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October 31, 2007
Attack, Dawg
The power of Christ compels you! (To end this storyline, if not this strip altogether.) Amen.
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"Holiday" strips review:
B.C.: Yes.
Boondocks: No, but there is a mention of the "Easter Bunny." Half-credit.
Broom Hilda: No. A golf themed strip. In October.
Duplex: Yes.
Garfield: Yes.
La Cucaracha: Yes.
Wizard of Id: Yes.
And finally, the strip in which the characters are never wearing clothes, Love Is, actually has them not only wearing clothes, but costumes. Well done, Love Is.
October 30, 2007
Cam-pain
Um, what?
Does Scott Stantis actually follow politics? Or does he just watch Fox News, where nobody gets any actual information about the campaign other than how awesome Rudy Giuliani is and how Hillary wants to eat puppies?
Let's see where we're at in the Winslow campaign. Winslow is shocked that after declaring his candidacy back in late June for the Prickly City Democratic primary that he's slipped so far in the polls. Oh, and not just declaring his candidacy - actually WINNING the primary. He says his campaign strategy was waiting - using Fred Thompson as his example. You know, the Fred Thompson who wasn't even considered a potential candidate in June, and didn't declare until September.
Let me go through that one more time: Winslow, who declared his candidacy this past summer, was following Fred Thompsons lead and was going to wait to declare...no...um...what exactly was Winslow waiting for again? To actually run his campaign? But didn't he do that when he tried to go to Iowa after winning the PC primary, and had campaign workers there?
Ahem. I guess we should move on, otherwise my brain will turn to mush. According to Carmen people NOW think Fred Thompson is slow and lazy - even though that was something that dogged Thompson when he was serving back in the Senate in the 90s. Brain...mushier...
Then the topper. The brain-liquifier. Winslow asks if it's the good kind of slow and lazy, and Carmen says "only if by 'good' you mean 'in last place'."
Except, of course, that Thompson hasn't been in last place since he entered the race. That honor has been owned by guys like McCain, Brownback, Tancredo, and Paul - but never Fred Thompson. Even before he declared.
Oh, and Winslow is running as a Democrat, where he'll be competing against Mike "Last Place Is All Mine, Bitch" Gravel.
Man I hope that Stantis was smart enough to look at his calendar two weeks ago so tomorrow can be an unrelated Halloween strip and not another one of these completely non-sensical Winslow campaign strips. I thought they were bad this past summer - it's like Stantis is going out of his way to say "You thought that sucked - you ain't seen nothin' yet!"
Posted by The Furnace at 09:11 AM | Comments (1)October 29, 2007
Well I'll Be Danged
Even though he's blown between $60.0-$64.0 million in campaign funds ($64.0 million according to strip on 8/7/07 vs. $60.0 million according to a strip on 9/12/07), spending it all on Randy the Dancing Llama (according to a strip on 8/7/07) or spending $2.0 million on Randy the Dancing Llama (according to strip on 9/12/07) and the rest on god-knows-what; even though he's traveled to Iowa but didn't really travel to Iowa, yet still ended up insulting Corn; even though he's insulted the liberal intelligentsia with an out-of-character joke about Teddy Kennedy; even though he took a week's vacation to walk to New Jersey to celebrate Pat DiNizio's birthday after he took a week's vacation to walk to New York to woo Trouble; he's now got to hit the campaign trail because he's (as a Democract) now polling behind Ron Paul (a Republican) who is seemingly in the lead in the Prickly City GOP polls.
You got all that?
Stantis, alas, does not. He wanders in and out of this story, adjusts facts and circumstances to fit the week, waltzing and flitting and flipping and flopping, and generally making an even bigger mess out of an already hacked-up, messed-up, crapped-up comic strip.
Posted by CJo at 10:31 AM | Comments (3)October 28, 2007
Somebody Please Tell Stantis To Take A Vacation
I feel out of sorts when it comes to Prickly City lately. I get the sense that Stantis cares even less than usual. His experiment in giving his characters a long, involved storyline - Winslow running for president - showed that while he could give them an arc that lasted longer than a few days, his approach was still to slap together something at the last minute and just insert it into the storyline. Hence lots of references to unfunny dancing llamas and no realization that the Republicans have primaries too.
