At the end this year, do as Barney and Horseface have done, and mend some fences. I don't recommend doing it over the alcohol that they've clearly been consuming, because, as you can see, it leads to more problems than it solves. Just try to leave this year on the best note you can, so that the next year can begin on a good one, too.
Happy 2019, everybody!
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This strip apparently comes right in the middle of some kind of storyline involving the Earl of Juniper, but no storyline could keep Oaky Doaks from wishing everyone a happy new year. He is quite incorrect about nothing happening in 1936, though. The year saw the death of Grace Drayton, the cartoonist behind the adorable The Pussycat Princess, the end of George Swanson's venerable Salesman Sam strip and E.C. Segars O.G. Wotasnozzle, and the first appearance of the great comic strip superhero The Phantom.
Oaky's mind might just be mixed up, though, given that somehow he lives simultaneously in medieval times and in the 1930s. It can mess with your concept of time, for sure.
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Here's a new year's wish from Oaky Doaks and King Cedric. Oaky Doaks was a strip drawn by Ralph Fuller, whose art I quite like, despite the king's insistence that he can't draw (and the poor quality of this scan). Oaky was a medieval knight who was never formally knighted, and who made his armor out of a tin roof. Here we see them relaxing on a rock after most likely losing Oaky's horse, Nellie.
I wonder why the king doesn't get any fan mail, though, being that he is the king. You'd think he could get some kind of royal scribe to write him some fake ones, at least.
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Here's a Salesman Sam left over from last year, with bonus Roughin' Reddy topper. Here we have two different ideas about New Year's Resolutions. Reddy's decided to make one that is vague and possibly achievable, but that if he fails to keep he can blame someone else for. Sam and Mr. Guzzlem, on the other hand, prefer to keep theirs by interpreting the meaning of the resolution in a way it wasn't intended. I'm not sure which one would be more effective. Reddy's method would probably take less work, but Sam's method would give him more of an opportunity to gloat. Neither of them seem very safe, though. I imagine they'll both end up with some kind of physical injury.
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This strip doesn't mention Christmas at all, which is odd, given how many Arthurian legends take place on Christmas. Still, it seems like it ought to be Christmas, what with it being winter, and family coming together and all, and the fact that it was published on December 25. I've always liked Prince Valiant, and though this artwork isn't as good as the original artist Hal Foster's, John Cullen Murphy still does a fine job.
Merry Christmas, everybody!
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Michael probably just got overexcited by everything and then got burned out. He should take a cue from Elizabeth, who clearly has the right idea: if you're bored by the rest of Christmas, go for the Christmas treats. They'll never let you down.
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The obvious question here is whether the grandparents were being generous and ignorant or devious and evil. My money's on devious, of course. Not only do they know they're going to be noisy with those instruments all through the house, I bet they also didn't bother to pay for lessons either. They want it to be as noisy and horrible sounding in the house as possible, to get back at Elly for whatever terrible thing she did to them in some previous year. That look on her face tells me she remembers it, too, and is thinking, "I guess this is what I deserve."
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Children will go to great lengths to discover what their Christmas presents will be before they're supposed to open them. It's amazing that they never realize until they're older that having patience is far simpler, though it is inherently more time consuming.
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Every kid has (or thinks they have) perfected the art of faking being asleep, for various reasons, but especially at Christmas. I've never been a parent, so I don't know how it is from their perspective. As a kid, though, I was always fairly sure that my parents thought I was asleep and didn't know that I wasn't, though I imagine they probably knew more often than then didn't. I never remember them saying anything about it, though. I guess it didn't really matter then, so maybe I shouldn't have bothered.
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Maybe the dog didn't recognize him, but those kids most certainly do. That Santa isn't nearly plump enough to play the part. I can see he dropped the bag, but there's no sign of any discarded pillows or other stuffing to go inside the suit to simulate Santa's belly. That's why they want to know why he didn't go down the chimney. He's so thin, he would probably fit with no trouble.