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Mary Worth, 1/19/26

Last week, the main conflict of this Toby storyline — “Toby got a bird and Ian hated it” — was resolved as Ian submitted to Sunny’s charms. Now we can move on to the next storyli–wait, what’s this? Another bird has arrived? Bird number two? The bird drama continues, with two birds instead of one? This is an intriguing development! Will each new bird have to save Ian’s life in turn in order to be accepted into the flock?

Judge Parker, 1/19/26

Oh, hey, remember Randy’s long-lost sister Ann, who showed up in everyone’s lives again not that long ago only to eventually get sent to jail? Well, it looks like she’s once again reappeared in dramatic fashi–hold on, I’ve just read panel two, and it turns out that the fashion of her reappearance is not as dramatic as all that. Ah, well! Adjust your expectations accordingly.

Hi and Lois, 1/19/26

I’m really digging the dramatic change in Hi’s facial expressions between the two panels here. “Oh man, this is great! Wait, I’m supposed to be sober for whatever this is? Absolutely not.”

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Mary Worth, 1/18/26

Good news, everyone! Ian didn’t become some soft-hearted sap just because a parrot saved his life or whatever. No, he recognized that this destructive bird was also intelligent, which meant that his behavior could be molded and guided by someone clever and patient enough. That’s why Ian is showing Sunny Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds: he’s planting the “seeds” (get it?) so Sunny will eventually unleash his violent impulses on an outside world that never fully appreciated Ian’s genius, and hopefully recruit his bird friends along the way.

Dennis the Menace, 1/18/26

One of my several comics pet peeves is when strips don’t make use of the full set of space allotted them on Sundays to do something interesting and special. Margaret going to town on the ivories and Dennis standing nearby saying “She puts the no in piano” would be a perfectly serviceable daily panel. But this is a punchline that does not benefit from six panels of setup, and showing Dennis doing a passive-aggressive “Let me check my schedule” bit does not in any way add to it.

Herb and Jamaal, 1/18/26

I stand with Jamaal here. You wouldn’t question Dagwood Bumstead’s sandwich consumption, would you? What is the point of being a comics character, if you cannot devour foodstuffs in comical quantities and qualities?

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Mary Worth, 1/17/26

Minutes later, Mary would of course be relaying all this information to Toby and Ian’s homeowners insurance carrier. Why should the general Charterstone policy bear all the risk for their negligence?

Blondie, 1/17/26

Look, being Elmo’s #2 is a coveted position, and this kid is not doing well on his first day. Panel two makes it clear this was supposed to be a surprise, but the kid just blurted it out in panel one, ruining it! Sorry, buddy, there’s not going to be any more visits to the house of some weird adult who isn’t your friend’s dad and who doesn’t even have kids your age in your future!

Pluggers, 1/17/26

You can call me cruel for enjoying things like “pluggers routinely pass out on the toilet,” but even I have my limits. I don’t think “pluggers have a bad relationship with their kids” is much fun, actually. I think it’s pretty depressing!

Gil Thorp, 1/17/26

Gil Thorp has had a lot of artists over the years, both permanent and guests, and they’ve all brought something specific and interesting to the strip. The last couple weeks Jason Margos has been filling in, and what he’s brought to the strip is an extreme close-up on Coach Gerads’ weird, gross lips. Enjoy your weekend!