Tag / Off the Mark

by zbicyclist

Independence Day

It’s interesting that the white character in this comic from 1976 is named Nate. Much later, Nate Bargatze will have a similar theme in this now well-known SNL skit:

On a serious note, it is always worth pondering the end of Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Speech:

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

by zbicyclist

Sunday Funnies – LOLs – June 29, 2025

Again, Again!

JMcAndrew notes: “He’s pretending to be having a medical emergency? A seizure? Allergic Reaction? As a way to entertain his grandchild on video chat? Why?”

Parisi is 64, about the age to have young grandchildren. I’ve done this with my grandchildren, who are always amused, and usually want me to do it again.

JMcAndrew sends this in: “I have to agree with Ditto. It’s ridiculous that they only have 3 birthday candles and her plan was to just hope her 6-year-old wasn’t perceptive enough to notice. Is the family in such financial hardship that they can’t afford some new birthday candles? This is sad more than funny but I like how mad Lois looks here as she cuts the candles in half.”

In honor of the past week’s heat dome:

by Kilby

What’s in a Shirt?

As these first two strips show, Charlie Brown’s shirt had already become an icon just six months after Peanuts began syndication, and Schulz created a number of gags on the topic.

There is danger in innovation:

Nevertheless, the rewards can be satisfying:

Do clothes make the man?

Mark Parisi frequently uses Peanuts characters in “Off the Mark“, and has produced a number of gags based on Charlie Brown’s shirt.

This one is directly from Parisi’s OtM website, because it predates the archive at GoComics:

Reworking the coloration produces an alternative gag:

As this screenshot from one of the TV specials shows, Schulz was well aware of Charlie Brown’s selection dilemma:

by phsiii

It’s a miracle!

JMcAndrew sends a set of related cartoons:

The last two are obviously just different versions of the same joke from the same cartoonist, even if they’re 14 1/2 years apart. I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing or not.

These all remind me of an axiom I was taught long ago as a relationship test: Have lunch at your prospective partner’s house and ask for mayonnaise. If they present Miracle Whip–especially if they aren’t even apologetic about it–RUN.

Miracle Whip is to mayonnaise as carob is to chocolate. As someone else once wrote, “Carob is not an acceptable substitute for chocolate. It is not an acceptable substitute for anything except, perhaps, brown shoe polish.”

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies – LOLs – April 13, 2025

We haven’t actually seen a star fall in since we invented telescopes, but I have a list of ones I’m really hoping are next.

The opposite of gravity is levity, so of course it’s okay to laugh at black holes.

Is it possible cartoonist Randal Monroe has been watching Philomena Cunk’s mockumentaries?