"They were innovative in their time."
June 19, 2025 12:30 PM Subscribe
The weird zombie existence of the Family Circus "The Family Circus is one of the most popular comics in the world. But if you dig beneath the surface, there's something strange going on." Don McHoull chronicles how the same jokes have been recycled for decades, with some visuals, new hair, price increases, added on masks, computers, etc. have now been added in.
On a related note, For Better Or For Worse decided to run "new-runs" since Lynn Johnston's retirement. The "new-runs" have also undergone some updates for the time period. Or...well, not?
On a related note, For Better Or For Worse decided to run "new-runs" since Lynn Johnston's retirement. The "new-runs" have also undergone some updates for the time period. Or...well, not?
Keane should have let Dan Bejar take over, as the universe intended.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:59 PM on June 19 [4 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:59 PM on June 19 [4 favorites]
Dad's slutty new shorts are really a bear magnet.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:05 PM on June 19 [13 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:05 PM on June 19 [13 favorites]
The novel The Funnies by J. Robert Lennon (from 1999) seems to be inspired by the story of the cartoonist who took over The Family Circus. Some other characters in the novel also seemed to be based on newspaper comic artists of the day.
(I say "seems" because I don't have any inside knowledge about those cartoonists --- I was just a faithful reader of the funnies and recognized some resemblances.)
posted by JonJacky at 1:07 PM on June 19
(I say "seems" because I don't have any inside knowledge about those cartoonists --- I was just a faithful reader of the funnies and recognized some resemblances.)
posted by JonJacky at 1:07 PM on June 19
I’m not angry. I’m just disappointed.
posted by heyitsgogi at 1:12 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
posted by heyitsgogi at 1:12 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
And it's always there, in the lower right hand corner, just waiting to suck.
posted by logicpunk at 1:21 PM on June 19 [4 favorites]
posted by logicpunk at 1:21 PM on June 19 [4 favorites]
Ida Know who to blame...Not Me
(I can't believe I'm so old I can make a Family Circus joke)
posted by warriorqueen at 1:22 PM on June 19 [10 favorites]
(I can't believe I'm so old I can make a Family Circus joke)
posted by warriorqueen at 1:22 PM on June 19 [10 favorites]
The video starts out with a fun montage of TV references to the Family Circus, including that one, logicpunk.
posted by Well I never at 1:23 PM on June 19
posted by Well I never at 1:23 PM on June 19
I enjoyed this! Like many people, I have opinions about zombie comics and comics taken over by offspring or other artists, though I really have no standing because I haven't regularly read any comics in many years.
posted by Well I never at 1:37 PM on June 19 [2 favorites]
posted by Well I never at 1:37 PM on June 19 [2 favorites]
In the late 90s I and a guy I knew would howl with laughter at the surreal profanity of Greg Galcik's Dysfunctional Family Circus. There were archives around for a while after Galcik took it down -- I used to look for them periodically, but haven't in probably a decade now.
In my mind that is still the only version worth reading.
posted by Pedantzilla at 2:24 PM on June 19 [3 favorites]
In my mind that is still the only version worth reading.
posted by Pedantzilla at 2:24 PM on June 19 [3 favorites]
I've lost track of the mirrors (I have it downloaded anyway), but I did keep a sample DFC panel here. (I was one of the editors.)
posted by zompist at 2:46 PM on June 19 [7 favorites]
posted by zompist at 2:46 PM on June 19 [7 favorites]
I watched this video the other day and I really enjoyed it. I loved the presenter's style. I also learned a lot about a comic that was a big part of my day every day for decades.
posted by ob1quixote at 2:57 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
posted by ob1quixote at 2:57 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
I loved the presenter's style
I like how they say "ah-gain"
posted by chavenet at 2:59 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
I like how they say "ah-gain"
posted by chavenet at 2:59 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
I fell down a rabbit hole a while ago looking at scans of local newspapers from the '80s, and I think we've really lost something irretrievable. Newspapers don't make sense at all in the 21st century -- they barely made sense in the '80s, or indeed at any point after the invention of commercial radio -- and I can't imagine them ever coming back barring some cataclysmic event that makes electronic communications impossible (I believe Elon Musk could somehow pull this off). In any event, the comics page was so lively then, full of amazing work and total forgotten trash alike, and The Family Circus, um...you know, it was the Family Circus. It's weird to see tulpas of all these brain dead strips haunting the comics page on the rare occasions I see a newspaper now, but this one seems like it was always like that.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:08 PM on June 19 [5 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:08 PM on June 19 [5 favorites]
Can't believe there hasn't been a red zone joke in here yet. I mean, zomp's here already. There's gotta be some more DFC/#spinnwebe folks left on MeFi.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:25 PM on June 19 [2 favorites]
posted by jacquilynne at 3:25 PM on June 19 [2 favorites]
Well I never: "I enjoyed this! Like many people, I have opinions about zombie comics and comics taken over by offspring or other artists, though I really have no standing because I haven't regularly read any comics in many years."
The reason why I haven't read any comics in many years is that they all seem to be the same thing, forever, in perpetuity. I presume Doonesbury isn't doing that, but I see no point in reading any of them any more, or at least it's not worth the effort to look. It's a shame. The last time I followed a comic strip was during the Granthony hate era, in which many of us on LJ hate-read FBOFW over our total disgust at Elizabeth being forced to give up two more adventurous dudes and go home and marry her high school ex who had become a complete drip. Good bad times, good bad times.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:15 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
The reason why I haven't read any comics in many years is that they all seem to be the same thing, forever, in perpetuity. I presume Doonesbury isn't doing that, but I see no point in reading any of them any more, or at least it's not worth the effort to look. It's a shame. The last time I followed a comic strip was during the Granthony hate era, in which many of us on LJ hate-read FBOFW over our total disgust at Elizabeth being forced to give up two more adventurous dudes and go home and marry her high school ex who had become a complete drip. Good bad times, good bad times.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:15 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
Well, at least it's not Cathy.
She's okay...2019 update on Cathy Guisewaite. (I understand a whole room of her little house in LA is devoted to her 'Cathy' swag collection.)
No, at least it's not Love Is - that's the one-panel that's truly excremental.
posted by Rash at 4:32 PM on June 19 [2 favorites]
She's okay...2019 update on Cathy Guisewaite. (I understand a whole room of her little house in LA is devoted to her 'Cathy' swag collection.)
No, at least it's not Love Is - that's the one-panel that's truly excremental.
posted by Rash at 4:32 PM on June 19 [2 favorites]
Well, at least it's not Cathy.
I dunno. If you feel this way, you might listen to Jamie Loftus’s podcast Aack Cast previously. It made me rethink
Cathy a bit, and, while I don’t exactly like it, I think it’s overly maligned.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:11 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
I dunno. If you feel this way, you might listen to Jamie Loftus’s podcast Aack Cast previously. It made me rethink
Cathy a bit, and, while I don’t exactly like it, I think it’s overly maligned.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:11 PM on June 19 [1 favorite]
> Nietzche Family Circus
Me: googles "Werner Herzog Family Circus"
posted by Sauce Trough at 5:17 PM on June 19
Me: googles "Werner Herzog Family Circus"
AI OverviewSigh. I wish I could quiet quit like the Family Circus.
It seems you are interested in Werner Herzog's connection to the circus or its influence on his work. Here's what the search results indicate:
posted by Sauce Trough at 5:17 PM on June 19
« Older Juneteenth... | Slopaganda Newer »
posted by gwint at 12:56 PM on June 19 [18 favorites]