This week he took a few shots at Fred Thompson and even referenced that Winslow is (apparently) still running for president. Does this mean we'll see more of Winslow on the campaign trail? I doubt it. Hence why we got a throwaway jab at Al Gore yesterday and today's goofy strip that would have been timely about a year ago when people were sick of everybody saying "____ is the new ____."
One would think that Stantis would be re-energized by the upcoming primary season (only 67 days away!). And it's not like there isn't anything for him to write about - telecoms wanting amnesty for illegally spying on us, the neo-con quest to invade Iran, Israel bombing Syria and the media shrugging their shoulders, etc. - plenty of things for Stantis to talk about. Instead, it's clear that Stantis doesn't want to do Prickly City anymore. He's bored with it, and isn't even slamming the Democrats running for president anymore. How long ago did Hillary's laugh become a big story? It's been over a month since her cleavage was front page news for Republican bloggers. Instead, we get Carmen endorsing Mike Huckabee. Zzzzzz.
Time to pack it in, Stantis. Let your editors know that you're done with the strip, and hand it over to someone who actually has something to say (and who can actually draw). You tried, you failed - move on. We'll understand. And be grateful.
October 27, 2007
Ho Hum In Hannity's America
Carmen/Stantis think that global warming is "nonsense," and Al Gore is a hypocrite. And thus ends this episode of Prickly City Republican Talking Points.
I'm not going to waste a Saturday debunking something Stants saw on Sean Hannity's show. I know it must burn that the guy the people elected in 2000 is now an Oscar winner AND a Nobel Peace prize winner. And what has Stantis won? No healthcare for kids of working class families! Way to go, chump.
October 26, 2007
The Bitter End
Clinton, Huckabee, Huckabee, Thompson, Thompson, Winslow. Two Democrats book-ending two helpings each of two Republicans. It's been a busy Presidential Candidate Week here at Prickly City. At least Stantis has opened up his oeuvre a little to needle the GOP candidates in the same untrue/exaggerated style he's used against the Democrats. If you will recall back in '04 it was all Kerry is a Monster / Kerry will tax your sandwiches / John Edwards will chase an ambulance on your behalf / Kerry flips and he flops and he will turn your children gay.
Now he's calling Fred Thompson a political fraud and a serial starlet-bagger. Granted, I don't follow the same gossip rags Stantis does, but I wasn't aware Thompson was known as a starlet-shagger'n'bagger.
It just goes to show you, no matter what side he's on, Stantis loves to exaggerate and lie to no effect other than to come off like a bitter asshole.
Posted by CJo at 10:42 AM | Comments (1)October 25, 2007
Artie "Executive" Branch
A day after her coming out party, Carmen meets up with what is apparently meant to be the hand of Fred Dalton Thompson (the Republicans' newest hope!) and she couldn't be GLAADer - because Mr. Thompson, unlike Mr. Huckabee or Mr. Obama to name a couple of can'tidates, is gay-marriage friendly.
Despite the warm, glowing, warming glow that Mr. Thompson emits, however, he still, aaaah, strikes her as, errrr, too, ummmm, Kennedy-esque, errr, and despite her latent affinity for clams, she's not buying the chowdah that Thompson is selling. No hope and no chowdah make Carmen go something something.
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p.s. As soon as the funds come in, I'll be working on translating the strips into Esperanto for those of you who have trouble following along in English.
October 24, 2007
In Any Event, We Always Knew Winslow Was A Hag
Finally, after 3 long gravylovin' years (what a shindig that Shrubville 3rd Anniversary blowout was last month), the implicit becomes the explicit, and by explicit I don't mean to connote that I consider it in any way obscene or untoward, but nevertheless here we are witnessing the outing of Carmen.
Joining the long, proud line of lesbigay characters from The Yellow Kid to Marcie to Jon Arbuckle to Dumbledore, Carmen we salute you. We only hope that for your sake Mr. Huckabee is a Log Cabin Republican.
Posted by Sacki at 10:04 AM | Comments (6)October 23, 2007
Nice To See Someone Laughing At Carmen - Lord Knows The Audience Doesn't
Boy, if we didn't know any better it would seem as though Stantis was writing Prickly City hours before going to press instead of two weeks ago. Of course, it hasn't worked out well, but still - it's timely.
Yesterday he accused Hillary of the "error of big government" - on the same day President Bush asked for ANOTHER $42 million dollars for his wars without end. Nothing like a veto for money for healthcare for kids of working families and then asking for more money for war. And oh did you hear Osama has a new tape out? It's like Stantis coordinated with the RNC and al Qaeda.
Today we learn that Carmen is liking former Arkansas governor and current Religious Right favorite Mike Huckabee in the Presidential race. Coicidentally enough, at the Republican debate just the other day Huckabee did some good ol' fashioned pandering to the faithful in the audience by saying that most of the Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence were clergymen. Which of course means we're a Christian Nation, dontcha know. Something I'm sure Carmen loves to hear.
Slight problem. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration, only 1 was a clergyman. But hey, why let the truth get in the way of a good pandering to the Religious Right? Of course it does Huckabee no good to pander to the Deists in the crowd, even though there were more of them amongst the Founding Fathers than clergymen.
I'm sure the media will get right on this blatant lie, as soon as they stop saying that Al Gore said he invented the internet.
It makes sense for Carmen to support Huckabee, and I wouldn't doubt that he'll emerge as the Bill Clinton-esque dark horse after Iowa. Romney's a flip flopper Mormon from a blue state. Giuliani was pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, was once married to his cousin, and can't say a sentence without mentioning 9/11. Fred Thompson is arguably lazier than Stantis, and wasn't nearly the savior the righties thought he would be. That leaves Huckabee, whose greatest claim to fame is losing a lot of weight. Oh, and he has no problem lying and playing to the base. I'm sure more and more Republicans are looking his way, especially the "Value Voters" from the debate the other night. Carmen, you might be ahead of the curve on this one.
But maybe you should stop running Winslow's campaign if you're going to come out and support one of the people he could be running against. Or did Stantis forget that little tidbit?
October 22, 2007
The Era of Errors
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Whew.
Stantis draws up the funniest parody yet of the remaining morons out there who still aren't aware of the tremendous growth of government under George W. Bush compared to the Clinton years.
This is A-grade material, people. He's still got the touch.
Posted by CJo at 07:44 AM | Comments (8)October 21, 2007
Same, Old 'Don't
Cutesy poo strip today with Carmen and Winslow in various hairstyles, although the way it's drawn I saw all of Carmen's styles, read her punchline, then saw that Winslow was also wearing the same hairdoos. Oops. Does this kind of thing happen with other guys who have been writing professional comic strips for years? You'd think Stantis would improve, but he doesn't.
I'm curious as to what Carmen tells her stylist. "Just put the bowl on my head, then after you chop part it down the middle until you can see a good two inches of scalp."
Creepiest part: bald Winslow's ears. Nitpick: "Same, old 'do?" Unlike dashes, I don't think commas are supposed to be tossed around like that.
So what does everybody think Stantis will tackle this week?
Posted by The Furnace at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)October 20, 2007
The Thong Obsession Continues
Okay, I know that what Stantis was trying to do this week could have been funny. Rupert Murdoch buys out one of the Prickly City papers. Makes sense. But I still can't figure out how Carmen and Winslow fit into all of this. Stantis is syndicated, so it's not like he's saying that Murdoch is allowing him to keep both characters by buying him out. And it's never been established that somehow Carmen and Winslow work at some newspaper as comic strip actors and that paper is in Prickly City.
Oh hell, screw this. I'm not going to waste a beautiful Saturday trying to think out something that Stantis doesn't even understand himself. Feel free to rack your brain if you like, but it's too damn nice outside to be spending any time on this crap.
Unless Winston in a thong is something you're into. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
October 19, 2007
As The Furnace mentioned the other day -- though I'm paraphrasing a little bit -- when the goddamn hell did those two little dipshits Carmen and Winslow start working for the dumbass newspaper in Prickly Fucking City?
This whole week has been Stantis working out his petty little personal issues. On the upside, since Scott's insight into print media and the newspaper business is nil, the fact he's said nothing of value or even made any sense this week has been a dead-on depiction of the current state of affairs between his ears. Bravo for that, dillweed.
