Comics stuff in Saturday's Post (and Times)

There's a few interesting bits in the paper today - in St. Mary's County, MD, a cartoon reprinted from 2002 and described as "by St. Mary's Today staff artist William Woodward Jr., depicts three black men driving away from a strip of stores they have just robbed. One man is wearing a ski mask and holding a shotgun, while the driver -- whose hair is in cornrows -- remarks that the area is "so close to D.C." The characters have exaggerated wide noses and full lips. Off to the side, a small slug asks another, "What happened to law and order?" His friend responds, "Ask the liberals."" has generated controversy this time around. See "Tabloid Newspaper's Cartoon Incites Allegations of Racism" by Megan Greenwell, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, March 10, 2007; Page B05.

A longtime reader of the strips corrects a mis-characterization of Daisy Mae from Li'l Abner:

Saturday, March 10, 2007; Page A17
Anna Was No Daisy Mae

I nearly spilled my coffee while reading Ruth Marcus's Feb. 28 column, "The Princess and the Playmate," asserting that Anna Nicole Smith was comparable to "L'il Abner's" Daisy Mae and thus an embodiment of America's "white trash." For shame. As "L'il Abner" readers recall, Daisy Mae was not only beautiful and scantily clad, but she was also virtuous, honest and smart enough to fend off the advances of the likes of Big Barnsmell, Earthquake McGoon and other unsavory suitors for her hand.

Her true and only love was L'il Abner, an all-American boy, whom eventually she wed.

-- Phil True

For the record, according to Allan Holtz's The Stripper's Guide index, "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp hasn't appeared since Capp's death in 1977, although there was an abortive reprint run from 1988-1989. A good example of a strip not surviving its creator, although by the end, I'm not sure how many readers Capp had for his bitter rightwing vitriol.

And of course, Richard's Poor Almanack appears in the Style section - today's panel is one of the constellation ones. And Elwood Smith has a good cartoon about noisy neighbors on the front of the real estate section.

In today's Times, "Ghost Rider just burning to prevent Armageddon" by Joseph Szadkowski, Washington Times March 10, 2007, reviews the videogames for 300 and the Ghost Rider movies. 300 comes out better than GR.

Catching up, in yesterday's paper "'300': A Losing Battle in More Ways Than 1" by Stephen Hunter, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, March 9, 2007; C01 slapped the movie around with phrases like, "So the movie isn't set in history or in time but in some dank, feverish swamp of the imagination that betrays its comic book origins (it's based on the graphic novel by "Sin City's" Frank Miller)." The Times appears to have run a wire service review, " '300': Spartans at their Alamo, Washington Times March 9, 2007.