Barney Google has returned to the comic strip from which he was forced decades ago.
The diminutive Mr. Google showed up in this Sunday's "Snuffy Smith" comic, the first time he has graced these panels since 1997, according to Wikipedia, and one of only a handful of appearances the one-time four-color star has made in the strip since hillbilly Smith - or "Smif," as he calls himself - wrested control in 1934.
Why on earth would the guy swallow his pride and show up after all this time? Our thoughts'
*'Snuffy Smith' is in dire need of new material: When's the last time "Snuffy Smith" came up with something fresh - 1936? Cartoonist John Rose has been stuck poking the ashes of this greying comic for years, left with little to do but make the same old jokes about stealing chickens, avoiding book-larnin', and trading pickled pig's feet for medical care. Yes, it's fun to wring humor from the sad lives of this nation's impoverished!
With Barney Google back on board, perhaps Mr. Rose can turn the tables, harnessing all that anti-1% sentiment out there to turn "Snuffy Smith" into a voice of the "Occupy" movement? As Snuffy himself might say, "Jes' spitballin', Maw!"
*Tech jokes are hot!: There's nothing like a reference to Facebook or the iPad to turn an aging, irrelevant comic strip into a hip, with-it chronicle of the modern age! Just check out recent efforts in "Mary Worth," in which the title character plays technophobe in order to keep making kooky queries about all those new-fangled doodads like the Kindle. Or even "Marvin," which churns out another "I wish there was an app for...." jokes to transform this strip that often centers on the bowel movements of a 15-month old into a zippy, on-point commentary on the most prominent issues of the day.
What in tarnation does this have to do with Barney Google, you may ask? Why, just check out the man's last name! It may have served as a reference to his goo-goo-googly eyes way back in the age of the jitterbugs and Prohibition, but today it's a rich vein of tech humor to be mined for days if not weeks! Just imagine the playful search-engine humor that will delight us all week!
Of course, the likelihood that anyone in Hootin' Holler - the setting of "Snuffy Smith" - knows a thing about Google, computers or search-engine optimization is very slim.
To reach the Comics Examiner, email me at bristei@aol.com or follow me on Twitter @bristei
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