Saturday Morning OYs – November 12th, 2022

And here’s another Lard for you for this week!

I wanted to say something like “This is not just a pun, but etymologically correct!”. It turns out something like that is justified, but not quite so simple and direct. Both Etymonline and Dictionary.com recognize a verb maze or amaze meaning “to daze, perplex, or stupefy” or “overwhelm or confound with sudden surprise or wonder,” but seem unclear on how it is related to the noun meaning  “labyrinth, baffling network of paths or passages” . But yes, it is related, some way.

Oh gosh, and here’s this entry mazy (adj.) “like a maze, winding, intricate,” 1570s, from maze (n.) + -y (2).! Brings back writing a paper on Book 9 of Paradise Lost, full of narrative about “the mazy serpent”.


The pun is not new, but as an oldie it is a goody!


Truss didn’t make it as prime minister long enough to outlast a head of lettuce, or the lead time for this comic.


Sunday Funnies – LOLs, November 6, 2022

Kilby sends this in, wondering why it was run on September 11, 2022. There are some standard characters (Ahab, Diogenes, Napoleon), among others. I’ve earnestly tried to figure out the two characters in the upper right corner of the 2nd panel, but frankly I don’t get it.

Kilby also notes that November 6th is the 50th anniversary of Frank and Ernest. Their Wikipedia entry has some interesting notes. The strip is distributed in Spanish as Justo y Franco. The strip depends so heavily on wordplay that I wouldn’t think it would translate well.

But by hitting the random button at GoComics, I see many that are understandable in any language.


This Frank and Ernest is a CIDU to me. 8 isn’t straight.

For obsessives who feel you need to see the Carolyn Hax column this accompanied, here is a guest link. For the rest of you, the connection to the cartoon is just that the advice question involves parent/child conflict.


Don’t you want to hear a few more rrrrr’s in that?


Ludwig is such a patient little guy! This semi-LOL is in truth mostly an Awww for the ailurophile crowd. And the White Meat Chicken Florentine from Fancy Feast Medleys in the 3oz can with green label is a standby in the Mitch4 household.


Saturday Morning OYs – November 5th, 2022

Some of these are somewhat CIDU for me, actually. I’m just guessing “Frankenstein’s Castle” is a thing, and “Vampire Bass” draws a blank.


Since we seem to have a subcategory under Oy for “Literalizing an Idiom”, might as well provide it some examples!


When he dons it, is it part of his gay apparel?


Should this strip have appeared on a Throwback Thursday?


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Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween — a good excuse to post some monster-themed cartoons. Here’s a couple that might fit into a Halloween-themed library.



This man isn’t worried that he’s out of candy, because he’s planned ahead.


If there is something left, it might not be the good stuff.

Andréa sent in this ThatABaby, and reminded me of an earlier CIDU discussion of Candy Corn: https://cidu.info/2020/09/07/ot-candy-corn/#comments

One measure of how influential Peanuts was is how familiar the Great Pumpkin is to us all.


First mention of the Great Pumpkin, October 26, 1959. You can follow this arc at https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1959/10/26


Some veggie substitutes work out well. Others …

So, Monty Python’s science was right!


If you’re partying tonight, party responsibly!

Andréa sends in this synchronicity. Cartoonists are always looking for a new angle, but sometimes push it too far.


Finally, like that house at the end of the night that gives out multiple candy bars so they won’t eat them all themselves, there’s this bonanza from John Atkinson — some cartoonists would have spread these out one at a time, and gotten a whole month out of this idea.


Sunday Funnies – LOLs, October 30th, 2022

You knew there had to be one of those! (But I was befuddled looking for it at the wrong side.)

Y’know, I basically hate straight-out Ewwwws. But the way this one exploits the dispensing shape, you just gotta laugh.


A new take on the Law of Identity?


Thanks to Rob for this Tom Falco.

Is it a CIDU for any readers? We’re figuring no, everybody knows the sandwich franchise.


Sunday Funnies – LOLs, October 23rd, 2022

As we have asked a few times before, Does this Bliss cartoon work better in b/w or in color?


(As we probably have not asked before, Would this comparison slider presentation work better in this side-by-side format or in a vertical division?)

Our own Zbicyclist mentions the resemblance of the b/w paintings above to some works his family saw on a visit to the Fundació Joan Miró (Museum) in Barcelona, which features work by Miró as well as other 20th and 21st Century artists. This shot from the #FundacióMiró Foundation’s Instagram shows a work which was also shown in Zbicyclist’s family visit photo; the dot in the museum is either black or a very dark blue.

But then, don’t you also think “Such peacefulness”?

Perhaps a bit CIDU-LOL?

And another food-centered cartoon (older – you may have seen before):


I can forgive mispelins in comic strips, but the sloppy editing in the regular news (and the sloppy headlines) depress me.


Andréa sends in this update about Mutts:

Patrick McDonnell’s Mutts has a new look: “MUTTS might look a little different to you this week and in the future. If so, it’s because I’ve loosened up my art style, using very little preliminary pencils (in some cases none) and going straight to drawing in ink. It gives the strip more of the power and intimacy of a preliminary sketch, which I love. I’m also freehand lettering the dialogue”


Refusal with very good reason! (Awarded Arlo)

And here is the effect of his overactive pineal:


Back to Bliss!

Saturday Morning OYs – October 22nd, 2022


Andréa sends in this synchronicity / Ewww. Kids and bidets. Never thought of them as such a big source of comic material. Marvin even spends a whole week on bidet gags, making you wonder a bit about what’s going on in Tom Armstrong’s life.

https://comicskingdom.com//marvin/2022-10-10 thru

https://comicskingdom.com//marvin/2022-10-15



And thanks to  Las Vegas Chasm, we can pair that condiment joke with a seasoning joke:

Or if not seasoning, then powdered mix for reconstitution …


Sunday Funnies – LOLs, October 16th, 2022

This may be a case of two overfamiliar clichés combining to give a cynical chuckle.



A couple for those of you counting steps. These were also a synchronicity.




A new twist!