Brian Smith
@onemorebrian.bsky.social
Newspaper editor; fan of Peanuts and Pac-Man; pessimistic optimist ("The glass SHOULD be half full, but somebody probably drank it already").
I blame the "fetishes" part of "AI fetishes and knives" for reminding me of "Polkas, schottishes and waltzes."
November 26, 2025 at 7:03 AM
I blame the "fetishes" part of "AI fetishes and knives" for reminding me of "Polkas, schottishes and waltzes."
REAL TALK: My single favorite thing from all three of the old "Star Wars Infinities" comics was how the first one put Han Solo into Luke's first meeting with Yoda on Dagobah.
November 26, 2025 at 3:54 AM
REAL TALK: My single favorite thing from all three of the old "Star Wars Infinities" comics was how the first one put Han Solo into Luke's first meeting with Yoda on Dagobah.
To my regret, my only Dakota North comic is Power Pack #46, interior art and cover by Whilce Portacio. And I'm STILL kind of a crank over the difference between the Mark Badger-inked interiors and the friggin' RUSS HEATH-inked cover.
November 26, 2025 at 2:20 AM
To my regret, my only Dakota North comic is Power Pack #46, interior art and cover by Whilce Portacio. And I'm STILL kind of a crank over the difference between the Mark Badger-inked interiors and the friggin' RUSS HEATH-inked cover.
A thing yesterday reminded me of another thing
November 22, 2025 at 11:45 PM
A thing yesterday reminded me of another thing
Lt. Cmdr. Dexter Remmick made the list after an ill-advised break from his investigation into alien parasites. "Gosh," he'd say after he found out. "Could things GET any worse for me?"
November 21, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Lt. Cmdr. Dexter Remmick made the list after an ill-advised break from his investigation into alien parasites. "Gosh," he'd say after he found out. "Could things GET any worse for me?"
Showing up as Sidney Huffman, saying "Cheese and crackers! Who are YOU supposed to be?" to everyone until I am politely asked to leave
November 21, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Showing up as Sidney Huffman, saying "Cheese and crackers! Who are YOU supposed to be?" to everyone until I am politely asked to leave
Drivers headed east through Cabot, Arkansas, will pass Woody Lane less than a mile before arriving here, at Randy Beaver Drive.
November 20, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Drivers headed east through Cabot, Arkansas, will pass Woody Lane less than a mile before arriving here, at Randy Beaver Drive.
One of the papers that carried Calvin & Hobbes from the get-go was the Arkansas Gazette, which was looking to beef up its 11-week-old "Kids Corner" section with another comic for children. Even from that first installment, it shines in comparison to the other "kiddie strips" printed that day.
November 18, 2025 at 4:01 AM
One of the papers that carried Calvin & Hobbes from the get-go was the Arkansas Gazette, which was looking to beef up its 11-week-old "Kids Corner" section with another comic for children. Even from that first installment, it shines in comparison to the other "kiddie strips" printed that day.
MAD Magazine takes the idea of "Don't fuck with Little Orphan Annie" and pushes it to the extreme in issue 253, cover-dated March 1985:
November 15, 2025 at 2:55 AM
MAD Magazine takes the idea of "Don't fuck with Little Orphan Annie" and pushes it to the extreme in issue 253, cover-dated March 1985:
I know we try not to bring stuff from The Everything App over here...but I hope we can make an exception for this, one of my all-time favorite tweets, and the first thing I thought of when I saw the quoted post:
November 14, 2025 at 6:42 AM
I know we try not to bring stuff from The Everything App over here...but I hope we can make an exception for this, one of my all-time favorite tweets, and the first thing I thought of when I saw the quoted post:
Tagging @krisstraub.com with one of my favorite Chainsawsuit strips. The titles are gone now, but I'm pretty sure the one now at chainsawsuit.krisstraub.com/20161205.shtml was called "Poetry in Promotion":
November 9, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Tagging @krisstraub.com with one of my favorite Chainsawsuit strips. The titles are gone now, but I'm pretty sure the one now at chainsawsuit.krisstraub.com/20161205.shtml was called "Poetry in Promotion":
COUNTERPOINT: If I had a time machine, I would absolutely travel to August 1969 to see the production highlighted in this news item about Jonathan Harris visiting NASA in Houston:
November 3, 2025 at 2:55 AM
COUNTERPOINT: If I had a time machine, I would absolutely travel to August 1969 to see the production highlighted in this news item about Jonathan Harris visiting NASA in Houston:
I agree, though I make an exception for "House of Svengoolie"'s Nostalgiaferatoo, whose deliberately unconvincing plastic ears are part of his charm.
November 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I agree, though I make an exception for "House of Svengoolie"'s Nostalgiaferatoo, whose deliberately unconvincing plastic ears are part of his charm.
"The Ark fell to Earth with a mighty impact -- an impact that would not be matched for more than 4 million years, until the release of the unrelated Belgian techno anthem 'Pump Up the Jam.'"
October 24, 2025 at 3:19 AM
"The Ark fell to Earth with a mighty impact -- an impact that would not be matched for more than 4 million years, until the release of the unrelated Belgian techno anthem 'Pump Up the Jam.'"
I knew that the VHS version of 1989's "Batman" was revolutionary because it was priced at $25 max, but I'd forgotten that 1. it skipped the old theater/airline/premium cable/video rental model by going straight to "video sale," and 2. there were NOT a lot of other hit movies to buy that Christmas!
