by EditorM

Uppsa! (Awww)

I guess it’s mostly an Awwww. But then, some questions are raised but not answered. Mainly, what’s the joke? Between panels 2 and 3 it changes from two pairs of tracks to one pair — is it meant to be a puzzle, solved by the reveal in panel 4 that one skater is now carrying the other. 

Also: In the first panel, are all the skates drawn correctly facing the way they are going (or are the red ones wrong)? Where we see two pairs of tracks, are they equally skillful or is one more wobbly? In the final panel, are the tracks especially wobbly, and is that sort of the joke? 

by CIDU Bill

Ben and His Marks

ben marks

Kilby writes: This is another one of CIDU Bill’s old drafts from 2019. The reference was so obscure that it might have been suitable for the authors to include their running gag with “Horace”, except that there would not have been enough space for that in a daily strip. (For those interested in background information, most of the sources that I was able to find listed the name as “Benjamin Marks“).

by zbicyclist

Bears

Is this a Noah’s Ark joke? Is there a missing caption? Are they checking the Alaska cruise schedule to see when the tourists with food will arrive? I can’t bear not understanding this.

The joke in this bear comic is clear — the confusing thing is that it appeared December 29. Given that timing, a better punch line would be “Go to sleep. It’s December 29 already!”

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, January 7th, 2024

The holidays are done, but the cartoons are not all done with Xmas and NYear LOLs!

LOL-Ewww did you say?

Does Eric Scott’s drawing style sometimes seem to have a Thurber feel?

This Santino is an almost-CIDU: commenters on his page talk about getting it only after pausing and looking at it another way, or filling in their literary knowledge.

Once upon a time (it was December, actually) Sandra sent this in, and noted it could be a LOL-semi-CIDU as it’s not first-glance obvious what’s going on. 

Actually, the editors’ feeling of confidence in one explanation faded upon discussion. Is this cat-behavior being actively performed by an animated cat-statue? Or is it a static statue of characteristic cat-behavior? 

Either way, it’s the sort of thing cat people regard with loving exasperation. The great filmmaker Agnès Varda felt like putting her cat on a monument, and did so in her short Le Lion Volatil (actuality on left, modification on right):

And as Aaron notes when sending this next one in, Falco really wants to say something about this gap-week.

by multipleciduers

Saturday Morning OYs – January 6th, 2024

Have you kept count for how many times this joke has come up this week?

Woops! Turns out this is now the third appearance of this “kerning pun” (as jjmcgaffey called it) on CIDU in one path or another. 

This fun Rubes from a few years ago was brought to our attention by Professor Jerry Coyne (a big supporter of ducks) on his Why Evolution is True web site (blog, but he doesn’t like it called that).

As reported by The Daily Cartoonist (but nowhere visible at mutts.com), Patrick McDonnell has announced that he will be taking a six-month sabbatical to work on other projects, and that (almost all of) the strips from now to June will be re-runs (note the absence of any year in the copyright line on this one).

by EditorM

Far from home

The artist’s title for this one is “Far From Home”, and the mailing message was “In the future all magazines will have one issue.” 

I can pretty much follow the time-travel ruminations. But there is much more backstory than anything I remember them doing. But then, I haven’t been a fan forever — perhaps someone who has can tell us how this was all anticipated long ago…?

by EditorM

S I G H

These come from suggestions by Usual John and Jack Applin, both of whom call the 12 December one a cry for help! 

From 5 December

From 12 December

Note that, the way the Six Chix rotation works, two comics a week apart will be by the same artist – in this case Bianca Xunise. 

Is there a way to interpret these that isn’t dark?

P.S. And on another Tuesday….

From 19 December

From 26 December

by zbicyclist

NY^3: New Year’s Themed Comics on New Year’s Day from The New Yorker

It’s New Year’s Day, 2024, so why not post some New Year’s cartoons from another NY, The New Yorker? Wait. Wasn’t that yesterday’s theme? But this is a theme so nice, we’re using it twice.

1931 (i.e. first issue of 1931): some wake-up bells to start your year

1930

1932: not a cheerful New Year’s

1933: Roosevelt’s been elected, but not inaugurated. The man here is not hopeful.

1933

Similar theme from 1934:

To all our readers, commenters, editors, and cartoonists who make this possible, best wishes for a wonderful 2023 2024!

Reflect and think? Or maybe just do some things appropriate to the season. Change out that furnace filter that should be changed every 3 months. Is your toothbrush getting too long in the tooth? Check your IRA balances if you’ll need to make RMDs. Check the refrigerator for stuff that expired in 2022. Make some Hoppin’ John with those black-eyed peas in the back of the pantry. Feel free to comment on your own ways to mark (or ignore) the day.

Or, perhaps like Mooch, you’re perfect and can just take a nap.

Let’s end with an OY: