Bill Bickel | Comics I Don't Understand

Saturday, July 8th, 2023 would have been Bill Bickel’s 68th birthday; therefore: in his absence, and in his honor: Mazel tov! (מזל טוב)

Bill’s own tradition for the occasion was to create an elaborate “24-Hour Project”, with a new CIDU post timed to appear every hour throughout the day. Partly because these birthday comics are not CIDUs, but mostly because it would have been far too much effort just for a little structural nostalgia, this entire collection has been gathered into a single list (but is divided into appropriate categories).

If you have a favorite birthday comic, please feel free to add it in a comment!

The “featured image” at the top of this post shows Albert, Porky Pine, Beauregard Bugleboy, Bun Rab, Pogo, and Howland Owl doing a “Birthday Dance”, but the anonymous bug appended to the right isn’t actually singing: he appeared in a series of memorial tributes that Walt Kelly drew in the 1950s for his daughter Kathryn Barbara, who died shortly before she would have had a chance to enjoy her first birthday cake. Given that we are celebrating the birthday of a dearly beloved, but departed friend, I thought the image was very appropriate. For more information, see the Daily Cartoonist’s article about the Day of the Little Angels.

P.S. I would like to thank all of the CIDU Editors for their input, assistance, and constructive suggestions, but especially Phil, who took my rough template and laid the foundation for a much better design (and he also documented all the author and strip names in the tags).

The first Peanuts strip in this collection doesn’t fit into any category, because it has a singular “birthday” significance; it was originally published on Friday, July 8th, 1955 (the day that Bill Bickel was born):

Schulz never depicted any adults (and only very rarely mentioned any of the parents) in Peanuts.

Remembering

With a few notable exceptions, this 1971 strip predates almost everything in this collection by more than two decades.

…even if he did rip the flower right out of her own garden. (Note: other than Stahler’s “pickleball” comic from 2023, this 2018 Marmaduke is the newest item in this entire collection.)

He should be comforted to learn just how much Rat thinks of him.

Cakes & Cards

That cake must have been pretty tough to hold together like that.

Snoopy suffered a whole series of cat attacks in the 1970s, but this was one of the best.

For Bill we would need a pair of 34s, or (more likely) a 50 and an 18.

Parties

Only the Peanuts and Doonesbury strips are older than this Calvin & Hobbes strip.

Does this mean that they would rather celebrate the day he got laid?

This Peanuts strip (from 1951) is the only one in this collection that predates Bill’s birth.

Presents

Apparently Andy had already quit smoking 20 years ago, but he and Flo were still indulging in violent spouse abuse.

Bill had trouble understanding feline behavior, so this might have been a CIDU for him.

Garfield only rarely acts like a real cat, so Bill wouldn’t have any trouble here.

After all that trouble to escape, even his visit is no longer a surprise.

Color might have made this “Liō” strip easier to understand (each stack should be a different pastel shade), but Tatulli may have been going for the “dawning realization” effect.

Geezerhood

If you cannot move the ball, just change the position of the goal posts.

One of the many running gags in Garfield is that he hates birthdays.

This appeared just in time to be included here; it’s also the only comic in this memorial collection that was published within the last three years (in other words: since Bill passed away).

Technology

This category seems more tragic than funny.

Mobile telephones can generate automatic reminders, so nobody really has to bother remembering birthdays any more.

This is the only Sunday strip in this collection.

This 2007 strip predates the widespread availability of 3D printing technology.

Mortality

These three comics complement the previous memorial post (September 16th, 2022).

P.P.S. Remember: if you have a favorite comic to help celebrate Bill’s birthday, please feel free to include it in a comment!

Oh oh oh, I’ve found it!

*“Here’s an apocryphal story that I figure prominently in.”*

A CIDUer received this in some email without source info, and passed it along. The artist seems to be Mike Gruhn, who posts cartoons to Instagram and here-and-there; and has his own site, called WebDonuts. He had a feature called Caption Challenge or Caption Contest, which seems to end in 2015. A note on the WebDonuts site from 2019 indicates that Instagram would be the place to look for his current material.