Anybody know how Nuts ended? The last strip I ever saw was of the “kid” actually being really sick, and being taken to the hospital via ambulance, while thinking “shit, this ain’t no fun. This is serious!”
Loved that strip! It’s only since the advent of You Damn Kid has someone really nailed down the terror/humor of childhood as well.
One of the first I saw in an old F&SF, and still my favorite:
Astronauts have landed their small craft on an alien planet. They see little men are dancing around the rocket, and crushed beneath the rocket is someone who was wearing striped stockings. The caption is, of course, “Ding, dong, the witch is dead!”
So, Ike, is he a nice guy? And as cute as the photo on his web site indicates?
I don’t even remember the punchline, but my favorite was the one with two teenagers necking in a porch swing. The boy is recoiling in horror; the girl’s blouse is open, revealing her breasts, which have gnarly teeth and eyeballs.
I met him at a small writers’ convention about three years ago, and got to hear him speak at a panel. He’s a very nice guy, and fun to listen to.
For those who haven’t seen him in print Cartoonbank has hundreds of his cartoons.
Is it just coincidence that this thread was started soon after mention of Gahan Wilson in the “can you tear someone’s arm off” thread?
4 panels
Man sits at typewriter, a sign reads ‘National Tattler’(or something similiar). His face shows frustration. The paper in the typewriter is blank
2nd panel is more of same
3rd panel Reporter gets his hat and coat and heads for the door.
4th panel Reporter is back. His hands are stained. He’s typing. Page reads “It isn’t easy to murder a woman and cut her heart out with a butcher knife. It’s hard work. And it isn’t quick. It takes a good 15 minutes to get it out.l”
Also like this trio! 
Hot dam, Doc, I was wondering the same thing! One of the most disturbing endings to a comic strip series I ever encountered: “Remember the time you got so sick you died?”
Another one that stayed with me forever, poster sized, IIRC:
A solitary soldier is standing on a smoking battlefield. The ruins and mushroom clouds in the distance make it clear that he is the last survivor of Armageddon. On his face is an expression of relief mixed with a dawning comprehension that he’s finally out of the line of fire. His line: “We won!”
???]Originally posted by don’t ask *
**Is it just coincidence that this thread was started soon after mention of Gahan Wilson in the “can you tear someone’s arm off” thread? **
[/QUOTE]
Nope; that is what brought him to mind. I think my favorite is the guy looking at the eye chart reading “IAMANINSANEEYEDOCTOR” while the doctor sneaks up behind him with a knife.
Two Buddhist monks sit side by side in meditation poses. One whispers to the other, “Nothing comes next! This is it!”
Dystopian city scene – everybody is dressed only in a loincloth and a cap with a pole attached; the pole projects a couple of feet in front of the person’s face and from the end dangles a line with a carrot on the end. Everyone is shuffling forward in apparent pursuit of the carrot. One guy has reached out his arm, grabbed his carrot, and started eating it. A passerby says, “All right, what are you going to do now?”
Two men walk down a depressing city street. They are passing a diner with the sing “Forget It Deli.” A bus has its destination listed as “Wherever.” A bit of graffiti says, “Mary Sue is boring.” One man says to the other, “Somewhere along the line, this town lost its pride.”
Man in the street looking terrified because all the people around him are teddy bears in human clothing. Female standing next to him says, “Face facts, Ted. It isn’t that we’ve all turned into teddy bears, it’s that you’ve gone crazy!”
Man walks down a city street talking into a cell phone. Caption: “Wonderful! This way I can go block after block talking to myself and nobody looks at me as if I were crazy!”
Scene in a large office: A couple of men are going around the room shooting people at their desks. A man who appears to be the boss is clutching in terror at one of the armed men, who says coolly, “You hired us to streamline your operation, Mr. Franks, and that is exactly what we are doing!”
Old West street scene: One gunfighter lies in the dust. Another, incredibly huge man walks away, holding his gun, and we see blood pouring out of several holes in his back. One onlooker to another: “Trouble is, with someone like old Claude there, it don’t matter a damn if you DO draw first!”
Scottish heath. Guide in Highland kilt, etc., and a tourist crouch behind a hummock, watching a line of strange, peanut-shaped, antlered, bipedal creatures running across the heath. Guide to tourist: “Och, you’re lucky man, Mr. Harris! 'Tis a rare stranger who gets to view the wild haggis romp!”
Man sits in loan-company office, papered with signs like “Buddy’s Friendly Loan Company!” “Sure are glad you asked us for a hand!” etc. Man behind desk, wearing big friendly smile, says, “Sorry, buddy! With your credit rating, you’re going to have to go to one of those mean outfits!”
A couple sit in front of a desk in a bank or loan office. Executive behind desk holds a sheaf of papers. Door just opened and a melodrama villain with big nose, black mustache, stovepipe had and frock coat is peeking his head in. Exectutive says, “Now that you’ve signed the papers, I’d like you to meet our Mr. Snead!”
Scene aboard a spaceship orbiting Earth. The deck is crammed with creatures exactly like “E.T.” from the Spielberg movied of that name. All are wearing military uniforms or armor. One is addressing the crowd, referring to another E.T. standing next to him: “Before we begin the invasion, I’d like to congratulate Colonel Glanf on a stunning propaganda coup!”
Two panels:
Nice looking kid selling “iced drink” to adults. Sign says: “Iced Drink, 5 cents.”
Around the corner, adults are gasping, holding their throats. Another kid has a sign: “Iced Drink Antidote, $5.”
Two panels:
Man with a fly swatter gets ready to swat a fly on the wall.
After swatting the fly, gallons of black ooze drip all over the man and everything else in the room.
I loved his cartoons in *The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction *.
My favorite: A crowd scene beneath a banner which proclaims something like Faith Healer Billy Bob’s Revival. The reverend is in shirtsleeves.
On the left is an elderly couple with faces full of fatuous, idiotic hope. They have bought a coffin containing a young man, and the reverend says: “Now, just a goddamn minute…”
I could have sworn I responded to this last night…guess the post got lost in the Void.
Yes, he’s quite innocuous-looking and pleasant; you wouldn’t give him a second look on the subway. Once you get him talking, though, MAN does he know some weird stuff.
The website photo, however, looks like it may have been taken in 1965.
Oh, yeah…my personal favorite:
A pair of Cliche Blase Wealthy People at the dinner table…evening clothes, pearls, etc. Butler is raising the cover from the serving platter to reveal a human head, garnished with parsley, apple in mouth.
“Good Heavens – this must mean we’ve practically finished him off!”