Heathcliff fires himself out of a cannon

Heathcliff fires himself out of a cannon.

Starting the year with a boom

I don't get the joke.

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hmmmm

well then

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Happy New Year, Heathcliff. I'm genuinely not sure if I could have made it through 2016 without you brightening up my mornings with your non-traditional/hyper-traditional sense of humor and wit.

Here's hoping you're right about 2017.

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It's ironic.

>do you see this pond, fish?
>do you see the freedom I have denied you?
>do you yearn for it, fish?
>do you yearn to swim in open spaces, to meet others of your kind?
>I will never allow it

The fish seems happy

You know nothing of piscine facial expressions

there is no joke, those comics are retarded.

i sure hope so heathcliff, i sure hope so...

>he doesn't get the joke
Not to be rude here, user, but maybe it's not the comic that's retarded but (You)

I fucking love Heathcliff. These are like something an early A.I. that doesn't understand humans or humor would make.

Author is a mindbreak fetishist

If there's no joke, than the only point of seeing somebody fired from a cannon is if it's a cute girl being fired out, and Heathcliff is neither

There is a joke. See:

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How is the bowl floating if it's full of water? Is there some sort of buoyancy device on the underside of the bowl that we are not seeing?

Yes

Okay
So what does it mean?

Is this the first New Year's celebration strip Gallagher's ever done? It's been a few years at least since he's made one, pic related.

01/01/2015

01/01/2014

01/01/2013
this one's a masterpiece imo

Nevermind, that one's from 12/01/13. This is the strip from 01/01/13.

01/01/12
sensing a theme here

I guess he does make New Year's references from time to time.

what happen if heathcliff man die

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He could already be dead and we'd never know.

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sounds about right

0101/06 actually contained a joke.

True.
Who is gonna be Gallagher's successor, though? Will Heathcliff end with him?

what if heathcliff man alredy die

weird, 01/01/05 didn't have a strip. must've been that hangover.

>Heathcliff is an American comic strip created by George Gately in 1973, featuring the title character, a wisecracking cat. Now written and drawn by Gately's nephew, Peter Gallagher

There is no end

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>Nothing can stop the garbage ape
What about a snowspeeder with tow cables?

Where do I have to send my cat anecdotes to get them included on a sunday?

I hope it never ends

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almost all new year's heathcliffs are about hangover cures

>Confederate symbolism in his jumpsuit
What did Gallagher eman by this ?

>not knowing who Evel Knievel is

Wonderful! The First Garfield thread of the year!

I had kale for dinner yesterday. Was pretty good.

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I'm glad you didn't order the ham.

It did come with ham, though.

A person in a Facebook group I'm part of says he knows Gallagher and he's very committed to the weird anti humor of Heathcliff

Good to know

yum yum!

has he spilled any more details?

nice

Hope he keeps it up.

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Erich?

That's me

doxx

Everyone remember to replenish your vitamins after a night of New Year's drinking!

So it's intentional? Cool. I wonder if he knows about his Sup Forums fanclub.

What did you just say to me etc., etc.,

This is funny because it reminds me how the XKCD guy made this comic requesting Jim Davis to go in a blaze of dadaist glory while not knowing Gallagher was starting to do that with Heathcliff.

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beer

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hallowed words

everything's a joke

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How many characters in Heathcliff get therapy?

the way he draws dogs flying through the air always gets me

where's the recent one with the pugs

It's a real issue

HA! Oh man, this one got a proper laugh outta me. Bravo Gallagher.

You and I may be mortal, but Heathcliff will never die.

Like I said, it's ironic.

>It's going to be a great year

>Who is gonna be Gallagher's successor, though?
Gallagher's family is almost all cartoonists so I'm sure there's someone in his family that would love to carry on the Heathcliff legacy. Also, Gallagher is an art professor at some university so if he doesn't give it to family to carry on (which is the most likely outcome), then he might have one of his students take it. He already has one of his former students to the Kitty Korners.

I'd love to sit in on one of his lectures.

I've tried to figure this out and continually fail to. I have a feeling they're all made up.

if heathcliff man die then i will do funny scream

The fact that this year's Heathcliff new years strip wasn't hangover related is telling. It's going to be a great year because this time Gallagher didn't wake up with a blaring headache.

The mice are happy because Heathcliff committed suicide using a cannon.

Enjoy!

Huh, that's good. I'd pay to sit in on one of those lectures. What does everyone about this thread's revelation that Gallagher is making Heathcliff absurdist intentionally? Is it what you expected? Does it change your enjoyment of the comic?

*everyone think

I always got the impression that it wasn't intentinonal at first, but he started leaning into it more over time. Like the earlier Heathcliff strips of his aren't much different from the Gately strips, but you can see him developing his own style over the years.

I think he just stumbled into something that worked for him and kept leaning into it harder as it was fairly well received. I mean shit, you've got Kurt Busiek on board as a fan. Busiek! One of the all-time best cape writers.

i try not to conflate artist and art too heavily, so not at all. heathcliff is still heathcliff whether it's trying to be or not

That makes sense. I guess it would have to be a stylistic choice unless he is genuinely off his rocker. The confirmation that it's intentional kind of takes away from the mystery of Heathcliff, though.

>I think he just stumbled into something that worked for him and kept leaning into it harder as it was fairly well received. I mean shit, you've got Kurt Busiek on board as a fan. Busiek! One of the all-time best cape writers.

Sauce?

imo the intention of the artist is interesting here, but I can see why it wouldn't matter so much.

Sometimes I feel that Heathcliff is the cross between a cryptic crossword clue and a comic.

There's a screencap of Busiek talking about the Garbage Ape on twitter. Don't have it saved unfortunately.

aw damn, I wanna see it.

>Heathcliff
>talking

Casual scum detected.

Heathcliff talks in the animated series, pleb.

>Heathcliff TAS
>canon