life stays Epic all damn week long!!! ;-)

(The weekends, though? Brutal, hombre. Brutal.)

Ruben and Keef are the best weeklies.

And it is so true what Ruben said about comics, both strips and books. Kids aren't reading them. Go to any comic book store. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone under 30 in there.

My eight-year-old boy and I both love superheroes. Trouble is, I satisfied my X-Men addiction and got my Fantastic Four fix from Marvel Comics. He just watches the movies.

Thanks!

If there were a whole huge book of just Super-Fun-Pak comics, I would buy it without hesitation.

"Happy Endings" is my favorite -- although the man's expression is more than enough, I don't think it needed the explanation at the bottom.

"Joe LaBum," "The Epic/Epic Report," and "Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs" were all big winners for me this week.

...have the copyright on the old-timey "Alas, for comics, like so many other ephemera of American culture, have become obsolete and will soon be forgotten" schtick? Nobody laments lost cultural detritus like Ware does.

Fun Fact about this week's comic: Joe LaBum is a character I actually created when I was in fifth grade. We were studying India in school, and that inspired me to create a big-nosed character who wore only a pair of white shorts (despite the fact that I was in the midst of actually learning about the country, this was my idea of traditional Indian garb -- blame the public school system) and a very poorly drawn turban (looks more like a Devo helmet), and had the funniest name I could think of.

The character became so popular in the class, we made a homemade movie about him with the help of our teacher Mr. Nestor, featuring limited animation. And I mean very, very limited. It was called "Joe LaBum Gets Drafted." I don't remember the plot details, but apparently he was he was called upon to serve his country (yes, he's American!). Somehow, he ended up in jail -- perhaps I was making a political statement about dodging the draft -- and the highlight of the movie came in a close-up of the jailhouse clock, because, it actually looked like its hands were moving (unlike the "animation" in the rest of the movie), drawing oohs and aahs from the audience.

http://gocomics.typepad.com/tomthedancingbugblog/

That Happy ending one is great, I like the look on their faces in the last panel.

Funny, the comic shops I go to have many "under 30" customers. Kids, teens and college-age adults usually account for at least half the people I see in the shops, sometimes more.

Thank yor explaining Joe LaBum. His Devo helmet was funny even without the explanation, though.

Great strip. Keep 'em coming.

thank "you for"

sorry.

I love the line, "leave to the less discerning the passing fads of moving images and vertebrate companionship."

Beyond the antiquated nature of the art form, I sense the passing of some of the cartoonists' Super-Fun-Pak Comix basic nutrients: I could never resist the devastating re-workings of the most pedestrian one-joke regulars of the newspaper comics page (the Lockhorns, Marmaduke, etc.), as well as the ubiquitous Bazooka Joe. I know we're higher up the comix pyramid now, but I recall the time... And yes, I, too, would pay full Amazon price for a book-size collection of Super-Fun-Pak Comix (rather than wait the extra yr for the cheapo used copy), 'cause they're both timeless and "good for you".