Dog Eat Doug by Brian Anderson for March 26, 2010

Sophie knows what’s good!

Home sweet home.

Peace & quiet and a comfy couch! Relax, Sophie.

Sophie would be a lot more interested if they were old Tom Baker episodes with K-9 in them.

As The Doctor would say. “Oh; that’s brilliant!”.

Awwww! So sweet! Now - who is playing Dr. WHo?

Well, maybe he could record some of the Sarah Jane Chronicles (for Doug, of course) and get a glimpse of K-9 there!

I never could get into Dr. Who, but gotta love the moment these two are having together.

One of those great, simple moments in life.

If things keep up I’ll need a new hitchhiker’s guide

Who’s on first, grap.

Ah, that sounds like a wonderful evening. Are you looking forward to new episodes on April 13th Brian?

Dr Who, maybe. Now if it was Red Dwarf, or Firefly…

i love the little smile sophie has,,

I met Tom Baker in St. Louis, he was very personable and polite with my children - but he really brought humor to the role and made it campy. The series now takes itself serious and maybe that is good. Best episode to date with the new series - Blink.

Nice rendering on the Dad. It works better here, in black and white, than it does in color over on comics.com.

Sophie’s half-closed eyes and little grin are the very image of relaxed contentment, far from the “furrowed brow” that could only be imagined by a person who adapts comic strip character’s expressions to suit his (or her) preconceived notions of what other people ought to find enjoyable.

Yes, Sophie is definitely smiling… in both the second and third panels.

Phil N. DeBlanc, yes, I loved ‘Blink’. The new Dr. Who will have to do some strong convincing to win me over. I’m sure they’re trying to appeal to a younger audience.

Yayyy Doctor Who. Haven’t seen much but love what I have seen.

To (probably mis-)quote Leftbridge-Stewart; “Wonderful fellow, all of them.”

You’re sticking to that, are you Joe?

Sophie’s smiling. Sophie apparently likes “Dr. Who” reruns, perhaps as much as she likes “Star Trek” reruns, or “Indiana Jones” movies. She is enjoying quality time with Dad (and yes, she thinks of him as her Dad), without having to compete with Doug for his attention. In the third panel, she’s one blissed-out little pup.

The picture and the text in the second panel are meant to be simultaneous. If Sophie were displeased with the idea of watching a DVR full of “Dr. Who”, she would not be smiling in the second panel. This is basic comic-strip reading.

I know you’ve got a lot invested in the idea that we should disapprove of Sophie, and it’s clear you’re determined to cast her every action in the worst possible light. But I don’t see that Brian Anderson shares your conception of Sophie as the villain of the strip.

“Blink” fans: you know that Carey Mulligan, the young girl in the episode, won a British Oscar for her performance in the movie,’ An Education?” She’d be a great companion, as would have the Doctor’s Daughter.

Joe , Sophie isn’t frowning, she is looking content in the last panel.

Here we go again!

Take a closer look. Sophie’s expression in the last panel looked more like a “sigh” than a smile.

Looks like contentment to me, but once again, everyone including Joe is entitled to an opinion.

He’s entitled to an opinion, but when he insists that his opinions are facts, I take issue.

The strip works if Sophie is seen to be contendedly relaxing in panel three. If Sophie is discontented by the prospect of watching “Dr. Who” with Dad, then her joyous expression in panel two makes little or no sense. A frowning, sarcastic Sophie may conform to Joe’s perception of Sophie as a malign, vindictive Labrador puppy, but it is not supported by the construction of the preceeding panels (nor by what has often been established concerning Sophie’s tastes in entertainment).

EXACTLY ONCE have I seen Joe admit that he has been wrong about something (usually he either disappears entirely or complains of persecution). I invite him now to admit his error, and I will think all the better of him.

EasterFritz, I understand where you and others are coming from at times on that aspect also.