The only joke I can fish out of this might be that we are supposed to know that the kids’ parents are sitting right there in the bar. But that might depend on us recognizing them as regular characters and knowing their families … a bit more than I can muster.
Or are the kids a crossover or tribute from another strip?? Wasn’t there a classic with “Hooligan” in the title? Oh, never mind.
Thanks to Chipper 42 for sending and commenting on this one.
“Thu, February 29, 2024 Hagar — I have no idea. Helga looks like she is enthusiastically prancing to do the dishes, and what is the checkered cloth about?”
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When that’s the punch line, the setup of course has to be “What does Mrs. Attila call out from the back when she hears noise at the tent entrance?”
But in this Hagar the Horrible, sent in by Boise Ed, Helga and Hagar are at home, not in a Hunnish encampment. The Huns are outside — for now.
In case you think the outdoor shouting might prove legible, here is a blowup; but we think at least parts of it must just be Chinese Grawlix!
Setting and shouting aside, what’s the joke here? Some of the point must be Hagar’s equanimity in the face of attack, to the point that he is much more attentive to the culinary choice before him. But that’s pretty much his established character just being reinforced, so is that meant to be a joke?
(Not “Comics World News”, which would be news about comics that spans the world, rather than news ABOUT the world of comics)
Spotted in Randy Cassingham’s This Is True (née This Just In, changed many years ago after SNL’s lawyers got on his case):
So Long to cartoonist Chris Browne, who took over the “Hägar the Horrible” strip from its creator, his father Dik, when Dik died in 1989. Chris wrote and drew the comic until he died, on February 5, at 70.
Some may recall that Dik Browne also created Hi and Lois, which I’d forgotten (if I ever knew).
Some nice coverage (and no, I don’t know why only the one got a preview–it did even when it wasn’t first):
https://comicbook.com/comics/news/chris-browne-hagar-the-horrible-cartoonist-dies-at-70/
https://www.keloland.com/keloland-com-original/hagar-the-horrible-a-family-story/
Dirk the Daring sends in this one. The basic joke is just that Hagar messes up. But the details? Did he try to eat it? Did he impale himself on it? Did it get stuck in his beard? (but an internet search on “images violinists with beards” returns a lot of violinists with far longer beards). What’s the situation in that last panel?
And, if you dare, how would you stage that last panel?
(This is under the “not really a pun but word play in general” tag.)
Thanks to Andréa for this Bizarro:
I’m sure I’ve seen this joke used before, but not whether that means this is a repeat or just that the joke has occurred to others. A cursory search does find other examples, and tempting as it is to make a whole post out of three or four of them, let’s leave it at that.
From Andréa:
Just a bit corny.
And a little Oy-Ewww on the side.
Let’s mark this Lard’s as a CIDU-Oy, inasmuch as it does a rather nice word-play joke, but may take a couple beats to figure out.
Not a perfect portmanteau but it’ll do, and we get to treat the cat fans. For those not into cats, you may not be aware that a vernacular name for this sort of tricolor marking is “calico cat”.
And not-a-perfect exemplar of “pun”, but this is certainly word-play!
From Stan.
Today’s premiere of Heart of the City 2.0 prompted me to think about other “first strips” and how, for better or worse, they set the tone for everything that would follow.
Peter Zale hooked me with the very first Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet
Basically, Milholland was telling us on Day One that if you’re capable of being offended, you should leave now.
(And don’t worry: the “baby” is now in his late teens, a regular in the strip, and Davan’s surrogate son)
Perhaps somebody who has a Comics Kingdom membership can supply the very first Hagar the Horrible, which I also remember as setting the stage for the next half century.
Does anybody remember any other significant Day Ones?
Comics I Don't Understand 