One final post, in loving memory of my grandfather, WBJo, who would have cherished today. Manhattans for all! On my tab. Here's looking at you, gramps. Cheers!

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

So long sad times
Pull along bad times
We are rid of you at last
Howdy gay times
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
Altogether shout it now
There's no one
Who can doubt it now
So let's tell the world about it now
Happy days are here again

Your cares and troubles are gone
There'll be no more from now on

Happy days are here again
The skies above are here again
So, Let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy times
Happy nights
Happy days
Are here again!

Leave it to Scott Stantis to be a prick right up to the end.

Standing among the crowds at the inauguration, Winslow says, "...and nothing will ever be the same." On the surface, sure - maybe Stantis is finally giving credit where it's due. But after years of following this wretched strip, we here at Shrubville know better.

In many ways this is the end for Stantis, just like it is for Bush and the rest of the Republicans. They had the power, they ruled the universe, and they blew it. Now the secret Muslim with Saddam's last name is bringing his babies' momma into THEIR house, and "nothing will ever be the same." If the Villagers were upset when Bubba came to D.C. from hicktown, there could be a collective fainting spell among the upper class when Obama is sworn in, unable to accept that one of "those people" is going to be the next leader of the free world.

CJo did a very eloquent job yesterday of saying farewell and explaining why Shrubville is closing its doors. Me, on the other hand? Not so much.

To Scott Stantis, Prickly City, and the other conservatives out there I would like to offer a hearty farewell, fuck you, good riddance, and don't come back, assholes. While Obama wants to take the high road, and I can appreciate his intentions, I will not forget. I won't forget that for 9 months all Bush did was give hand outs to his rich buddies while ignoring the warnings. I won't forget that 9/11 happened on his watch, and he failed at the most important job a president has: to keep us safe. I won't forget the anthrax attacks, the second terrorist attack on U.S. soil in as many months - even though our media is doing everything in its power to make us forget it ever happened. I won't forget that Bush and Cheney and the Republicans used 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq, even though they still hadn't caught bin Laden and hadn't taken care of business in Afghanistan. Torture. Illegal spying on Americans. Secret prisons. Guantanamo. Mine collapses. Katrina. The mortgage crisis. Cheney shooting a man in the face. Trying to give our port security to Dubai. Madoff. That bridge in Minnesota. The credit crisis. The next Great Depression. The list goes on and on. I won't forget, and I hope nobody else does either.

Now is a good time for Shrubville to wrap things up. Scott Stantis and the rest of his conservative buddies will spend the next four years rewriting history. Their lies will be legendary, as they try and convince the world that George W. Bush never happened, that Bill Clinton set us up to fail and now Barack Obama is to blame for how bad things are. Conservatives will once again say it's everybody else's fault but theirs, that if only Ronald Reagan was alive he'd save us all, and the black guy in the White House is a socialist marxist communist fascist who beat Sarah Palin in an illegitimate election and is secretly plotting to make us all his slaves.

In other words, if you thought Stantis was bad before, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

But you'll have to deal with it on your own (if you even care to keep reading P.C.). Our time has come.

As I'm writing this, George W. Bush is making his way out in front of the crowd there to welcome our new president. At first there were boos, and now there is a chant of "Hey hey hey, good bye." The band has been struck up to try and drown out the chants, once again showing the desire to coddle and protect poor President Bush from the reality that is America Today. It was a great, tiny moment that sums up the last 8 years well - while the country knew Bush was a dick, the media and the Villagers made sure he thought he was the best president evah. Maybe now, finally, as he leaves office, Bush will get the message: fuck you, now get the fuck out.

Thank you to CJo and Sacki for the opportunity to vent like this. I'm going to miss this forum, and I'm also going to miss the readers who took the time to comment. Reading the comments yesterday brought a smile to my face - something that hasn't happened much the last few years.

This is the end of Shrubville, and hopefully the beginning of a New America. Good night, and good luck.

