Around the ‘Net - The Comics Curmudgeon

One of my all-time favorite (and funniest) sites on the Internet is The Comics Curmudgeon. Writer and humorist Josh Fruhlinger is a comedy genius, pointing out the illogic, foibles and downright dumbness of modern comic strips. I grew up loving comic strips. My mom would read them to me on her lap before I could read. Even then I loved their colorful antics and simple, cartoony artwork. When my sense of humor developed above that of a three year-old (I’m definitely up to at least a seven or eight year-old now) I noticed that as the years went on, not many of them were actually funny. Especially the “zombie” strips, Josh’s name for strips where their original creators have died and been replaced by family members or other creators. Strips like B.C., Wizard of Id and Blonde.

In Josh’s world, Marmaduke is a demon from Hell, Pluggers are rustic animal-men/women who wait and long for death, and Mark Trail is automaton who struggles to understand humans and their emotions. Funky Winkerbean is a morass of depression from smug, pun-obsessed hipsters and death-obsessed losers. But Josh saves his most hilarious and on-target observations for the Queen of All Media: Mary Worth. Question: Is the writer of Mary Worth being ironic? Or is this vast desert of oh gosh homilies and moronic advice for real? Who knows? Either way it’s entertaining, with or without Josh’s witty observations.

The Comics Curmudgeon is updated daily and ALWAYS makes me laugh. Here are some of Josh’s recent observations:

Dennis the Menace, 12/2/14


“OH MY GOD,” thinks Alice, “MY SECRET REVEALED: I POOP OUT MY BUTTHOLE LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN DOES”

Pluggers, 11/27/14


Pluggers would like to remind you that if you serve a frozen pie to your family you’re human garbage.

Mary Worth, 11/19/14


Let me be clear: I may joke about this increasingly less coded elderotica storyline in Mary Worth, but, as someone with aspirations to someday be old and to also continue to be sexually active, I am 100% in favor of it. Today we learn helpful techniques! If you think your partner has mobility issues, let them set the pace. There are a wide variety of different kinds of movement that can feel good!

Funky Winkerbean, 11/15/14


This doesn’t involve any sort of flashback or anything, but it does nicely demonstrate that joy is so rare in the Funkyverse that people have no idea what it looks like when it’s happening. “Is he … is he having some kind of seizure?”

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 10/22/14


The tragic illiteracy of so many of Hootin’ Holler’s voters goes a long way towards explaining why the community is so poorly governed.

Hi and Lois, 10/18/14


Hi and Lois wraps up its nostalgia week on a particularly grim note. “Remember when you used to be able to yell at people and make them do what you want, instead of just putting a credit card into a machine and seething with ambient, targetless rage?”

Marvin, 10/16/14


It’s pretty impressive that, in a strip whose punchline is that Marvin’s family is in such constant terror of his poops that everyone keeps careful track of his digestive velocity, the most unsettling part is actually his smug little smile in panel three. “That’s right, my bowel movements are so vile my own grandfather refuses to deal with them! Heh heh.”

The Comics Curmudgeon content © 2004–2014 Joshua Fruhlinger