October 22, 2025 at 2:04 AM
I knew that the VHS version of 1989's "Batman" was revolutionary because it was priced at $25 max, but I'd forgotten that 1. it skipped the old theater/airline/premium cable/video rental model by going straight to "video sale," and 2. there were NOT a lot of other hit movies to buy that Christmas!
I finally had the free time today to track down one of my single favorite installments of any comic strip ever. It's from the largely forgotten "Tommy," by Jay Martin, which was running in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when I saw this 29 years ago:
October 20, 2025 at 4:02 AM
I finally had the free time today to track down one of my single favorite installments of any comic strip ever. It's from the largely forgotten "Tommy," by Jay Martin, which was running in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when I saw this 29 years ago:
I think I have to turn in some kind of MST3K badge, because the Spring Sprite was not the first Coily who popped into my head
October 18, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I think I have to turn in some kind of MST3K badge, because the Spring Sprite was not the first Coily who popped into my head
I feel like too few people know about @ghweldon.bsky.social 's 2018 posts in which "Mr. and Mrs. Van Pelt are monsters" is the punchline.
October 15, 2025 at 1:39 AM
I feel like too few people know about @ghweldon.bsky.social 's 2018 posts in which "Mr. and Mrs. Van Pelt are monsters" is the punchline.
I would LOVE to know how much money the network spent trying to create a rabid Ron DeSantis fanbase before they came back around to the whole "Trump's our man" thing.
October 12, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I would LOVE to know how much money the network spent trying to create a rabid Ron DeSantis fanbase before they came back around to the whole "Trump's our man" thing.
So this is how I flashed back to a three-decades-old installment of Jim Reddick's "Robotman" today.
![A Sunday installment of Jim Reddick's comic "Robotman," taken from the collection "Primary Crullers" and found online. Robotman and Monty, the human who'd eventually take over the strip, are preparing for game night.
Monty: "I don't want to play any brainy games...no chess. No Scrabble. No Stratego."
Robotman: "How about Monopoly?"
Monty, thoughtfully: "Umm...OK."
Robotman: "Monopoly it is."
They sit down at the game table.
Monty: "OK, let's see...I'll be the...umm...wheelbarrow."
Robotman: "Really? The wheelbarrow? Are you sure you want to be the wheelbarrow?"
Monty: "Why? What's wrong with the wheelbarrow?"
Robotman: "Nothing. It's just a tad unusual."
Monty: "Why?"
Robotman: "Well, it's just that most people want to be the racing car or the terrier or the top hat or..."
Monty: "Well, I LIKE the wheelbarrow."
Robotman: "I've always thought people who choose the wheelbarrow have low self-esteem. Who would want to identify with a wheelbarrow?"
Monty: "OK, OK. If it'll make you feel better, I'll be the shoe."
Robotman: "Foot fettish." [sic]
Monty turns away and folds his arms: "OK, that's it. I don't want to play anymore. You take all the fun out of games with your stupid analysis!"
Robotman: "You're right...I'm sorry. Here, let's play something else. Um...how about 'Clue'?"
Monty turns back around: "Wellll...OK."
Robotman: "'Clue' it is, then."
Monty: "I'll be Miss Scarlet..."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5tm3ymrukup3vtm2ckviqbho/bafkreib4tf4673sciqzczraegxk3gpp5kes63zt7ynuvyrd4vgzt4cyfua@jpeg)
October 8, 2025 at 8:41 PM
So this is how I flashed back to a three-decades-old installment of Jim Reddick's "Robotman" today.
For some of us, Jennifer Aniston will always be Julia Duffy as Stephanie Vanderkellen as Allison Sugarbaker in DESIGNING WOMEN.
(actually Fox TV's THE EDGE, 1992)
(actually Fox TV's THE EDGE, 1992)
October 8, 2025 at 4:41 AM
For some of us, Jennifer Aniston will always be Julia Duffy as Stephanie Vanderkellen as Allison Sugarbaker in DESIGNING WOMEN.
(actually Fox TV's THE EDGE, 1992)
(actually Fox TV's THE EDGE, 1992)
This bit from the Stan Lee-scripted "Amazing Spider-Man" annual 18 always confused me. Did Stan Lee think he needed to write this narration box? Did Danny Fingeroth or Jim Shooter think "We can't cut Stan's old-people talk" and write it themselves? In any event, it took me right out of the story.
October 6, 2025 at 7:02 AM
This bit from the Stan Lee-scripted "Amazing Spider-Man" annual 18 always confused me. Did Stan Lee think he needed to write this narration box? Did Danny Fingeroth or Jim Shooter think "We can't cut Stan's old-people talk" and write it themselves? In any event, it took me right out of the story.
One of my all-time favorite Peanuts strips is one that I barely understood as a kid beyond the basic "It's OK to be sad, don't be so hard on yourself" message. Later, I read it as "Adults will flat-out lie to you;" today, I read it as "I letter my own comic, and I have contempt for those who don't."
October 5, 2025 at 5:23 AM
One of my all-time favorite Peanuts strips is one that I barely understood as a kid beyond the basic "It's OK to be sad, don't be so hard on yourself" message. Later, I read it as "Adults will flat-out lie to you;" today, I read it as "I letter my own comic, and I have contempt for those who don't."
I'd still consider "Pearls Before Swine" one of my all-time favorite comic strips even if it had ended with this installment from almost 20 years ago.
October 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I'd still consider "Pearls Before Swine" one of my all-time favorite comic strips even if it had ended with this installment from almost 20 years ago.
...and just like that, both preseason football AND "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown" are ruined for me.
September 29, 2025 at 3:42 AM
...and just like that, both preseason football AND "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown" are ruined for me.