PS: Also, thanks to you, Mr. Stantis. You gave us all an easy target to vent our anger at. Your crappy comic strip gave us something to look forward to, although in the complete opposite way of how you intended. Now please, quit already. It's time.

The folly of 'Prickly City' has always been the fact it was created at the height of modern-day GOP power and Scott Stantis used this 'comic' vehicle as a propaganda piece to complain about 'liberals' and Democrats.

Scott's voice wasn't a vital counterpoint in a political and cultural argument. Instead, his voice was a non-stop Nyah-Nyah-Nyah-Nyah-Nyah chorus of boobosity.

It was offensive.

(Plus, you know, the strip was unfunny. And his drawing style sucked.)

But it's a different world starting tomorrow. We're the opposite of Scott Stantis. We don't gloat. We know when to fight, but more importantly, we know when to sit back and just be.

It's time for us to just be.

As previously mentioned, I'm sure the three of us will still check in every now and again on the strip. (Unfortunately, it's still in my morning paper; I have no choice.) We'll comment at gocomics from time-to-time. We still like to stir shit up.

Thanks to all who have visited over the years. Thanks to all who have commented to remind us that, yes, a handful of people do check in with the site.

A personal thanks to my compatriots Sacki and The Furnace. I could not have made it past three months without them.

See you in the funny pages!

Today's Prickly City is about as good as it's ever gonna get. Is it possible that it could get good just as we're about to close up shop? Ha ha ha ha - no.

Sacki sent an email to CJo and myself (which included the rejection letter posted yesterday - h/t Sacki), and pointed out that there didn't seem to be any interest in a Shrubville retrospective. And he's right - I think most of us would rather forget the pain and suffering that Scott Stantis and George W. Bush have brought on us over the last 8 years. But here are a few things I'll always remember from my time reading and later writing here at the Ville of the Shrub:

CJo coining the term "punching the corn flakes box."

Sacki's often esoteric, artistic, irrelevant, and (at least to me) confusing as hell posts.

My lame habit of coming up with different nicknames for Scott Stantis when I first started writing here.

Sacki's "heel" approach to writing as the lone McCain supporter (go see "The Wrestler" for a definition of the term).

CJo calling it for Obama long before anyone else.

My having to sit and listen to Stantis' give a live presentation of a slide show of his work and how the audience turned on him.

CJo and Sacki's haikus.

CJo's song parodies.

My wikipedia "feud" with someone named Pellucid.

Sacki's constant jabs at Hawk Harrelson that only South Siders would get.

The first time CJo told me about his blog, which was the first time I ever heard about this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad comic strip called "Prickly City."

It's been a fun ride - thanks for letting me hitchhike for part of it. If you have any other favorite Shrubville moments, please add them in the comments section.

Dangit George, you put too much detergent in the White House washing machine and now look at the mess you've made! Bubbles everywhere!

Wait, what? Those are supposed to be people? Oh. Hmm.

Why do I get the feeling if I submitted some of Stantis' old Prickly City strips this is the reaction I would have gotten?

Stant the Man just can't help himself.

After not only bearing witness to, but also helping to elect and cheerlead the actual History's Greatest Monster, he decides today, three days before the Monster vacates the stage, to take a limp-wristed, half-hearted wank jab in the general direction of Al Gore and/or James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr.

Oh well. That's the way it goes.

That's how we'll always remember you, Scott Stantis: a bitter asshole with a rotten sense of history.

TODAY'S STRIP

How impressive. A sly commentary on how the Chinese are undermining the American economy and politics, given our enormous financial debt owed to them. (Sadly, it appears that colored comics are among the first casualties of the new regime.) Could've used a bit more subtlety than "Ching Ching" to denote this takeover, however. At least there's no "This is what Stantis thinks Dems are saying except that they're really not" look on Winslow this time. Small change, people. Small change. Little steps.