Posted by CJo at 08:55 AM | Comments (2)October 18, 2007
Just about the only reason to subscribe to the print version of a newspaper these days is for the comics. Consuming news online is one thing. But reading comics online leaves a little to be desired.
Of course each and every day my local paper continues to carry "Prickly City" diminishes that return somewhat.
But anyway, what a load of nonsensical crap today's strip is. Carmen introducing the concept of a subscription to the editor? Wha?
Make it stop, newspaper editors across The Globe.
Posted by CJo at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)October 17, 2007
B Log
News is dead!
I'm pretty sure the current adminstration currently inhabiting the residence of the executive branch of the government would like that this were true, what with 32% approval ratings. As a wise quasi-man once said, no gnews is good gnews.
Blogs are the future!
For most of us, we live in the present. Here, in this weird and mysterious land of 2007, blogs exist in the present. "Perpetual web columns" live on forever, I imagine, so maybe they're futuristic. Idiotic, at the very least.
Gotta blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog...........
Gotta dance? Sure, why not. Gotta have it? They say she does. Gotta stay happy? Positively.
Everything you need to know about what you gotta do you can learn from the movies. But blogging - that's elective.
Calm down! Most cities have one or two newspapers.
Filled with unethical journalists, so what point is that? They're viewed as less ethical than chiropractors. Back-crackers, for cryin out loud! Who would you think the average crazy person trusts more: the syndicated columnist George Will or the blogging Michelle Malkin? In a city with two newspapers (or more), that's twice the lies!
There are over a billion blogs.
Eleventy billion, by last count.
Isn't it smarter to compete with one than a billion?
Why are you trying to piss off Bob Saget, dude? Is this something personal? Don't drag us into the middle of it.
You're right!
Just another reason to distrust newspapermen. You're nailing your own coffin here, Saltburger.
Fire half the staff and pray we scrape by until I can retire!
Dude's got no time to put the sudoku in his rag, or for that matter, use his position as publisher to fire people, so he opts for seppuku? Is that what's going in the last panel? Thanks for that, maybe we'll have something fresh tomorrow.
I already read that in his blog...
I'm pretty sure that I also read about the old-fashioned pulp having been squeezed to death already on a blog. Stantises's, to be precise: "If you all don't support the intelligent work of Stantis, I'll stop buying your paper." Oh, now you've gone and done it. I can just see the young lady from the comments section there, getting up from the kitchen table, folding the newspaper and silencing the radio. She's jumped the barricades and has headed for the sea. The sea.
October 16, 2007
At Least She Gets Winslow's Name Right
What a strange little strip today.
First off, we have the mysterious floating newspaper hanging over the heads of Carmen and Wilson. Not sure if that was originally going to be the headquarters of the building and Stantis was too lazy to draw it, or he liked the idea of an ominous newspaper dangling over their heads like the sword of damocles, but either way it looks silly.
Then we have Stantis/Carmen using the words of the liberal extremists, referring to their bosses as "corporate masters." I guess they're your bosses when you like them, and your corporate masters when they're going to fire you. Welcome to the left, Stantis!
Things get more bizarre when Carmen reveals that the corporate masters are asking Carmen and Winston to "cut the staff in half." Um, what? What does that even mean? This is one of Stantis's bizarre habits: every once in a while he acts like Carmen and Winslow are employed by the newspaper like he is, yet he still acts like they're just regular citizens of Prickly City. They're not talking to the audience directly, as if we the readers have to worry that one of them is going to be fired: they just act like some weird force is controlling them and can fire them at will. Strange.
It ends with what I think is Stantis looking into his own soul: Winslow points out that Carmen/Stantis is the one who doesn't want new friends. I guess that explains why there's never been a new character introduced into the strip: Stantis doesn't like change, like most conservatives. And I guess he doesn't want any new friends. Poor guy. The odd part: what does that have anything to do with one of them getting fired? The corporate masters are looking to cut one of them, not bring in a new character to replace the one that's leaving.
So let's sum up today's strip:
- The corporate masters want to fire one of the two characters in Prickly City.
- Winslow points out that Carmen doesn't want new friends.
If someone can make sense of that, let me know. Cuz that's some piss-poor writing if you ask me.
