Gasoline Alley by Jim Scancarelli for May 15, 2010

Oh sure, call the Wallets. You think they are going to clean up that mess left in the yard and on the porch?

Gertie made a nice catch on that wig.

Or… She’s just now getting a whiff of whatever has Walt hallucinating!

It’s the invasion of the Scancarelli cute animal toons. What fun. The lion looks like he wants a date.

I’ve just been looking at some of the Dick Moores strips from the early 70s. Check them out for their quietly elegant draughtsmanship, the sensitivity, the nuances of character, the gentle but genuine wit, the ambling but non-repetitive pacing.

It was just folks leading everyday lives in an interesting and engaging way. It felt “real” the way a good novel does. It drew one in.

The best defence that can be mounted for this buffoonery is, “it’s just a comic, relax.”

Sitting there on a wonderful day Watching the animals come to play All the bright and beautiful colors we see In this fantastical psychedelic menagerie And all these creatures great and small, The Pfizer corporation made them all.

Deepest apologies to James Herriot

What is with Mr. Walt’s ‘visions’ is it a bad interaction between the different meds he’s on coupled with a touch of mild dementia, just my two cents.

Those that were worried yesterday that Gertie had dumped medication into the waste-water system can rest easy. She apparently just dumped them over the porch railing, where only the squirrels are likely to find them. As much as I admire those furry dudes, a little medication might be good for them.

Dypak, I just noticed your late post of yesterday. Are you sure you don’t need a troll, or maybe a lawn gnome?

WW - Another good one. You have branched out from Annie to GA. Congratulations!

Must be Arizona.

Maybe Gertie has been sampling Walt’s medication.

Just what do lions brush their teeth with?

You got me, Tink. I just hope that this strip isn’t on the chopping block like “Annie” is.

At the beginning of this story arc, it was only birds, which could have flown away when Gertie went on the porch. When he started seeing the other animals, Walt didn’t want to tell Gertie. But where did they come from without others in town seeing them? Maybe next week all will be cleaned up.

BTW, the phrase” All creatures great and small” comes from a 19th Century hymn for children, still sung today in many churches.

Maybe they are playing a game of JuJami!

Either way, Leo’s come to the right place.

I’m going over to “out of the gene pool” someone signal me when this series is over. thanks!

Mr. Ocean-

As a casual fan of the original GA strips, a reader of the Moores strips as a teen, and having recently gotten caught up in the current strip, I must agree. Maybe we just take it too seriously.

I only recently started getting the Walt & Skeeziks books that were issued, so I am no expert. Still, this just seems silly.

The stories from nearly a century ago grabbed the reader. As “over the top” as Walt, Doc and the rest of the gang were, they held onto us. This stuff now is just silly.

Just as with baseball being “just a game,” GA is “just a comic strip.” It’s a shame, but what can you do? The Beatles wre “just a band” in Lennon’s words, too.

Compared to the hysterical, screaming, mean-spirited atmosphere pervading most gag-a-day strips today, I’ll take GA’s atmosphere, thank you very much.