And the Rich Get Richer...

I'm more worried about the state of the world economy than I am about the environment right now.

So Veeblefester is going to ask Bill Gates, Ted Turner and Warren Buffett for cash this year?  Well, at least they can afford it.

Doesn't Brutus have work to do?

Ooh, A Real Tree

Wilberforce seems really tiny compared to his mom where as yesterday he looked big and chunky.  But anyway, I am all for advent calendars.  I think they are kind of cool depending on the pictures accompanying it.

Is Wilberforce just staring at the tree?  That can't be good for the eyes (wait, that's the sun).  I am also disturbed by the use of "Snap" by Wilberforce.  It seems unnatural coming from a strip that still is set in the 1960s.

Another point for trying Chip but you still have a long way to go.

You're Going Down, Old Man

Wilberforce apparently puts on some winter weight this time of year as he looks a bit chunky in the first panel.  I'm thinking that Wilberforce is one of those people who scream out "Yahtzee", "Monopoly", "Sorry" and "Black Jack" before anything is even done.

Now, Brutus has unleashed the anger of Wilberforce and soon those black and white checkers are going to be lodged in his Brutaeus Maximus.

Ha, see what I did there?

#171: Three Things

Three Things (part one and part two) is an unfinished story I, along with my best friend Randy, started a couple years or so ago.  We decided to write a story about our time in high school when we actually started to get a life.  Our "life" consisted of sneaking out and driving to reportedly haunted places around our area.  Stull, the Devil House and a couple of cemeteries were our haunts and while we never actually saw any ghosts, we did have a lot of fun in getting there.

I loved the actual ghost hunting part of it but what I really got into was the history.  I learned way too much about the places we went and had a tendency to suck the fun right out of it because I had the facts that nothing happened in those places or there is no Indian burial ground or something like that.  I still do that today although I'm getting much better.

But what happens in Three Things is actually a pretty close description of what really happened.  Randy and I did some rewriting and adding on to things that we couldn't completely remember.  I think it came out really good and wish we could've been able to write a complete story which we may do if this story becomes popular enough.  So get viewing.  And read the other stuff of mine.

I'll do entries on Stull and the Devil House later as I get stories posted about them.

Hi, What's-His-Name

Brutus needs to quit going to therapy because I don't really think it's working.  Brutus still has problems and they seem to just be getting worse.  I think a good form of therapy is starting a blog.  Brutus could start his own blog.  Sadly, "Losers Are Made, Not Born" is already taken.

#170: Ah-DUH-see

Back in high school, I was under the assumption--although I never divulged this information--that girls with quite a few pimples around their mouth meant that they performed a lot of oral sex.  I know now that that's not true and I don't know where I got that idea.  It makes for a fascinating story anyway.

There were quite a few things out there that I just messed up.  I don't know if I was just misinformed or stupid but I swear that my mispronunciation of the word 'odyssey' is entirely not my fault.  When I was 7 or 8, there was this Lego commercial advertising a new playset and I swear it was called Undersea Odyssey or something like that and the announcer guy pronounced 'odyssey' ah-DEE-ah-say.  So for several years afterward I pronounced it ah-DEE-ah-say.  Luckily, the word 'odyssey' rarely comes up in conversation or I would've really looked and sounded like an idiot.

Those are the two main learning problems I've had that I can recall at the moment.  I'm sure there are others but those are the two big ones.  While an odyssey faux pas has never happened, I did accuse a girlfriend of cheating when she had an acne outbreak around her mouth.  I thought that was odd because she certainly wasn't performing that on me.  I can't explain how embarrassed I was as I told her my reason for accusing her (which when you say it out loud, sounds really ignorant).  She then went on to tell everybody else.

Brutus Should Be 7'6"

I want you all to take a long, long look at today's strip.  Thank God that newspapers have decency standards and are not allowed to show Brutus' hindquarters.  Since it is the holiday season, we should all take time to write to our local papers and thank them for following standards set in the 1910s and not lowering themselves like television and radio has.

No Thornapple ass for us this year.

#169: New Stories For All

Starting tonight I am going to try to post some new stories  and get some new stuff published because I have been really slacking and have been wanting to get more up so I can quit my job and retire.  First up, I'm gonna get an unfinished story published that I had originally started writing with my friend but soon became kind of boring and complicated and we didn't live in the same state and I didn't have Internet access at the time so writing it together was kind of difficult.  I'll give you more detail about it when it get published.

Second, Landsman.  A tale where Philadelphia District Attorney Matthew Landsman discovers that the Earth being round is part of a massive conspiracy and now Landsman is trying to protect his family, his own life all while trying to expose this conspiracy that he didn't want to know in the first place.  Also, I'm going to post a story that I wrote that is based on the town of Stull, Kansas (titled Stull) that I was originally not going to post but after rereading it, decided it was a pretty decent story.  Stull will actually probably come before Landsman since it's actually finished and ready for publication.

Then it's trying to restart my novel.  Since last summer I have been stuck on Part 2, Chapter 11 of Wilbur and Kolak and didn't make a dent during Nanowrimo.  I was able to get Part 1 rewritten but Part 2, not so much.  Hopefully I can a couple posted to show you how it's looking but hopefully it'll be written and in the bookstores by the end of 2010 (yeah, that'll happen).

So I guess I better get started.  Please check out our sponsors scattered throughout the sidebar, if you have any questions or concerns please let me know.  Feeling the holiday spirit?  Make a donation and tell your friends about this blog.

Love Is...Stealing Your Spouse's Food

So I'm guessing Brutus didn't eat his cake from dinner but Gladys did and there is no more.  That's what I gather from reading the first speech bubble.

Gladys has no shame.  She will do what it takes to get the last of cake or die trying.  We should be lucky that the last panel doesn't show Brutus slumped over in his chair with a fork sticking out of his skull.

Although that would be kind of cool.

Superman: The Man of Steel #53

Written by Louise Simonson

Pencilled by Jon Bogdanove

Inked by Dennis Janke

What's with Superman's bottom lip?  I don't know what a "slobberknocker" is and I don't care to find out.  I've always liked Bibbo because he added a human, regular Joe (Joe Six-Pack, as it were) to the Superman mythos and when Superman died, he did everything he could to fill Superman's shoes but there was a simple rule to Bibbo.

Never put him on the cover (see also Superman:  TMOS #20 for another example).

Lex Luthor is on a date with once-cool addition Contessa and is sporting some admittedly cool shades (at night, no less).  What's also cool is that you can watch TV with them despite having no cameras around to tape the scene.  I know Luthor is supposed to have all of the world's resources at his fingertips but even a constant camera crew to video tape stuff seems a bit over the top.

Superman immediately leaps into battle with 

Brawl, a muscular hulk of a monster with green armor and bright orange hair.  Also, to accentuate his name, he continuously yells it.  After Superman arrives on the scene to fight Brawl, we move to a very homely man and his slutty whore of a daughter.  Their car breaks down in front of Bibbo's Ace O' Clubs and as it turns out, the homely man was once Bibbo's boxing manager and a joyous reunion commences.

Superman continues to fight Brawl.  Meanwhile, the homely man learns first-hand how "tuff" Bibbo still is after Bibbo wastes his entire patronage in one fell swoop.  Superman continues to fight Brawl.  Luthor makes a mockery of Monte Carlo's house rules and makes a pretty penny.

Finally, Superman ends his fight with Brawl by punching him (!) then goes to the Ace O' Clubs to help Bibbo but ends up getting punched driving him into a wall.  Superman explains that he rode with Bibbo's punch but I think it's just Superman making excuses because no one can stand up against Bibbo's Kryptonite Gun Punch!