Tag Archives: The Far Side

06/11/2017 · 11:30 am

The Other No Exit

When retiring his comic strip Bloom County, Berke Breathed remarked “a good comic strip is as eternal as a ripe melon.” Personally, I think that’s bullshit, and reflects more on Breathed’s motivation, or lack thereof. A good comic strip lasts a lifetime. We still pass around clippings of The Far Side and Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, decades after they were printed. A cartoonist who can’t perpetuate over changing times has inked themselves into a corner. Or dried the well.

If a comic strip is still hilarious long past its sell-by date, it is a successful comic strip. That is the acid test.

Before you ask, the “flip book” of Dan Quayle eating a Twinkie actually works. Quite well.

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Filed under Comix Classic & Current, Magazine Rack

Tagged as 1980s, 1986, 1991, Arizona, Berke Breathed, Bloom County, college, comic, comic strips, Doonesbury, Erik Andresen, Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Family Guy, Franz Kafka, Jeff Shesol, laughter, New Kids On The Block, political correctness, Robot Chicken, strips, The Far Side, Tucson, University of Arizona

03/06/2017 · 1:02 pm

PaRappa the Crapper

Long ago, in the Before Times, I was dating a woman with a very young daughter. I had not yet gelled as an artistic entity, and was in the process of learning that I’m really not cut out to be a father, even a surrogate one. This became apparent on two occasions. Both were attempts on my part to make a connection with a kid. Both failed hilariously.

The first was the purchase of a “children’s book”. I spent hours at Books-A-Million (down the block from Media Play) hunting for just the right one. It had to be colorful, clever, and not condescending. I refused to buy anything “kiddie”, on principle. It had to be something that enticed, thrilled, and sparked the imagination, like the books I read in my grade school library.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Don't Know Don't Care, Faint Signals, Girls of BIUL, Idiot's Delight, Nostalgic Obsessions, Robot Toy Fetish, Thousand Listen Club

Tagged as 1990s, 1996, 1998, Atari 2600, books, Can (band), Dance Dance Revolution, death, Gary Larson, Georgia, Masaya Matsuura, Media Play, music, New Jersey, PaRappa the Rapper, pre 9/11, Resident Evil, Rodney Greenblat, Savannah, The Far Side, Tomb Raider, toys, Transformers, videogames, women

02/05/2017 · 1:47 pm

They Shoot Presidents, Don’t They?

Although I predicted that Donald Trump would become the 45th president of the United States, I did not vote for him. If I had, I’d be seeking help from a medical professional.

Despite being based in a hypothetical (admittedly coarse) quote, this is a terrific cover. Note the careful handling (pun intentional) of the depicted act; the woman is smiling and the finger is uncovered.

Not because I’m insane, you asshole. Because I’d be paranoid that a significant percentage of Americans want me to die in agony. And I don’t need that shit. I didn’t struggle to become who I am so that some high-school dropout could make me a statistic in a bullshit battle of “who’s the fascist”. Continue reading →