I’m not holding out much hope for excitement in the ensuing reuniting of Donut Boy with civilization, but I do what I can:
And the excitement and suspense continues on Sunday!
It looks like the current story-line in Mark Trail is coming to an end. Ken accepts the responsibility for shooting Bucky and knocking his wife around (no mention of counseling or anger management classes…saying “I’m sorry.” is as good as a man’s firm backhand handshake in Lost Forest). Bucky will be relocated. Patty will continue to be a ditz. The End.
AAAAAAAAAAAnd...not quite the end. Ken sweetens the deal for Patty to stay with him and his abusive ways by considering a baby!
Oh, crap.
I’m not half as livid as a lot of folks responding to this “look! everything’s okay, now!” turn. I just screw around with the comics. Be careful what you wish for, Kenny boy.
Oh, Jeffy, you hapless little melon-head!
A minimal drawing, a non-existent punchline (“Is today peaceful or just boring?” No, I am not making this up.) … and we’re supposed to sit here and applaud the genius that is the Keanes?!
Not bloody likely…
Occasionally, another panel will make up for previous missteps. And in spite of the wee ones’ malapropisms and impish behavior, Mommy, at least, steps in to dole out justice as needed. She warned you, Billy, fair and square.
[Not only is there such a thing as a Hello, Kitty rectal thermometer, there is also a fer real ‘n’ true Spongebob Squarepants rectal thermometer. Not that either of those ameliorates the true purpose of the instrument…]
A recent Family Circus (9 Jan 2009) has Dolly complaining mightily that cats don’t like being taken for walks. At the end of a leash, lying on the floor, is the very sad Kittycat. I’ve never seen the Keanes’ Kittycat anything but happy and frisky, and the depiction of her this way just really bummed me out. It made me think that the little cat is being abused in other ways as well.
(It also made me think about “The Heaviest Harness in the World” photos over at Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/groups/worldsheaviestharness/pool/ But I digress.)
I hate the idea of small animals being tortured. Well, mostly.
When I posted the above mashup on Flickr.com, I titled it “Tough Love, Dolly-Style.” Dang, my mashing of FC has been few and far between recently, and here comes something new, which is probably best titled “Real tough Love, Dolly-Style.”
I suspect in another time and place, the lone daughter of the Keane Clan might’ve grown up to be Dolly, She-Wolf of the SS…
(I kinda like how Big Daddy Keane seems on-board with Dolly’s plans.)
…a whole cadre of proctologists would have to be kept on retainer, he’s such a little a-hole.
The Black Friday edition of FC featured a non-funny of Billy telling a “friend” about his uncle. The conversation was one-sided with Billy doing all of the talking. Not content with a word balloon, however, Billy commandeers a sub-caption as well. The result. No funny. Sure, his little pal looks interested, but then, so does Daddy when he’s got his inch-thick Coke-bottle-bottom specs trained on his son — maybe he’s just trying to focus the sun’s rays on Billy, hoping he’ll combust (hey, it works on ants, doesn’t it?)
Blather away, Billy. We know what everyone’s thinking…
[Note that even Billy’s friends’ heads aren’t as deformed as those of the Keane kids. Go on — measure!]
Talking squirrel from over at Comics Curmudgeon suggested that Billy and Sarah Morgan (who’s been getting a lot of panel time for the past few weeks) get together for a rousing match of obnoxious kidlets. The premise is sound, but there are limits even for precocious little darlings:
Oh, and we mustn’t forget know-it-all Dolly. Cripes, set up against the Keane Klan, Sarah comes off as all sweetness and light, hardly a whit of snottiness around her. This is a scary, scary thought.
Oh, I just liked this. For once, Jeffy isn’t the butt of a joke.
AKA, “Don’t feed me straight lines, Jeffy.”
…they won’t be young forever! Enjoy them while you — wait. These little cretins were supposed to age one year for every four, since the strip was launched on a leap year. Billy should at least be in tech school by now, and Dolly pregnant and unmarried. Feh. Go nuts, Gramma.
