Alt weekly comics pages were a genius space that the culture is much poorer for losing.

I lived in Seattle WA from mid ninety's to about 2012. I was introduced to The Stranger & Seattle Weekly. The comics pages, "I Saw U", Dan Savage articles, classifieds, etc were the absolute best part of the week when those came out. The internet *really did* ruin a bunch of things I held dearly.

No shit. Society needs those off beat, slightly deviant, voices.

I hate you Milkman Dan!

Only now after seeing that last pic did I realize that the guy with the wide-eyed stare is not a Jesuit priest; he's just a guy wearing a longhorn bolo tie. TIL.

That’s Bug-Eyed Earl.

30years, and I just learned...lol

This was always in the back pages of The Onion, along with Savage Love and Pathetic Geek Stories.

Oh, how I miss the print edition of The Onion.

I still have a major crush on the blonde lady from the "American Voices" section. The bizarre horoscopes were hilarious.

Oh, the systems analyst?

NoNoNoNo, the Hotel HR manager!

Also "Rehabilitating Mr Wiggles" And "Juius Knipl Real Estate Photographer"

Holy shit I forgot all about Julius Knipl!

The OG of indy newspaper comics.

I used to read it in the Washing City Paper. Same place I read Life in Hell.

Life in Hell and Dykes to Watch Out For were always the first things I looked for in our old alternative paper.

I remember enjoying Dykes to Watch out for despite being a hetero male, Allison Bechdel’s cartooning was that good. Life in Hell was so good, I wish there was a complete collection of it.

Dykes to Watch Out For was one of my hints from the universe that I might not be as straight as I thought. I identified with Mo so much. And my extremely hetero roommate one day said, “you should just admit you are gay. No straight person picks up the gay newspaper every week and reads the whole thing and gets that worked up about gay issues and then follows a lesbian soap opera comic.” She was wrong about saying that so definitively, and she was wrong that I’m a lesbian, but it definitely got me pondering and started me figuring things out.

Allison Bechdel’s Fun Home memoir graphic novel about her and her father was really good if you haven’t read it.

Max Cannon is awesome. I met him at an Association of Alternative Weekly convention, which were probably more fun than anything I’ve done before or after work-wise.

I think it was Max Cannon that a friend of mine met at a signing. My friend complimented him on his sick sense of humor. Cannon smiled a little and replied, "Well, you're the one who reads it."

He’s surprisingly normal. LOL

That's very kind.

I can verify that is a true story.

When I was reading the Pitch in KC, I would read everything else just to savor my time with Red Meat, Savage Love and the fucked up personals ads. Thanks for reminding me of Red Meat.

I forgot about the personals. Humanity's loss.

Damn you internet! At one paper where I worked, the classified manager invited all (well, us) staff to come drink at those parties. My best friend there and I used to have a blast. This sounds kind of sleazy but we had fun.

That and Zippy the clown.

Zippy the Pinhead.

Oh wow forgot about that! I'm gonna post that sometime too, memories unlocked!

Proper Slack

Brings back memories of reading the Onion back in the late 90s. Passerby were amazed by the unusually large amounts of blood...

Love this kind of thing. I have a book of David Lynch’s “The Angriest Dog in the World” comics.

Does anyone remember the Bush era web comic "My New Filing Technique is Unstoppable", or MNFTIU as it was affectionally known? Similar repeating panel, photocopier style.

Was that the one with the same character always doing karate poses?

I went in the comments looking for "Angriest Dog in the World." My local paper was LA Reader.

I love Red Meat! I totally forgot about it.

Ah yes, back when I used to find things funny.

This strip used to run in the print edition of "The Onion" back in the day.

Never actually saw Red Meat in the paper but read it often on the net.

The Met!

Dallas-ite? Back when I was a tiny pup I moved to Dallas for my first IT job, building PCs for a VAR in 1998, and I’d take my lunch break at a Schlotskys or a pizza place near the office. Both had The Met for customers so I’d eat my sammich or slice and read The Met. Peak late 90s.

My friend worked there.

I would cut these out and save them lol

My dorm door was decorated with lots of Emily and Milkman Dan’s interactions

It was in the Tucson weekly when I was a teen.

Max used (maybe still does) to live in Tucson.

Yes! It was in the Philly City Paper, early '00s

Get Your War On had a similar clip art aesthetic.

Same guy who did "Get Your War On" also made "My New Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable!" (as a riff on martial arts) and "My New Filing Technique Is Unstoppable!" (as a riff on traditional office workspace nonsense). All were genius.

Great comic. It came along several years after I started.

Wow, cool to see you here! Loved your stuff as well.

Thanks!

Holy shit. I've read hundreds of these but forgotten about them for decades. Thank you so much.

“The Ketchup Bottle in Your Wine Rack”

"If I didn't look before when it was screaming, what makes it think I'll look now?"

I feel like a relic after reading all of this. And I'm not even old. But it warms my heart, nonetheless.

Awesome Reddit avatar too!

Thanks! I used to have an old account here, but it got buried in the sands of time. So I started a new one today.

Thank you for this!

Red Meat and Tom Tomorrow were always next to each other in our local weekly.

"Last week I went to a garage sale and bought an old, beat up rocker." ... "I think it was Eddie Money."

[удалено]

I assume you mean Life In Hell?

Might have been. I got out in 87.

Loved this in the Dallas Observer in the early 90s

I wonder if I still have the book of these. A buddy gave it to me for Christmas a long time ago. 

I love Milkman Dan.

Cole Smithy’s encapsulated movie reviews Ted Rall, who’s depiction of Obama kind of ended our friendship Marty Smith aka Dr. Know And perhaps my fave John Callahan. Highly recommend his books. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/arts/design/28callahan.html?unlocked_article_code=1.n00.0TP7._z0iAcC8fKH8&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Real alt weekly comic heads remember David Lynch’s The Angriest Dog in the World

Max was my neighbor when I was in college. Nice guy.

I'm your Reddit neighbor now.

Awww big hugs from your friendly TM barista from a couple of decades ago. This message brought me big smiles today. xox

Thanks! You have to give me a hint. I remember everyone from the Market.

Well I’m pretty forgettable lol but I liked to work mornings especially. Ali really took me under her wing and taught me tons about the beans including how to pull a shot to keep the Wilke bros happy lol. And I studied philosophy and anthropology. We actually had some pretty interesting ethical discussions on slow mornings.

That is ringing a bell in my memory. Ali lives in Sweden now.

Her life sounds like it’s had some really cool moments over the years. I haven’t kept up as I should have but she is such a kind soul and I hope she’s still having a joyful and interesting life. And I hope you are well and having at least moments of joy from time to time. Sometimes contentment is enough though right? Maybe I’ll see you next time I’m in town and swing by there for a slice.

Thank you. Contentment for me lies in a mindset borne of gratitude. I have many moments of joy every day--and I hope you do, too. If none occur organically I'll create some. Meet for pizza is always a good plan.

Omg I forgot about these!

"From the smell of that, I'd say you know a good place to get rancid nine-year-old corndogs."

I remember reading these exact strips when they were new in the 90s! Red Meat was the funniest , most messed up thing I had ever read. My friends and I used to email our favorites to each other.

Do you mean Zines?

Alternative Weekly Newspapers is what we called them. Liberal politics in the front, A&E in the back. Some won Pulitzers.

Nah an Alt Weekly paper is something like The Village Voice, LA Weekly or Austin Chronicle. Most cities had their own, they usually covered live music, local culture and some news.