Frazz by Jef Mallett for November 23, 2011

LOL! Frazz a ‘geezer’!

Realistic, actually.

A couple years ago I was doing product demos in a store mostly staffed by teenagers.

I overheard one trying to get his co-worker to recall someone…. “He had one of those old guy names…. like Greg …”

When he thought of the actual name, it was Ron.

Okaaay…..

Parents never consider the possibility that the “trendy” names they name their babies today will sound stupid when they become adults.

@AshburnStadium, no, but if he was doing something with three friends, at least one of their names would.

Twenty years from now, the retirement homes will be full of Tammys and Debbies and Jennifers.

…and sixty years from now, they will be filled with Jacobs and Bellas…

George Carlin once offered the opinion that you could call yourself whatever you want and spell it however you want:“What’s your name?”- “Jenofsky”“How do you spell that?”- “S-M-I-T-H”“What!?”- “They’re all silent; never mind!”

The only name I can think of that rhymes with “-aden” starts with “Osama bin L-”.

Oh wait, did he mean a long “a”? I’ve got nothing, then.

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s son Jaden.

When I told my buddy I’d taken up cycling, he said, “oh great, you’re one of them?”

“Them, what?” I asked.

“MAMILS,” he said.

“MAMILS?”

“Yes, Middle Aged Men In Lycra.”

There’s Jaden and Hayden and, um, Aden…

The only other ones I can think of are Rayden (from Mortal Kombat) and Maiden, but it would be cruel parents indeed who’d name their son Maiden.

I posted on a parenting blog yesterday about the names that I dislike. One category was names that rhyme with the latest trend, such as Jaden/Braden/Hayden/Kayden (yes, seriously) and Bailey/Hailey/Kaylee. To each their own, but I prefer classic names that have stood the test of time and trendiness.

Hmmm, I know a Hayden who’s in his fifties. Guess it’s not all that new.

Any chance it’s a reference to “Bin Laden”?

That is a fairly sophisticated analysis of your name, Ron, how old were you when you explained this to your parents? It seems something a precocious Caulfield would say.

does no one else see that the artwork in this strip comes directly from calvin and hobbes? will no one give me their views on this? dont make me come and find all several million of you out there. iknow yall are out there, i hear you giggling

my name, first & middle, mean bitter truthlast name means war mace

moss, think so? Watterson usually had more detail in his panels….Mallet can also do that well, but usually saves it for Sundays….Both artist are delightful though. What do you notice that is similar?

Here’s the “s” for that artist word….

Get yer own apostrophy….

@varnes: ’ ’ ’ ’ <— have a couple.

mossmangene (moss man Gene?) —

Nobody answers cos it’s been done…… over and over and …well, you get it.

Mallet says no, Watterson has never said anything….

Just cos Frazz has spiky red hair, and both cartoonists do very artistic Sundays, some people think there might even be collaboration.

But Watterson tried many styles, some imitating Japanese scrolls, some takes on various fine artists, and Mallet’s are quite different.

As for Frazz being a grown-up Calvin, to me he’s more like the funny, practical Hobbes.

Caulfield is more like a slightly matured Calvin, who as finally recognised his genius.

The art styles are similar enough that Calvin would not look out of place in “Frazz”, and Frazz would not look out of place in “Calvin & Hobbes.” Considering how good and how popular Watterson’s strip was, it’s hardly surprising that his influence could be seen among the next generation (and I doubt Mallett would deny Watterson’s influence), but Mallett has put his own stamp on “Frazz”, both in terms of art and writing.

i only became aware of frazz a couple of days ago so i must confess general ignorance other than the 3 or 4 strips ive read. frazz is calvin as a teen (appearence wise) and the little girl is calvins mom as a child. dont get me wrong, i love seeing this style in print once more. im an old fart down in mississippi, im just learning about how to work a computer but you notice one of the first things i did was look this site up. thats how much i love my comic strips. all you younguns need to know that it was a lot easier to look in the newspaper and get your comic fix. watterson was a pioneer of comic strip art and form not to mention introducing a REALLY SICK PUPPY in the comic world. alot of papers told him he had to stick with the accepted form or they would not carry c and h. he didnt knuckle under. i guess that rebellion just kinda makes a southern boy proud. i hope that frazz lives up to the standards watterson set.

slap me silly and call me shirley. up untill a few miniuts ago i thought watterson died years ago. i guess since frazz is still in print, watterson doesnt mind. thank all yall for indulging this mississippi country boy. ask anyone around here and all you get is “huh?” ps yes its moss man gene. ive sold spanish moss to florists for 20 years. tons of people only know me as moss man. i proved my pop wrong. money does grow on trees. gotta love it.