K
Cidu Bill on Oct 27th 2009
Baseball fans hold up “K” cards for each of their pitcher’s stikeouts during a game, so that presumably has something to do with what’s going on here…
Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Dogs, New Yorker, cats, comic strips, comics, humor | 15 responses so far
CaroZ Oct 27th 2009 at 12:07 am 1
The dog is swinging in vain at the cat, which in turn is taunting him? I guess it would make sense if pitchers themselves held up the “K” cards but as it is it’s a bit of a stretch.
Arthur Oct 27th 2009 at 12:21 am 2
The cat is marking the sixth time the dog has tried for it and missed.
I’m not sure what makes it funny, though. Of course, it is a New Yorker comic….
Rainey Oct 27th 2009 at 12:31 am 3
The cat is taunting the dog for his/her unsuccessful attempts at nabbing the cat.
Stan Oct 27th 2009 at 01:18 am 4
It would have been more funny if there were 9 k’s.
Geddit? K-9? Geddit?
Pirk Oct 27th 2009 at 02:32 am 5
the dog’s angry ’cause the cat burned a cross on its lawn
now the cat is trying to lure the dog closer to the tree to be lynched
Tom T. Oct 27th 2009 at 06:54 am 6
The cat feels oppressed, and so is comparing the dog to the KKK. Twice over. It’s a commentary on how racial accusations get thrown around in our society.
(kidding…)
retropink Oct 27th 2009 at 09:37 am 7
I would like this a lot more if one of the Ks was backwards. Not that it would make more sense, but the idea of the dog getting a strike by just standing there makes me chuckle. Like the cat is just taunting him.
TasmanSea Oct 27th 2009 at 09:44 am 8
Knowing nothing about baseball, had I just seen this in the New Yorker, I might easily have assumed there was a way smarter joke here that I just wasn’t getting. Good that I saw it here first. I do like how annoyed and exhausted the dog looks though.
Heather D Oct 27th 2009 at 10:05 am 9
The dog is panting. I think that there is, implied, an epic chase, zooming across the yard at near-mach speeds. Just as the dog is about to overtake his prey, the cat bolts up into the tree.
Again. Just like last time.
Strikeout.
padraig Oct 27th 2009 at 10:14 am 10
The squirrels and rabbits in my back yard hang these out to taunt our mini schnauzer. Some day she will make them pay.
Keera Oct 27th 2009 at 12:23 pm 11
I didn’t know why “K”, so in case somebody else not familiar with baseball is also wondering, here’s an explanation: http://baseball.wikia.com/wiki/Strikeout
docdonn Oct 27th 2009 at 12:27 pm 12
hairball- spitballs?
Kate C Oct 27th 2009 at 04:05 pm 13
Blast from the past! I have a very, very clear childhood memory of me asking my dad to explain this strip (and he said basically what Heather D said).
I also have a memory of asking my mom to explain that Far Side strip where a man is hiding in a fort made out of sofa cushions, and a woman is saying something like, “You can make your little fort another time, Harold. The Johnsons are coming over for dinner.” I didn’t get it, and my said it would be as if my dad made a fort out of cushions, and I found this concept so unbelievably uproarious, that Far Side still makes me smile, and is among one of my favorites.
Judge Mental Oct 27th 2009 at 04:40 pm 14
@retropink
For us baseball fans, a backwards K would have ruined the cartoon. A backwards K signifies that the batter struck out from not swinging on a pitch in the strikezone, as opposed to swing and a miss which is denoted by a regular (forward) K. The situation obviously calls for a forward K.
Jeff S. Oct 28th 2009 at 11:43 am 15
I’m with retropink… the first thing I did when I got the joke was to look for a backwards K. I could see the dog approaching the cat, look at him, then hang his head down and walk away. That’s equivalent to a strikeout watching in the dog-chase-cat world.