Shrubville

This is a really confusing week in Prickly City. The writing and dialogue (does Stantis really know what a Facebook wall is?) seem like the work of someone else, but the drawing today is pure Stantis (Carmen's part is as big as ever, and what is she holding in that last frame?). What the heck is going on?

Oh and by the way, Shimmer is where it's at for women's wrestling. Cheerleader Melissa rules!

As a Cleveland Indians fan, I appreciate Sacki's reference to Fausto Carmona.

Furnace, I think the thing Carmen is holding is supposed to be one of the "risque pictures" she just saw on her laptop. There does not seem to be a printer anywhere nearby, so it would seem she was already in possession of the picture. Perhaps she is the one who posted it in the first place.

Stantis definitely doesn't know anything about the technology he's criticizing in this strip. And that's a good point about how she somehow has Winslow's "risque pictures" despite the fact that she was using a laptop and there was no printer in sight.

Now I'm confused. This featured trademark Stantis poor writing and art, but retained the new lettering. Maybe Scott got a letterer; not all cartoonists do their own lettering, you know. (Just as an example, Jef Mallett, who is the creator of "Frazz," has someone else do his lettering.) However, that still would not explain the radical different writing and sharply elevated humor of the strips from Monday and Tuesday. You have to admit that they're way better than what Scott usually turns out, and better than today's strip.

This is puzzling. It is indeed a confusing week in "Prickly City," but also a very interesting one. I'll be intrigued to see what the strip is like tomorrow.