I Wish I Knew the Answer

Abigail "Tommie" Thompson is: the least helpful nurse in the world. Seriously, we still don't know if Margo has had a stroke or blood poisoning or delirium tremens or what. And at this point with the writing, I feel like anything could happen, context clues be damned. (e.g. "It turns out she just has a really bad case of gout!")

Readers, it's time to place your bets. What will Margo's diagnosis be? The winner gets to change the quote on the banner. (Even though "Nurse Dawkins has set me free!" still makes me laugh every time I notice it.)

I'M OUT!!

I really don't understand the characterization here at all. First of all, it's fine for Eric to care deeply for Margo and want to help her, they were engaged before he disappeared in the Himalayans. He doesn't need to blame it on 5 Years in Tibet changing him. Second, Tim liked Margo! They were practically buds. And now, in her darkest hour, he's just like, nope! Too much work! I'M OUT!! "If you ever need anything" my ass. It's disturbing because Margo is truly mentally troubled at this point, not just being her typical sassy devil-may-care self. Maybe he's just upset because he hasn't gotten his breakfast bowl combo at Diner yet.

Street Walkers

Wait, so was Tim lurking outside all night?  Or are he and Eric taking shifts waiting by the neighborhood wood shed for Margo to wander aimlessly by?

And Margo is totally not worth it.  She's hard on those closest to her.  Like her roommates, employees, mother, mother's psychic...you get the picture.  You better do some extra Om Noms before you bother her in the street again.

I Felt Something!

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Monday, September 7, 2015

The facial expressions and lighting in these strips are totally appropriate, YES, I approve, let's keep this moving!

P.S. If you think it's cheesy and unbelievable that Eric Mills is having premonitions, Margo was having dream premonitions six years ago, complete with a head bobble. Oh, how I miss the bobbles! And the swivels. I feel like we haven't had regular bobbles and swivels for ages.

7 Years in Tibet

"I have been waiting to reunite with Margo for many, many years.  The thought of her tightly coiled raven bun and delicate feminine turtleneck collection kept me going through the painful recovery at the hands of the Tibetan nuns.  I think our strategy of waiting here on this street and cryptically speaking to her while she is wandering in a rage fog is softening her resistance.  Let's stick to plan A."

Margo and All

Well how damn cavalier of Tim to support his brother, who literally moved mountains (in an avalanche) to rescue him. Also, I agree with Casey, I don't know where this aggression towards Margo is coming from, she totally did grieve, in her halting Margo-like way. But yeah, THANKS Tim, for fighting through your Margo-related hang-ups to support your brother.

Also, doesn't anyone have a job in this strip? These two boobs are just wandering the streets waiting to bump into Margo? Reclaim the Mills Gallery, Eric! Lu Ann won't be there anymore to louse it up with her squiggle art!

Long Ago

Wednesday, August 19

What??? One-panel A3G?? And like, clearly driven by sheer laziness right? Shulock was all, "Eh, I can't think of another way to repeat the exact same sentiments in another panel... Frank, could you just draw this all as one panel and have some completely random and irrelevant woman in-frame so that it seems like there's some purpose to the one-panel format? Don't worry, by tomorrow everyone will forget she was ever there." I will say, maybe they should just keep this format - Frank's art seems slightly better when he has more space to work with, and the dialogue never really warrants two panels anyway, right?

Thursday, August 20

Hey Tim, what the hell, man?? Margo totally grieved and went to freaking India for him! India! Also, how could you say that after you shared such a touching moment?
But no need to grieve for her, Eric, she had that fat wad of cash you left her so she was cool. Hey, can he take that back from her since he's alive?

Vague Talk

I think I'm in agreement with Maggie's comments from a while back.  At this point, the art is what it is.  Frank puts in characters that would pass in a lineup for the people who they are supposed to be, slaps in minor background detail so we know if we're inside or outside and we go with it because he's 90.  I'm not even going to comment on how Tim's part changes between the first and the second strip because that's not even why I'm mad.

