Month: February 2014

Who says comics have to be funny? Not Tom Batiuk, who realized that comics could move beyond the ‘Gag a Day” schtick and also be sad, depressing, morose, bleak, distressing, dreary, gloomy melancholy, dismal and and heart-breaking as well.

Today’s strip is a perfect example of that. Sure, you could read about the various wars being fought at the moment on the front page of any newspaper, and get biting social commentary on the matter from political cartoons but why not have the crushing reality of having a child in a war zone wedge itself between Slylock Fox and Marvin?

It’s great you stayed up all night finishing the script you should have done 22 months ago and all but don’t be too surprised if praise doesn’t come flooding into your email box just yet as it’s around 3:30 A.M in L.A. and even the crackheads at Mann’s Chinese Theater have passed out for now.

Link to today’s strip.

After using three outdated terms for a successful theatrical production or smash hit, one has to wonder what script Les handed her. All this hyperbole over a script where the main character dies of cancer? Making my head hurt even more is that Oscar was mentioned after Les made it clear that the script was being optioned by a Lifetime-esque TV channel.

Link to today’s strip.

Link to today’s strip.

Hey guys! SoSFDavidO dropping in… *sniffs* is that burning perfluorooctanoic acid I smell, along with numerous other chemicals known to cause cancer? Oh, wait, it’s just popcorn! It got mixed up because popcorn REALLY CONTAINS those chemicals that cause cancer.

You see, in animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize–and migrate into your popcorn. “They stay in your body for years and accumulate there,” says some spoilsport, Olga Naidenko, PhD.

No wonder Les looks so happy. He’s already banking on his advance for “Cayla’s story.”

You see, Les is a Real Genius!

Link to today’s strip.
Oh, Les, you romantic tiger! When the snow starts falling and you have a couple of long, cold winters days ahead of you, your thoughts turn to all of the hours and hours you’ll be spending with your wife. Too bad for Cayla, it’s his dead ex-wife that her husband’s affections turn to.

What in the world is Cayla so happy about? I assume Les flees to his den and shuts her out while he’s working. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he makes her read dialog in Lisa’s voice to make sure he’s got the emotional context down.

Either way, Cayla, if I were in your shoes I’d rather spend the day in the freezing garage reading old Reader’s Digest magazines by car dome light than spend another hour with your block-head of a hubby.