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Wasn't the introductory story for the stoat-turned-turtle character about how there were these poachers who had killed and skinned her family and that the pelt industry was evil? Just thought I'd mention that. 
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Apr 18, 2023 14:13
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Julet Esqu posted:What does domestication even mean in the context of a culture that developed without humans or an equivalent single dominant species, where all species are equally sentient and/or sapient? IIRC, being domesticated means an animal has lost all their instincts (i.e. Predators lose their ability to hunt, prey are no longer quite so paranoid of getting eaten) as well as making them more subservient and willing to please their owner/boss. Holbrook being Holbrook, he can't decide if the strip treats domestication as an allegory for being gay and in the closet or some kind of learning disability. There was even a strip where a bunch of domesticated animals came together to have a big march to show support for one another. If you read domestication as an allegory for being gay, the strip that you quoted becomes gross because Dorothy just told her closeted grandson to show off his secret on television, and it didn't matter because everyone in their neighborhood already suspected him of being gay/domesticated. But what makes domestication complete nonsense as an allegory are two things: One, there were a bunch of strips about how having a bunch of humans who got sent to Hellworld like Danielle or some fan OCs were somehow causing a huge swath of animals to become domesticated just by being in their world. Even when they resolved the number of "allowed" humans to exist in Hellworld, the rest of the affected animals remain domesticated. The other thing is how domestication wasn't even a thing that naturally sprouted from the aether. It was some kind of DNA (of loving course it's DNA) thing that the Birdlluminati used by time traveling to the distant past and injecting random animals with it. They hoped that doing so would eventually curb the murderous tendencies of Hellworld, which, lol. It also made their statement about how the Dewclaws are role model for predator and prey learning to peacefully coexist meaningless drivel because Kell is domesticated and that's part of the reason why she didn't kill Kevin in the first place.
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Apr 22, 2023 11:57
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I missed a couple threads and last I knew, Wilbur died from going overboard a cruise ship or something. And here I thought the strip was free from him. 
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Apr 23, 2023 07:03
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Zereth posted:No he washed up on what turned out to be an inhabited island and didn't, like, contact anybody until he turned up back in santa royale. Wasn't him not getting in contact for several months with Estelle also the reason why she started thinking of dumping him in the first place?  I remember it being Wilbur saying he went on a trip somewhere in Asia looking for disaster zones to report about. Though why a guy who writes for a newspaper pretending to be a woman giving relationship advice need to cover disaster zones was a mystery to me.
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Apr 24, 2023 04:32
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The_Other posted:Yeah. I was expecting a sort of drawn out fight scene, with Hank and Rene struggling drawn out over a week as these soap opera comics are won't to do, only for Mud to rescue Hank or something. I wasn't expecting Rene to instantly Wilber himself. With how much the vacationing couple won't shut the gently caress up about Muddy Boots and not being happy that their favorite artist is finally doing some self-improvement, I was really looking forward to them being in peril. Shows what I know for expecting something out of Rex Morgan.
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Apr 25, 2023 09:03
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It's a minor complaint, but it's always bugged me how Holbrook never bothered updating Rudy and his friends' designs. All of them are adults in college, with Bruno and Corrie having adopted a kid, and none of them are tall enough to reach Kevin's shoulders. You can't even say it's because Rudy's a half-fox because we saw his dad and he was as tall as Kell.
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Apr 27, 2023 05:33
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The last time I was here, there was a sense of excitement over Jules taking over Mark Trail because the last guy was a terrible climate-denying rear end in a top hat, and having a younger writer take over might mean they'll be able to modernize Mark Trail. It's a shame to hear that's not the case and she squandered any storytelling potential.
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Apr 28, 2023 15:24
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I've only caught the last bits of the family drama in Sally Forth, but it seems like Grandma here is trying to paint herself as an innocent victim. Yes, Sally and her sister didn't talk to her about how to handle her, but Grandma's not even admitting how much of an rear end in a top hat she was being to either of them.Hostile V posted:I Guess The Sheep Guy Needed Deep Lore Sure love how Frank tricking and murdering the rest of Dale's family and friends didn't matter at all.
