Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Comics I Like to Follow


I like to start each day by running down a llist of about a dozen comic strips and blogs.  The comics are ones that I cannot get locally, as they are not carried by either the daily or weekly papers.  A couple of days ago, I talked about Horsey, the Op-Ed cartoonist at the Seattle P.I..  There are more.....  I balance Doonesbury, for example, with Mallard Filmore.  Doonesbury I grew up with, almost from Day One; Mallard Fillmore is a right-wing talking duck who is a newspaper reporter.  Both point out very real issues with a stated point of view.  An online comic I JUST ran across - "Day by Day" (it's been around since 2002!) is a great story, featuring "yuppies" (can we still use that term?) who live in New York (I think) and struggle with politics and making a living.  Very well drawn, sharp humor and it requires a real keen awareness of what's going on to fully appreciate.  An example is below:


It as available at:  http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/   
The website archives strips back to late 2002 when it began. 


Another, more of a "silly" nature is the "Meaning of Lila".  The day-to-day adventures of a single working woman who has adopted a brilliant young girl with cancer.  Her best friends are all gay, it seems and she spends a LOT of time in Starbucks and bars.  She's kind of a bimbo, but a kind hearted bimbo.  It too is archived back to 2005.  Occasionally there's some political comment mixed in with the humor but it's mostly just well-thought out entertainmant. 

This one's at:   www.gocomics.com/meaningoflila/  


The last one I'll review today is certainly the wierdest.....Skinhorse
Project Skinhorse is a government-funded agency, set up to look after the results of various "mad scientist" experiements, that resulted in an assortmant of really odd beings.  A STOL aircraft with a human brain implanted to run the controls is one.  A bright talking dog is another.  "Unity" resulted from a zombie experiment.  The "Boss" is a hive of bees that thinks collectively.  The leader of the group is a cross-dressing psychologist. Moustachio the Thinkonium is a steampunkish wind-up clockwork brain.   And on and on.... 
The archives go back a couple of years to the start of the strip.
 From the cartoon's website:

 

                                                                     "About Skin Horse

Somewhere in this great nation is a top-secret government agency in charge of providing aid to America's nonhuman citizenry. Perpetually overworked and underpaid, these dedicated civil servants soldier on with a dedication exceeded only by their respective passions for heavy rifles, stylish footwear, and good sturdy squeaky toys. They're not our country's best nor our country's brightest, but to all the lost and lonely creations of misguided science wandering the wild places of this country, they are a beacon of minimum-wage hope. This is their story. "

                                    This bit of oddness is at:  www.gocomics.com/skinhorse/

There's more but I'll stop here for today!   -Matt

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