Month / January 2025

by zbicyclist

Philosophy Phriday

Some philosophy showing up in my comic feeds this week.

The term Axial Age is new to me. It comes from a German philosopher, Karl Jaspers, and refers to the 8th to 3rd centuries B.C. For more, see Wikipedia. I note that some major religious thinkers (Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Joel Osteen) are outside this period. I wonder if Zach’s comic was inspired by some trivial argument with his HOA board.

In that column on the left, there is a Suggest-a-CIDU form. If you see something that particularly puzzles you, let us help by sending it in.

by zbicyclist

CIHS: Curses

In today’s edition of Comics I Haven’t Seen, we take a look at Curses, a comic by Chelsea Carr. The backstory:
Wilma’s neighbors have forced her and her family to move away from civilization and seek refuge in a small cottage in the woods. All because Wilma turned their children into mice when they annoyed her!

In their new home, Wilma and her brother, Edwin, meet other outcasts such as Pixel the tech-addicted fairy, Keith the musical ghost, and their reclusive neighbor, Mr. Foot. 

Selections from a couple of storylines:

by zbicyclist

Two half-CIDUs

The essence of the joke here is good: that perhaps the pyramids had a second use in providing entertainment for Pharaoh. Not getting the extra graft part.

The joke here is also basically clear, with that nice added pun in the lefthand corner. But why a cat?

(a) To get in the way while he’s working, as cats tend to do?

(b) An allusion to the supposed origin story of Jim Davis developing Garfield? “Davis decided to peruse current comic strips to determine what species of animal characters might be more popular. He felt that dogs were doing well, but noticed no prominent cats. Davis figured he could create a cat star, having grown up on a farm with twenty-five cats.” (Wikipedia)

(c) An inside joke that cartoonists tend to be cat people?

(d) Other ________________