The Morning Line: When Humanity Goes to the Dogs

We were weaned on Snoopy's thought balloons, then graduated to talking penguins and pooches. Now, we don't even blink when "Get Fuzzy's" Rob Wilco, aka the Virtual Agoraphobe, has extended dialogue with his shut-in pets and no one appears with butterfly nets and a straitjacket.

Sam Driver, though, we're beginning to worry about.

"And your little dog Toto, too!" (NAS) Enlarge Comic

Perhaps it's simply the fact that "Judge Parker" is a serial strip, but there's something more than a little unnerving in today's third panel, as Driver stares dead into the Benji-esque face of the pampered house hound (the name Snowflake says it all) and declares: "Yes, he threatened to kill the person if they went near her!"

Is Sam finally starting to lose his steely grip? Did a murder on the links rattle him more than he'd like to admit? Or has Miss Dixie Julep's skimpy attire finally driven him to the point of conversing with canines?

Whatever the answer may be, we thank this lusciously drawn "Judge Parker" for providing us with the types of laffs we cannot find elsewhere.

And while we're on the subject of doggy behavior, we're reminded of Daisy's hopped-up enthusiasm in "Blondie" this week.

Stand up for your love. (KFS) Enlarge Comic

It's sweet and swell that Dagwood decides to plant a wet smacker on Blondie -- after more than 70 years, that flame of steamy passion has not died -- but we can only stare at Daisy's excitable rise to her hind legs. It's both masterful and distracting in one swell foop.