I'm a comics fan. No, not the Marvel kind. The kind that has sometimes been called "the funnies" in the newspaper. They aren't always funny, but when they are, I laugh. And although I am more attracted to the "artistic" ones - I appreciate good drawing - it is the humor that usually comes first for me.
Predictably, a lot of today's Sunday funnies are about Independence Day. In the holiday spirit I thought I'd share two with my Arts Without Borders followers. The Baldo, not meant to be funny, is just plain right for the day - and the tenor of our time. And Garfield? Well, it's about drawing...and, hey, I found it funny and I hope you do, too. I've been a Garfield fan for as long as I can remember and it amazes me that, after all these years, with so little to work with, and using such repetitive themes, Jim Davis can still be funny most of the time. And if you're not a Garfield fan yourself, I'd like to point out what I think is one of the most consistently creative artistic touches given to any comic strip: instead of opting for the normal branding continuity, Davis makes each Garfield title panel unique (on Sundays.) Since I appreciate this, I find it annoying when the newspaper decides to cut off this optional panel to save space on the page (as they did today - I found this complete version on the Garfield website.) Click on it to enlarge - or go to the website for a clearer version.