But the writing is just terrible.  I mean you only have two panels.  That's at most three talking/thought bubbles?  But every...single...day a character says something incredibly vague with their thought bubble like "Margo is not what you think," which is completely incongruous to anything that has ever happened in the strip.  It's mostly that it's poor writing, but as a blogger who has to comment on this it's excruciating.  End of rant.

She's a Mess

I gave a long explanation about the Mills brothers in the comments of last Friday's strip, but the summary is: Eric saved Tim from rotting away in a Chinese prison, and then disappeared in an avalanche. And Margo got to meet the Dalai Lama. It's worth looking in the LLoA3G archives for July to August 2008 to see Margo in India. The white part of India, I mean.

 Anyway, the fact that the Ghost of Eric Mills is now having a conversation with his brother Tim likely means that Eric isn't a one of Margo's hallucinations, but is actually just your typical soap opera avalanche survivor. I am shocked that he didn't come back with an eyepatch and amnesia.

Blast from the Past

Whoa!  Eric Mills of the avalanche/art gallery fame?  It looks like his time underneath that massive Nepalese snowdrift has aged him prematurely.   So much so that Margo hasn't recognized him the three or four times he's riddled her in the streets.

I'll leave it to Maggie to give us all the scoop on the Brothers Mills.

Goodbye, Tim

Yes, it's a long drive to Tibet or wherever. Thanks for the offer Tim, but I need to walk... down to Saks Fifth Avenue. This money isn't going to spend itself, and I should really get something for Lu Ann and my maid Tommie. It's the holiday season after all!

Tim seems a little taken aback by Margo's display of affection... he probably hasn't heard very warm things about her from his wife Nora. I'm not sure if it's a genuine hug or if she's trying to dig her hooks into him as deep as she can... she's probably already missing the other 50% of the inheritance.

Dollar Bills, Y'all!

You were silent in the attorney's office, but you're allowed to say it now, Margo: PAYDIRT!! Whoooo! What color turtlenecks do you think she'll buy first??

Also, let us briefly observe what a subtle and nuanced euphamism "left the country" is for death. It's like "went on vacation" for adults.

Tim?!

Weird expression on Margo in the second panel. Maybe she was expecting to see Tim Mills'
Journal, not the man himself, but if that's the best brave smile she can muster, she's in trouble. Where are they, anyway? Are they outside, or is that a blue accent wall? Attorneys are such a colorful bunch.

Double Dragon II: The Final Embrace

Two panels on Sunday definitely merited comment:

Not shown elsewhere during the week was Nora and Tim's ultimate embrace. Am I the only one who's reminded of the ending of that old NES game Double Dragon II: The Revenge? I am? Yeah, I played that game maybe too much. Well anyway, I'm glad to see that Nora is excited beyond mannequin-like poses to see her husband, even if it means bullrushing him. Careful, he's frail!

Meanwhile, this Sunday panel offers a more revealing view of Margo's hotel room panic. She's finally about to rip her human disguise off, which is awesome!! I've been waiting for this forever. Tell me I'm not the only one who has suspected that Margo is an alien lifeform waiting for the perfect moment to summon her brethren and enslave the human race. I am? Strike two. Oh well, it'd be pretty cool.

Model Behavior

Oh my God, it's Nora! Nora!! You must be ecstatic! The love of your life, your dead husband Tim, is actually not so dead! Yahoo! Now run up there and give him a big hug! Go on! Run up there! Give him a big... what are you doing? Are you... posing like a mannequin?

Okay, Tim I can forgive for his "Hey there young whippersnapper" pose because he's probably quite malnourished. But Nora! Try to get your body language to meet your three exclamation points!

A big kudos to the Lama for using his international media debut to stage a big emotional reunion. You're the best!

And the Crowd Goes Wild!

OH suh-NAP! A3G can still surprise me sometimes. We haven't seen Tim since last September, so I kind of forgot that he existed outside of journal form. Here he is, and I think we can all agree: he's seen some things.

Supposedly the crowd is bursting into cheers in the second panel, but just look at them. Those must be the saddest, most concerned cheers ever. Hey crowd, why so blue? Ahhh hahahahaha!