October 15, 2007
The Fallout from Honkygate
This is a Honkygate reference, pure and simple.
I'm not sure why Stantis is taking on his bosses at The Birmingham News, as clearly no one took the fall for Honkygate. Scott is still scribbling and hacking away at his his political cartoon for the paper. (By the way, hilarious strip on Fred Thompson. I'm serious.)
Unless someone got fired that we don't know about. An online editor or Toby or something. If anyone has any news on this, please let us know.
Posted by CJo at 11:11 AM | Comments (4)October 14, 2007
And Yet Scott Stantis STILL Talks About Britney
I love it when people who have a platform in the media bitch about how the media covers stupid things like Britney Spears - and then proceed to talk about...Britney Spears. Stantis does it yet again today. Who's dumber, Stantis - the people who care about what she does at this point, or the fact that YOU'RE the one still bringing her up in your comic strip that's supposed to be about politics?
Apparently Stantis hasn't figured out how to make his new word program write in anything other than straight lines, so his old lettering is back today. Doesn't matter - it's still one of those lame and easy "bitch about Britney" strips that Stantis throws out there when he doesn't want to talk about the real issues of the day. Just like the rest of the media that he's a part of.
So what major story will Stantis ignore this week? Bill O'Reilly's racist comments? Rush Limbaugh's "phony soldier" talk? Those both happened a few weeks ago and Stantis has avoided them so far, much like he'll avoid Ann Coulter saying that Jews need to be "perfected" two weeks from now. Maybe we'll get back to that thrilling presidential campaign Winston has been running. Eh, who cares. We're about to go to war with Iran and Syria and Conde Rice is trying to start up the Cold War again with Russia because it's the only thing she knows how to do (nothing like having an expert on our history with the old Soviet Union in charge of our international relations - no wonder she could care less about the Middle East). If we're lucky, maybe Stantis will actually talk about politics this week. Although I'm not holding my breath.
Posted by The Furnace at 09:24 AM | Comments (1)October 13, 2007
Study Schmudy
These are strange times in Prickly City. On Tuesday, Stantis (well, at least we all think it's still Stantis) bitched about a study that said conservatives and liberals think differently. The next day was something about Facebook (which really made me doubt that Stantis was writing it), and then the past two days were devoted to the birthday of some guy in a band (which confirmed it really is Stantis, since he blatantly ripped off his own strip from exactly one year ago).
And what's today's strip about? Stantis bitching about the study that says conservatives and liberals think differently.
What makes it even more bizarre is that he acts as if this is the first time he's brought it up in the strip. Personally I thought that Tuesday's strip was plenty on the subject - nope, not for Stantis. He's got more crappy jokes to tell about it!
To further confirm that Stantis is still the hacker in chief, the writing today is pretty lame. Carmen says the study is dumb, Winston says it's smart, and then unprovoked Winslow screams that Carmen is the dumb one. This could have easily been taken care of if Carmen had been the second one to speak in panel two - Winslow says "sounds pretty smart to me," Carmen says, "I think it's dumb," then in the third panel Winslow gets upset and screams, "Well I think YOU'RE dumb." There - simple and easy to fix. Instead, Winslow comes off like a jack ass for screaming at poor wittle Carmen for having her own opinions. Next he'll be yelling at her for thinking that the Jews need to be perfected.
And don't even get me started on how out of character it is for Winslow to be the one screaming. Did Stantis even read that study?
I'm not sure what to make of Prickly City anymore. Is Stantis slowly handing over the reins to someone else? Or is he trying to get fired? Either one would be fine by me - unless they're all going to be like today's waste of space.
October 12, 2007
Different Day, Same Cake
I mean, seriously. Come on.
There's a fine line between Re-Occurring Gag and Blatantly Ripping Yourself Off Due to Lack of Original Ideas. That fine line has been blown as wide open as Carmen's hair part.
Once again, let's revisit Prickly City from 365 days ago:
Besides the added detail of Le Boome Boxe playing Smithereens songs, the depiction of Winslow coyote-ing down the cake, and the addition of "e" to the card, today's strip is a repeat.
Does he think readers of his strip won't remember or don't care. Does he not remember? Does he not care?