(sorry - couldn't find any footage with the egg throwing)

TODAY'S STRIP

For starters a correction: turns out my screed going after Stantis and conservatives in general on Sunday was directed at a repeat strip that originally ran a few years ago. As the kids say: my bad. But I can't help but think a little bit of the blame should go to John, who won the "Draw Crashed Winslow Contest" but hasn't sent in a screed of his own about Prickly City. Only one more week, John!

As for today's strip: meh. Winslow is in the fez, which means it's going to be in the punchline. Been there, done that. Although I must admit I'm a bit concerned by Carmen's gigantism. It's getting really out of control as of late.

While we count the days to the end of Shrubville and the beginning of the Obama administration, let's not forget to remember the a$$hole who's leaving the country in such dire straits. I think the image of George W. Bush snubbing Helen Thomas at his last presser sums up Bush extremely well - a prick until the end. Remember all those people that used to say they voted for Bush because they felt like he's the kind of guy you could have a beer with (even though he's an allegedly recovering alcoholic)? Yeah, well it's pretty clear that Bush is the kind of dick that throws his empties at the dog to make himself laugh. While I'm not nearly as in love with Obama as a lot of other folk are, I'm certainly glad we're getting rid of this dickboy soon. But much like with Nixon, I'm sure we'll be a country filled with people who swear they didn't vote for him and can't imagine how such a monster was appointed and then elected to the highest office in the land.

Now can we please get Obama to stop saying he wants to work with the losers that got us into this mess and actually start fixing things?

This thought popped in my head yesterday: the American people are like Detroit Lions fans. After some terrible, horrible years we finally got rid of Matt Millen and the owner is going to replace him with a young hot shot as the new GM and head coach. Great, we all think - finally some real change! Then during his first press conference the new coach says, "I know I promised you guys change, but I don't want to upset all of Matt Millen's fans. So I have hired Millen to be my co-head coach and co-GM. And since he has so much experience, he's going to be in charge of the next draft." THAT'S how Obama sounds to me every time he talks about keeping on Republicans in his cabinet and talks about wanting to work with Republicans to fix the mess they and only they got us into. The Matt Millen/George W. Bush reigns are over for a reason: THEY SUCKED. Don't worry about hurting their poor wittle feewings - they're big boys, and they'll survive. Fix the country. Make America proud again. A good start is to quit acting like the Republicans know what they're doing. Oh, and can we put both Cheney and Bush on trial for authorizing torture? Thanks.

Sorry, kinda ranted there for a minute. Gonna miss this forum. Go Cardinals! (they've never been to the big game, and I hate the iggles)

TODAY'S STRIP

I chuckled lightly. I'm not afraid to admit it.

You can't expect more out of a comic on any given day.

There might be something to this Scott Stantis fellow.

Maybe I should keep my eye on him over the next four years, follow his career, etc.

I have a few theories on how the conservative brain works differently than other brains. For example, I've mentioned before that conservatives seem to have the amazing ability to hold two completely opposite beliefs at the same time and never realize that they're diametrically opposed to each other. That's why my conservative friend Mel can rant and rave against universal healthcare because it would be run by the government, but quickly admits he'd let his child go to public schools.

Another theory is that conservatives think one way on an issue when it affects someone else, but they change their tune if they're doing the suffering. For Mel it was his hatred of universal healthcare, until his stepdaughter was in the hospital and he saw how expensive it was going to be, and when his grandmother's medicaid ran out and the hospital wanted to kick her out. Then he was all in favor of fixing the health industry.

Then there's the third theory, or the Buckley Theorem. That's the one that says that conservatives leap to the worst possible extreme conclusion in order to make their point. William F. used to love to say that if gay people got married, then we'd have men marrying animals. Another thing we heard all the time was if we don't invade Iraq and kill al Qaeda (yeah, I know), then Osama will take over America and declare himself our new president and rape all our women all at once. Oh, and did you hear the one about how Obama will make us a Muslim country and rape all our white women (cuz he's black) if he gets elected? For many conservatives there are no shades of gray - if you let X (whatever they don't like) happen, then it's the end of the world.

