Confession: I Don’t Get Today’s Strip

I guess I should be glad that the one-week lull in watching Patterson children move has finally ended. (Not only was the car-buying sequence boring, Liz's move to the south gives us yet another opportunity to see a Patterson work her magic with packing tape. That's right, Liz, you strap down those box corners. Oh baby.)

But, I truly don’t get what the “joke” is. (This strip is so removed from bona fide humor that one set of quotes around the word "joke" isn’t sufficient. Make that ““““joke””””.) What is the last frame getting at? April asks, “Are you ready to come home?” And Liz looks....what? Is she looking wistfully at her boxed and thoroughly taped (oh baby) belongings, wishing she could stay in Mtsiwhatsit for the summer? Is she thinking she can’t wait to get back to good ol’ Milborough (where, apparently, street numbers aren’t necessary, judging from the way the box Shiimsa isn’t sleeping on is addressed)? That she doesn’t want to leave Shiimsa behind with the savages Mtigwakians? That she regrets buying such an oversized desk for a temporary efficiency apartment?

Liz’s deepest thoughts will undoubtedly be revealed as this week's "action" (make that ““““action””””) d-r-a-g-s on...and they’ll probably turn out to be not that deep. Still, seems like with a little bit of effort, today’s strip could have actually had a...point.

Today’s...Whatever