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Apr 29, 2023 05:43
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Ugh, the way April talks in Foob reminds me of that terrible baby in Rose is Rose.
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Apr 30, 2023 07:02
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Good Listener posted:NEITHER OF THESE THINGS ARE DIGITAL I'm just confused how in the hell Holbrook thinks this is some kind of revolutionary business idea.
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May 2, 2023 17:15
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Murdstone posted:Mark Trail Ooof. I'm starting to see what people were talking about Jules' writing and how she makes no plans. This is just a pointless retread of yesterday's strip and doesn't even mention what this guy supposedly knows. Murdstone posted:Mary Worth "My late wife and I often entertained and had guests, but I miss having company around." So is this Dr. Eyepatch's roundabout way of asking if Estelle's down to be a swinger?
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May 3, 2023 04:12
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riderchop posted:Safe Havens Isn't this cat her mom or am I thinking of someone else? Murdstone posted:Rex Morgan MD In the hands of a better writer, this would be the part where Fergus realizes that just because Rene was a scam artist doesn't mean that his lessons didn't help him sort out his issues, and so he can keep living his best life. But no, he's going to go back to singing Muddy Boots and that boring-rear end couple will finally stop whining about it.
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May 4, 2023 03:49
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davidspackage posted:Interesting. Does this mean when I'm hammering a nail, I'm making my tools gently caress, or is my hammer beating his wife? Seems like the sort of thing one of Holbrook's comics would answer.
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May 5, 2023 15:26
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EasyEW posted:Crankshaft Dooms Us All I refuse to believe this piece of poo poo got to walk out of his home without being hurt by an angry mob rightfully blaming him for dooming Earth. Of course, we all know this story is completely pointless since Time Janitor showed the future.
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May 5, 2023 16:22
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The snake's a smart one for adding that stipulation, considering all the non-consensual transformation shenanigans DNA Wizard loves to do on the reg.
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May 6, 2023 14:21
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EasyEW posted:Crankshaft, where the punchline is never having to feel the consequences of your horrible actions. "Oh, it's fine because I'll be long-dead to see the consequences of my actions" is some real boomer brainrot. gently caress you, Batiuk. It's also a stupid retcon since he drew the meteor nearly on top of Earth in a previous strip.
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May 6, 2023 16:43
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My two cents on 9CL is that it doesn't really need to be posted here again. People a couple threads back made the wise choice to excise 9CL after Brooke made those strips of Amos and Edda constantly loving in front of their newborn babies (who were also sentient and judging their parents' performance). I dunno if it's just me, but 9CL is kind of boring [i]because[/i ] it's too consistent in being gross and horny? It'd be one thing if there were some other story details to pick through, but it's only ever an old white man writing whatever gets his rocks off in a very pretentious way. It just doesn't feel like a fun hateread compared to the other strips. Like one where the author's a boomer who has no idea how college students act or think that millennials should be held in contempt, it's not a strip with a ton of fun drama that's let down by the author dragging out the storyline forever, it's not some incomprehensible hellworld where metaphors are mangled as much as animals, and it's not a legacy strip taken up by a younger author who either does the same joke for months or quickly runs out of steam in storytelling.
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May 7, 2023 10:41
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riderchop posted:On The Fastrack I don't think Holbrook intends Bethany to come across as such a terrible rear end in a top hat, but yeesh. How much of a corporate bootlicker are you that you can't keep someone's secret from your abusive boss?
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May 8, 2023 08:51
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kidcoelacanth posted:she's talking about her coworker friend, hence the last panel Hah, you're right. My eyes glossed over that part. I was just thinking of the strip the other day where Dethany told this lady that if they hire her as a business consultant, she's still going to tell the abusive boss every single progress they've made.
