Cleverness in der strip

I...I'm not sure what to say about today's strip. I saw the top panel and got annoyed--another strip about waiting to see a doctor? Al just did a strip about it last Wednesday! It hasn't even been a week! And then I got to the bottom panel. And I admit that I was impressed. It perhaps isn't the most original joke, but it shows a degree of cleverness that's usually lacking. So, kudos to Al and Mark S.! I hope Mark is a reader of this blog or the Comics Curmudgeon, as that would help keep my worldview somewhat intact. I mean, I will say that Lugger needs to calm down a bit if the wait has had such an effect on him. But still...amusing.

I do need to briefly mention yesterday's strip. I usually don't even look at the weekend strips, but an anonymous comment sent me there. And oh, so worth it, and not even just for the mention of the Loyal Order of the Caribou. There's also the hobo from the 1930s, transported to the current day to beg for coffee money. (Honestly, that look is out-of-date even for Al.) There's a mention of belching and a jackass husband who goes to mind-numbing meetings to get away from his wife (and there's no "c" in Yakeena, Al). There's a wife by the name of, God help us all, Nudella. But no, the best part is Knockwurst von Smeek, whose wife rolls her eyes as he breaks his neck. That might be mild concern, but...I'm still a bit scared. There's too much ambiguity there.

Sounds like one heck of a meeting!

I'll be honest: Today's strip made me laugh. Well, not the strip as a whole, really. It was the phrase "cell telly." I mean, really--what's not amusing about that? Oh, Al. So on top of the current lingo.

"The urge to long distance him to the moon" doesn't make sense on a few levels. I realize that he's just going for a phone reference, but it's not like cell phones differentiate between local and long-distance calls. Maybe it's a reference to Catastra making long-distance calls? Possible, but we have no way of knowing.

And again, Cat, if it's pissing you off, just call out Leadbutt for his hypocrisy. Or at least point out that he can use his phone in the house while she's on the phone. It's win-win!

(And I'm including a "Loyal Order of the Caribou" tag, as I assume that's the "lodge" that Leadbutt refers to on the phone. I refuse to believe there's more than one of these organizations in TDIETland.

Things to be mucho negative about

Even though we may never see the Loyal Order of the Caribou after today's strip, I had to make it a tag. It's actually a cute shout-out to Blondie, so kudos to Al for that.

My main problem again revolves around the poor placement of dialogue balloons. When the Head Caribou is saying "But it was voted on to run a raffle," it certainly seems that he's responding to Jugbutt's outburst. Even though we're reading the Head Caribou's dialogue first.

Anyway, this is just a case of insane stupidity. I mean, Jugbutt knew he missed a meeting. I imagine that there are people like this out there, but hopefully not too many. And what's wrong with a raffle, anyway? Why does Jugbutt have such strong feelings about them? It's like a raffle done him wrong at some point in his past.

"But like we mean, mucho negative"? *bangs head against desk*

I just wish everyone were wearing the antlers at the meeting. That would be awesome!