Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for October 06, 2022

The rest of us see the Lundstroms as a pair of loons, although Scooter rather likes their porch and Fluffy just ignores them.

Send out a Spoiler Alert! Ballard Street comics has just revealed the identity of The Harp on the Masked Singer.

Nice headgear on Charles.

Mamma Lundstrom’s fingers are going to be “Rough Goods” also.

Hmmmm…I’ll have to set up my front yard that way and see how the neighors react. As there’s a skeleton with a top hat across the street, we just might fit in.

I love the Lundstroms. Charles is the King of the Cup. And the Mrs. is the Queen of the Sword. The two animals place the whole scene in The Moon.

Ah… I’ve wondered who lives in the lovely home shown on the upper right of every Sunday strip.

At last, a view from inside the porch… you can see the outside on the middle house, in that little patch to the right of the title panel.

Yes, this was originally a Sunday strip… as of October 2022, a Sunday rerun shows up in the rotation every Thursday, at least until a leap year, a missing strip, or a glitch causes it to drift again by a day.

This is perfect for the Lundstroms.

Mr. Van Amerongen always did the Sunday coloring himself, as you might notice by the refined color scheme… one of the reasons, I’m sure, that he chose to feature them on a Sunday.

Colorists hired by the syndicators fill in the original black and white strips on the other six days.

He wouldn’t want the portrayal of their delicate sensibilities and exquisite taste to fall into the hands of an outside colorist, with the scant minutes and limited palette allotted them for filling in each page.

No, the Lundstroms exist in their own ethereal plane… hand colored by the master cartoonist himself, the better to show off their dozens of silk pillows from around the globe…

wrapped in the soft robes demanded by their sensitive natures, bathed in the heavenly music from Gwendolyn’s harp, and the sweet waft of warmed honeysuckle-scented oil.

Do they care that some of us might find them a wee bit arrogant, or that others see them as lunatics?

Do they worry about their social standing, when all it indicates is a ranking amongst such as US?

No, they care not a wit, and sip their imported French lavender tea with a satisfied smile of contentment.

I first saw these people on the original Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren”. These are not good neighbors!

But calling their home “Mount Olympus” is going a bit far…

What a pair… Although I do like a comfy toga.

Mount Olympus on Ballard Street.

The Lundstroms have taken fantasy a step beyond the pale!!

Is that Rome I see burning in the distance?

Let’s just hope that Gorr the God Killer isn’t in the neighborhood looking for Thor.

Good afternoon Balladeers, (((((Plods))))) and Miss Susan.

Plebeian! Peel me a grape!