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May 8, 2023 13:36
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So I guess that's it, then? We don't get any resolution for Grandma Forth acting like an rear end in a top hat or how Sally being so non-confrontational made things worse. Just one strip having her play being a victim in that mess and another strip going back to the status quo of her being critical of everything. Maybe they'd come back to it after this part with Hil's friend, but it was still an unsatisfying end.
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May 8, 2023 17:43
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Invisible Scarlet O'Neil is loving hardcore. 
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May 9, 2023 12:19
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Green Intern posted:Finally, FOOB will explain how April got her eyepatch. Didn't April get into the chemicals under the sink the last time she was left alone? I get she's supposed to be the wish fulfillment kid for the author, but it still makes me feel weirdly nervous. I like how they all but said that the rabbits wouldn't do poo poo to help if Rudy hadn't been an ex-easter bunny.
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May 10, 2023 07:07
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Now if only the dodos remained extinct in Safe Havens, too. With their work in genetics and unethical treatment of lab specimens, Lindesfarne and Samantha are pretty much the same character, huh? I'd even argue Dethany's the same type of character, if only on how annoying she is.
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May 11, 2023 23:33
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Some Guy TT posted:The Demons of Baseball Now I've only started reading Demons of Baseball a while ago, but what's the context between Planck and this lady and her husband? Like, does the glasses guy mistreat her or anything terrible? Because without any clues, it kinda seems like this woman hates her husband for no good reason and wants to jump the bones of Planck, despite only going out with him the one time right before he got dragged into some weird baseball cult.
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May 12, 2023 18:37
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Thanks for the explanation of Demons of Baseball, everyone.  It sounds insane and melodramatic in a good way so I may have to read it from the start.
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May 12, 2023 20:09
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riderchop posted:For Better or For Worse Now surely you've learned your lesson to childproof your home so your kid doesn't get her hands on scissors or chemicals under the sink, right? Right???
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May 13, 2023 12:38
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Medenmath posted:Please keep things like birth certificates in a better location than jammed in a box in the basement jumbled up with random keepsakes. Didn't their basement just get flooded like a week or two ago? They're lucky Elizabeth's birth certificate isn't a soggy mess right now.
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May 14, 2023 16:15
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One thing about Sally Forth: I could have sworn that her friend having trouble because her parents are maybe getting a divorce but no one's talking about it was a plot that started a few years ago, back when I was still keeping up with the newspaper comic thread. Was I imagining that happened, or it did happen and it's still not resolved even now?riderchop posted:For Better or For Worse It's a very minor gripe, but I don't like how Foob spells stupid as 'stoopid'. The mom seeing her daughter get frustrated with a faulty machine and blaming it on "hormones" is rather lovely, though.
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May 16, 2023 09:27
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EasyEW posted:Crankshaft I don't think Batiuk realizes that the way he draws Ed being so pissed off at having to help a poor, lonely kid (who didn't get picked up by either parents, to boot) to get back home only makes him come across as a tremendous rear end in a top hat.
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May 16, 2023 19:37
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I've been meaning to ask, but Vin? Is it just a coincidence that Rudy named his car's AI after his half-brother that disappeared from the strip ages ago? Because I can also see Holbrook writing something insane like having Vin return only to nearly kill him in a way that he had to get his mind transplanted into a car to survive. riderchop posted:On The Fastrack riderchop posted:On The Fastrack Christ, Holbrook doesn't realize how he wrote Dethany as a textbook case of someone being abused. "She's not manipulating me, I'm just letting her manipulate bootlicker-me, teehee" and "I bet my abuser is totally grateful for what I do~" sure is something, huh?
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May 18, 2023 11:47
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Does pinching her nerve also give Invisible Scarlet O'Neil super-strength? Stopping a stocky man's arm from pulling down a switch and then actually pulling said switch off the wall is amazing.
