Ego the Living Planet is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character first appeared in Thor #132 (Sept. 1966) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.
Oh, you didn’t know that? I sure as hell didn’t! But the ol’ Harpy throws in a reference to an obscure (to most folks) Marvel supervillain and Blondie isn’t even fazed. I guess the gals do love the comic books just as much as the guys do!
Son of Stuck Funky 
An obscure comic book reference in a comic strip arc constructed entirely of references to an old comic strip. Wow. The Batiukiverse just imploded upon itself.
So if I’m reading this correctly, the lead character in “John Darling” was basically a dick. A running theme in the artist’s work, as they say. How many regular characters did JD have? If it’s anywhere near as many as FW has, this arc could be going on for a while.
Luckily for Jess, her father wasn’t actually named “Ego The Living Planet.” It would be awkward having to say that every time she referenced her father, Ego The Living Planet.
Raise the camera in Panel 3 there, Jess — This is a documentary about a dick, not a pair of boobs.
“He was also like Oort, the Living Comet! And Hexus, the Living Corporation! And the Living Eraser! And the Living Tribunal! And Ken Hale, The Gorilla Man! And the Armless Tiger Man!”
“…well, at least he wasn’t like Mister Fish?” *nervous giggle*
“…how -DARE- you laugh at Mister Fish! NOBODY LAUGHS AT MISTER FISH!!!! Leave my presence. You -sicken- me!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I meant that he was like Moses Magnum and Turner D. Century!”
“Oh, gracious, well, that’s different!”
Hey I recognized the, Ego the Living Planet, right away. Oh … my … god, I’m Tb’s target audience. Please for the love of god get me some help.
It’s all just..just..just so horrible! The dated hairstyle, the dated video equipment…didnt they jump ten years forward? It’s 20 years back! Or more!
Yes, that is exactly the kind of analogy a sixty-something television news executive would use. Quite an ear for dialogue, that Tom Batiuk.
I guess I should properly feel chastised that I DID know, years before this strip appeared, who Ego, the Living Planet is…
Wait a minute, is that the reaction that Tom Batiuk wanted me to have?
I’m pretty sure Brenda Harpy is the Great Gazoo in mufti.
I just can’t get over how in all the arcs ostensibly about Jess, the focus is ALWAYS on someone or something else.
For instance, this strip devotes most of its panel space to Brenda’s cold sneer, but leaves whatever reaction Jess may be having completely absent, preferring instead to focus on that monstrous fossil of a camera.
Storytelling? What’s that?
What a plot twist! “John Darling, John Darling, John Darling, COMIC BOOKS!” Now that’s what I call writing.
This strip reminds me of the classic episode of the great “SCTV” show, wherein the station’s transmission was jammed by Russian TV: “Let us show new Russian minicam!”… which was the size of a walk-in freezer.
An egocentric, talk show host??!!!….*gasp!* Who would have thought that??
Man, this is going to be one groundbreaking documentary!!!
Morgan Spurlock’s got nothing on Jessica!!!
I’m pretty sure Brenda Harpy is the Great Gazoo in mufti.
Shouldn’t she be calling John Darling “dum-dum” with her impossibly tiny mouth?
This is a documentary about a dick, not a pair of boobs.
That’s Jessica’s next documentary, “Fairgood and Roberts: The Story Behind The Beloved Comic Strip, Sophomoric Sightings“.
At some point, Jessica will realize that her dad, John Darling, who was murdered, was disliked by everyone he came in contact with. Then the light will come on and she’ll realize that there is no audience for her documentary about John Darling, who no one liked, who was her dad, who was murdered.
INEXPLICABLE TWEET OF THE DAY:
I think “strong” is a bit too powerful an adjective to describe FW. How about just plain “going”??
No, “going” implies movement in English. “is”?
“not quite dead”?
And then it’s revealed her mom hated John Darling too, and was having an affair, meaning her REAL father is Funky
It’s sad they’re going this route with the story when a more interesting one could’ve shown a human side under all that ego. Given all the mopey, whiny failures in the Funkyverse, I can’t totally hate JD since he strived to be the opposite.
Jezus – she really does say “my father, John Darling” EVERY SINGLE TIME.