The servers at the Subpoena Cafe have extra skills.
Mitch4 sends this in: “I’m calling it LOL only because the question I have does not rise fully to CIDU, nor is it a 4th-Wall thing under any narrow definition.
It’s just this: Does she pronounce it as “chitterlings” or treat that as a fancy spelling for spoken “chitlins”?”
August 13 is Left Handers Day.
Speaking of obscure holidays:
What could be in that box?
Once again, Scott Hilburn shows his mettle as a punster.
Backstory: Nate has decided that since he has a math test coming up and a book report due, he’ll take a shortcut and combine math study with the book report.
JMcAndrew sends this in: “I believe the object on the left is an old style computer. I’ve spent longer than I care to admit contemplating the mechanics of how this “affair” might happen.”
This might be filed under “jokes that don’t work well anymore”. At the time this was done (1987), this would be hard. Now, linking computers to TVs is ubiquitous in several ways, most obviously via HDMI, which dates from the early 2000s. There’s some history of HDMI here: https://blog.solidsignal.com/tutorials/sordid-history-hdmi-revised-updated/
Parenting isn’t quite what it used to be, either (or, as JMcAndrew suggested, this deserves an Arlo tag).
And: would Alice’s condition be covered by United Healthcare?
Tony sends this one in, which began as a CIDU: “as I was writing this realized that the punchline was about a nose job. It didn’t even notice the change at first. I guess not having a nose must be pretty miserable, but I couldn’t even tell that sphinx was supposed to be a living creature.”
In that column on the left, there is a Suggest-a-CIDU form. If you see something that particularly puzzles you, let us help by sending it in.
Macanudo has been extremely dependable since I started following it several years ago: whimsical, sometimes poignant, but often surreal (and occasionally CIDU). Like Rubes, this makes it all the more noticeable when a strip just doesn’t work, like this one:
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The slapstick “flattening” might have worked if the strip had ended at the third panel (shifting “Are you OK?” into the second dialog balloon), but including the partner’s desperation and anguish in the fourth panel transforms the remnant of humor into a simple tragedy, leaving nothing to laugh at or feel good about. Thankfully, the hiatus was just for one day.
This “Dog Eat Doug” was submitted by Usual John as an LOL, but this feature hasn’t been seen at CIDU since August 2020 (a pair submitted by Andréa and posted by Bill), so I’m adding a CIHS tag.
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John added, “While this is mainly a LOL, I am unclear on why the messenger thought the blue jay general, or whoever he thought he was reporting to, would be in a baby carriage.“
Boise Ed submitted this Rhymes with Orange as a CIDU, asking “It’s the old Adam-and-Eve scene, but why is his leaf attracting flies or other bugs and what’s with the days of the week?” – I think the answer is obvious enough to reclassify this as an LOL-Ewww:
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P.S. The “days of the week” are of course a reference to a type of underwear that I have often heard about, but never actually seen. I thought they were usually intended for girls, but when I hunted for a screenshot, I discovered that they were also available for boys, and even came in men’s sizes:
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In order, the names of the ghosts would be Blolga (red), Polga (pink), Olga (cyan), and Clyde (orange). Since Olga is always that color, maybe he has more reason to fear than the other three.
Bob Ball send in this as a LOL / synchronicity. We don’t publish synchronicities much anymore, but this is worthy of LOL. This is part of a thread on Pearls, where Pastis makes fun of oversensitivity towards certain terms by labelling junk drawer as an insult. But while I understand the term junk drawer, mine is a miscellany drawer; there are things in there that occasionally get used (e.g. double-sided tape). What do you call yours?
The start of that Pearls storyline:
Chak sends in this gem:
Kilby suggested this Macanudo from 2022:
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P.S. Perhaps they should join the sheep in that tree just above the strip.
For those unfamiliar with “What the Duck“, the artwork shows a sad duck with its head on the keyboard:
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P.P.S. The Ctrl-S key (for “save“) is in fact adjacent to Ctrl-Z (“undo“).
A sweet little fourth-wall moment with Arlo & Janis:
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As Mark H. commented when he sent it in: “It IS hard to tell they are dancing without the notes.”
Las Vegas Chasm tried to submit an Argyle Sweater as a CIDU, commenting: “I usually “get” Argyle Sweater each day owing to my modestly demented mind, but today’s is a real stumper. My equally perverse friends also do not understand it. Simply put, yo soy confusado.“
Unfortunately, LVC’s link to the image was broken. Going by the date, it should have been the one on the right, but that seems too easy, so I’m also including the previous day, which seems equally funny, but might have been a little more puzzling:
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The “featured comment” at GoComics gives an explanation for the first one: “Well, if you make corn oil out of corn, and olive oil out of olives, guess what you make baby powder out of” (she tried tasting it).
Considering the logo and the claims linking baby powder to cancer, eating that stuff is definitely not a good idea.
Where do they keep the journals at a Chemistry library? On the periodical table.
Danny Boy sends this high-voltage LOL in.
Boise Ed submitted this one last year, commenting “Every now and then, Pardon My Planet comes up with a real zinger.” I think I’ve seen it before, but I can’t find it in a CIDU post, and in any case it’s worth repeating:
The not-quite-complete “Arlo” moment in this “Zits” came as a big surprise. Perhaps King Features relaxed their censorship standards when they relaunched the Comics Kingdom website?
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P.S. And what if Jeremy’s mom had not left it out? What then?
Two half Arlos published on exactly the same day do not count as a whole synchronicity, but this Luann was pretty good, too:
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P.S. Note the annoying, but otherwise irrelevant color error in the second panel.
Boise Ed said about this Argyle Sweater: “Perhaps this is the fifth wall, since he’s erasing four“:
Another meta Macanudo:
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P.S. The title panel bears a fair resemblance to “In the Court of the Crimson King“, but it’s unlikely that it was intentional:
Danny Boy sends this in as a CIDU, but rather than post it long after Halloween we’re putting it here. “What, what? “I was making rather scary yesterday.” Is that something like “making merry”? I.e. celebrating and now hungover (and just getting into the office at a quarter to five)?
No, I don’t think I’ve answered my own question. “Making rather scary” is still pretty opaque.”
Or, trying to scare the street urchins?
Danny Boy hopes “that mechanism isn’t set up to treat the TP as reusable!”
Kilby comments: This Macanudo isn’t really “laugh out loud” funny (it’s closer to an “Awww”), but I found the diagonal framing (and the “lensing” effect in the title panel) so impressive that wanted to share it with everyone:
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The strip is even better if you open the image in a new tab (or window), and let it fill the screen.
P.S. As long as we are reminiscing about summer, here’s how Calvin & Hobbes spent a similar day (three decades ago):
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P.S. The fact that Bil Keane drew a few of his own “grown up children” strips doesn’t make that Ink Pen any less funny.
Danny Boy was kind enough to send in these LOLs.
Nancy Classics this week gave us this comic from 1955. Half dollars almost call for a geezer alert. Relatively few of them are still made in the U.S.
Dollar coins are no longer minted after multiple failures to gain acceptance (Susan B. Anthony, Sakagawea, U.S. Presidents). The U.S. Mint does produce some American Innovation Dollars, but these are not intended for circulation and are sold at a premium.
From 2001-2020, the U.S. Mint produced half dollars only for collectors because the Federal Reserve already had plenty, but limited production has now resumed.
In 2023, the United States Mint produced a total of 11.38 billion coins for circulation. Here’s the breakdown by denomination:
Comics I Don't Understand 