Yes, we don’t really do synchronicities any more, but these two were right next to each other in my GoComics feed.
It’s also interesting because the Wizard of Id comic seems outdated: eggs are one of the few items that have come down in price since early 2025, since the flocks that were decimated by bird flu have recovered. A Google image search doesn’t return any earlier version, so I don’t think it’s a rerun.
Above graph is from U.S. Egg Prices (1980-2026)
P. C. Vey died recently. The biography on his website notes ” He sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker in 1993 and has been a regular contributor since. His work has been published in Harvard Business Review, Barron’s, National Lampoon, Playboy, AARP Bulletin, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.”
But he also did quite a bit of work for Mad Magazine (list here). A curious omission. I am reminded of the ex-priests from my seminary days, some of whose obituaries fail to mention their decades as Catholic priests, an omission that seem clearly intentional from the other information included in their obituary. But Mad is certainly better known for fine comic humor than, say, Barron’s, and, in my opinion, nothing to ignore. But perhaps there’s more to this omission than I know.
This one would certainly have fit into Barron’s:
Tom Toro and Asher Perlman, fellow New Yorker cartoonists, posted some favorites as a tribute:
This one’s in the current issue of The New Yorker:
So:
Is Horace dreaming of Melody beside him, and when he wakes up, his dream girl disappears?
Did they both suddenly realize they left the oven on, and Melody left to turn it off?
Did Horace come up with an idea, but the Melody left when she found out the idea just draws bugs?
Or … ?
Jack Applin sends this in: “Aslant? In what way is Edda aslant? (aslant: in a slanting direction : obliquely) She is absolutely upright. This being 9 Chickweed Lane, the answer involves sex. Panels 5 and 6 focus on her middle region, as does his eyeline. She hasn’t cocked her hip. Are her lady parts somehow aslant, and revealed by her short dress? Also–her mother?”
Targuman sends this in: “I’ve got nothing. I can’t understand it as a pun, visually it doesn’t make sense, it’s a dinosaur, but it’s breathing fire like a dragon? Anyone? Or is this just a humorous drawing that he put a title on?”
CIDU eschews politics and religion, but I’m not sure this is really religion. If the explanation offends someone’s religious beliefs, your editor apologizes. If there’s a follow-up of Mohammed as a dinosaur, for sure we’re not posting that!
Even for Lug Nuts, which tends to the surreal, this one is odd. Any guesses?
Another Lug Nuts example: it depends more on unusual images, and isn’t a typical gag strip:
Brian in STL sends this in: “The strip is in deep reruns. There’s been an arc of comparing Soccer Moms to pit bulls. This doesn’t make any sense in regards to that or anything else. Note, the dog belongs to one of the Soccer Dads shown.”
Mouseover text: “Lander, this is Houston. There’s been a request that you turn clipping back on and instead set the mass to 1kg. The theorists believe that will be pretty funny.”
Mitch4 sends this in: “A bit labored, but in the end the pun works!”
Mitch4 sends this in: “I guess it’s his own shadow he’s seen to be catching in the last panel. But how could he have snagged it in the previous panel, when he was on that medium-distant hill and not casting a shadow at all, as far as the drawing suggests?”
Similar shadow physics:
In memory of Bill Bickel, the founder of this site, I’m going to link to the tribute page on this site. This is always available, but it’s particularly appropriate to highlight it today. Bill died September 16, 2020.
Bill Bickel and the history of CIDU | Comics I Don’t Understand