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May 18, 2023 14:01
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EasyEW posted:Crankshaft It's hilarious how Batiuk fails at even the most basic storytelling. We're meant to go "oh, Crankshaft wasn't an rear end in a top hat all along for helping the kid, despite him looking murderous the past two strips." Except the kid's reason for not getting picked up isn't something that warrants legitimate concern: like the kid's parents being dead, or going through a rough patch in their marriage, or too busy with their jobs. No, it's just that the kid's family doesn't have a car yet Batiuk's boomer brain is treating it as a huge tragedy. Like, that's literally the point of kids riding a school bus. And as someone else pointed out, no parent would want the school's bus driver to take their child out for ice cream. The guy's a complete stranger. They want the driver to do their loving job, not befriend the child like a peer.
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May 19, 2023 03:43
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You just know Bernice is psychoanalyzing every single word that came out of Piro's mouth.
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May 19, 2023 18:15
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Strontium posted:Take It From the Tinkersons Tinkersons is so good.
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May 22, 2023 15:35
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Some Guy TT posted:The Demons of Baseball Copper Ma did it! His plan to neutralize the opposing team's best player worked! What's that? The other team's players are all Demons of Baseball? Well, poo poo! riderchop posted:On The Fastrack "I'm not abused! I'm not abused!" I say, as my boss tries to deny me from going to my honeymoon, despite me being married to my husband for at least two years now. This loving comic, man.
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May 23, 2023 15:07
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riderchop posted:On The Fastrack Three years before you actually get to go on your honeymoon? Leave. Your. lovely. Job. riderchop posted:Safe Havens Make up your goddamn mind whether these two are humans or plant-people, Holbrook.
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May 25, 2023 07:17
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Good Listener posted:I might be wrong but I think it is actually pandemic reasons they couldn't honey moon til now since they couldn't do their wedding either because of it. MAYBE I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and it isn't just 100% lovely boss/job lol If by pandemic reasons, you mean the rear end in a top hat boss keeping Dethany and the other secretary trapped in her mansion working as indentured slaves, then that's why she couldn't go on her honeymoon back then. But I think Holbrook already stopped writing about the pandemic a long while back, so the fact she's only getting to go on her honeymoon now lies squarely on her toxic job and abusive boss.Doomykins posted:Wimpy about to lose his cool and toss that lady into a river for eating onions. Goddamn, Sally and Ted really need to dump Sally's mom in a senior living community that's farthest away from them, pronto.
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May 25, 2023 20:19
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Murdstone posted:Mark Trail What gets me is that the shape of Mark's head is so inconsistent from panel to panel. I know artists would stretch someone's facial proportions if they're trying to do a dynamic expression, but Mark's just smiling. It's wild that it's close to a decade and Lindesfarne's outfit hasn't changed at all. Like, I get it's supposed to be a cartoon, but we just had those set of strips a couple days ago where Joan the horse told Lindesfarne she's been wearing the same getup since high school and got her to update her look. Also, for someone who's supposed to be a fashion designer, the flower skirt looks like the kind of pattern you'd see on a curtain.
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May 27, 2023 03:32
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riderchop posted:For Better or For Worse Knowing what we do about the author, it's a little off-putting to have the teacher think "what an incredibly complex social life these people have." Just the way they say it makes it sound like kids are these utterly foreign creatures that adults refuse to relate to at all. It would've been better if the teacher said something along the lines of "jeez, i remember going through the same in school" or "i don't wanna tell her social interactions will get even more complex when she grows up." And I guess it doesn't help that I hate how Foob characters are always doing this gormless thousand-yard stare any time another character is telling them something lol.
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May 27, 2023 14:06
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Vargo posted:Wallace the Brave I really like that Spud doesn't even say anything and deposits Wallace's award alongside his other participation trophies.  A hack writer would've had Spud say something they thought was hilarious and only undercut the emotional core set by the scene, or something.Professor Wayne posted:Hagar the Horrible Hagar remains my low-key favorite strip because of stuff like this. A lot of newspaper comics have the dad be a lovely father and lousy husband, but Hagar here loves his family a lot.
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May 29, 2023 01:15
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