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You Need More Sleep: Advice from Cats available now!

Inspired by the poem from the New York Times Bestselling book I Could Pee on This and Other Poems by Cats, “Kubla Kat” tells the classic tale of one kitty’s grand dream that was perhaps influenced by something other than simple napping. Animated and read by Tom Racine.

You Need More Sleep: Advice from Cats available now!

You Need More Sleep: Advice from Cats available now!

Those eagle-eyed readers of Sunday funnies who also happen to write or draw Sally Forth—and thus would be the only ones to care—might have noticed a certain omission in the cavalcade of comic stars that is the Blondie Halloween party strip today:

Now, why exactly were Sally and Ted cut from a guest list so eclectic that it included a caveman, a viking, and the Lockhorns seething in the background, perhaps upset that their plan for a key party with the Bumsteads didn’t quite pan out? One might say that the Forths never get invited to parties within their own strip, so what are the chances of scoring one from another comic. But the Forths were invited to Blondie’s 75th Anniversary party back in 2005. Of course, there was some…unplesantness at that particular shindig, including a series of wildly escalating events that to this day Ted will only refer to as “The Zinfandel Incident.” Plus, the Forths might have been a little too upfront with others about what exactly transpired at the anniversary gathering:

Another might say that the joke of today’s Blondie strip is that the titular character and her amazingly still-employed husband mistakenly believe that everyone there is dressed as a comic strip character, and are in fact not the real deal. In other words, the Bumsteads would readily believe many adults would indeed dress up in onesies and diapers for a party, perhaps giving us a peek into a how a couple now married 85 years keeps the fires burning when we’re not looking. So since the Forths look like and sound normal people until they open their mouths, they wouldn’t make for interesting costumes. But that wouldn’t exactly explain the appearance of Crankshaft or the Cobbs from Jump Start in everyday clothes, unless this is what happens when you go to Party City on October 31st. Not to mention the Forths know how to mix things up when they need to, with psychologically scalding results:

Of course, being in “the biz” (“the biz” being “cartooning/low-rent escorting,” because syndication being what it is these days) means we saw the Forths’ cut from the invite list weeks in advance. And so we had the time to introduce the hapless couple to yet another crushing social defeat in yesterday’s strip:

But the Forths are not one to take a slight—or a court order to stay at least 500 feet away from the party—in stride or with anything resembling dignity. Which is why I now present Ted Forth photobombing every single panel of today’s Blondie Halloween bash (click to embiggen):

Here’s the link and here’s a dog who always judges a book by it’s cover…that he shreds to bits.