AJ and Magnus by Bryan and Simon Steel for April 30, 2023

So sadly true

The all-too-familiar American story: Shoot first, then don’t bother asking questions

Oh please, no. I have a very bad feeling about this. Or have I read too many stories lately about innocent people being shot for no reason?

Sad, True, and Scary to think how many people today think this way.

Again exaggerated

I love that you have “PRO-LIFE” engraved on the gun.

This is great. I’m sorry for struggles you are having for the right to simply exist. The other day, in Betty, there was mention of two women as a couple. The comments were heartbreaking. The tone was one of ignorance and intolerance. They seem willing to allow the existence of those who don’t represent their warped family values ideal, as long as they don’t here or see it. It was bad enough The comments were made, but they received many likes. Fight the good fight and please vote. ❤️

A controversial subject.

If she is going to a library to do a children’s hour and/or story telling, then it’s fine with most people. It’s certainly fine with me.

Nuts, like the one portrayed here, should be told to leave or the police will be called. (If the nut is holding a gun, the police should be called period.)

If you don’t like it, then don’t take your children, or grandchildren, to the event.

I see no problem with that.

The problem in our country right now, I think, centers around this type of thing happening at schools.

Now, if parents are notified in advance, and have the option of their children not attending, that is fine with most people. Again, it’s fine with me.

Unfortunately, many schools are not notifying parents, and that can cause people to get angry.

I personally believe that children 16 and older should be allowed to decide for themselves, but under that age, I think parental permission should be obtained.

But no one should be allowed to wave a gun around and threaten people.

Protest if they wish, yes, but no violence.

I remember the days when this was a fun comic about a boy, his dog amd two gay dads. Sad that it’s turned into a puff piece and political cartoon. Pretty sad considering we’re lucky to get maybe one new comic a month and this is the content we get to read. Time for AJ and Magnus to fade away into oblivion.

I understand that the Steels are going for caricature and not debate, but this is kind of ridiculous. In the first place, we have Roz, who I always understood to be transgender and therefore not a drag queen (and only recently shown to be a performer at all), who is dressed, not as a drag queen in fact, but quite modestly, and entirely appropriately for reading to children, as Little Red Riding Hood. This is not what Drag Queen Story Hour typically looks like. Then we have a flag-bedecked illiterate protestor, not obviously a parent, wielding a gun. This is not what protests against Drag Queen Story Hour look like. Also Tinker Bell (last strip) provocatively dressed and sucking a lollipop proposed as an acceptable alternative. Since when? It all brings the straw man argument to mind.

Now, I don’t like drag queens. Though I’ve heard the arguments to the contrary, it still looks too much like mocking women, especially glamorous women, to me. When I was younger, it was clowns who were the prime example of people who look strange and different but who are funny and kind and love children. Parents and older children reassured little ones about this. Now of course it has become common, even de rigueur, for people to declare clowns to be scary. I can see people in the future making the same rather embarrassed admission about how they felt as children about drag queens. The point of it all eludes me. I absolutely can’t see it doing transgender women any good, for one thing. It seems merely confrontational, even specifically designed to provoke exactly the sort of responses it does. I imagine activists must sulk a bit when something they’ve been promoting as normal becomes widely accepted as normal, like gay marriage. That’s not really what they want. So they look around for the next provoking thing.

I hadn’t noticed the ‘pro-life’ written on the gun. How ironic.

It’s a weird, weird strip. Not particularly good any more either

Ok, not to be disrespectful, but last I checked, I don’t remember Rochell being anything in particular as well.