I’m talking about the Comic strip Pickles, not pickled cucumbers.
At first I thought the grandparents were just babysitting for Nelson, but now I’m not so sure. The strip almost never shows interaction between Nelson and his mother. Is she just a loser who dumped him onto her parents to raise while she continues on with her life?
:rolleyes: And why on earth am I looking into a comic strip this deeply?
And, speaking of Nelson, And does anyone else here think Family Circus sucks the sweat out of Nelsons hat? Willie Nelson that is.
Well, it’s about the old couple, so the kid only shows up when he’s visiting. What I think it comes down to is that the kid’s parents aren’t all that interesting.
The mother and child used to live with the grandparents (she’s a widow), but a few years ago she met a dark-haired guy (whose name escapes me, but I do remember he’s a photograher) and they got married, and bought the house next door.
The new husband has been AWOL for a while now (I think his name is Dan); whether he’s off on assignment or the creator just forgot about him I don’t know (and I’m frightened enough that I know this much about the strip).
And I’m pretty sure his name is Dan.
One Big Happy does the kids-next-door-to-the-grandparents much better.
postcards has it. The mother does show up some times. However, there is never any indication that the kid sleeps over there. He’s just there to get a third character in.
Quite a lot of the time, Grandpa tells the kid a real whopper, and then Grandma has to set him straight, usually getting in a dig at Grandpa at the same time.
I see Nelson as playing a similar role in “Pickles” as Elmo, the neighborhood kid who sometimes interacts with Dagwood, plays in “Blondie.”
And yes, Family Circus does… whatever you said. Pickles is a comic strip about grandparents that you don’t have to be a grandparent to enjoy (or at least find unobjectionable), while Family Circus is a strip about young people that you do have to be a grandparent to enjoy.
I guess there wasn’t a question involved*… and that people do not use phrases like “inhale the rooster” or “Willie Nelson’s hatband”. Did they ever, I wonder, or are you being creative at the expense of communicating?
*If you’re really wondering, I’d be glad to add my vote to the “Family Circus is moronic” side of your poll, but did you really expect anyone to weigh in on the opposite side?
IIRC, Nelson is home-schooled, and much of that is handled by his grandparents. That’s why he’s with them so much more often than a normal grandchild would be.
Consider that Mr and Mrs. Pickles get no older, no less healthy, and no loonier. This makes me think that they don’t live in a suburban home, but that Mr. Pickles was driving his wife and the kid one day, had a senior moment, and killed them all. They are now in a special area of hell that makes Sartre’s No Exit look like a resort hotel. Sure other characters seem to show up, but they are just hallucinations.
The only thing they have to read are old Family Circus strips to make it all more horrid.