The guy who started this strip with the flimsiest of premises and a handful of ideas, most of them awful, is now only a memory. The current incarnation is just broken bits of poo and pee.
Posted by CJo at 09:08 AM | Comments (1)October 11, 2007
Same Cake, Different Day
I suppose the debate about whether or not someone is ghost-writing Prickly City on behalf of Stantis ends today. This is pure Scott, as he re-mines the fertile ground that is Pat DiNizio's Birthday.
In case you weren't with us last year or your memory is hazy, here's what Stantis gave us exactly 365 days ago:
And here's what I had to say on the subject 365 days ago.
Franky, I don't have much more to add.
I could try to Wedge in a few more topics to this post, but then I'd Hafner think some more. I'm content to let my mind Garko to Sabathia over the Sizemore. Can I Borowski a feeling?
Posted by CJo at 09:52 AM | Comments (3)October 10, 2007
I'd Figure Her More For G.L.O.W. Rather Than S.L.A.M.
Treat! We have a treat! It's not even Halloween yet, and here we are, being treated...to yet another strip that features a 40-something-aged poofhair dude in costume as a single-digit-aged cablinasian chick asking "whatever happened to _______?"
If the Furnace was around to ask "What's the deal with these neo-cons and their infatuation with idealized versions of the past which never actually existed anywhere but in their own heads" I'm sure that he would, but since he's not, let me just ask "What's the deal with these neo-cons and their infatuation with idealized versions of the past which never actually existed anywhere but in their own heads?"
Moving past that point, however, today's entry features Carmona amazed that she is able to find rants, risque photos, email and a nifty designer "SLAM" blouse on the internets! Whatever happened to a time before Al Gore lied about inventing this internets thing, we're left to ponder....and....done pondering. Moving on. Dot. Org. Woot.
Posted by Sacki at 10:50 AM | Comments (4)October 09, 2007
Hypocrisy Now
When does Scott Stantis not like a study? When it's one that gives results Scott doesn't like, that's when.
Here's a link to the study that Stantis is irritated with this morning. Of course we here at Shrubville are far too familiar with Stantis and his cherry-picking of obscure studies, usually only picking studies and polls that support his warped world view. My favorite was the one he picked out where he claimed there was a government study saying kids are fat because of TV advertising, but in reality it was a group unrelated to the government saying kids don't exercise or eat well enough (which I think falls into the "duh" category Carmen mentioned today). Nothing like citing and twisting obscure studies to make your point - or, in today's case, dismissing a study when it shows "that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives because of how their brains work."
Heck, we didn't need a study to confirm that: just re-run the Prickly City where Carmen punched Winslow in the face when she disagreed with him.
What's interesting is that the new lettering makes another appearance in today's PC, so I'm wondering if Stantis has embraced technology and is now using a computer to write the dialogue. Considering how piss-poor Stantis's writing is what we're seeing now has to be done on computer, and it's a really jarring change after spending years trying to decipher Stantis's chicken scratch. At least we won't have to waste any time figuring out a Stantis punchline because we can't make out what the words are like we've had to do on more than one occassion in the past.
The scary part? I think Stantis just realized he can run this exact strip over and over and over again and just change up the text next time around. There's nothing unique about Carmen and Winslow running and swinging through the desert - so I'm guessing once a week we'll see this same strip but each time Stantis will be bitching about something different because that's how his lazy azz rolls.
Posted by The Furnace at 08:39 AM | Comments (2)October 08, 2007
The Antithesis of Stantis
What the. Who the. Huh the.
Did someone else letter today's strip??! That is not Scott's handwriting.
For that matter, did someone else write it? It's astute. It's sharp. It's to-the-point. It's the Antithesis of Stantis.
Is he finally outsourcing the humor content? Is this the first step to ultimately handing off the strip to someone more competent?
Pretty please?
Posted by CJo at 09:24 AM | Comments (4)October 07, 2007
Stantis And His Freaky Thong Obsession
Boy, it must really suck to be a conservative "comedian" nowadays.
Look at Stantis. He's been struggling for months now to try and remain political even though most of the things making people laugh are thanks to the Republican party. Instead he wasted a week on a dog named Trouble and before that a month on the "Democrat" Winslow running for President without making many jokes about actual campaign issues.
