Frazz by Jef Mallett for June 16, 2014

WHOA. Go back to the Big Nate entry for today and disregard my comment. That is freaky.

I doubt that the word “dorks” is necessary for the humor, but still, Mallett wins a round against the Comic Strip Censors (where Larson and Watterson failed).

I totally don’t get the joke/implications/take-off. Can someone out there please interpret? I like Frazz, but like CWL, it is often too esoteric for my pea brain to comprehend.

A “summit finish” is a hard finish right at the end. Frazz is telling him don’t let up right at the end – effort all the way to the end is what he is challenging him with.

Frazz pays Caulfield a tremendous compliment that’s easy to miss: “You’re not made for the flats, anyway.”

I love to see Mr. Uhrmann. He’s the only teacher who plays on the same level as Caulfield.

Sunday Strip Title Panel:Frazz and Miss Plainwell – Miss Plainwell: If you were on a first name basis with James Russell Lowell, how would you know?

Caulfield may fight to avoid the work assigned, but keep in mind that he actually does work at a higher level on his own. He fought reading a book assigned to his age group, but was reading one 2 or3 levels above for fun. There was one pre-Summer vacation comic a few years back were Mrs Olsen gave him a “do not read” list, instead of a summer reading list, full of high level, challenging books. The idea was that she figured he wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation and would actually read them. Caulfield told Frazz that the real joke was on Mrs Olsen, since he had already read all those books long before.

That is why Frazz says Caulfield isn’t built for the flats. If he isn’t being challenged, he doesn’t perform to his capability. The part I love is the fact that Caulfiled has Mrs Olsen every year.