CSotD: Random critical observations
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Dog Eats Doug (Creators) has a sweet story arc just starting on weekdays. Since the death of the original Sophie who inspired the cartoon version (but was much older), I understand Brian Anderson has been fostering adoptable dogs, and, even if he hasn’t, the family in the strip has.
“Fostering” means giving a dog a place to live other than a cage at the humane society while waiting for adoption, and it’s not only nicer for the dog but, as seen here, provides a chance for a little socialization, rehabilitation and training.
I’ll admit to being amused by some of the armchair speculative psychology of people talking about why a pup is the way it is, but Stella’s unreasoning terror is not particularly unusual, however she came by it.
And that scream in the first strip is not only typical of such unfortunate pups but is apt to linger even after they become more trusting: One downside of a formerly-timid dog is that they often bark at almost everything.
If you adopt a dog you feel sorry for, be aware that you’re very likely looking at some permanent issues. (If you’re cool with that, you’re my hero.)
I’m looking forward to more of Stella’s story arc, but here’s a different observation: Annie originated as a foster who has become part of the family, and it was a very good move on Anderson’s part.
I said years ago that, if Doug ever developed speech, the strip would have jumped the shark, but things got to the point where Sophie needed more active feedback than “Bak!” and Annie provides sweet, naive dialogue without breaking the premise at the heart of the strip.
Having written that love note, here’s a more critical
Juxtaposition of the Day
I was struck by the contrast between today’s Sally Forth and today’s Zits, in large part because Francesco Marciuliano has long since transformed Sally Forth from a lukewarm domestic strip into a bazaar of surrealism, even after the syndicate directed him — fruitlessly — to stop making Ted insane.
But, in the meantime, Zits seems to be losing the “loveable slacker” aspect of Jeremy of earlier years. It used to be fun to see his folks have to prod him into chores, while his interactions with his buddies also revolved around his lack of drive.
Here, however, we see Sally and Ted in a very realistic scene. For those not following the seven-day continuity, Hilary has just learned that one of her two closest friends is moving away and, yeah, either Ted or Sally will have to go up there and deal with a justifiably distraught kid.
Meanwhile, Jeremy turns down a chance for some Dad-time, and not only doesn’t want to spend time with his father but takes the opportunity to mock and insult him for asking.
For my part, I’d rather go upstairs, even if all I could tell Hilary was “There, there” and “I know, I know,” than have to deal with the realization that I’d screwed things up so badly with my son.
Neither strip is funny, but one of them wants to be.
Pat Byrnes (Cagle) offers me a smooth transition from comedy to politics.
He’s certainly not the only cartoonist to show relief at the Restoration, but he offers at once the quiet, observational approach that has made him a regular in the pages of the New Yorker, then spices it with more smiles and emotions than generally seen in that harbor of deadpan humor.
Madam & Eve surprise with a Dr. Seuss-themed political gag that is funny and well-done.
Most Seuss gags are flaccid at best and annoying at worst, but this works, first of all, by not attempting a takeoff on his poetry.
Attempts to satirize Seuss generally prove that the ability to draw well is not often matched with an ability to write in consistent poetic meter, which sends the gag stumbling and limping into futility, much like poor Dan of whom it was written:
There was a young poet named Dan
Whose poems would never quite scan.
When told it was so
He said, “Yes, I know,
But I always try to get as many words into the last line as I possibly can.”
By simply playing with book titles and going no deeper, M&E avoids overreach.
And blasphemy, though I don’t object to blasphemy if the meter plays out properly.
I give Chip Bok (Creators) enough critical wedgies here that it’s only fair to tip the hat when he pops one over the fence, and I think he sums up the past four years well here, tearing away at the conservative whine-du-jour about “cancel culture.”
It would be nice if each administration would cheerfully build upon the legacy of its predecessor, I suppose, but we don’t have that many times when the election isn’t a rejection, at least in part, of the status quo.
Looking back, the most recent seems to be Reagan-to-GHWB, which didn’t turn out so well, perhaps because Bush — though a helluva nice guy — was basically a functionary and not a leader.
It was like promoting the butler.
By stark and jolting contrast, Steve Kelley (Creators) offers a different view of the changeover, in which he ignores the fact that Trump began the first week of his administration by needlessly antagonizing the press, demanding they accept and publicize an absolutely preposterous lie about the size of the crowd at his inauguration, and then sending out his press lackey to badger and insult them for questioning it.
BTW, I’d be reluctant to make bedroom analogies when two clearly loving, devoted couples are bookends for the couple I like but who seemed to barely tolerate each other, much less sleep together.
I’m closing with Sarah Winifred Searle’s long-form cartoon at the Nib, a masterful piece about her weight and where the world places her because of it.
It’s at the end not because it’s least important but because I want you to click that link and read it all, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t come back afterwards.
It’s that good.
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