Gasoline Alley by Jim Scancarelli for October 17, 2023

Don’t tell me…

It’s Joel and Rufus vs. Jones’ parents, who relocated to the cave after fleeing the forest fire they started.

Bear and Jones should just amble along and leave folks to their business.

Jones’ parents in the cave?

cue the dark ambient music with discordant overtones which, although broadly tonal, is inflected with chromatic and polytonal passages representing the archetypal example of a florid, melodramatic style without being interpreted as an overly heavy-handed metaphor within the context of the thematic material a bit on the frenetic and frantic side with interesting rhythmic devices which seem to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor

Hope to goodness that’s the kids parents and this will finally drag to a close.

Looks like ‘Uncle Bruno’ has found Joel and Rufus squatting in his cave…

We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no.

Jones parents located.

Nope,Joe&Rufus began t his arc by hiding the “empty cave”—-only the original owner has returned.

The kid’s parents can stay exiled in The Phantom Zone for all I care.

For as long as this storyline’s been dragging out who really cares?

That may well be the kid’s birth parents yelling for help in that cave….

I’m so old, I remember when the only characters in this strip who talked were human!