Category / Synchronicity

by Mitch4

I always speak like this?

Thanks to Kilby, who saw the rerun Cul de Sac, was reminded of the recent Jesus and Mo, and was led to ask Jesus reads “Cul de Sac”?

If you enjoy Jesus and Mo?, then for some science?, and a lot of opinion?, you might enjoy the Why Evolution is True blog from retired University of Chicago Professor Jerry Coyne?, who often prints in the blog fresh Jesus and Mo strips he receives from them?

P.S. This ginger guy is Mo? He’s a big help with email?

by EditorM

A sync crossover

Andréa noted these two rerun strips appearing on the same day last week. Not exactly the usual synchronicity, where two comics make the same joke or take up the same (unexpected) topic. Rather, one is making a direct reference to the other.

This Boondocks comes at the end of a week series in which Grandpa expects Huey to help out with household chores, specifically mowing the lawn, and Huey likens this to illegal child labor practices and even to slavery. Here he returns to the child labor idea, and brings in the example of American companies using exploitative practices, including child labor, in their overseas facilities or those of their suppliers. And what is his news source? Another comic strip!

Here is the week of Doonesbury on this theme, concluding with the one appearing in rerun on the same day as the Boondocks above.

by EditorM

Barney & Clyde & Geezers & Zippy & Bill-the-Cat

B&C have been going in for geezer / boomer / retro references a bit lately.

The sender of the Spy v Spy one remarks Prohias stopped drawing “Spy vs. Spy” in 1987, and died in 1998. § Wikipedia claims that the series is still “ongoing”, but I still wonder whether the character in the fourth panel would be recognized by anyone under the age of 50.

Meanwhile, back at the Zippy, more geezer callout action:

William Bendix was among the actors I came to know of from 1950s or early 60s television sitcoms or sometimes drama series ; and found out later had been minor or major movie stars in the 1940s or early 50s. Fred MacMurray, Donna Reed, Raymond Burr…

And from Brian in STL we have a synchronicity of Bill the Cat references:

by EditorM

A squirrel in the hands is worth one on the dog

To finish up a (sort-of) week of synchros, we have this interesting pair from Mark in Boston, who says “I can’t say as I have seen much squirrel-carrying at all, ever, in the comics, until this past Sunday.”

Mark also sent a scan or picture of his physical paper, showing these actually adjacent. The Rose is Rose is good material for the discussion earlier this week about differences in layout and “extra” panels. And the Bliss is also an interesting case of oddities of publication schedule: this one was on GoComics and Bliss’s own site as 1/8, a date which can also be (more or less) made out in the drawing itself. But the newspaper for some reason printed it on 1/16 — and we have confirming evidence of that! —

by EditorM

Where did they put that “Add New Post” button?

OK, pay attention because there might be a quiz on this!

First off, Phil Smith III sent in this Brewster Rockit as a CIDU. “I was OK until the last panel,” he writes, “and have NO idea what it’s supposed to mean?!”

And I couldn’t make sense of the last panel as a punch line, either.

Meanwhile, DanV sent in both the above Brewster Rockit and the Betty below as a synchronicity pair.

“Two different ways of experiencing the same situation,” writes DanV, “I confess I’ve had both of these things happen to me. :) Not a laugh out loud, more of a rueful chuckle.”

What could he mean, I wondered; how are these the same joke? Oh wait, aha! The Brewster joke is not in the final panel, but the penultimate. Oldbot and, uh, Bub have done the parallel sort of oblivious overlooking.

That leaves the final panel of Brewster unexplained. Well, which Monday does he mean? Is he making it sooner or later? I don’t know, and I’m even more tired of writing this than you are of reading it…