I don’t think I get this comic. Is the joke that she farted and is trying to cover it up?
I think the joke is that something frightened the old guy so much that he jumped up on the back of the couch, something so insignificant his wife didn’t even hear it.
I agree, pravnik.
I still don’t get it, or why that would be a funny thing to make a comic out of. Maybe if someone explained it again?
My best guess is that it’s hilarious that the man is acting like women supposedly do. Or something.
I think Space Vampire is probably right. Still not funny but at least it makes sense now.
Thanks!
I think they’re comparing the man to a dog who gets excited over something only he can hear.
Or a cat.
Ahh that makes more sense. Thanks <b> Space Vampire</b>, you did make it make sense. It’s quite ‘hilarious.’ Or something.
I think there is a deliberate parallel to cat/pet behavior (my cat will do the same thing).
Van Amerongen has a very skewed view of life - one of my favourite comic artist/authors.
Pravnik’s right. The upshot is, it’s just a weird, not always funny strip. Read through some of the other Ballard Street panels linked to on that page.
If you aren’t satisfied with the answers here, you could send it to the guy who runs the Comics I Don’t Understand site.
That’s a CIDU if I’ve ever seen one.
Who ever said comics had to be funny/make sense? Have we all forgotten the zany adventures of Marmaduke?
I’d put that dog to sleep in a heartbeat.
I thought it was meant to be slightly political – if it’s a recent comic anyway. The man’s reading the daily newspaper, while the woman is reading the latest Ladies Issuez from the looks of it.
I think the question might be, “Does Cosmo have a war correspondent”? (They probably do, but I don’t much care anyway.)
The man is poised more-or-less like a dog, so maybe there is supposed to be an analogy to animal behavior.
Could it be significant that he is ignoring the open window and, instead, appears to be staring at the wall? I dunno.
Another thought: Gary Larson has written about how, when he was producing his far side series, newspapers would, from time-to-time, crop one of his drawings so that an essential part was left out. For example, he once did a cartoon where a man was standing at the open window of a factory, talking on the phone about how one disaster had led to another that day. He ended up by saying “and then everything went, well, you know…”
Numerous readers wrote him to say “huh?”. The problem was that some newspapers had clipped off the very top of the drawing, where one could see that there was a sign on the factory roof which said something like “Acme Haywire Company”.
Arguably, it still wasn’t that great of a joke, but at least it made sense. Possibly some key element of the drawing is not visible here. I don’t know: could the woman be deaf and be sitting on the cat or something? Is the starting pistol she is using to spook her husband just out of sight?
That window looks awful empty. I’m betting the artist forgot to ink in the slathering bug-eyed monster tapping on the glass.
he’s on the bed, he’s not acting like a dog
I think it’s about deafness and denial. She can’t hear, and she’s not worried about anything she can’t hear.
How is it that this thread hasn’t been moved to Cafe Societ yet?