Ziggy is even weirder than you thought

Between Friends, 2015-02-16.

Oh no, some complete strangers you'll probably never see again may have heard you singing along to some music! What a calamity! How will you ever live it down? Oh wait, I know - by just carrying on with your life and forgetting about it like literally everyone else already has.

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Six Chix, 2015-02-17.

I can't even focus on the whole "the cows don't want the bull to go because he's good at sex" aspect of this, because what are those horrifying lumps on their backs? They remind me of the stumps left after Matt Damon's wings are cut off in Dogma.

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The Buckets, 2015-02-20.

You know, someday you and everyone who ever knew you or even heard your name will be dead and forgotten. Your existence is a mere speck of dust compared with the vastness of space and time. Bet you feel pretty foolish for caring about things now.

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Nancy, 2015-02-21.

What's that you say? Having a character repeat everything the person on the other end of the line says back to them for the sake of the audience is lazy and sounds terribly unnatural? Well, how would you have done it then? Oh, have the dialogue balloon come from the phone like most cartoonists do? Well, sure, I guess that works. Have a panel showing the other side of the phone call? Yeah, you could do it that way. Just phrase the dialogue in such a way as to make it obvious what the second person is saying? Well, now you're just talking crazy.

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Ziggy, 2015-02-22.

The implications of this are staggering. Ziggy is a comic in which every single person or animal its protagonist encounters is a condescending jerk to him and everything he does ends in dismal failure - and apparently that's all his own weird fantasy. He's playing a virtual-reality game of his own design in which all this happens. And while he plays it, he's not wearing any pants. Just let that sink in for a moment.

One-Panel Wednesday: Incorrectly sized bodies

Bizarro, 2014-08-22.

A man in a hooded windcheater is walking down the street carrying two bags marked with dollar signs when he is accosted by a large woman wearing a costume modelled on the classic Superman look.
"You're Superwoman?" he asks.
"Fashion models don't fight crime, Mary." she replies.

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Kryptonians have super powers though. They don't need to look big and tough because they have super powers. And why does she assume that he's referring to her appearance? Her face is clearly visible, he may just recognise her. And why does she call him Mary? That seems like a fairly sexist way for Superwoman to insult someone. I don't like this comic.

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Family Circus, 2014-08-22.

Thel, Billy, Dolly and Jeffy are sitting at the table waiting to eat. PJ begins to climb onto Bil's chair, but Dolly leaps to her feet and points accusingly at him.
"That's not your seat, PJ! Your head's not big enough to sit there."

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This would have seemed weird enough by itself, because no one has ever thought that any of the Keane children's heads weren't big enough, but this is the second time in a month that PJ has been told that his head is too small.

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Ziggy, 2014-08-27.

Ziggy looks into his bathroom mirror only to see a giant, grinning rabbit standing directly behind him, a rabbit that is only visible in the mirror.
"...uh..." he says, shaking with fear. "...er..."

One-Panel Wednesday: Anger and Disgust

Beetle Bailey, 2014-05-30.

Pvt. Bailey is alone, in the middle of the desert when he is approached by Chip Flagston.
"Hey, jerk!" calls Chip.
"You talking to me?" asks Bailey.

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I thought Chip liked Beetle.

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Hazel, 2014-05-30.

George has built a scarecrow that looks like Hazel.
"If ANYTHING will keep the birds away..." he says happily.
Unseen behind him stands Hazel, glaring. Apparently she isn't taking it as a compliment.

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Tina's Groove, 2014-05-30.

Tina is serving a middle-aged couple a large slice of cake.
"Here comes all that extra weight I lost..." says the woman. "Somehow it always finds me..."
She refers not to the cake but to a pink blob of human fat that is slithering across the floor of the restaurant toward her. No one seems to be reacting with the horror and disgust you'd expect. Tina looks a bit worried, but she always does.

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Ziggy, 2014-06-04.

Ziggy is at the doctor's, with a thermometer in his mouth.
"Your test results are in..." says the doctor. "Are you trying to be funny?"
Obviously Ziggy is not, he is the punchline.

One-Panel Wednesday: Pretending to Read

Ziggy, 2014-04-03.

Ziggy sits in his livingroom, smiling out the window, holding some folded sheets of blank paper like as though they're a newspaper.
"... There he is, right there!" says one mouse to another, pointing at Ziggy. "... Still think I'm superstitious?"
The second mouse is nonplussed.

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Evidently Ziggy has been out of his house so much lately that the mice had come to regard him as a myth.

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Hazel, 2014-04-04.

George, Dorothy and Hazel are in a shop, near a magazine rack.
"Meet you two back here in ten minutes." says Dorothy.
George picks up a porn magazine.
"Make it twenty!" calls Hazel after Dorothy.

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Seriously.

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The Lockhorns, 2014-04-09.

Loretta comes come carrying several bags.
"What a great day!" she says happily. "I did everything on my to-do list!"
Leroy looks up morosely from the blank sheet of card he's holding as though it were a newspaper.

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What is it with newspapers in comic strips being blank? Is it so hard to draw some squiggly lines?

Poverty and mental illness

"Can I borry two items from you, Elviney ?" asks Loweezy sadly.
"Shore, Loweezy, whatta you need ?" asks Elviney.
"Food and' drink !!" says Loweezy. She tries to laugh it off, but Elviney knows it's no joke, the Smifs are living in poverty just like everyone else in Hootin' Holler.

