Let’s debate which way would be funnier

You ever think — or find yourself actually writing a comment — that the comic we’re seeing maybe has a point or makes a joke, or maybe doesn’t really, but in any case would be much better off if only some aspect were changed?


We just have to agree with some commenters on the GoComics appearance of this panel in October 2023 that getting a joke from this would seem to require knowing which of the gorillas ordered the virgin daiquiri. Is it the one facing us from the far end of the banquette and looking (maybe) a little abashed? Or could it have worked better with one gorilla and three humans? Or how about …

One original commenter said The joke isn’t about which ordered it – the joke is that the virgin one is simply a banana…. Does that help? Or does it just emphasize that *all* of them would probably want the plain banana?


Okay, sure, the little one is the “sub” woofer because it’s subordinate. I guess. 
— But, but … When it comes to actual acoustic speakers (where the terminology originated), a sub woofer produces even lower pitches than a woofer, and therefore needs to be larger. 
— Okay, that might fix the technicality, but it would ruin the joke.
 – Nah, it would be funnier that way, with the facts working. 
 – Nah, it would be stupid that way. Everybody would say, “But what’s the joke?”


And what do mice know or care, about an MRI scan? Ah, but if it were about CAT scans, then we would understand the issue!

Not the Midas touch

This striking but very puzzling Six Chix cartoon by the Friday chick, Maritsa Patrinos, was suggested by CIDU readers travelgirl, bobanero, and Jack Applin; and understanding remains elusive also for CIDU editors and for Comics Kingdom commenters.

(P.S., thanks for letting us know about https://www.usatoday.com/comics as another outlet for viewing King Features / Comics Kingdom cartoons.)


P.S.

Little did we suspect, when writing a title for this post based on the Six Chix comic, that we would almost immediately run across an actual Midas-themed cartoon!


CIDU QUEUE REMINDER

As always — but it needs saying explicitly again now and then — we like to think of this as a reader-participation site, and not just for your invaluable (or anyhow amusing) comments, but for suggestions of comics to run and discuss.

Please share your specific suggestions of panels or strips, in CIDU, LOL, and OY categories, either by direct email to

(that’s “CIDU dot Submissions” at gmail dot com) or by using the handy-dandy Suggest A CIDU form page!

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, March 24th, 2024



A nice Thurber shout-out here. And do you agree the Bliss dogs bear a resemblance to Thurber dogs?

And for fun let’s compare the color version:

I’d say the color is nicer as a mild-humor comic, but the Thurber book identity is obscured.


But no, I can’t figure out what the pairings and lines are doing. It’s certainly not the standard March Madness sort of bracketting. Maybe if I had reread the book at some point in the last 50 years I would do better. … OK, here’s a help page. Wait, how can it fail to mention Dorothea’s nickname, “Dodo”?



Oh, oh, oh! I think I know!


A LOL-Ewww of questionable taste, from Lug Nuts

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, March 17th, 2024


At first sight, this was going to be a CIDU. Then it was agreed to be not that puzzling — still, it’s not perfectly clear if it’s just a funny situation idea.


Say, what actually was the reason for Cmdr. Bond’s preference? Do the components get more evenly mixed, or less? Does some air get incorporated? Does it bring out the flavoring of the vermouth? Or hide it?




A geezer theme for sure.


An interesting kind of Meta, that we are flatfootedly calling “LOL-Meta, alluding to an old joke, by forestalling it”. Possibly a CIDU for a few — if you don’t already know what the patient’s question had to have been, by all means venture an idea of it in comments.



Sunday Funnies – LOLs, March 10th, 2024



Okay, do you agree this belongs in the LOLs? Or would you put it in OY, because the patient’s mishearing error depended on a near-miss similarity of sound between urine and hearing?


Thanks to Chak for this LOL from the Chuckle Bros:






When the New Yorker website has an outage, you see this message.


Hey, just a minute there! Are you saying there’s something wrong with that? It strikes me as an eminently reasonable basis for a preference.


Here is a sampler from recent episodes of an Australian strip that is new on our radar, Insanity Streak by Tony Lopes.

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, March 3rd, 2024


Thanks to Rob S. for this next Batch Rejection and the Tom Falco:




Comics Kingdom released its new site on Wednesday, and at first nothing was working there. But when we finally did get to see some comics, the first one was this very good Macanudo!


Usual John provides this one, which definitely earns an extra “Eww”

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, February 25th, 2024

This Bizarro was about a 10-minute CIDU for your editors.

But a week later, this one could be seen as retroactively helpful:






There was a study of corporate annual reports some years ago. It found that when things were going well for a company, active voice was used, e.g. “We increased our sales over X% …”. When things were going poorly, passive voice was used, e.g. “Sales were negatively impacted by …”



I never order these in a restaurant. I assume they have a similar constitution to the McDonald’s McRib, which is just restructured shredded pork with fake grill marks. Am I wrong?


Sunday Funnies – LOLs, February 18th, 2024



And a less-vintage Bizarro


Thanks to Darren for sending this Andertoons:

We’re all still chuckling over the Sturm und Drang inboxes; but Darren also raises a question whether there is some sort of art trickery going on — like a different face showing up if you invert the picture. Well, it doesn’t seem to be exactly that; but maybe something similar?


This remains a semi-CIDU, as most of the allusions are obscure to an outsider; yet the jokes are clear enough once the basic point is caught that this depends on something about the ninja turtles. 


Finally!

Yes, finally we get the correct form of this joke! (Compare the Eyebeam discussed at https://cidu.info/2023/09/10/sunday-funnies-lols-september-10th-2023 )


Some months ago CIDU was asked to remove all the Far Side comics from our site, and we did so.

It’s their intellectual property, and they are within their rights. Certainly there are many social media sites trying to attract attention with Far Side cartoons, and it must be like Whack-A-Mole to reign those in. Still, they are missed, and Dave Whamond’s comic here is a reminder to check out the legit site for old and new work from Larson: https://www.thefarside.com/new-stuff


CIDU QUEUE REMINDER

As always — but it needs saying again now and then — we like to think of this as a reader-participation site, and not just for your invaluable (or anyhow amusing) comments, but for suggestions of comics to run and discuss.

Please share your specific suggestions of panels or strips, in CIDU, LOL, and OY categories, either by direct email to

(that’s “CIDU.Submissions” at gmail dot com) or by using the handy-dandy Suggest A CIDU form page!