Well we’re all familiar with that pun (sez Mitch), but not usually from this perspective, nor presented so starkly.
When I (zbicyclist) saw this on social media, I thought it was probably altered. I don’t think of Charles Schulz using a lot of groaner puns. But it’s legit: it appeared February 9, 1982, as I found out using the Peanuts search engine, https://peanuts-search.com/?q=bush%20pilot
How nice, when you can know just what’s coming, but the joke works fine anyhow!
Saturday, July 8th, 2023 would have been Bill Bickel’s 68th birthday; therefore: in his absence, and in his honor: Mazel tov! (מזל טוב)
Bill’s own tradition for the occasion was to create an elaborate “24-Hour Project”, with a new CIDU post timed to appear every hour throughout the day. Partly because these birthday comics are not CIDUs, but mostly because it would have been far too much effort just for a little structural nostalgia, this entire collection has been gathered into a single list (but is divided into appropriate categories).
If you have a favorite birthday comic, please feel free to add it in a comment!
The “featured image” at the top of this post shows Albert, Porky Pine, Beauregard Bugleboy, Bun Rab, Pogo, and Howland Owl doing a “Birthday Dance”, but the anonymous bug appended to the right isn’t actually singing: he appeared in a series of memorial tributes that Walt Kelly drew in the 1950s for his daughter Kathryn Barbara, who died shortly before she would have had a chance to enjoy her first birthday cake. Given that we are celebrating the birthday of a dearly beloved, but departed friend, I thought the image was very appropriate. For more information, see the Daily Cartoonist’s article about the Day of the Little Angels.
P.S. I would like to thank all of the CIDU Editors for their input, assistance, and constructive suggestions, but especially Phil, who took my rough template and laid the foundation for a much better design (and he also documented all the author and strip names in the tags).
The first Peanuts strip in this collection doesn’t fit into any category, because it has a singular “birthday” significance; it was originally published on Friday, July 8th, 1955 (the day that Bill Bickel was born):
Schulz never depicted any adults (and only very rarely mentioned any of the parents) in Peanuts.
With a few notable exceptions, this 1971 strip predates almost everything in this collection by more than two decades.
…even if he did rip the flower right out of her own garden. (Note: other than Stahler’s “pickleball” comic from 2023, this 2018 Marmaduke is the newest item in this entire collection.)
He should be comforted to learn just how much Rat thinks of him.
That cake must have been pretty tough to hold together like that.
Snoopy suffered a whole series of cat attacks in the 1970s, but this was one of the best.
For Bill we would need a pair of 34s, or (more likely) a 50 and an 18.
Only the Peanuts and Doonesbury strips are older than this Calvin & Hobbes strip.
Does this mean that they would rather celebrate the day he got laid?
This Peanuts strip (from 1951) is the only one in this collection that predates Bill’s birth.
Apparently Andy had already quit smoking 20 years ago, but he and Flo were still indulging in violent spouse abuse.
Bill had trouble understanding feline behavior, so this might have been a CIDU for him.
Garfield only rarely acts like a real cat, so Bill wouldn’t have any trouble here.
After all that trouble to escape, even his visit is no longer a surprise.
Color might have made this “Liō” strip easier to understand (each stack should be a different pastel shade), but Tatulli may have been going for the “dawning realization” effect.
If you cannot move the ball, just change the position of the goal posts.
One of the many running gags in Garfield is that he hates birthdays.
This appeared just in time to be included here; it’s also the only comic in this memorial collection that was published within the last three years (in other words: since Bill passed away).
This category seems more tragic than funny.
Mobile telephones can generate automatic reminders, so nobody really has to bother remembering birthdays any more.
This is the only Sunday strip in this collection.
This 2007 strip predates the widespread availability of 3D printing technology.
These three comics complement the previous memorial post (September 16th, 2022).
See also: https://cidu.info/2023/09/16/in-memoriam-bill-bickel/
P.P.S. Remember: if you have a favorite comic to help celebrate Bill’s birthday, please feel free to include it in a comment!
An Argyle Sweater from maggiethecartoonist
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There’s an obvious reference to a security gate in this comic, but why just shoes and lower legs?
Brilliant!
The lion is the king of beasts, And husband of the lioness. Gazelles and things on which he feasts Address him as your highoness.
–Ogden Nash Poems to Carnival of the Animals
Y’know how sometimes when Cornered has a Sunday duplex strip (or higher multiple!), and just one of them hits the funny bone just right? And then CIDU is stuck trying to clip or trim to get that one panel? But this time it’s a case of “Why not both?” Two LOLs for the price of one!
And if we’re still in the Weekend of Remembering nineties/oughties Songs, here is one suggested by that comic:
Maybe 2008, but still not an early adopter.
Last week — 4th wall needed for a watching-the-news story. (It’s just the date formatting that makes this look like a panel from the future.)
The joke is somewhat spoiled (or at least delayed) by the way the sightlines are drawn. But it emerges that what sound like rules for a tweenage girl being left home alone are being directed to Baby Bear (the dog); who isn’t agreeing to them.
(And yes, still downloads from WaPo as .AVIF and needs pre-converting.)
And this Wondermark is not really much of a LOL, but it does provide a chuckle, and prompts me to remember encountering another sense of “Bridge club” in some novels of British India (probably Paul Scott) — it was a party with several ethnic groups invited, and intended to bridge the cultural gaps.
Btw, the text means “Happy Birthday”
Some medical conditions are best approached gingerly.
Now that Word Press has adjusted to occasional WEBP format images (and most of our browsers), we face a new challenge: AVIF files. Just in case it doesn’t show properly, I will follow it with a PNG conversion. But here’s hoping the AVIF will work in its given form and in future we needn’t bother producing conversions.
It’s the Final Four in college basketball, and the start of baseball season, so get ready for vicarious excitement!
But is there a Conservation of Vicarious Excitement?
Fact checking: Recent historical opinion tends to exculpate the bovine in question!
And as a gesture of public service, here is a corrected image for those who encountered it horizontal:
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Take your time …
These two cases of airborne interference appeared on In The Bleachers on successive days, and apparently as parts of a basketball streak.
Comics I Don't Understand 