Everybody knows at this point that if there's a sex scandal in politics, the odds are overwhelming that a conservative Republican is involved. Just this past year we had Larry Craig in the men's bathroom, David Vitter's admitted hiring of whores, that Ohio campaign manager who molested men in their sleep, and just the other day a conservative prosecutor from Florida killed himself after he was arrested in Detroit trying to meet up with a child for sex. Time after time, if it involves kinky (and usually illegal) sex, it's a Republican.
Which is why today's Prickly City is such a monumental failure. It's a gag we've seen before - tease us that we're going to see hot "Girls Gone Wild," then pull the switch and show us we're really seeing ugly middle aged men who are drunk and stupid. But then there's the Stantis punchline: SENATORS Gone Wild - featuring a picture of Larry Craig and...Ted Kennedy? Huh?
Oh I see - Ted Kennedy is a lush, so he should be included in a tape alongside a Republican Senator looking for gay sex and a Republican Senator that hires hookers. Sorry Stantis, but this is one of those cases where "fair and balanced" just exposes your inability to admit when your side is the one that's really f***ed up when it comes to sexuality.
I really wish I could have said, "Hey look - at least Stantis is willing to make fun of his own party!" But he's not. Instead of the more obvious "GOP Gone Wild!" - which actually makes sense - Stantis had to draw Teddy in there and make it about ALL Senators, trying to say "well the Democrats do it too!" Not like this they don't, Stantis.
So should we take bets on whether or not this is the one and only appearance Larry Craig makes in Prickly City? There sure is a lot of material that can be mined here by a highly trained comic strip artist looking for some easy comedic gold.
Sorry, had to make myself chuckle. Expect a full week of "Oprah loves Obama!" or maybe "Did you see Hillary's cleavage?" instead.
October 06, 2007
Some Of 'Em Are Bitches
The Winslow/Trouble storyline (hopefully) ends with a thud today as Winston returns home to Prickly City, single and penniless. Apparently Winslow really did fall in love with her (I guess - Stantis is such a poor writer it's hard to tell) but more than anything he loved her money. Or something like that. Anywho, she didn't marry him and now Winslow's campaign for president is finished. At least I think it is since he's broke, but who knows with Prickly City since Stantis can just pull something out of his butt if he wants to keep that storyline going.
At this point I kind of feel like Media Matters when it comes to reporting what right wingers say. How many times can we point out how horrible Stantis is before we just give up and admit he's won? Stantis spent an entire week telling us how incredibly stupid Winslow is because he thought he had traveled to Iowa when in reality he was just on the other side of Prickly City. Now we're supposed to believe that Winslow made it all the way to New York to woo Trouble all by himself, AND made it back to PC without a problem?
The sad thing is, much like how conservatives are to President Bush, Stantis knows that Republicans will read his stuff and pretend to like it because he's a fellow Republican. They'll chuckle at today's strip because Winslow admits he really loved her money. Ha ha ha - he's a typical "limousine liberal" (but don't bring up that Trouble is obviously a rich bitch Republican whose former Republican owner once said that paying taxes is for poor people). Does Stantis even realize that he's slammed rich Republicans by portraying Trouble that way? Of course he doesn't, and neither do the conservatives that keep his strip alive in the comics section.
I still feel kinda bad for Stantis. Things are so terrible for the Republican party that he's still afraid to tackle real issues, so he spends a whole freakin' week on Winslow and a dog nobody's talked about for a week and a half. He spun a one day news story about an eccentric millionaire leaving more money to her dog than her own family into a week-long series that wasn't funny or insightful. What's next, a week on whether or not Barack Obama wears an American flag pin in his lapel? Oh, wait, the REAL news media is already wasting time on that story.
It's sad to think that Prickly City is just as relavant to our political discourse as the actual media. Meaning not at all.
October 05, 2007
Hear: Trouble Comes
Winslow, who just a few weeks ago wasn't able to navigate his way outside the Prickly City limits to get to Iowa, has now successfully hitchhiked to New York City, where apparently he's trying to forcibly woo Trouble. And that bitch is fighting back.
