Metapost: New comment of the week, at long last!

Comics Curmudgeon readers! Do you love this blog and yearn for a novel written by its creator? Well, good news: Josh Fruhlinger's The Enthusiast is that novel! It's even about newspaper comic strips, partly. Check it out!

Shoutout to –2+2=7’s long reign at the top, but after my vacation respite, it’s finally time to crown a new COTW:

“I just realized that I have no idea what Lt. Fuzz’s job is at Camp Swampy. I presumed that maybe he was Halftrack’s personal assistant, but then I thought his job is literally blocking Halftrack’s view of Buxley at all times (per the restraining order).” –The Rambling Otter

The runners up, as always, are very funny!

“‘Your fiance the veterinarian.’ Cousin Pam is not buying this ONE BIT. Ed is going to have to text some pictures of the disemboweled Mitzi on the table, so that Estelle can save face.” –MKay

“I don’t care for the ‘ha ha’ in Beetle Bailey. It changes the throwaway gag from ‘Zero does not know what infantry means’ to ‘Zero is injecting a bit of levity into the proceedings, ha ha, just a little wordplay from Camp Swampy’s resident wit.’” –Dan

“The Phantom shows Ed how to do emotional unavailability right. ‘Me and my animals are riding off to fake our deaths. If anyone cares about me, tell them tough shit.’” –matt w

“New Mark Trail knows that it is not enough to pander to male readers interested in manly nature adventures! You also need to cater to female interests, such as true crime and how to dispose of a body!” –Ettorre

“Difficult births are primarily caused (except for complications) with humans’ unusually large head sizes. So it’s understandable why Rufus was an easy slide out. Like pouring dog food out of a can.” –Buck Ripsnort

“Rufus could still be a fae or another mythical creature that simply implanted its young into a human host, with embryonic Rufus eating the original fetus for nutrition. Never underestimate the potential horror hiding underneath this strip that has lived longer than nature or culture should allow.” –Philip

“Hi and Lois get sued after Fitch loses an eye trying to get to their garbage. Yes, today I went to Wikipedia to look up the names of the Flagston’s garbage men, a new low for me.” –nescio

“Going outside without shoes or slippers, is this a blatant attempt to get Hi an entry on Wikifeet?” –Tabby Lavalamp

“Yeah, we’ve got chess in the break room. Why do you ask? Wait, aren’t you the kid who innocently repeats his parents’ insults? Does your dad think we’re dumb because we work at a lumber yard, or a Home Depot, or wherever this is? Let’s talk to him about that, shall we?” –Anonymous

“My wife had trigger finger. I bet she’ll be really excited when I tell her that Rex Morgan M.D. is featuring HER problem, only in the comic strip it’s being suffered by a secondary character, who’s this old guy who plays country music and usually spends a lot of time sitting in a diner I think harassing the waitress but he’s spent the last few weeks instead just sitting on a bench talking to random strangers and … you know what? I’ll keep it to myself.” –Briane Pagel

“I can’t fatally overdose on C-Span, you idiot!” –TheDiva

“I like the dense grey fog that seems to be surrounding home plate, as if they’re playing on the highland moors.” –pugfuggly

“I didn’t recognize the beautifully drawn umpire’s uniform, and just assumed Dennis was just haranguing the local mailman with demented conspiracy theories. Mr. Wilson used to be a USPS employee, and I’m sure he’s filled Dennis’s head with all kinds of dark murmurings about how he never got promoted because the Post Office is full of Commies and Freemasons.” –Schroduck

“So there’s this guy, see, who always wears the same clothes with one big button in the middle. No one ever sees him without it. Even his wife! He tells her, he tells people, you can never unfasten this button. And she wonders. She lies awake next to him at night, looking at the button, touching the button, obsessing about the button. One dark night, as he’s asleep in a sandwich coma — what? oh, he likes sandwiches, really big ones, and they put him to sleep, like a snake, look, that’s really not critical to the story and … well, I thought it added color … fine, she undoes the button and his clothes and skin slough off into a heap revealing a welter of undigested food around a black hungry maw that never stops chewing, happy? You ruined it. Fuck off.” –Voshkod

“Crap, crap, crap. I overslept this morning and don’t have time to make a proper joke. Fortunately, so did the writing team at Shoe, it seems.” –I’m Not Cthulhu, But I Play Him On TV

Remember: If you want an ad-free version of this site sent to you every day via email, for $3 a month you can become a Comics Curmudgeon newsletter subscriber! And if you never want to see banner ads on this site, and want to get cool comment-editing features to boot, for the same low price you can become a Comics Curmudgeon website subscriber! And if you just want to give me money directly, you can put some scratch in my tip jar, or back me on Patreon! Thanks to all for your support and readership!