Sunday Observance, Pt. 1

Dear Sunday Funnies:

Having been a loyal reader of yours for years, I've become accustomed to a certain level of quality in your product. As of late, I have noticed a distinct drop in what I would consider "funny".

If I may, I'd like to give you a rundown of the paper, and give you some general feedback to do with as you wish:

- Zits: This is a great way to start the funnies section - good comic, sometimes not 100% on the laugh-o-meter, but relevant to many generations of readers.

- Get Fuzzy: Fucking brilliant - never change this comic or I will hunt you and possibly commit some sort of painful...thing, something that I'm not willing to describe right now.

- Grand Avenue: Today's comic was about back pain. Let me repeat that - BACK PAIN. What's next in this Grandmother comic? Something funny about gout? Maybe a rib-tickler covering menopause?

- Sherman's Lagoon: I have to admit that I kinda like this one. There's something about dumb sharks, greedy crabs, and passive-aggressive turtles that just works.

- Heart of the City: If you could get this comic to just be about the funny/nerdy friend, and skip all the single mom/eccentric girl bullshit, it would be good.

- Baby Blues: As a parent, I find this comic amusing. Also as a parent, I find that if these were my kids there would be a lot more comics about smacking the kids around.

- One Big Happy: What? Another parent/kid/grandparents comic? How original! And look! This one is just like the others - shitty! Lippy girl, snarky boy, absent parents - where's the humor again?

- Rose is Rose: This comic tries to be so feel-good and cutesy that the only way I can even glance at it is to imagine that what we are being shown is all the random imagined realities of the title character as she is locked away in some asylum. (At first I thought Meth-head, but then realized anyone that messed up would probably be locked away.)

- The Other Coast: You know that comic that tries to hard and fails? Sometimes, you can appreciate that. This is not that comic. The fail is there, alright, but I don't think the try is even on the map.

- Mutts: This comic has two gears - stupid and even more stupid.

- Rhymes With Orange: I have to give this one credit - it tries very hard to fill that "Far Side" void. It doesn't do it very well, but at least the effort is there, right?

- Tina's Groove: The guy-who-deals-with-customers in me loves this comic - purely for being able to relate. However, the guy-who-knows-what's-funny in me hates every mind-numbing moment.

- Pearls Before Swine: I'll give the Sidekick credit - he was onto this way before me. Sometimes it falls flat, but mostly it's gold.

- Tundra: Tries waaaaay to hard to be "Far Side". Good thing there are 3 comics in its group, because 2 of them usually suck.

And that's only half the section - there's sooooo much more to get into - but since its God's day of rest and not mine, I have to go back to work. But believe me, I'll cover the other half next Sunday.

Later.

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