Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for April 24, 2015

Shouldn’t Pascoe still be in class or did he graduate early? I guess he’ll be majoring in Signal Corps when he gets to state judging from the flag.

Now that Gil and Mimi have gotten Pedro deported, Gil’s becoming a real chick magnet.

The pennant could mean, “I’m not going there so you can have this back!!”

For Chrissake, this is a family strip. I really don’t want to see Gilfather getting it on with one of the staff on top of his desk..(If Stev-0 doesn’t take advantage of this in today’s MUT, there is no God.)

That’s a whole lotta woman – and she’s about to get Thorped.

Is that Lucky’s mom? And is she suffering from EES, or experiencing the “big O” right there in the office? I’ll bet MUT will have the answer – Gil is “shwinging” for the fences!

We’re being subliminally steered to True Value and Ace Hardware.

Ah, the season preview with Marjie. Now the baseball season at Milford is officially underway.

No note, so how did Pascoe tell her the pennant was for Gil?

Happy Friday GilFanatics. It’s a good day when Beau Dandy goes belly to belly suplex with the school staffer, then has his seasonal rendezvous with Marjie.

It appears in P. 1&2 that Kaz is well into his " journey"

In all reality , " Coach Thorp aside from letting True risk blowing out his arm pitching , do you care to comment on the sexual harrasment lawsuit filed against you by Big Bertha the school secretary ?"

Gil: “Mimi?? Mimi who???”

It’s been since April 9 in the real world — not sure how many Wednesdays that is in Milford — and by my standards and apparently lukebunkin’s, it’s time to start the Kaz watch: Coaches Held Hostage: Day 15 for Kaz.

Panel two looks Jethro picking up one of those girls in the secretarial pool of the Commerce Bank. (of course those girls were a little ‘hotter’ than this one is)

How many “States” are there? How do we know the pennant even matches the one Pascoe got the offer from? He could be going out of “State” to some other state’s State and not playing football at all.

Im very disappointed in Art Standish, allowing his meal ticket, I mean son, to risk his football future. Does anybody think Tru’s not going to screw his arm up?

They can’t let Pascoe graduate (and leave the strip) without solving the talking problem, can they???

P2 – Good to see Ma Raptor finally ditching the polka dot dresses.

Speaking of subliminal, what does that up arrow in P2 represent?

P-1 & he said to stick it. P-2 Simultaneous O’s. P-3 Tru’s just getting started. How’d you like to get started? Peyton Place Summer reruns

It seems like it would be pretty tough to do, though perhaps it gets easier with practice. The one or two I did for our college paper way back when had as many black squares as white.

Unless they go to Tech

" Thorpe was happy. Not trying boink the staff."

Not that those things are necessarily mutually exclusive …

Look out lunch lady: Here comes the thorpedo.

I think one block of sixteen squares, four by four, all with letters, would be hard, much less a whole puzzle. You must have to train your mind to work a certain way.

I’m “positive” that picking the strip apart is more enjoyable than taking it at face value. There. How’s that?

Holy crap, I get here late and there’s 43 comments already! And speaking of crap, here’s today’s Mopped Up Thorp.

Lighten up, Francis. That’s the fun part of this, picking apart and ridiculing the strip. Don’t take everything so literal.Doubt that you’ll read this though.

Look out or you might get Cosbyed.

I think Whigham’s drawings are a far cry better than the grotesque characters that populated the strips in the McLaughlin days. Browse through some 2007 strips and get back to me.

Of course Mr. Thorpe was happy and not trying to boink the staff. No one here believes that. The fun is coming up with the most outrageous suggestions as to what might really be going on.

I didn’t mention the writing, just the art, but since you brought it up, I’m not a big fan of evangelical Christian writer Jenkins either. As for the art, it’s too hard to find a strip that encompasses all of McLaughlin’s idiosyncrasies – panels filled with flashbulb stars, diagonally flying bodies, flat-top Gil, effeminate Kaz, players who look like extras in a zombie movie. That Andrew Gregory was a real looker: http://www.gocomics.com/gilthorp/2008/01/30