Bozo by Foxo Reardon for June 28, 2021

1 Having finished emptying the coal truck, Bozo’s on his way to make sure the coal bins are all full.

2 That’s what you get for hanging around the middle of the road.

3 Don’t you just hate it when they get your prescription lenses wrong?

1. Whoa! Heeelp!

2. She who laughs last laughs loudest.

Umbrella guy’s taking a baby for a stroll.

3. Bozo needs no glasses to reads. He only needs a frames.

Bozo reads umbrella guy’s comics. Or maybe it’s an ad for umbrella guy’s comic in the rear cover page of whatever he reading.

And one has to appreciate the very expressive facial expressions and body language of characters drawn in this comic. Without a word uttered, they work like wonder every day. Who says good artwork’s not essential for a comic? Foxo Reardon the skillful master proves every day that if there’s good artwork, you don’t even needs words.

1 – ♪♫ Got what I got… the hard way… and I make it better, each and every day….

I’m a soul… man ♪♫

1) Scuttled. 3) He couldn’t see it.

Yep, in 1947 we were still getting coal deliveries to the basement through the a coal chute. What a dirty, messy way to get heat! (At least I was too young to have to deal with it.)

But I don’t have the right prescription hammer.

Umbrella guy’s a dad and has ads on the back of magazines? The plot thickens. Of course in the Bozo Universe he could be the baby’s uncle, valet, or kidnapper, or perhaps the pram holds a hot water bottle, kitten, king snake. The possibilities are endless.I think Bozo felt that men with glasses look like intellectuals and wanted to up his image a bit; but the lenses in the pair he found were too strong.

In the series of three stories today, it appears to me that the overarching theme revolves around the concept of framing . Framing is a concept that is used academically in both the social sciences and in the fine arts. In the social sciences, framing signifies a set of concepts and theoretical perspectives on how individuals, groups, and societies organize, perceive, think and communicate about reality. In the fine arts, framing is a concept associated with perspective and composition (such as the rule of thirds in photography).

1. In our first offering today, we see several aspects of the fine art’s use of framing . We see artistically that Mr. Reardon has very well employed the technique of the “rule of thirds” in his drawing style, much like a photographer does in composing his subject. This rule suggests that a scene be divided into nine equal nonants (a rather archane term that we sometimes now use the term “quadrants” for no matter how many regions are being described) with major compositional elements being placed at the intersections of the imaginary gridwork for greatest artistic tension and interest. Additional framing elements include the truck’s large coal-chute door that Bozo travels through and the hole showing the coals eventual destination.

2. In the second offering of the day, we see a more social science take on framing . Here we see societal conflict being manifest in the manner in which the offering’s participants view the interactive world in which they live. The initial, smaller splash is perceived angrily by the young lady, but humorously by Bozo, whereas in the reverse situation (albeit with a larger splash) each person perceives reality vastly differently than before.

3. In the third offering of the day, the framing we see (pun intended) here is of the more physical, artistic side again… but is that perhaps too short-sighted (pun again intended) a view (again, pun intended) for us to take? We find, interestingly enough, that Bozo needs a form of reading glasses to assist him in comfortably viewing the words on the pages of his book. This is the obvious “fine arts” association. In effect, the frames of those glasses are literally framing both Bozo’s view of the world visually. Yet…. and perhaps more importantly, these same spectacles are shaping Bozo’s own perception, interpretation, and thinking about the world (social sciences perspective).

Overall, the concepts of framing are well executed here today, and I especially find the idea of encouraging reading to broaden one’s perspective, no matter the reading material… to be societally valuable and important.

1. You heard of the “Electric Slide”? Bozo doing the “Coal Slide”.

2. What goes around, comes around.

3. Bozo’s reading glasses aren’t very well read.

An alternative common thread in today’s strips is the problem of getting dirty. Bozo willingly engages in a dirty job delivering coal, even dirtier than he expected it would be. Crossing the street with his friend Bozann they both end up with dirty clothes, even more unexpectedly. Back home reading a magazine Bozo is annoyed by the dirty lenses in his glasses and foolishly knocks them out of the frames but retains the frames for the appearance. (This last supposition is a stretch, I know.)

1) Bozo puts his back into clearing out ever last bit of coal down the chute. Pushing himself a little too hard he goes down the chute too!

2) Bozo’s girlfriend gets a little water on her dress, Bozo laughs. Then he get’s doused with more water and she laughs at him.

3) Bozo using reading glasses that don’t work. So our enterprising self help man removes the glass and can see fine!? = ‽

Love #1…..those under 50 cannot relate to what is happening but I still remember the coal truck delivering coal into our coal cellar then my dad shoveling into our coal furnace. WOW….those were the days!!!!