Recent Comments

1. 25 days ago on Ink Pen

   It’s no mystery to me why “Ink Pen” is one of my favorite comic strips. It can be uproarious, like this one.

2. 2 months ago on Cul de Sac

   Petey’s remark: “Is 2010 the year of Festive Airborne parasites?”, is one of the rare instances when the actual time frame of the comic strip is revealed. Otherwise, there are no major changes in the story line that would indicate the passage of time. The artist died nine years ago so the year that Petey referred to is the actual year in which the strip’s scenario took place.

3. 4 months ago on Ink Pen

   Sometimes I need a good laugh; this strip provides it!

4. 6 months ago on For Better or For Worse

   Ignorance is indeed bliss; I love the sensitivity of this strip.

5. 6 months ago on Pickles

   I’ll admit it: I agree with Opal. I’ve yet to see a anyone, male or female, young or middle-aged, who looks good while wearing sweatpants in public. Just think of what you do when wearing them—lollygag around the house with a cellphone, take naps in the middle of the day, clean your apartment (like, the basement or the bathroom), dribble bits of your meals on them. One of the first thoughts that pop in my head whenever I see someone wearing sweatpants is, I hope that guy took a bath. I also agree with the comment posted by the reader above mine; sweatpants tend to sag after awhile, no matter how much spray starch you apply to them, and make the wearer look like a slob. Alas, sweatpants wearers don’t care!

6. 8 months ago on For Better or For Worse

   I love this cartoon for its sensitive appreciation of pet owners who loved their pets and had to preside over their deaths. Call me sentimental but I don’t feel so alone in my grief for my sister’s pet cat, whom I loved as if he were my closest friend. In some ways, he was.

7. 9 months ago on Lisa Benson

   You Go, Ms. Benson! This is one of the funniest, and yet still pointed, strips I have seen in awhile. I am not a fan of President Biden but judging from his debate performance against his nemesis, former President Trump (“faltering” would be a kind way to put it), and the panicked and mostly negative responses of his fellow Democrats, which was and is worse than anything he has thus far faced from Republicans, I would agree that his ship is indeed heading toward troubled waters.

8. 11 months ago on For Better or For Worse

   I will openly admit that the loss of Farley made me feel sad. When you follow a comic strip or book over a long period of time you not only become involved with the lives of the characters but also can equate their experiences with your own. In short, they become real. Lynn Johnston’s decision to end the life of one of the strip’s most beloved characters took me by surprise; at the same time I was still grieving over the recent death of my sister’s pet cat (I was the cat’s “uncle”) which made Farley’s death even keener. Farley was old; so was my sister’s cat. It is one of the sad realities of life: that pet owners will inevitably see their beloved friends die.

   I love this cartoon. I am a cartoonist who have been in love with this art, both as a reader and an artist, for more than sixty years, yet I’ve never seen a comic strip treat the matter of a death in the family with such sensitivity. It brought tears to my eyes. Lynn Johnston took on a subject that for most cartoonists is a land too far. The death of a character is tough to enact, almost as much as it is in real life. When Farley’s time had come, as was the case with my sister’s cat, it was a reminder, at least for me, that we cannot afford to take life for granted; our beloved ones can depart this life at any time. Life is meant to be lived by the day, by the hour, even by the minute. Forget the long laid-out plans and take the time to enjoy the sunset.

9. over 1 year ago on Lisa Benson

   On point, Ms. Benson! Yes!

10. over 1 year ago on Cul de Sac

    This family is soooo annoying! Maybe that’s why I like the strip so much, ha ha.