Like Stephen Colbert says, conservatives think from the gut, not from the head. And that's why Scott Stantis does such a great job of summing up the conservative mindset today. Prickly City is hit by a massive blizzard. Time passes, the snow melts, and we see the frozen, dead carcass of Winslow holding a sign that once said "Stop Global Warming."

Deep breath. Yeah, I know it hurts the brain, but let's check out how awful this really is.

For starters, I'm guessing Stantis heard about the snow storm that hit New Orleans in December, hence this strip. So it makes perfect sense for him to have a blizzard hit the desert. Because in his mind, "global warming" means one thing and one thing only: the globe getting warm, and that's the ONLY thing it could mean because if global warming does happen, the ONLY outcome is that things get warmer (and gays will marry sheep). Forget the little things like how the rising temperature will have unpredictable effects on the atmosphere as a whole, resulting in freak flooding in Seattle and Chicago in the middle of winter. Or how here in northern Illinois we now regularly have 30 and 40 degree swings in temperature (yesterday it was 30, Tuesday we're supposed to be near zero - and that's happened a half dozen times since Thanksgiving).

So a blizzard hitting a southern state isn't proof that global warming is a real threat - the fact that the temperature returned to normal levels and melted the snow is proof that global warming is a good thing since it (eventually) warms things up. Got that?

A simple strip to sum up the simple yet convoluted mindset of a conservative. Global warming is a myth - unless it melts a freak blizzard, and if that happens then it's a good thing. It comes pretty close to featuring all three of my conservative mind theories:

1. Two opposite beliefs held at the same time? Apparently global warming doesn't exist because there was a blizzard, but the snow did melt so maybe global warming is real - which is a good thing since it makes us warm. Check.

2. They think one way until it effects them personally? I'm guessing Scotty had to shovel some snow when that storm hit last month, inspiring this strip. There's also a chance of snow there this week.

3. If something they don't like happens then the world will come to an end? Well considering Winslow is DEAD at the end of this strip, I'm thinking that yeah, Stantis went a little far to show how much he hates Al Gore for suggesting global warming is a real threat.

But while Winslow might be dead, and least Dio has returned from the grave to offer up the punchline. Nothing like having a character we haven't seen in months show up for a one time strip about global warming. 9 more days...

Eh, Prickly City isn't bad today. Which might be some of the highest praise I've ever given Stantis. Way to go. Although it's not exactly original, at least it doesn't suck balls like most PC strips.

So...not much else to say...um...enjoy some German rock:

The New Black's debut album on sale January 23rd. Furnace approved if you like hard rock and heavy metal!

(what, you'd prefer I blog about Israel and Gaza? Ha! We're outta here in ten days - we're going to be about as active as George W. Bush is until then.)

TODAY'S STRIP

Today's strip, which, in the spirit of yesterday's strip, which was in the spirit of every strip from the beginning of Prickly City's time, makes as much sense as Jack Donaghy re-writing the lyrics to a Janis Joplin tune.

'You know you bought it if you bought it with things.'

But we're not just here to criticize Prickly City's sense-making-ness. We're also here to criticize its politics -- lame-brained! -- its art -- kraptastic! -- its creator -- too interested in pre-teens in thongs! -- its characters -- morons! -- its cacti -- full of Al Sharpton! -- and its existence -- disappear already, like us!

TODAY'S STRIP

Opinions are like Prickly City: Winslow's an asshole.

While it's possible that the objective of this storyline is humor, Winston comes off as less Rod Blagojevich/Ronnie Dobbs in his display of entitilitus, and more like Fredo Corleone in his "I'm smart! Not like everybody says... like dumb... I'm smart and I want respect!" rationalizations of idiocy. One can only hope that a fishing trip is next on his agenda.