Just a brief, sad post to note that Momma creator Mell Lazarus passed away yesterday. I believe the strip has actually been in reruns for some time, so I’m not sure how much longer those will run. I liked to make fun of the strip, obviously, but it definitely had a distinct and honestly very weird sensibility that I enjoyed.
Anyway, this is as good a place as any to repeat my very favorite anecdote about Momma, which is that the strip’s title character was very obviously based on Lazarus’s mother, but she somehow convinced herself that it was based on her sister. RIP Mell.
Mary Worth, 5/25/16
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20160526085720im_/http://joshreads.com/images/16/05/i160525maryworth.jpg)
“Look, it’s not physical at all! It’s spiritual. Like, the first time we did yoga together in his tiny little apartment, I knew he was my ‘guru,’ which means ‘teacher’ in Hindi, a language neither of us speak. So we’re not having sex, but I am a blind devotee to his every whim! Would I die for him? You bet! Kill for him? Absolutely! Have sex with him? Definitely! Have I been having sex with him already? Yeah, for like three weeks now! Wait, did I say that last part out loud?”
Dennis the Menace, 5/25/16
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20160526085720im_/http://joshreads.com/images/16/05/i160525dtm.jpg)
“How much blood must I wade through, father? How much carnage before the world is purified?”
Gil Thorp, 5/24/16
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20160526085720im_/http://joshreads.com/images/16/05/i160524gilthorp.jpg)
Despite having read Gil Thorp on the daily for literally more than a decade, I don’t actually know that much about high school sports! For instance, last week I boldly declared that the girls’ softball team was blatantly repurposed clip art of the girls’ basketball team, given that they were wearing uniforms that consisted of shorts and tank tops. In my experience softball uniforms looked more or less like boys’ baseball uniforms, and also included certain key pieces of equipment, such as hats and gloves. But here they are again, in those same outfits, only now there’s a glove involved? Is this really what softball uniforms looks like? Occasionally yes, according to Google Image Search! Shorts, really! How do you slide in those things?
Meanwhile, Papa Bader is learning that the go-go chemical solvent lifestyle is no place for a guy trying to avoid drunk driving. Jumbo orders means jumbo alcohol! It’s the salesman’s code!
Pluggers, 5/24/16
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20160526085720im_/http://joshreads.com/images/16/05/i160524pluggrs.jpg)
I’m pretty sure I’ve read at least one version of the marketing copy for Pluggers that contains the word “celebrate.” But the last couple days, man …. whoo. The plugger lifestyle isn’t gonna sell itself, guys, and this certainly isn’t helping.