This Week in My Favorites

Marc Johns waxes deep and somewhat political: we are all holding the spear. So true. I think he should do more texts in the illustrations.

Sinfest warns us against letting the cat sleep on the laptop! I especially liked "aaaaasssss". Unfortunate keys to step on, indeed!

Continuing with the cat team: the legend of the turbo cat! Bravo, Buttersafe, you've done it again. Utterly surreal yet so good. Surreal stuff+serious/dramatic tone = WIN.

And still more cats! American Elf can hear Spandy's angry motor. I heard my cat's angry motor this week at the vet's, when a dog tried to say hello to him. I also loved this strip, where the boys imagine they're ghosts. A big snowfall can make you feel pretty invisible. And while I'm at American Elf, I must comment on this strip. It's beautiful - the idea that you shouldn't delete your least favorite artworks, because they may be someone else's favorites. What's more important - the artist's own opinion or the audience's right to have the art? It's actually a very deep discussion to be having with a seven-year-old. I love that Kochalka doesn't talk down to his children.

T-Rex is excited about the snowmageddon - time to reinvent society in our own living rooms! This is actually amusing from a Finnish point of view. Granted, we've also gotten more than our fair share of snow, but the plow trucks are going early every morning and the roads are always clear. No cancelled school or work here. It's just par for the course. (The trains can't handle it, though.)

Isaac Newton sits under the tree - and down falls a squirrel! What would have happened? Abstruse Goose gives us the answer.

Here's a Finnish comic in English! Rather chaotic and very true to her style, a travel diary entry from Norpatti at En Vaan Osaa!

Tuesday Notes: My Favorites

Lovelace and Babbage Against the Organist - the Finale!!! Very exciting. (I love how Babbage doesn't mind notes, as long as they're not expressed in noise form.)

Guy friendship can be odd and painful, at Sinfest.

This Abstruse Goose took me a while to get. It might be because I'm drunk. But then my boyfriend isn't, and he didn't get it either. I think I get it now - he wants to see the stars better, so he leaves the party. Which is kind of awesome.

At En Vaan Osaa!: I loved this little thing, it's like old-timey photos turned into a manic comic. Norpatti, the author, is a vegetarian; I'm not, but I still think people who call vegetarians childish are LAME.

American Elf is back to really cute childlike strips. I really liked today's strip where Oliver, quite nonsensically, decides to trample over his daddy's drawing in the snow. Awww. I also love his doggy hat.

The farmer's pride doesn't depend on the farm size, at Buttersafe.

And Ursula V has some flower seed ideas:
Berserker Bluebelles
Delerium Daisies

What can I add? Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Monday Report: My Favorites

Qwantz asks another important question: Is there life in space? If so, why not in the form of puppies?

A somewhat disturbing nature comic at En Vaan Osaa! On the one hand, it's about an animal's eye randomly falling off. On the other hand, it's the circle of life: one animal's lost eye is another's dinner. So all is well, I guess?

Question Duck is lured into a trap with a particularly sparkly donut. But he still asks a question! (What does a purple donut taste like?)

Ughhh giant bugs! Yet they kinda look cute, like everything in Kinoko Fry. Also, I really want the floating bear and bee to visit me for stress release purposes.

Elevators are awkward. I'm not sure I get it, but I still kinda love it. Buttersafe rules.

This American Elf was really dull. It's like - you keep your beer out to keep it cold. So? I know many people who do this in Finland in the winter. Maybe it's just unusual in the US, or maybe he really had nothing to write about. It reminds me of that strip where he drew how his crap looked in the toilet bowl.

So I may not love every strip, but the idea of Kochalka quitting Elf upset me. My boyfriend also seemed upset. Is he serious? Would he really quit such a long-standing comic? Aren't we going to see his kids grow up? I know he can't go on with the strip forever, but it's so addictive, I can't imagine my everyday life without it.