More Strips Deliciously Sexy -- What's Your Beef?

I try hard not to see synergy where none really exists. I refuse to invent trends (despite the ol' journalist's crack that in your cheesier news publications, it only requires 2 1/2 examples to label something a "trend").

And yet, the topical convergence in two of today's King Features strips is alarming. Not because they both have shades of the same theme, mind you. No, what's alarming is the theme itself:

Today, these strips both link hot romantic passion with, well, meat products.

My-my-my. And here, I apparently was terribly errant when I called mainstream funnypages "tame" in a Los Angeles Times interview last week. Because if this tawdry "trend" keeps up, who knows where it might lead:

Hagar the Horrible likening his lovely's Viking physique to a choice rack-of-lamb?

Opal in "Pickles" referring to ol' Earl as "her scrumptious blood sausage"?

Gen. Halftrack calling Miss Buxley a "hot piece of brisket"? Wait, scratch that. Believe Halftrack's already done that -- about a thousand-and-two times.

OK, must stop now. Before the Fatty Snax Deli beckons.

'BLONDIE' (KFS)Enlarge Image

'SALLY FORTH' (KFS)Enlarge Image

ELSEWHERE....

'CLOSE TO HOME' (UPS)Enlarge Image

CLOSE TO HOME: Sorry, but at that tiny size, that's waaay too many words to make it worth my while. I'd rather COUNT the words, in fact, than read 'em. By my squinty count, I get ninety-eight words. I'll repeat that: ninety-EIGHT words!

To offer you a rough equivalent, that's about three to four inches of straight printed text in a Washington Post story.

To offer you a more precise estimation: To think I'm going to read nearly 100 head-of-a-pushpin-sized words is in-SANE.

LASTLY...

'SPIDER MAN' (KFS)Enlarge Image

SPIDEY: Once again, I must register complaint with a comics creator, if not the format. Ol' Peter is about to get seriously randy with Mary Jane, but riiiight as things get interesting...we run out of panels.

Talk about your Cartoonus Interruptus. Already, it's been that kind of week.