Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for October 16, 2017

http://richardspooralmanac.blogspot.com/2007/10/talking-animals.html

I believe this is the first appearance of Mr. Danders after Cul de Sac went into daily syndication in 2007 (i.e., what we see here in GoComics.com). But Mr. Danders had appeared in the strip before.

So this seems like a good opportunity to point out some pre-syndication strips starring Mr. Danders that Richard Thompson rescued soon after he was forced to end the strip due to his illness:

http://richardspooralmanac.blogspot.nl/2013/04/the-lost-unintentional-adventures-of.html

Thank you to MABRNDT for the link. I would not otherwise have known that this was his first appearance. But what is the deal with the talking mollusk? What is it’s name? And back story?

Hey, Mr. Danders, you realize you’re lucky to be living in a country where guinea pigs are pets and not food, right?

Danders is rather snooty, isn’t he? (And in more ways than one!)

But I do wish that the hermit crab had had a longer career in Cul de Sac!