“They say it’s probably safe to keep orbiting for a while, but if it stays on or starts flashing we might have to call someone.”
Boise Ed sends this in: “I can’t recall ever seeing so clever a use of the fourth wall.”
JMcAndrew sends this in: “I’m assuming Curtis is watching the 1977 schlock horror film “The Incredible Melting Man” which might be the most obscure geezer movie I’ve ever seen referenced in a newspaper comic strip.”
Perhaps some relative of cartoonist Ray Billingsley was in this movie. Billingsley was born in 1957, so he would have been 20 when this was made.
Usual John sends this in. “Curtis is supposed to be eleven, and Michelle presumably is about the same age. Catwoman. Wonder Woman, and Tinker Bell all seem like plausible costume choices for a eleven-year-old girl, even if we might think of them as having more adult physiques. Since Curtis usually is wild to get Michelle to go out with him, I don’t see why he would be turning down this opportunity.”
Usual John submitted this Curtis as a possible Arlo candidate two years ago, commenting: “It’s interesting that Ray Billingsley managed to get this into print and, given that he isn’t known for testing the limits, maybe it was accidental“. I sincerely doubt that the author was aware of the definition to which John was referring, and the fact that the strip got published almost certainly means that his editor didn’t bother to look it up, either.
… For the [offensive slang] meaning, here is John’s link to “choad” in “Green’s Dictionary of Slang” (warning: extremely NSFW for strong language, of course). For those who just want the meaning, without the coarse citations, Wiktionary also offers a listing for “choad“.
P.S. Besides the indeterminant nature of the Arlo intent, I think another reason why this strip didn’t get posted may be because the gag is sub-standard: the telescoped neologism isn’t really convincing, and there’s no explanation whatsoever as to why both boys suddenly shifted from laughing in the third panel to fighting in the fourth panel.
Joshua Kreitzer sends this one in, noting that the punchline suggests that Curtis thought Barry made a comment about smoking, but “Comment allez-vous? Como estás?” doesn’t sound like “smoking”.
Reposting our message from last year, with new cartoons added in the body of the post (below last year’s — look for the animated dividers) , and last year’s comments preserved, and open for new comments!
Happy Christmas wishes!
To all who celebrate the holiday, whether as mostly religious or mostly civic
From your 2021 editors, Mitch and Winter Wallaby
[2020-12-25 post unaltered, up to next animated divider]
Merry Christmas, if you’re celebrating!
Is it exciting as an adult to get socks? Sure, they’re useful, but they hardly seem exciting. Is this because I’m a guy, and not attuned to the exciting world of sock fashion?
Is replacing bad bulbs still a thing? Is a tedious search to find the bad bulb still a thing? Were they in 2010? I thought the era where bulbs were connected in a permanent series, so that one bad bulb killed the whole chain was long, long, gone.
Do people still say “shopping days until Christmas”? It seems a bit odd – they’re all shopping days now, right?
Not a CIDU. Just a reminder that you can’t always trust Santa.
[2021-12-25 supplement]
Wait, I know this is seasonal, but is it technically a New Year carol more than Christmas?
Thanks to BillR for this one:
And sort of a combo of the previous two:
Here’s a FoxTrot from 2019, sent in by Berber, who says “I don’t recall seeing very many Foxtrot comics, although Bill Amend loves an Oy as much as the next artist.”
This Curtis is in the Awww basket.
Rob sends in a pair of Falcos on tree behavior!
Liz Climo is always a source for raising positive thinking! Rob suggested one, the other suggested itself! (ViaArnold Zwicky’s blog.)
[Each Climo cartoon has two panels, aligned vertically, with a box around the top one. I hope you don’t have trouble seeing the two instances here.]
(Separator)
And this Loose Parts also is from Rob:
And thanks to Brian Leahy for this real OY! scanned in, which he suggests (and we agree) is probably by Gary McCoy.
Can anybody reconstruct the story-pun about “Rudolf The Red knows rain, dear!” ? Official meteorologist to the First Soviet maybe?
A near-synchronicity noticed by Bob Ball. The theme in common might be phrased as “knowing who you should be listening to”, or we can leave it up to the gang to better describe it.
Sent in by Stan, who says he gets the point of the main joke, but has grave doubts over why Amsterdam would be an attractive fantasy destination for these kids — if one main association is that the tourism pitch is centered on availability of drugs and sex workers.
Even if they have a special interest in art history, and canals, and a cycling populace … that hasn’t been put forward either.
Comics I Don't Understand 