In today’s comics crop, a Zits on language and the sexes (once again), a Rhymes With Orange with language play, and a Bizarro metacartoon on the visual conventions of the comics:
(#1)
(#2)
(#3)
Love talk in Zits. #1 has Jeremy and his girfriend Sara, communicating in grossly gender-stereotyped ways: Sara highly verbal (and focused on feelings), Jeremy monosyllabic (and focused on sexual attraction). Jeremy, in fact, falls back on primitive Tarzan-talk (“Me make lousy love talk”), as does his buddy Pierce (“Join club”); they have apparently devolved.
Damnesia in Rhymes. #2 has Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind, seen here in declining old age. Rhett, in particular, can’t recall the conclusion of his famous line, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn”. Amnesia for damn: so the portmanteau title “Damnesia”.
Crosshatching in Bizarro. In #3 the patient presents with something that at first glance appears to be a rash, but on closer inspection turns out to be the crosshatching used by cartoonists to convey shading or texture. Clever of the doctor to realize that he’s confronted by someone who’s not only by a patient but also a cartoon.
