Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for August 09, 2016

Larry looks skeptical of Kaz’s self-proclaimed omniscience.

Unless Larry is going to kill Barry in a car wreck or Barry is going to kill Larry’s mom in a car wreck, who cares about any of this. It’s time to wrap things up and start talking about the 230 pound full back who just transferred to Milford.

What a long school year. True will miss his freshman year of college.

So Bader doesn’t show up, Larry isn’t available, and the Mudlarks realize how much they need Barry. Assuming he’s still alive, that is.

The real p3: Give her our best. I know you’ll be fined.

The real question in P1, as we enter the second week of AUGUST, is will school get out for summer before football practice starts? Nice shine on that floor Mop Man.

Kaz, looking like Dirty Harry in P2. Larry Arroyo should buy a lottery ticket today. He actually found one of the coaches in school. What are the odds?

Nice earring Kaz!

In all reality , P 3 Thanks Coach , how trite of you to say that but you know if Mom is pregnant you’ll have to marry her .

In all reality , P 1 Maybe Mop man will care about me scuffing up his shiny floors and putting skid marks on them like I just did In the locker room ?

In all reality, OMG ! Larry’s Mom is going to need some sort of a transplant and after an extensive search Barry will be found to be the ideal donor .

P1- As he listens on a nearby transistor radio, Kool & the Gang is signing their new hit. Not feeling fresh and exciting, Young Bader doesn’t appear too inviting to me. Massengill moment.

In an effort to save money for the operation, Larry cut his own hair, resulting in the huge bald spot. Why can’t Barry drive himself to The Bucket? Oh, yeah….

I realize there is supposed to be a time lapse between P1 and P2, but I do still wonder if Barry has been sitting alone in the locker room for the whole duration.

P-1: Bader sings: Why am I such a misfit…(we are approaching the Yule season).P-2: Just a reminder for the short term memoried coachP-3: Finally, a lesson for young MB: you think you’ve got problems. Heck, your Dad’s only facing 10-20 years, poor Arroyo’s Mom will be stuck with him for a son for life!Tomorrow we learn she’s got the galloping robbies and is beyond medical help. Somehow this will put things in perspective and MB will be humanized in time for Basketball season.

So no Tru(e) intervention after all? We have to wait another week or so for that to happen? And what game is Arroyo talking about? The assumption is that all 3 panels are happening the same day, since there is nothing in P2 that says “The next day” or “Friday” or whatever. And speaking of assumptions, I’m assuming you would like to read today’s Mopped Up Thorp.

So this sudden Arroyo’s mom subplot means one of two things. Either it will be very short and will teach Master Bader a valuable lesson, or it is a segue into a fall storyline, and we are finally wrapping up the school year. It’s probably the former. And based on Kaz’s comment, I’m assuming she won’t be fine.

Has summer been postponed in Milford this year? Why are they still in school? I don’t remember ever not having golf or at this point tryouts for football in any summer past. What happened?

Poor ole Barry. I’m still p.o. that they never did a thing to the pickup driver. This whole mess just sucks. I gotta find a different comic that moves a little.

Have any of you had problems with going to AZ comics where the color version is? Last night and again this morning I cannot get that site to open up.

Dear Fellow Commenters:  In the real world, it’s August 9. School should be out. Gil should be teaching golf students which end of the club to hold. The streets should be filled with deranged former pro wrestlers. And True should be preparing for his long road trip to Winston-Salem by way of Hawaii.  BUT IT’S NOT AUGUST 9 IN MILFORD! It’s probably not even 2016! Now I’m no physics professor, but it seems apparent that Boo’s tragic death has somehow slowed down time in Milford. Disconcerting as it may be, if everyone could just please relax and stop pointing it out EVERY SINGLE DAY, I guarantee that the Milfordian time warp will be repaired within the next 2.5 weeks and there will, indeed be football.

WAIT! I GOT IT!Larry’s mom has another doctor’s appointment because she is undergoing therapy as she tries to recover from a recent accident. On the way home from the doctor’s, they stop at the local music shop to purchase a replacement cd for the one she lost in the crash. Because SHE WAS THE DRIVER OF THE PICKUP TRUCK THAT KILLED BOO! Larry gets shunned, he and Bader become close friends as they are both ostracized by the school, a sad lesson is learned by all, followed by a “meanwhile at football practice”…

Why does the artist constantly paint a big white bald spot on these 20 year old heads.

Shouldn’t that be, “Do I care, question mark”?

@MOP: then Larry & Barry can either pull a Thelma and Louise ending to the story line OR they can team up to draw a comic strip about a small town coach dealing with topical teen issues through sports. Their lives would be over either way. Hey Bitsy: “Like sand through an hour glass, so are the days of our lives.” or musically – “Slow down, your movin to fast, got to make the comic last, blah, blah, blah and feelin woozy.”

@tcar-1: Helter Skelter

If all the players have gone to the “Bucket,” then who is playing in today’s game? MB?