Submitted by Walt
I’m not sure I can explain why, but this was an LOL for me.
This one, submitted by Bill R., gets an honorable mention, but doesn’t count in the tally since it showed up on Reddit with no date:
We’re at Death 13, #TeamPinocchio 5
Philip and Walt both sent me this one
which makes the score Death 12, #TeamPinocchio 5.
I just had to add the Oy tag.
Arthur sent this one
which doesn’t count for DeathMatch purposes since he doesn’t know when it appeared, but he very correctly noted that it qualifies for Oy.
Sorry, Andréa, this only counts as one; but it does bring the score to Death 9, #TeamPinocchio 5.
Since a few people suggested it, I’m making the absolutely final tweak to DeathMatch: bringing in Pinocchio, who already has three points, to replace “Gesundheit!” comics (and of course now we’ll see several of those tomorrow, but this was the final change).
Walt and Boise Ed sent me this Half Full panel:
So Death now leads #TeamPinocchio (which includes Russian nesting dolls and clown cars) 8-5.
Two more Deaths: one from Arseetoo…
and one from DanV…
Plus a Clown Car comic (finally!) from Becky, which is also a CIDU; I’m familiar with Mr. Martin’s “Another way to tell…” trope, but I’m not following the logic of this one.
EDIT: And a few hours later another Clown Car, from jajizi:
Which brings us to Death 7, Russian Clown Gesundheit 2.
(With non-competing Pinocchio still at 3)
Ten days into the experiment, we stand at Death 5, Russian Clown Gesundheit 0.
(With non-competing Pinocchio still at 3)
I swear, we were seeing a lot more Russian Nesting Doll/Clown Car/Gesundheit comics before we began keeping score.
Submitted by Pete
Submitted by Walt
I wonder what percentage of Death comics begin with “Relax…”
The Half Full came late this afternoon so at the end of Week One, we stand at Death 4, Russian Clown Gesundheit 0.
With non-competing Pinocchio still at 3.
Two more for Death today. I assume the Bizarro is somehow related to “cummerbund” and “moribund” sounding a little sort of alike (though I’m open to other suggestions); and the Buni is a full-fledged CIDU.
Well, it doesn’t have to make sense to earn a point.
Submitted by Andréa
So that’s Death 4, Russian Clown Gesundheit 0.
Non-participant Pinocchio is hanging in there with 3.
(And I assume the joke here is that a puppet made out of driftwood will become a drifter)
For previous updates, please click the DeathMatch tag.
EDITED TO ADD: Okay, “Oh no, I’m just here for your Yogurt” Grim Reaper only, Which returns us to Death 2, Russian Clown Gesundheit 0.
Pinocchio must be enjoying this.
Didn’t take long to get started: Saturday, Nathan sent me this Mr. Lovenstein strip (which seems to be designed to make copying the comic impossible; if this becomes a trend, we might be out of business).
So Death drew first blood.
And then Sunday:
Clown Cars would have been on the board if we saw through the window a tiny parked car:
And maybe we should have let Pinocchio compete:
And okay, while we’re here, let’s hit the second one, the Mother Goose and Grimm, with a CIDU tag. Yes, Jonah and Pinocchio both ended up inside whales (though Jonah a few thousand years earlier, but whatever), but why is Jonah holding a sheet of paper (?) and why is Pinocchio disassembled? Is the whale actually an Ikea popup?
Anyway, after the first weekend, it’s Death 2, Russian Clown Gesundheit 0.
(If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click here)
The game is on: Between today and the end of the year, will “Death” comics outnumber “Russian nesting doll,” “Gesundheit!” and “clown cars” combined?
Please send me all the Deaths, Russian nesting dolls, gesundheits and clown cars you find. If they’re also CIDUs, LOLs or whatever, all the better — but even if they don’t fall into any special category, please send them anyway, since we’re conducting a super-scientific study here.
This might turn out to be quite a terrible idea. Probably will, in fact. And I’m not really sure how I’m going to display the running results. But let’s see how it goes.
I guess we might as well use the normal 
address. Please use Death, Russian nesting dolls, gesundheit or clown cars in the subject line, and make a notation if you’re also submitting it for a CIDU or other tag.
Of course, I might add the LOL to a lot of the Russian nesting doll and clown car comics, because I always seem to find those funny. I’m easy that way.
A final note: Mythtickle comics are excluded, since Death is a regular character there.
Comics I Don't Understand 