Who's Out There?

« You know what I wish? I wish that I when I got mad I could pull my own head off and throw it at people. » – Alice Otterloop

There’s simply no justice. Richard Thompson (not the former Fairport Convention guitarist, béret enthusiast and all-around musical authority) was, in my view, the greatest cartoonist of his generation, and, in his prime, his voice was stifled by Parkinson’s disease. Sigh.

Here, then, is a trio of seasonally-and-thematically pertinent excerpts from his Richard’s Poor Almanac, a feature that made its august début in The Washington Post in 1997. Mr. Thompson is somewhat better known for his (other) masterpiece, the beyond-brilliant suburban family comic strip, Cul de Sac (2004-2012).

And since I brought up Cul de Sac, and insolently pilfered a panel from it for this post’s preview image, I would be remiss in my duties were I to not include the strip in its entirety. Here you are.

For more of Mr. Thompson’s Almanac, check out, if you will, this earlier post on the topic.

-RG