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, 2013-12-17.

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Ziggy is at a restaurant. A large sign informs customers that the "Tuna Surprise" is just $8.95. Ziggy looks over his shoulder, just in time to see the head of a giant fish peeking around a nearby door, giggling to itself.

Ziggy, 2013-12-17.

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Fred Basset, 2013-12-17.

Reading, it, you can see exactly how this comic came about. Michael Martin was trying to come up with an idea for a comic and he hit on the old standby of "technology is confusing". So he thought about something he'd had difficulty with recently, his new digital camera. But then he looked at the instructions and found that it was actually pretty straight-forward. So what was he going to do then, come up with another idea? Of course not. He just made up some nonsense instructions to make it seem more complicated, because the target audience for Fred Basset certainly isn't going to call him on it.

Is the world going crazy or is Ziggy?

Ziggy, 2013-12-02.

It's never clear how much of what goes on in Ziggy is actually happening and how much is in Ziggy's mind. I think this is a clear sign that he needs psychiatric help though.

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Snuffy and Lukey are going fishing.
"I don't know if th' weather's gittin' more extreme, Lukey..." muses Smif, "but it's definitely gittin' weirder !!"
Although it seems to be  point of idle contemplation for Snuffy, Lukey shows a little greater concern. After all, it's he whom the rain cloud is apparently following around, as though with some purpose. Is some powerful supernatural being targeting him specifically? It's a worrying possibility.

Snuffy Smith, 2013-12-02.

Love and the unloveable

Ziggy opens his front door to find himself on the receiving end of a visit from Homeland Security.
"...but everybody gets email from Nigeria!" he protests.
The DHS agent does not appear to find that very amusing.

Ziggy, 2013-11-25.

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The Lockhorns are sitting on a couch.
"You'd lay down your life for me?" asks Loretta, eagerly. "How soon?"

The Lockhorns, 2013-11-25.

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Funky Winkerbean, 2013-11-25.

Eww, that's disgusting. Don't do that.

Ziggy

Ziggy is drawing faces on some pumpkins.
"I can't bring myself to cut them!" he says.

Ziggy, 2013-10-12.

Ziggy

Ziggy is speaking to a psychiatrist.
"...I think my smart car is making fun of me behind my back!" he says.
This is not an entirely unreasonable concern, given that Ziggy's toaster recently became self-aware.

Ziggy, 2013-09-19.

Ziggy

Ziggy has gone to a shop that sells toasters, and nothing else.
"...one more thing." says the sales clerk, handing him a toaster. "...you have to promise to use it for good and never for evil purposes."
Ziggy's face goes blank as he stares into the distance, whole worlds of possibility opening up before him as he considers the possibility of using a toaster for evil.

Comic

Ziggy

Ziggy is visiting his psychiatrist.
"...you have what we call the 'short, bald and fat' syndrome!" says the psychiatrist.

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Ziggy

"...a 'green' car, eh?" says a mechanic to Ziggy. "I'm afraid we specialize in red and blue cars!"
Ziggy is lost for words. His car is clearly red. What is this mechanic playing at?

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Ziggy

"..you don't have the authority to negotiate a cease-fire!" says Ziggy to his cat and the two mice he clearly intended for the cat to kill. The animals don't respect his claims of authority at all.

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Ziggy

Ziggy is out at a restaurant, but when the waiter brings him his food it is an unappetising brown mush.
"...just eat it and don't say anything, sir." says the waiter. "the chef is having problems at home!"
Ziggy continues to regard the meal before him with distaste. Before too much longer he will realise that the waiter has neglected to bring him any cutlery. Will he eat with his fingers or go home hungry? Those are the options.

Comic

Ziggy

Ziggy is seated at a restaurant, menu in hand.
"... the 'diet special' is just like the regular special," says the waiter, "except you have to eat it with your hands tied behind your back!"
Ziggy doesn't speak, but his expression says it all. He knows the waiter's making fun of him but he lacks the self-confidence to call him on it. Ziggy will order the diet special, he will submit to having his hands tied, he will eat in quiet shame, pay and leave. He will not say anything.

Comic

Ziggy

Ziggy and his pets are in a vast, largely empty room. Ziggy, the dog and the cat are standing together, the parrot is on a perch next to a plinth on which the goldfish's bowl is sitting. They all seem pretty cheerful.
"...Pssst!" says the bird to the fish. "Want to hear a mammal joke?"

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Ziggy

The man from the pest control company surveys Ziggy's livingroom. Zucchinis are piled up next to the couch and scattered about the rest of the room.
"...sorry mister..." says the man, "we don't do zucchini!"
Ziggy does not take the news well.

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Ziggy

Ziggy's front room contains a ship's wheel, an anvil, a large concrete lawn gnome, a cinder block and absolutely no furniture or other decorations.
"...In retrospect," he says "maybe joining the 'random heavy object of the month' club wasn't such a great idea!"

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Ziggy

"Your health insurance company says you have to jump through this hoop first!" says a nurse, holding out an actual plastic hoop in front of Ziggy.
Ziggy contemplates the hoop with anxiety. He doesn't know if this is a joke at his expense or if his insurance company really requires this, but one way or another he is definitely going to have to jump through that hoop, because his life is an unending series of trials and indignities.

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Ziggy

Ziggy has a picture of himself smiling on his wall. It has "Objects in mirror may be even more boring than they appear!" written on it. He stands looking at it unhappily.

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