Jack Applin sends this in: “Why would Nancy find a get-well card in a novelty store? I would expect a novelty store to contain joy buzzers, exploding cigarettes, and the like. Has the meaning of “novelty” changed since the time of King Arthur, when this strip was first published?”
It’s not a CIDU, since the intended joke is clear. But I remember dime stores, 5 and 10 cent stores (vaguely), variety stores, but I’m not sure I ever saw a Novelty Store.
This Baby Blues strip was published back in early May (when the tulips really were in bloom), then MyActualRealName submitted it as a CIDU in early June, so it seems perfectly appropriate to post it here in early August:
M.A.R.N. commented: “Isn’t Hammie like six, and will have seen her like this about her tulips, and when toothpaste is on sale, many times?”
Perhaps, but I think the authors just didn’t have any other option, since the resident “baby” (Wren) is only about two years old, and thus far too young to deliver Hammie’s the reaction in the third panel. In addition, since the characters have been getting older (but only very slowly), it might be difficult to preserve exact consistency to their “current” ages. I don’t follow “Baby Blues”, so I can’t judge how well the continuity has been handled in the past.
This Macanudo strip might appear to be misdated to American readers:
… because the school year ended over a month ago. It turns out that the Argentinian school year begins in March, and doesn’t end until December. Nevertheless, the strip is still (slightly) misplaced, because Argentinian students go on their Winter break in July. Henrietta may not be at the beach, but she isn’t in school right now, either.
Judging from the CIDU archive, Stone Soup was one of Bill’s favorite comics, and he originally scheduled this strip to appear shortly after it was published in 2019:
The problem is that he never finished writing the text to go along with it:
“There seems to be a common theme, especially in comic strips, that physical books are more …”
Would anyone like to take a shot at completing Bill’s sentence, or offer some other perspectives about reading (for enjoyment, not as work) in paper vs. electronic form?
This Rhymes with Orange strip might have worked perfectly back in early summer, but now it just seems awkward. The new corporate name just isn’t easy to adapt into usable slang, and even if it were, the political deadweight surrounding the takeover and renaming ruins any possible remaining humor.
In a curious instance of personal asynchronicity, it wasn’t until a couple of hours after I had written the text above (including the headline) that I saw Sunday’s Doonesbury, which needs no further commentary:
Is there any more to the joke than the anachronism of the “ancient site” having a wheelchair ramp alongside the staircase (and a bit of matching signage)?
Comics I Don't Understand 