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December 4, 2007

Humpty

Filed under: Bill Bickel, CIDU, comic strips, comics, humor, Humpty Dumpty, Jump Start, nursery rhymes, Robb Armstrong — Cidu Bill @ 12:45 am

humpty.gif

12 Comments »

  1. OK, you see the blank looks on the babies’ faces in panel three? That’s me. Huh?
    Is Sunny referring to a specific ball player? A particular sport, maybe? I admit I’ve never made a oonnection between a man-sized egg and an athlete before.
    How deep are we getting here? Does “all the kings horses, etc” refer to society in general, and our failure to redeem/rehabilitate the ball players who dope up, kill, or otherwise “go bad”, like an egg?
    OK, I’ve officially over-thought this. Anyone else?

    Comment by Jim M. — December 4, 2007 @ 2:07 am

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  2. And don’t get me started on the fact that her chair apparently sinks two feet between panels one and three…

    Comment by Jim M. — December 4, 2007 @ 2:13 am

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  3. “‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.'” — Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

    During grand jury testimony on December 4, 2003, Barry Bonds said that he used a clear substance and a cream that he received from his personal strength trainer, Greg Anderson, who told him they were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis – Wikipedia, quoting Lance Williams & Mark Fainaru-Wada (2004-12-03) “What Bonds told BALCO grand jury”, San Francisco Chronicle, Hearst Communications Inc.

    Comment by Ooten Aboot — December 4, 2007 @ 3:30 am

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  4. I think it’s word play: Humpty had a great “fall” – as in autumn, as in the last part of a ball playing season.

    I thought that Ooten might be thinking the same thing with the Lewis Carroll quote (which seems quite applicable to this interpretation…)

    Comment by Brian Leahy — December 4, 2007 @ 7:02 am

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  5. I immediately thought the player that was mixed up in the dog fighting. Michael Vick?

    Comment by Lola — December 4, 2007 @ 7:24 am

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  6. I think you’re way over analyzing this (forget what we named this category).
    Humpty’s worth was vested in his athletic skill, so since he’s hurt and can’t be fixed, it’s society’s loss. I don’t think this references any player in particular, but career-ending injuries are very common unfortunately.

    Comment by Rasheed — December 4, 2007 @ 8:15 am

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  7. I was torn between Barry Bonds and Michael Vick. The Falcons laid a big egg when Vick fell off his wall!

    Comment by shennydenny — December 4, 2007 @ 11:03 am

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  8. Gosh, my first thought was that it was a subtle reference to Sean Taylor. There he was, a good guy at the top of his game (the wall) but he was senselessly gunned down, (the fall) and despite the best efforts of whatever physicians arrived on scene he couldn’t be put back together again. But what do I know?

    Comment by Amberosia — December 4, 2007 @ 12:48 pm

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  9. #8 That’s what I thought at first, too, but that wasn’t too long ago. Isn’t there a two week delay between writing the strips and publishing them?

    Comment by Cedar — December 4, 2007 @ 12:59 pm

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  10. The delay depends on the creator, many go as much as six weeks in advance so they have a buffer against unexpected problems. Jump Start isn’t generally topical enough to need to run with a small buffer.

    Comment by Dave Van Domelen — December 4, 2007 @ 3:35 pm

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  11. I don’t think it would say “ball player” if it meant a football player. I somehow think it’s Barry Bonds, but I still don’t really get it.

    Comment by Hunt — December 5, 2007 @ 10:09 am

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  12. I don’t think it’s a reference to any specific ball player.

    Comment by Powers — December 6, 2007 @ 6:46 am

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