A Day of Rest

Calvin gets a new neighbor just in time for Christmas. As Calvin becomes friends with Erin and her daughter Lillian, Calvin's favorite teacher, Mr. Faddis, gets hired to be Santa Claus for his building. But both Calvin and Erin become suspects when Mr. Faddis is found murdered.

Who killed Mr. Faddis? The Fifth Floor.

 

 

October 4, 1967

All that fuss because Wilberforce has to write a thank you note? He probably could've gotten that letter written in the time it took him to struggle, be picked up, and carried to the writing desk.

Someone has sapped the soul completely out of today's strip!

It's actually just a weird glitch where the black doesn't come through.

I'm not a baseball person but this is one of the many appropriate ways to celebrate Labor Day. As long as you are not working, then you are doing it appropriately. I just hope your chair is more comfortable than Brutus' looks.

Brilliant Strategy, Brutus--Words Have No Meaning

July 24, 1988

Why couldn't the bank guy give Brutus the $100? Or why didn't Brutus just get the money from inside the bank? You would think the ATM would just not work if it were out of cash. Seems very inconvenient.

Brutus' PIN is 9999 so if you find his card, that's his code. Honestly, he probably has it written on the card.

Hey! Brutus has another friend! I don't think we've seen this guy before or since, but he's out there. I bet this was one of the last times 'beer' is mentioned in The Born Loser. I think Chip began using the more kid-friendly 'drink' shortly after 2020. A lot of things changed (or should've changed) after 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

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Oh, What Heights We'll Hit...

October 3, 1967

I've been wondering this for nearly 19 years. Brutus doesn't seem particularly good at golf yet he plays it constantly. I guess he could just be playing because it's an activity that gets him outside, but still...

Is Wilberforce watching cartoons on Tubi or MeTV, because no one airs old Saturday morning cartoons anymore. And is it me or is Wilberforce too enthralled with Bugs Bunny's antics with Elmer Fudd? Maybe it's one of the cartoons where Bugs cross-dresses and it's opening up some stuff in Wilberforce.

Brutus Should Just Use Wilberforce to Cheat

July 17, 1988

Why would you wear a fake nose and glasses when meeting someone? "Cut the tension"? I'm sure there are better ways to do that than wearing something stupid on your face. Now who's the idiot?

Is Hope a cousin on Gladys' side? The women in her family certainly have a type...

I always feel that having different names for things is a way of gatekeeping. "You don't know what 'hook' and 'slice' mean? Don't make me l-a-f-f laugh!"

I hope Wilberforce is able to keep this positive attitude while he's out on the golf course for five to seven hours today.

Ha Ha Laugh

August 17, 1967

I don't know about you, but I feel Wilberforce needs to be beaten up after this game. It must be a light rain with no lightening. Although it is the 60s. Being struck by lightening probably built character or something.

How does Wilberforce not know what a laugh track is? Was he born yesterday? I mean, I agree. Laugh tracks are the Devil and unnecessary, but I don't know, maybe it's a short-term memory thing...

 

 

 

 

 

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So Many Golf Phrases...

June 5, 1988

Brutus did not want to miss one second of this game, I guess. I don't know how Brutus expects to get home, let alone just move his car but I guess that's an issue for future-Brutus.

Oh, no! Are we going to do a week of reruns during the week I bring back the older strips? As long as we stay pre-November 2020 we should be good.

Does Brutus need a lesson on how to make the golf ball curve? Golf Digest has a decent tutorial. They even mention Jack Nicklaus, who, as I understand it, is pretty big in the golfing world.

 

 

 

 

 

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A Watched Clock Never Moves

July 26, 1967

Tether tennis? Tether ping-pong? Does this count as winning the game?

Zwat

We've seen Brutus' desk enough times that he does not have a computer on it. I don't even think he has a work computer. I'm guessing they'd know how Brutus would use it and decided to just not give him a computer.

Tuesday Quickies

For the last couple of years, I have been working to turn Tank N Tummy into a novel. Combining the Zeke & Harry stories of Tank N Tummy and the real life lives of early Kansas settlers, it's taking a lot of research and work which is why I'm also working on a young adult novel and another novel that suddenly popped into my head that I am three quarters of the way through.

Anyway, from 2001, but published here in 2010, Zeke, Harry, and their friends investigate an old cemetery and abandoned house for ghosts and demons while the story of the family that lived in the house is told.

July 13, 1967

You are not standing on the base and clearly haven't tagged Brutus so I'm thinking that ball is still in play and this guy needs to do something about it. Get up, Brutus, you still have a chance to make it to the base!

Hate to break it to you, Brutus, but you are still talking to yourself. The readers aren't in the comic with you.

That's My Boy Who Said That!

July 5, 1967

There's an episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and Ethel learn to play golf so they can spend more time with their husbands. But instead of learning from a pro, they have Fred and Ricky teach them. Anyway, Ricky and Fred make up a bunch rules and one of them, as a penalty, your ball gets stomped into the ground (mashie!). That's what Veeblefester is doing here--playing by I Love Lucy rules.

What a lovely day, yeah we won the war. May have lost a million men, but we got a million more...

