Clear Blue Water (8/30/08)

There’s nothing funnier than irrationality, which is why I laughed out loud at today’s Clear Blue Water. I also loved the exquisite timing of the penultimate pause leading up to the punchline. But what I enjoyed most about this strip was the pace of the couple’s banter, which is full of intriguing conflict, dramatic momentum  and strong characterization. It’s the type of dialogue that makes you want to spend more time with these characters, even as it tells you everything you might need to know about them.

Clear Blue Water (8/19/08)

I think Nosferatu is a pretty cool name for a cat, especially if that cat happens to be creepy and hairless. My boyhood cat had a decidedly less inspired name: Tiger, because it was orange, feisty and had been living outside. My girlfriend’s cat, on the other hand, has a very inventive name: Q-tip, owing to a tiny clump of white hair at the tail end of an otherwise black coat.

Clear Blue Water (5/15/08)

The first strip in this sequence is from May 15, and represents the traditional look of Clear Blue Water. The second strip is from May 14, and sports an updated look that’s been running for two weeks…until today. The differences are striking, although I have a preference for the cruder version. That said, it will be hard to read the strip from now on knowing the cartoonist isn’t taking full advantage of her skills.

Clear Blue Water (4/13/08)

See, this is how couples should act if they want to have lasting, loving relationships. And that’s one of the things I like about Clear Blue Water. It shows a married couple (and an entire family for that matter) with a prickly, biting sense of humor. This strip receives a lot of kudos for its realistic treatment of an autistic child, but I think the banter between husband and wife is even truer to life. Not to mention funnier.

Clear Blue Water (3/14/08)

I’ve never been on a diet, so I’ve never been in a position to actually count out the number of chips I eat in one sitting. But I can definitely identify with the excitement of opening a bag and finding those enormous two-bite chips before anyone else. I’m also partial to the slightly burnt chips you’ll find toward the bottom of the bag, as long as they’re not greasy. But to be completely honest, I’m more of a fan of pretzels.