Saturday, May 2, 2026

A Reboot That REALLY Isn't Needed...

 It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Panther Girl of the Kongo.

Muir does realize that the Village were the bad guys and Number Six was the good guy, right?

Or does he imagine that the situation would be different if his people were doing it to no good inferior leftists?

The Mystery Business(TM) Era; Part 6: The Liberal Stooge.

 And now we wrap up that little cast with the other primarily political character, Jan, who, in the Early Period, sits in a strange relation with her fellows. For a start, Sam, Zed and Damon all have jobs in Mystery Business(TM)'s technical areas--even though it should be noted Damon's isn't ever named in strip, but still, that he is involved in that is made reasonably clear. Jan however, is in Marketing, something that she will yammer about in place of a personality trait well after Mystery Business(TM) is shuttered. This puts a clear line between her and the rest--they all do something tangible in... whatever it is Mystery Business(TM) does, while Jan... well, theoretically, she's supposed to be helping to sell it, though I'm not sure Muir gets that. But more importantly, she's doing something abstract that Muir clearly sees as meaningless busy work. Indeed, Jan's exact position in Mystery Business(TM) is somehow more nebulous than Damon's unnamed one--frequently, she's depicted as holding some level of authority over the others, to allow her to perform the beats a "boss" character would. This makes no sense, but so it goes. All of it ultimately this is ultimately about setting Jan up for her purpose in the political portion of the strip--being the lone "liberal" member of the cast.

Jan's general purpose at this point in the strip is to be a comic straight man, and a very specific sort of one. She's not an occasionally witty voice of sanity observing and commenting on the lunacy surrounding her. She's a stooge. Jan says stupid things and asks stupid questions so the others can riff of her. You don't laugh with this Jan, you laugh at her. Early Period Jan is a pill. At her best, she's sheltered and naive, the perfect gull who still confident she is so much smarter than you. At her worst, she is shallow and self-righteous, constantly demanding attention and validation.  Hence the job that Muir largely paints as useless and also manipulative. Everything about Jan at this point is supposed to underline her status as someone who's the butt of the joke, and just wrong.

Now, Muir does not do a good job of this. A problem that has been with him from the start is that his own opinions are, well, shallow and ill-considered, so to a reader not predisposed to simply nod along, Jan doesn't come across an idiot arguing with sensible people, she comes across as an idiot arguing with worse idiots. Jan comes across not as some well-reasoned statement against liberalism, but as a caricature of and snarl against "Vaguely Leftish Coffee-house Types Who The Writer Resents", She is, to Muir, a Spoiled Well-to-Do White Girl, talking about things she doesn't understand.

Now this will change in the future. Indeed, this version of Jan will be largely discarded not only in future Eras, but over the course of the Late Mystery Business(TM) Period. But at this point, she tends to stay in her lane. Jan's job is to be zinged off of, and zinged off she is.

With very bad zingers.

Friday, May 1, 2026

Sam And Zed Continue To Be Awful Nazi Hicks.

 It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Man With the Steel Whip.

It's kind of amazing how this imagined "Muslim community" on the Texas border just keeps popping back up every few months because Muir so loves giving his cast punching bags that he's having this one spontaneously regenerate over and over again so Sam can complain about or destroy it again.

Thursday, April 30, 2026

He Thinks He's Brave, Witty, and Perceptive.

  It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Trader Tom of the China Seas.

When Muir's sort are out of power, he plots treason.

When they're in power, he still plots treason, because he doesn't understand the Constitution, AND because that's the only way to keep them in power.

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

And Like Clockwork, More Racism.

 It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders.

Apparently, yesterday was about getting an indulgence for this little bit of mouth-breathing idiocy, where Muir implicitly insists that a Cal Tech graduate is stupid, because he's Black. It's been something, over the years, watching Muir's swollen self-regard and hysterical bigotry curdle into something more and more repulsive.

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

An Unhinged Rant Has To Be True When It Let's Muir Pretend He's Not Racist.

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe.

Clarence Thomas. Probably one of the most deeply malignant men to sit on the Court, alongside Taney.

Which if, you know what Taney's most famous for, is exceptionally ironic.

Monday, April 27, 2026

"With Their Lies, And Pictures Of Also-Lies!"

It's the Day's Day of Days! Because Jungle Drums of Africa.

Ahh, yes. Muir, who has regularly fantasized about killing numerous elected Democrats insists that the media not being properly servile to his special boy is what caused this. Because he and his have all the rights, and anyone who doesn't recognize this have none.