I think Chip drew Brutus' head and then slammed the panel down because the mark for the lower ear seems obtrusive and unnecessary. I keep thinking I have a spot on my screen.

Long Comics, Short Posts

April 3, 1988

We're tired of Shaker Heights. It's time to see how Chagrin Falls works out.

Veeblefester in that next to last panel, he really wants Brutus to shut up. "Stop talking or I will kill you and bury you on the golf course like Ivana Trump!"

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A Pager? You Mean He's Durable and Reliable?

June 9, 1967

I think Brutus is more at fault than Veeblefester and his paddleball. That's barely a foot and Brutus Thornapple'd it.

Yeah, "fast-paced world of AI". Is it fast-paced if you have to correct what AI has messed up every other week?

I would give Brutus a raise and a promotion if he wasn't using AI for work.

Tick Tock and You Don't Stop

May 24, 1967

Why is the food in the line of the baseball field? Why is Veeblefester (R.W. Veeblefester, Pres.) sitting so close to the table with the punch on it? I like how Veeblefester is a money grubber, as seen in the many dollar signs he's thinking about, but 1960s corporate etiquette demands he still hosts an annual picnic. Thankfully, President Reagan will help get rid of that little annoyance.

Is...Is Gladys the clock?

Is that clock in the middle of the room?

Did we really need a visual interpretation of "tick tock"?

There wasn't a better gold color than "burning pee yellow"?

It's Already 6 - 0?!!

May 20, 1967

The size of the hat explains maybe three of the cards lying there, but not the others or the one currently in the air and completely off-target.

I'm sure there are better uses for those cards. Play some solitaire...

I could've sworn Wilberforce played the outfield. I guess Wilberforce can play both, but Wilberforce being pitcher seems...wrong, somehow.

We still have eight more innings of this humiliation.

I Agree, You Should Gravely Injure Him

February 28, 1988

This is why no one goes to church anymore, Father. On the flip side, at the park I work at, we have an old church with a bell that visitors can actually ring. The way that their eyes light up and how it captures everyone's attention (one time, it even lured an elderly woman with a walker to want to see inside the church) makes me think that maybe we should go back to ringing large bells to signal the start of Sunday.

Is Wilberforce actually a decent pitcher, it's just the batters are usually better at hitting the ball? That completely upends how good I think Wilberforce is at sports.

And of course Masher McGee is good. His parents named him Masher. That's his name! If it were a nickname, it'd have quotes around it. He's a nine-year-old boy named Masher.

The Thornapples All Live In a Yellow Submarine Apparently

May 11, 1967

Does only Wilberforce know the names of his friends? Harry, Leroy are actual names "Weakeyes" and "Noodle-Nose" aren't even nicknames, they're just insults.

And who is who?!

Does...Does Brutus really believe this about himself? Brutus would be the first to admit that he is none of these things. "I can talk bad about myself, but you can't! You don't have that right!!"

She Just Has to Sit There While It Happens

What? Ten months? Baseball has only been over since October (five months) and, obviously, last year's baseball season started one year ago (12 months). Where do we get ten months from?

I don't understand people who like baseball, especially people like Brutus. Baseball is exciting? Ok. Sure. And Brutus, you've been married to Gladys for *mumbles random number* years. Has she ever been excited for the opening of baseball season?

I'm Gonna Be the Very Best...

I think every kid goes through a "Can I be an Olympian" phase. My sport would be the running ones. I thought I pretty fast when I was younger. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. I don't know.

What's with the speech tail? Are Brutus and Wilberforce using their r o b o t  v o i c e ?

Your Finest Glass, Please

April 15, 1967

I feel this is all on Brutus. All you had to do was tap it in and you failed miserably. I think any idiot could've sunk that ball, no matter how loud the sneeze is.

So Veeblefester admits that Brutus completes him. You can't have yin without yang and the two together create harmony and are essential for mutual survival. It's nice to know how much Veeblefester really cares about Brutus and loves him.

I mean, I'm no sommelier, but isn't every wine just red or white with different varieties under each one? If Brutus says "red" then the waiter can be like "Cabernet sauvignon, Malbec, or Zinfadel?" It's not like Brutus can afford a lot of wine anyway.

Monday Quickies

April 13, 1967

Is that Gladys? I can't tell because of the scanner reflection. Gladys is going golfing with the rest of Brutus' foursome while he sits at home with the measles? Ok, sure.

Let this be a reminder to get vaccinated. I don't know about you, but I don't like to or want to get sick.

At least this married squabble is between Brutus and Veeblefester this time and not Brutus and Gladys.

Sigh. Mondays.

I Mean, I Guess There's Technically a Distinction

April 11, 1967

I always felt like I would like croquet. I don't really understand anything about it. Like what's going on here. I see this as a joke in a lot of things, but I don't understand. And looking it up didn't help.

At least Gladys is having fun. I don't know what's wrong with Brutus. Just enjoy spending time with your wife.

I was trying to think why the vultures had to be English. It's because of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" pun. Why wouldn't Uncle Ted just say British? I don't think the joke needs the nationally at all really.