Comic Strip Relief

There's something about mediocre single-panel comics that leave them open for parody. My favorite recent comic strip dig comes from the fine folks at Losanjealous, which recently debuted the Nietzsche Family Circus:



According to the Losanjealous guys, the Nietzsche Family Circus pairs a random Family Circus cartoon with a random Friedrich Niestzsche quote. They promise it's completely random -- yet strangely, the words of the 19th century German philospher seem to work in conjunction with whatever Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and P.J. are doing in each cartoon.

Meanwhile, there's also Marmaduke Explained, in which the blog's author, "Joe Mathlete," takes time daily to interpret that day's cartoon:

Marmaduke's owner-man lost his job, and with it went his family's dignity and sense of shame. Marmaduke and Owner-Lady are reduced to begging for food while Owner-Man stays at home and drinks.

In other comic strip news, you may have heard last week that Universal Press Syndicate informed newspapers that Aaron McGruder's six-month hiatus from "The Boondocks" -- which was slated to return this month -- appears to now be permanent.

Strangely, the syndicate hasn't been able to nail down a return date from McGruder, who has been busy with other projects in Hollywood, including the animated TV version of "The Boondocks."

Most newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, had already pulled "The Boondocks" and subbed in a temporary replacement strip, with the idea that "The Boondocks" would knock it out when it returned in October. Now that "The Boondocks" is gone for good, it's not clear whether the Times will simply make those changes permanent.