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While the character of Brother Juniper was named after a historical figure, the St. Bernard shown here was not actually named after a Catholic saint. It was named after a hospice in Switzerland, where they were first bred to rescue people. The hospice itself was named after St. Bernard of Menthon (not the more famous Bernard of Clairvaux). In doing a little research on the dog breed, I was unfortunately unable to find anything about their ability to sing or harmonize with bells. I did find that the most recently the dog was used for rescues was 1955, years before this comic was published. This means that the dog pictured here is not a rescuer, and it's possible he is actually employed mainly as a singer. The barrel, therefore, must be where he keeps his sheet music.

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Brother Juniper is a unique comic strip with a unique origin, and I don't say that lightly. The creator of the strip, Fred McCarthy, became a Franciscan friar in 1944. He had been drawing cartoons from a young age, and continued doing so while attending St. Bonaventure College in New York. He would often draw a short, stout friar that he originally called "Friar Sad Sack" for posters and signs around campus, though he eventually would name him "Brother Juniper." He was named after one of the first followers of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order. Juniper was known among the Franciscans as the "renowned jester of the Lord," and of whom many humorous stories are told, so it seemed to fit as the name of a cartoon friar. At first Brother Juniper only appeared in the national Franciscan magazine Friar, but in 1958 it was picked up by Publishers Syndicate and nationally syndicated. It ran for an impressive 31 years, until it ended in 1989.

This is fas…

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For more on Gordo, see my post on it from last year. Here's another absolutely beautiful Sunday strip from Gus Arriola. It's kind of gross when you really think about it, but it looks so nice that I choose not to.

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Part of the magic of Santa Claus is that he sees you when you're sleeping and knows when you're awake, so it stands to reason that he should already know what you want for Christmas without you having to write him. Therefore, even if Elsworth can't read his own handwriting, Santa should be able to just read his mind and know what he meant to write.

Also, given that the top row of panels again appears to be unrelated to the bottom row of panels, I wonder if these Sunday strips are just two dailies smashed together. Thankfully, unlike the last one, the top row makes sense even if something has been removed (or whatever happened with that other one).

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I guess now we know the only thing that's going to go on all those blank Christmas lists that Herby's parents have been hiding everywhere. I guess their plan backfired. Instead of going all those other places and causing mischief, he's always underfoot asking for a bike.