Shrubville

I'm assuming that Carmen eats cute little chickens and little baby piglets? And maybe even Bambi?

Annie's right - what's with the sudden shift in characterization of Winslow? Now he eats small yip dogs? When did that happen? This was the same coyote that wanted to drink tea with the other coyotes, right? And what the heck is up with the drawing today? I swear a child snuck in and drew that last panel before Stantis turned it in without looking at the final product.

5 Reasons Why Today's Strip Sucks!

1. Dumb Punchline! Anyone could write something better. CJo did it.
2. Carmen's Part! It getting bigger again.
3. Winslow's T-Shirt! Only Scott Stantis would draw a charater wearing a T-shirt that appears and disappears randomly over the course of the strip.
4. The PC Blimp! It appears in the background for no conceivalbe reasnable, probably so Stantis can feel good about how he ties all the loose ends in his strip together or something. Give yourself a pat on the back, Scott.
5. Speaking of Which...Poor Continuity! As mentioned above, Winslow has never been one to act like a traditional coyote. Now all of the sudden he's a carnivore? Ay carumba!

A brief side note:
One of the many things that comics readers have always wondered about "Prickly City" has always been: Where the hell is Prickly City, anyway?

Well, wonder no more! I recently launched a full-scale investigations...kind of.

Part I: The Basics
Obviously, "Prickly City" is set in the American Southwest. We know that it is located in that general region, and since Winslow and Carmen are apparently Americans and not Mexicans (due to the way that they discuss American politics and celebrities), that would place them in the American Southwest. So where could that be? Arizona, New Mexico, inland Southern California, and Nevada immediately come to mind. Less likely candidates: western Texas, southern Colorado, southern Utah.

Part II: Prickly City Characteristics
Well, we know that Prickly City itself is only four blocks long. Of course, that could be a tiny town in most of the aforementioned areas. Well, we know that the desert around it is rugged terrain with a lot of weird rock formations. I'm thinking Arizona, Nevada, southern Utah, or southern Colorado based on that.

Part III: Clues From the Strip
Well, Colorado and Utah can probably be eliminated pretty quickly because neither is adjacent to the border, and Winslow at one point helps a Mexican coyote cross the border. Nevada does not share a border with Mexico either, but in the strip recently Winslow references a small, unincorporated place in Nevada, Laughlin. That implies that maybe they are in the state of Nevada. Still, Nevada does not have that Mexican border...

Part IV: Elimination Phase
Well, we can eliminate Utah because we haven't seen any Mormons (or anyone for that matter) in the City, and I'm sure if it was in Utah Stantis would be making Mitt Romney jokes galore. Let's eliminate Colorado because it has no border with Mexico. Western Texas and New Mexico are not mountainous enough to be the location of Prickly City, I think, and Nevada, despite the Laughlin reference, has no border with Mexico.

Part V: THe Finals
So that leaves us with Arizona and inland Southern California. We can eliminate Arizona because Carmen said she comes FROM Arizona, not that she lives there now. So the location must be inland Southern California: rocky, hot, near the border, not part of Arizona. Sounds pretty good to me. Still, the Laughlin reference makes Nevada pretty compelling...

Part VI: Conclusions
So Prickly City is in inland Southern California, although I must consider other options, for example: Prickly City is its own separate entity, a la Bloom County or the Simpsons' Springfield. It had its own primary, after all.

Chris, you just put more thought into P.C. in one blog comment than Stantits has put in over the past 2 years or so.

It's amazing how Stantis has completely fracked up this series of strips. Look Scott, it's simple: you disagree with the idea of anthrogenic global climate change. You read about how Mars' orbital wobble has caused ice ages, so the joke is simple: you have Carmin claim that climate change happens on Mars, Winslow immediately blames it on humans, and then have Carmin point out that there are no humans on Mars. You don't have her suddenly launch into a "You're anti-human" rant! You have to finish your point that there are no humans on Mars, or else the set-up has nothing to do with the punchline!

For Frith's sake, even Bruce Tinsley knows how to do a boilerplate anti-global warming strip like this. He even gave us the wonderful Evil Sun to go along with it! Is your brain really so addled that you can't finish an argument which you started on Monday?!

Whew...

Also, the strip looks like it was drawn even worse than usual today. Did Scott knock off early for the weekend?