A few months ago, my friend Ken suggested that taking the last panel out of the comics in the comic page made the comics funnier because they became a dadaist farce full of non-sequiturs and depressing endings. He mentioned that this might have been something Marshall McLuhan might have said.
To find out if he is right, I have taken a dozen comics at random from today’s paper and removed the final panel.
Please allow me to present: American Comic Laugh Fest!
Born Loser
Well, shit who doesn’t?
Cow and Boy
I actually like how this turned out. It’s an admirable quest to make a calendar of cats dressed as synth-pop superstars. Definitely the feel good comic of the bunch.
Flo and Friends
I guess you’ll never learn the secret of Grandpa-Granddaughter conversations, MOM!
Grandave (?)
Looks like someone wants to get rid of grandma!
Herb and Jammal
The funniest of them all, because it is so very very sad.
Nancy
Nancy finally takes up reading! I also like to think it’s some sort of jab at Mark Twain being fat.
Red Rover
Bodies!
Sunshine Club
I think I saw that on Iron Chef
Wizard of ID
Answer: Very big!
So this is just an example of a single day. Imagine how funny comics could be if this happened every day. Do you think this improves them?