Stantis makes the best of the situation, though, and throws a jab at the "safe sex" movement. You know, those awful people who try to educate teens about birth control and STDs instead of wrapping the genitals of the hormonal teens in the whisper-thin pages of the Bible, which, alas, are bound to dissipate into a pulpy mess at the first semen spill.
But I digress...
Let me get back to the crux of my argument: This is dumb.
Posted by CJo at 10:30 AM | Comments (4)October 04, 2007
Big Trouble, Little Chien
There are two possible outcomes in which this storyline could actually pay off:
1. Winston dies from infections incurred by the bitings of the Tribble. Prickly City folds.
2. Winston and the Tribble have a litter of mutts, and there's a crossover with the comic strip of that name at some point in the future. Prickly City folds.
Either scenario would greatly shake up and possibly terminate Prickly City. And/or allow Shrubville and the lovely readers thereof to explore other interesting avenues of discussion and debate, like who would win in a fight between Lionel Richie and Alan Keyes: the Commodore or the Ambassador?
Posted by Sacki at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)October 03, 2007
Fact: Teresa Heinz Is A Rich Bitch
I can see where this is headed. Winston meats the dawg. (One big [sic] for Shrubville Sucks.) The dog complains about the government taxing her inheritance. Winston campaigns for the next month on the death tax. So, in essence, Stantis has already taken the next month off to write about the death tax, Winston's campaign, and crazy New York City Jews. But I feel that should anyone with access to his ear be reading this, let him know that the following recurring annual holidays are upcoming: Columbus Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and then all of those little annoying ones in December that I can't keep up with in my secular, urban, workaday world. Let him know to prepare those strips ahead of time so that he can take a break from the Winston campaign to check in on old chestnuts like complaining about complaining Injuns, how the pagans are ruining America, and wondering which came first, Turkey the country or turkey the bird. Of course, like most of the other recurring annual holidays that Prickly City fails to recognize, I'm sure they'll pass without notice.
Posted by Sacki at 11:16 AM | Comments (4)October 02, 2007
And You Thought The Trouble Reference Was Dated
From our comments section yesterday:
I hope he sticks with this story line long enough to work in another "Winslow wasting money on dancing llamas" joke.
Posted by: John at October 1, 2007 04:55 PM
Ask and ye shall receive, John.
But there's a bonus! Not only does Stantis remind us that Winslow wasted $64 million in campaign finances on dancing llamas, but he also works in a slam on John Kerry! Of course it's Winslow who's using John Kerry as a punchline, which carries on the Scott Stantis tradition of not understanding his own characters. I can't wait for tomorrow, when Carmen points out that John McCain burned through all of his funds already and Mitt Romney is being forced to dip into his personal fortune to pay for his campaign. But I'm not going to hold my breath.
And if you think about it, this is actually Scott Stantis's most disgusting personal attack EVER. Um, didn't he just compare John Kerry's wife Teresa Heinz to a dog? This is one of those weasely insults where Stantis will say that he just meant that Kerry married into money (even though he had plenty of his own cash long before he married Heinz), but it's clear that he's using this as a cheap shot to call the woman a "rich pooch." You're a class act, Stantis - you've learned well at the feet of the all powerful Rush "Phony Soldiers" Limbaugh.
At least the drawing is a bit better today - except for Carmen's mouth in that first panel. WTF?
Posted by The Furnace at 08:53 AM | Comments (2)October 01, 2007
Here Comes Trouble
This story was on the outer fringes of the tertiary of the periphery of the stuff I didn't give a shit about over a month ago. But, joy-of-joys, it gets resurrected today from Mr. Month Ago, Scott Stantis. Be careful with the dead, sir. They can come back and haunt you. FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE.
The painful lack-of-timeliness aside, it's always fun to follow Winslow's crushes, even if this one is only for monetary gain and not to scratch Winslow's lustful itch for turtle meat and Oreos.
And get this. I actually like Stantis's depiction of Carmen frantically looking around for Winslow. It's a nice artistic touch that I didn't think he was capable of. HOWEVER, all good will is immediately lost when gazing upon the fourth panel: Winslow is writing the letter with a combination of butterfly knife and conductor's baton (i.e., his depiction of pen movement wasn't as successful).
Posted by CJo at 10:00 AM | Comments (5)
picture courtesy of JB