Psychiatrist John and Mr Hyde

See it here.

Today's panel can't decide what it wants to be about.

It starts with a sequence of comments involving pasta which further serve to illustrate that artist Julie Larson is often not cognizant of where the line between pointless conversation and humor lies. In this case, she lands squarely on the pointless conversation side of the line. That is, unless there is something intrinsically funny about people's preferences for whole wheat versus regular pasta of which I am not aware.

Then there's Burl who seems to be part of another panel altogether, one which is, yet again, about his thriftiness. I'll grant that Burl is tied into the pasta conversation by the most gossamer of threads, the price of whole wheat pasta. But like many examples of The Dinette Set, the pasta conversation is just an excuse to get to Burl's punchline, such as it is. By the time we arrive at the end of Burl's punchline, it no longer matters if the setup had been about pasta, meat, produce, or pink elephants.

And, finally, we have the plaque-covered walls of Psychiatrist John's home, which have nothing to do with the rest of the panel. In fact, they are a pretty confusing piece to fit into the emerging puzzle that is Psychiatrist John. From what we've seen previously, Pyschiatrist John is a fitness/running nut with a penchant for volunteering for charity. But his walls tell a different story. They tell the story of his Mr. Hyde persona, that of a useful idiot for the pharmaceutical industry.

If we discount the possibility that the panel's schizophrenic nature is a deliberate mirror for Psychiatrist John's split personality (and I think it's safe to discount that possibility), the reader can be forgiven for just rolling their eyes and getting on with life. After all, when the panel itself can't decide what it is about, it's hardly fair to ask the reader to do all the heavy lifting.

Plaques in the margins:

• As if the panel is not unfocused enough, Joy's shirt makes a reference to a type of potato. I'll be damned if I'm even going to try working that one out.
• John has the very rare "Master of Doctorate Degree." I assume this is a swipe at ivory-tower-academic-elitism.
• I think it's quaint that The National Pharmaceutical Award plaque has written the word MOST in bold italics. That will be helpful in distinguishing it from the plaque handed out for having written the FEWEST prescriptions.
• It's interesting that Ms. Larson took the time to draw three pasta bowls, a lamp (with strange emissions that are probably supposed to be light), and a basket of bread. But she did not feel it was important to draw the salad Burl is carping about. Does this mean that Burl and Joy refused the request to bring a salad?
• University of Bucharast? I think we have to assume that Ms. Larson doesn't know how to spell Bucharest and couldn't be bothered to look it up. Besides, it's one of those place with lots of foreigners.
• I guess Ms. Larson got tired, long after her readers did, of the 26K marathon gag and has now switched to a 126-mile marathon gag. I'm already tired of the new gag.