Gasoline Alley by Jim Scancarelli for October 30, 2009

AHHHH! Protect the fourth wall!!!

Hey ! I like the daily color comics…good idea.

Well, that was… short. I hope.

Say, has she looked in the place she left him, yet?

I think she said the other day that the theater was empty by the time that she quit arguing with Byrd - so she supposedly looked for Walt - but couldn’t find anybody!

Has Ted Turner taken over the comics? Remember when he was colorizing all the great black and white movies?

I was thinking Walt might be a the Retired Comics home to stay. He is a supercentenarian now.

Hey Not Norman you made a positive comment!

Now where IS Mr. Walt?

COLOR IS GOOD HAHA

Maybe the Cackle Sisters took Walt home. Woo-woo.

Putting on her seat belt. GREAT

Doesn’t Walt usually wander away once a year or so? Usually to have a scary Halloween getting lost in the graveyard or something.

In the 31 Oct 2006 strip, Walt calls it the Old Comics Retirement Home. In the next day’s strip, he calls it the Old Comics Home; same name on 6, 7, and 22 Nov 2006. Finally, in the 7 Nov 2006, we see the sign outside the home: “Old Comics Home.”

Here’s a recap of that great story 31 Oct through 30 Dec 2006 arc:

Starting 21 Oct 2006, Mutt & Jeff write Walt a letter, inviting Walt to visit. He sneaks out of his house and hitchhikes to the Home. The story arc has Moon & Kayo Mullins & their Uncle Willie, Felix the Cat, the Yellow Kid, Happy Hooligan, the Toonerville Trolley, Major Hoople, Wash Tubbs, Albert the Alligator & Pogo, Winnie Winkle, Skippy, Howdy Doody, Tom Terrific, Andy Gump, Joe Palooka & Knobby Walsh, Betty Boop, Barney Google & Sparkplug, the Little King, Smokey Stover, Mighty Mouse, Li’l Abner & Daisy, Krazy Kat, Mama Katzenjammer, Old Doc Yak, Mutt & Jeff, and others I don’t recognize. In the 13 Nov 2006 strip, Mutt tells Walt that other residents of the home include Jiggs & Maggie, Calvin & Hobbes (Walt calls them “the new kids on the block”), and Harold Teen.

A change of scenery back to Walt’s house on 14-24 Nov 2006 has a Social Security representative visit Gertie to confirm that Walt is alive and no fraud is involved in the receipt of his checks. Gertie confirms – at that time – Walt was 106 years old. However, Gertie can’t find him. “Oh, Lord! I’ve lost Mr. Walt!” (Sound familiar?) (18 Nov 2006) Luckily, Gertie finds the letter from Mutt & Jeff.

Scene changes back to the Home on 25 Nov 2006, as Walt & Jiggs play cards for money, while sitting on a girder high in the air. Gertie drags the federal officer to the Old Comics Home (1506 Nix Nix, at the corner of Notary Sojac) to prove he’s alive. They arrive 29 Nov 2006, but search the whole Home and can’t find him.

Mutt & Jeff sneak Walt out on a gurney, hiding behind comic panels and breaking the 4th wall into splinters. The gurney flies down the stairs, out the front door. On 22 Dec 2006, the gurney rear-ends Gertie’s car as she drives away with the Social Security agent. Walt flies through the air, landing in a haystack, uninjured. (This IS a comic strip!)

We last see Mutt & Jeff on 28 Dec 2006, as they watch the three visitors drive away; and the arc ends happily with Walt at home on 29-30 Dec 2006.

Macushlalondra said, about 9 hours ago

Hey Not Norman you made a positive comment!

Now where IS Mr. Walt?

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SSSShhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..Macushlalondra, you might remind NotNorman oh how he is acting now.. I’m actually kind of enjoying his remarks now…LOL. Don’t ruin a good thing. Along with the story arc.

Walt definitely needs to stay around a while longer. I believe it was determined earlier that he is at least 107 years old. For that reason alone, it would be great to see him a few more times.

Not only that, but when his time finally comes, he deserves a grand send off, not this “Where’s Walt” as an afterthought storyline.

I wonder if fastening your seatbelt is a metaphor for what is to come…

Sometimes a seatbelt is simply a seatbelt.