The Morning Quickie: Of Junior Gags and Sophomoric Humor

THE MORNING LINE:
The quickie a.m. roundup of today's 'toons...

'BIG NATE' (UFS)Enlarge Image

SLY LANGUAGE AWARD: Back in the day, I was not able to get the world "tool" in the newspaper. Well, at least not like this. So in a respectfully envious way, I applaud Lincoln Peirce's nimbleness in getting "tool" past the censors -- if not a few readers.

'FRANK AND ERNEST' (NEA)Enlarge Image

NO HARD KNOCKS HERE: All too often, I knock "Frank and Ernest" for its lame puns, its obvious gags, its groan-inducing puns, its vaudeville-era one-liners and, well, its painful puns. So on a day like today, I stop to tip my cap to "F&E." It's simple. It's effective. And it rings perhaps truer than I quite comfortable with.

'JUDGE PARKER' (NAS)Enlarge Image

BE OF GOOD CHEER: For eons now, the interstitial storyline of the Evil Cheerleader Moms From Dante's Ninth has dragged on -- though not unentertaingly -- seemingly longer than one's actual high-school career. But today -- a-ha! -- comes the dawn of the Big Feel-Good Moment. Congrats, Sophie -- even if that ten-gallon-hatted singer looks less like Rocky and more like '90s-era Bono atop chunky heels.

'NON SEQUITUR' (UPS)Enlarge Image

SHADOWLANDS: As a tyke, I always liked and looked forward to Sergio Aragones's "The Shadow Knows" cartoons in MAD magazine. So whenever someone as knowledgeable and pen-deft as Wiley Miller invokes a shadow to silently represent one's true character, I soak up the nod to Serge -- and also applaud Wiley's own swell gag.