The Annotated Family Circus

The short version: I am now blogging at The Annotated Family Circus. I might still blog at The Comics Section occasionally, but at a much lower volume.

For the long version, see the post below.

In which The Comics Section evolves. Or devolves. Or something.

As you may or may not have noticed, depending on how much attention you pay to this silly blog of mine, I haven't been doing the daily Family Circus posts you may or may not have grown accustomed to. Indeed, I haven't been doing any posting at all for the past couple of days. "Why is this?" you may or may not be asking.

Well. As it happens, it actually takes quite a lot of effort to write this blog. That was OK when I was enjoying myself. But lately, keeping the blog up to date has started to feel an awful lot like work. And, frankly, there are other ways I'd like to spend my time and other subjects besides the comics section that I'd like to write about. So I began to give serious consideration to retiring the blog.

But I don't want to give up comics blogging entirely. Of all the aspects of the blog, the one I still enjoy without reservation is the daily Family Circus post. With that in mind, I've created a new blog: The Annotated Family Circus. It's a somewhat different format than what I've been doing here at The Comics Section, and it's a heck of a lot less work. But I think it's still pretty funny, and I'd love it if all my loyal readers (and all of my not-so-loyal readers, too) came and joined me over there. I've decided to host it on Tumblr--which is a decision I'm still not sure about, because it seems sort of glitchy to me--but it seems better a suited for a blog like this. While there is no commenting system at the moment, you can like individual posts and follow the blog if you have a Tumblr account. And of course you can add it to your RSS feed--which you should do immediately--and bookmark it and tell all your friends about it and all that good stuff. There are a couple of weeks worth of posts up already, so go and check it out.

Additionally, I'm going to try my hand at pop culture blogging over at Late Reviews, which is pretty much empty now, though I'm working on getting some content up over there even as you read this. If you're interested in that, feel free to stop by there as well. If you follow me on Twitter, then you're already pretty familiar with the stuff I'll be writing about over there.

As for The Comics Section, I'll still be posting here occasionally when something catches my eye. Most likely, when I do post here, it will be longer, more analytical stuff. (Or, you know, short, snarky stuff. I guess we'll see.) I encourage you to check in to The Comics Section once in a while, but be aware that posting here will be greatly reduced and of a slightly different form (maybe).

Finally, I'd like to thank everyone for reading. I said earlier that the Family Circus posts were the one aspect of the blog that I still enjoy unreservedly, but that's not completely true. That there are people out there who take the time to read my silly blog posts about Beetle Bailey and Hagar the Horrible is a pretty terrific feeling. And I hope you'll continue to read my silly blog posts about The Family Circus. Thank you so much.

And so, in closing, everybody go read my new blog, damn it.

Pearls Before Swine: JEFFY, fat and tattooed, sits on death row receiving last rites.

Not even Jeffy can outrun the law forever, I suppose.

Family Circus: I'm sorry, your stomach is mistaken. It's not time for a snack.

This cartoon is hilarious because Jeffy is hungry.

Family Circus: Gosh--that corner looks really lonely now.

In Dolly's New World Order, we will keep trees in our house all year long.

Family Circus: Now we get to go back and rerun all the months again.

The sad thing is, Billy's really not kidding at all.

Family Circus: That's it, I'm tired. I'm gonna call it a year.

Last year, nearly half the comics in the comics section featured New Year's Eve jokes about how hard it is to stay up until midnight. Only one of those comics features the same joke this New Year's Eve. That comic is The Family Circus.

This is, on the one hand, rather surprising and, on the other, not surprising at all.

Family Circus: I got the sled, but Santa forgot to bring me snow.

This is why Jeffy prefers serial killing to so many other activities. His ability to murder people is never dependent upon the weather.

Family Circus: This broke and I wasn't tired of it yet.

The censors unfortunately butchered this one. You just have to imagine the robot as a dead body to get the full effect.

Family Circus: C'mon, Daddy, you hafta put on your sweater. Mommy's feelin' cold.

Apparently Billy and Dolly are on good terms again, because this is some pretty harsh mockery. Thel doesn't stand a chance.

Family Circus: Mommy! Can we start being naughty again or do we still need to be nice?

Even in the midst of being sexually assaulted by her idiot brother, Dolly takes a moment to criticize and condescend to her mother.

"Can I hit Jeffy in the head with this candy cane, or do I need to submit to his sexual will like a proper young lady, which will simultaneously turn me into an impure whore? Well, Mommy? Well?"

Family Circus: For PJ

This comic is hilarious and adorable because PJ is an idiot.

Family Circus: Merry Christmas from ALL of us!

It appears that a serial killer who is not Jeffy has sneaked into the Keane house through the chimney and is lying in wait to murder the whole family horribly.

It is a merry Christmas indeed.

Family Circus: Mommy, isn't it time for us to get nestled all snug in our beds?

Here we see Billy being his oddly pretentious self, Jeffy dreaming of mutilated corpses under the tree, and Dolly gleefully awaiting her total world domination. PJ, of course, is pooping.

Family Circus: If Santa doesn't have a Magical-Maria Giggle and Coo Interactive Talking Baby, would another kind be okay?

There are times when I think that Dolly is like that little boy in The Twilight Zone who could turn people into jack-in-the-boxes with her mind.

This is one of those times.

Family Circus: It's good Jesus was born in a stable. When the shepherds came they had a place to park their sheep.

Dolly's coldly utilitarian view of the Christmas story is oddly refreshing.

Family Circus: Stop tellin' everybody what we're askin' Santa for, 'cause then everybody'll ask for it and Santa might run out.

Total world domination is, after all, in limited supply.

Family Circus: Guess what, Mommy? Daddy's in the bedroom copying down your sizes!

Here was see Dolly attempting to ruin Christmas for her mother.

"But don't WORRY, Mommy. Even though you've GROWN a couple of sizes, I'm sure Daddy still loves you ANYWAY. It's not like he'd LEAVE you just because you GAINED a few pounds and have a FEW gray hairs. Really, I wouldn't be at all concerned about it, Mommy. I'm sure he's JUST FRIENDS with the pretty young lady who bought our lamp last summer..."

Family Circus: Don't Forget!

Here we see Keane Inc. doing its part to keep the Christ in Christmas. It's really not a bad comic for what it is. It's not funny, but it's not supposed to be funny. It accomplishes its goal, which is pretty much all you can ask of a Family Circus cartoon. Keane Inc. just really wanted to let everybody know that, as far as they are concerned, Christmas is not about candy or lights or wrapping paper, but rather Jesus's fake birthday.

So mission accomplished, I guess.

Family Circus: Can I say, "Yes"?

In a shocking twist, Billy has turned on Dolly and begun to reassert Thel's illusion of control. It will be interesting to see how Dolly reacts. It's possible she'll just give the signal and this mall Santa will suffocate to death Billy with his beard.