So Really the Award Is for the Donuts

April 7, 1967

🎵Peter Rabbit is a stupid book

About a stupid rabbit

Who steals vegetables from other people's gardens.🎶

I don't know what the rabbit is getting out of these just-planted whatever-they-are, but what do I know about rabbits or gardening? Not much.

Brutus has never gotten employee of the month?! In [mumbles number] years of working for Veeblefester? Even I've gotten employee of the month and I am very mediocre and not at all special.

Wait Until Hattie Learns There's a Skiing Event Where You Shoot Guns

November 22, 1987

I will be honest that I miss living in an era where you had to call people in order to get information. You want the temperature? You have to call. You want to know what the official languages are in Djibouti? You have to call the library. You want to know if our lives are controlled by nature or nurture? You have to call the psych department at the local university.

You would think Brutus would absolutely be against "heredity" making him, and by extension Wilberforce, who they are. At least Brutus gets $10. $10 that is technically his money anyway since he's the only one who works and he and Gladys are married, but $10 nonetheless.

This is a great example of why you rarely use current events in your comic strip. You created this tribute to a great skier, who is inspiring Hattie to become an Olympic champion, and all people will think about while reading this is...

Anyway, he's to Hurricane Hattie learning to ski. I know she's stuck in an infinite comic strip time loop, but let's encourage every little girl and all of their dreams.

What Did Gladys Get Brutus?

April 6, 1967

Why would Gladys ring the doorbell? I guess maybe she didn't take anything with her, she just stormed out of the house. I don't know. I'm ambivalent to Brutus and Gladys' marriage. I think they can both do better.

"I'm going home to mother!"

I'm sure these would be good if you liked sardines. I mean, there's a market for these. Did Brutus not know Gladys doesn't like sardines?

"I'm going home to mother!"

Man On the Inside

April 5, 1967

I was going to make a joke about Brutus being from the past because he's scared of a tea kettle whistle, but the first whistling tea kettle was made in 1923. Brutus should be aware of whistling tea kettles, especially in his own house. Maybe he's from the future...

Nice one.

Do you mean to tell me there are other tea cozy companies? Someone else makes this crap? This officially makes me believe Veeblefester is a tea cozy manufacturer and not just a tea cozy middleman.

What a Day Keeps Wilberforce Away?

April 3, 1967

What is Gladys' hat? I originally thought maybe it was a feminine bowler hat. Maybe something like this:

But now I'm not so sure.

This is how the United States is dealing with healthcare now. "Just eat apples and you'll be fine. Trust me, I'm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and standing next to me is professional boxer Mike Tyson. Between us, we have zero years experience in medical or nutritional fields."

Look at Wilberforce's face in the last panel. "What are you talking about? I'm not asking about onions and I don't really need to know about your love life, Uncle Ted."

New Diner Items

JAMES VAN DER BEEK

1977 - 2026

March 31, 1967

Ha-ha! Brutus loves Gladys! Brutus had me right up until the "tootsie-boo-boo" part. That is embarrassing. I would sigh, cry, and die as well.

This diner now has a black angus burger? Made with real angus? How much is a regular burger? Those are pretty expensive, too. I think Chip aged the diner waitress. Here she is in October and here she is last week? Are they the same woman? This bothers me more than it should.

Hmmmmm....

Questionable Tuesday

March 30, 1967

Ooh. Definitely turning that off or disconnecting it or whatever I have to do. What is Veeblefester's chair? Is that a throne?

And does Brutus have to find this volunteer? Is Brutus now the volunteer? This all could've been done over that speaker.

Wow. If you have to warn someone "Hey, I have a question so just remember that there's no such thing as a stupid question..." then you should just not ask your question. Honestly, it'd be better if Brutus just went "I have a stupid question..." and asked his question.

Post-Big Game Quickies

March 29, 1967

I always roll my eyes at this trope. I think it's used in practically every TV show from I Love Lucy to The Golden Girls. I guess the trick to a souffle that doesn't collapse is whipping old eggs. I don't know, I've never made one. This is what the internet says.

At least they can still eat whatever is in the pot.

Sure, I guess the Seahawks' dark blue uniforms were the prettiest. Gladys seems more like someone who picks the winner based on which team has the cutest quarterback.

Now, did they actually bet using one of the several gambling apps that are slowly ruining people's lives or was this just a friendly wager between husband, wife, and maybe Uncle Ted?

Settle In for Sports Ball

November 15, 1987

She doesn't...look?...old? I would assume that Veeblefester's secretary would know what his wife looks like, but I guess Veeblefester must not have any pictures of her. I guess it would be hard to have an affair with someone in your office with pictures of your family staring back at you.

Anyway, do better Veeblefester's unnamed secretary.

When does this comic take place? They are already sitting down like the game is about to start, dinner will be ready at halftime, but Uncle Ted says they still have hours before they eat. Wait. Coverage of this crap begins at noon? Sweet Jesus!

That orange chair really clashes with...everything.

Dream a Dream of Me

This will be the only Saturday post for February so I can take a little break and focus on future posts, but The Born Loser will continue.

Every so often, I like to do a post that just goes over what I've been working on and updates on various things. The last time I did that was back in 2020 during the COVID shutdowns. First, 2024 and 2025 weren't exactly the best years of my life. My mom got sick and died back in August and September of 2024 which happened about a month after a good friend of mine lost her younger brother to suicide, which happened about six months after their father died. Shortly after my mom's funeral, my aunt revealed that she had cancer, which she would lose her battle with in March of 2025. But before that, my uncle went in for a simple surgery, got a blood clot and died in February. So, within a span of six months, 3 of my grandparents' 4 children passed away. I've barely mentioned any of it, and when I did, it was usually very casually to not draw attention to it. Plus, just my job being a tad more stressful over the last couple of years, it's been hard to force myself to do work online but I wanted to try to get Born Loser posts posted for every day there's a new strip and a Saturday post up as often as possible.

The big things I've been working on have been my novels. I am still trying to shop Vagabond Girl around, but I am thinking of looking into possibly self-publishing it if I can't find a taker. I've also been working on other books, at first three, but then a fourth one popped into my brain. I've been working on them and not short stories, because what am I going to do with short stories? I'm hoping to get at least my young adult novel written by the end of 2026.

As for the Saturday posts, as mentioned above, I'm taking February off to finish up, write, and plan future posts. After, I plan on reducing the posts to just two a month. There are a couple of big ideas I want to start researching and I'm going to need the extra time. The Born Loser posts will, of course, continue as will the occasional post about Chris Welkin, Planeteer and Dusty Chaps. This website is the number one Art & Chip Sansom fan site on the Internet.

If you want to support me or this website, enjoy the Born Loser commentary or the Saturday posts, think about throwing some money in a tip jar on the About page or follow me on social media. Thank you for reading, and tell your friends about this website.

Peggy, December 11, 1948

Ah, Peggy has caused her mother's nerves to shatter sending her to an early grave.

March 28, 1967

We don't cotton to facts 'round these parts. And in many cases an election is a popularity contest. Why would I actually vote for policy when I could vote for who I'd want to hang out with and shares the same problematic personality traits as me?

I occasionally dream in black and white. Is it because I'm getting old? I guess by Uncle Ted's theory, yes. My dream thing recently has been not seeing faces. I clearly know who these people are but I never see their face. I don't want to look up what that means.