with English and some with Spanish.
Meanwhile, I do like the first one here, the “What did I just tell you?” one.
There are lots and lots of odd characters and creatures in the Oz books. I haven’t read them, so I don’t even know if there are characters in the first book that didn’t make it into the movie. For all I know there could be a Fancy Panda.
That comic panel is pretty clearly the movie version. That was the one that ended with it probably a dream and “you were there and you were there.”
There were characters in the book, notably the Witch of the North, who was not Glinda. She’s the witch of the South. No panda though. I don’t know Giant Pandas were even in the public ken at the time. And the big hugging scene didn’t take place in the book.
Are both Cantú and Castellanos Texans? Maybe some strips start with English and some with Spanish.
Cantu the writer is from Texas. Castellanos illustrates and is from Florida, of Cuban heritage.
Lost in A**2: I’d buy your version except he’s louder in the second panel. Which makes no sense.
I just realized a problem with the Oz panel. The balloon is shown in it, but the big goodbye scene was after the Wizard had taken off without Dorothy.