10 Comments

1. 

   And of course the Devil is played by Frank Nelson.

   Can someone explain the report card panel to me? Those sound like term papers, not classes.

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2. 

   Powers, I think they are indeed meant as course titles, with the cartoonist making a comment on how academia is sinking.

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3. 

   A Lyft ride I had earlier this year had a recent-model car with a hidden handle I could not find for a couple minutes, trying to get in. The driver was trying to mime the position and gesture for me. (And getting out was only a little easier)

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4. 

   Mafia pigeons! I love it

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5. 

   Some actual college courses, per the internet (i.e. not guaranteed accurate):

   Tree Climbing (Cornell, 1 credit)
   Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame (U of South Carolina)
   South Park and Contemporary Social Issues (McDaniel College)
   Westworld (Bennington College)
   The Art of Walking (Centre College)
   Cryptozoology (Oberlin Experimental College, 1 credit)
   History of Surfing (University of California – Santa Barbara)

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6. 

   Did not Walt canonically fight in WWI? Didn’t his military background form a core part of his early characterization in the first strips in 1918… about his experiences as a soldier and his transition back to civilian life? And while the comic itself may be 115 years old, Walt would be about 126 today. In which case the lying-to-the-devil isn’t likely to help his avoiding-eternal-damnation situation… unless that’s just dementia…? … and/or The Devil having to deal with Walt is a depiction of The Devil’s eternal punishment, not Walt’s?

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7. 

   Walt is missing the “in the last 50 years” part of that statement….
   I took Underwater Basketweaving at UC San Diego last century – it was a PE class, following learning how to snorkel. Probably one credit. Also a joke – that was a phrase, then, for utterly useless things you could learn at college…. But it was, in fact, an interesting class. Take reeds down to the bottom of the pool, control your position so you can reach them and weave them, come up to breathe as necessary…

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8. 

   Walt was a Navy man and did indeed serve in WWI. He was an adult living on his own, with a professional job, when baby Skeezix was deposited on his doorstep in 1921. Walt is a minimum of 125, if he entered the war late as a 17YO. More likely he’s around 129 or so.

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9. 

   Here’s an old Gasoline Alley, from the days when it was just a panel in King’s full comic sheet. It has the early GA gang, Bill, Doc, Avery, and Walt.

   

   Here’s when it went to a standalone comic. Note Walt’s sailor cap that he wore often in the early strips.

   

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10. 

    Gasoline Alley – den –

    When we bought our house some 40 or so years ago one of the features we liked in the house was the den behind the kitchen. Both of being craft artists we loved it and its position in the house – we would work on crafts projects while still keeping an eye on cooking (another craft I think).

    So we set up the room for us as we needed it to be – for each a 5ft long work table put together across the 5ft to save space and so we could see each other while we worked. His old dresser from his bedroom at his parent’s house, a standing closet, and other furniture for storage, a few 6ft tall bookcases, (okay, my Louisa May Alcott and Laura Ingalls Wilder book collections ended up in here also due to lack of space on the 5 full height plus a half height bookcases in our home office (with more around elsewhere the house – have a LOT of books on a LOT of subjects). Lots of materials of various media stored in studio (and more in the finished half of basement where his smaller wood shop is – larger one is the garage).

    So a den can be used for many purposes!

    (Our moms used to walk into the kitchen, look into the den, tsk, and each say “What a waste of space!” :-) )

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