JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for July 17, 2013

I think the colorist made a mistake.

How quickly they forget . . .

Sign o’ the times…sign o’ the times…..

Ah. That’s Marcy’s sister-in-law, Olivet’s mother. She’s white.

I was in a McDonald’s, and the sign read “Free Ice Cream Cone for Seniors”.A busload of high school kids stopped by after a game or some such, and I overheard one of them say, “Hey, I’m a senior!”

Cue historical references in 3…2…

If you go back to the December 5, 2003 strip, her mom is depicted with shading on her skin but with light colored hair. The strips were not in color back then. Cruncy is shown without shading. I think the colorist goofed.

Marcy’s mom has always been black. She married Clayton, Clarence’s father, several years ago. Her first husband, Rick, died when Marcy was a teenager.

As for the punch line, the Brady Bunch rarely comes on anymore. I saw it a few weeks ago on Hallmark Channel, but other than that I don’t see it anymore. It’s syndication now is not as near as widespread as it was 20 years ago.

Some of you may be right, but it still is possible to call someone by the pet name of “mom” as well, even if they aren’t their actual mother… such as when you say… ‘hey, rookie!" “or, hey, graduate”, how’s it going?" or if one is expected to intern, but not finished graduate school, “so, doctor”, how does it feel?"…. so in this way, (I’ve heard it before, as well) a person can lovingly call someone “mom” even if it’s not their actual mother…

Wow – I’ve been looking at past comics and wasting all kinds of time I don’t have, trying to figure out the conundrum of who Marcie is talking to. Upon first reading it, I thought that it was Charlene, Marcie’s sister-in-law, and that Marcie was calling her “Mom” because she’s a new mother again. However, Marcie also said, “You always wanted grandkids!” (???) Marcie’s mom doesn’t have long hair (6/20/13) and wears glasses. She’s also darker than today’s baby-holder. Charlene’s hair looks different from her hair in recent past comics, but now she’s all fixed up (her face has improved a bit, too). I wish Robb could weigh in on all this.

It’s Charlene’s mom she is talking to.

But Charlene’s mom didn’t marry into the family (see Panel 3) – her daughter did.

The woman with the glasses in the 6/20/13 comic is JOE’s mother, not Marcie’s mother.

Additionally, Charlene has a pointed nose, and Marcie’s mother does not.

Great hairstyle Charlene!

“She got more kids than the Waynes!” “Dang!” Anybody remember what movie that was from??

Someone mentioned that he has Native-American ancestry. Well, I had a great-great-great-great grandfather who was a Coree Indian in North Carolina. If I looked any whiter, you’d be able to see all my veins, not just most of them.

I just look at the thesaurus dealing with the word, Blood, i find ancestry, lineage, bloodline, descent, parentage, family, birth, extraction, origin, genealogy, heritage, stock, kinship.

I think she’s “talking” to her mother figuratively.

And Thursday’s strip confirms that this is Charlene, not Marcy’s mother.

My apologies. This is a colorist’s error. “Maureen” is Marcy’s mother and she is Black. I have amazing colorists at my syndicate, but human error cannot always be avoided. I will work more closely with my colorists to make sure this does not re-occur. -Robb Armstrong