Friday, March 8, 2013

Mary Worth 1,549

With all that gray luggage and her pointy finger, Elinor is going to fit in at Charterstone just fine.

Today's Full Strip

42 comments:

Yahoonski said...

Elinor Kinley - she's wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door. Who is it for?

mrpeenee said...

I love how in the first panel everyone's head is at an odd angle.

fauxprof said...

Mama don't hold with that new-fangled luggage on wheels, nor them new-fangled, work of the devil contact lenses.

A note on names. Close on the heels of the recently departed Eleanor Dill, we have the newly arrived Elinor Kinley. Oh, wait! That's a misprint for "Elsinor". As in "Witch of".

KitKat said...

It's obvious that Beth Kinley is not an English teacher; otherwise, she would have said, "and this is my mother, Elinor!" Unless she has another mother somewhere...

Wanders is correct about Elinor fitting in at Charterstone just right. She's even wearing purple!

How many days (weeks?) until Beth and Tom Harpman meet cute?

This Luggage Smells Like Mothballs said...

Elinor is code name for Skeletor.

Elaine said...

Actually, Elinor must have some kind of spidey sense - her finger must be tingling at the sight of Mary. Warning, busybody in sight!!

Muscato said...

I'm truly afraid that Moy will spin out the Beth-Tom plot long enough that it will end with the reformed/warmed up Elinor being introduced to John Dill upon his return from Chef Pierre boot camp.

phoebes in santa fe said...

I just had my first grandchild two weeks ago, a beautiful little girl named "Eleanor". I was a little freaked out to find the name being used here as the sainted divorced wife of Tom Harpman, and now it's on the character of a shrew.

Not a good start, is it, for baby Eleanor...

Thorpnotized said...

@phoebes in santa fe: Tom's ex-wife is named Alana. You're thinking of John Dill's wife-in-a-jar, Eleanor.

Mary and Beth must have contacted each other earlier so they could color coordinate their outfits. I bet Elinor feels left out.

phoebes in santa fe said...

You're right, Thorp, and thanks for pointing that out. You know, when I was writing my comment, I first wrote "dead wife of the cake guy", but it looked wrong, so I changed it.

Should have left it the way it was.

Shmoopie said...

"And you are?" AND YOU ARE??? Could you get any ruder? Oh, there is a smack-down waiting to happen. Epic!

Dave in Parma said...

Of course Mary lives in "1A".

I smell some Turtles for the jukebox. We can overlook the spelling variance.

"There's no one like you Elinor really....."

"Elinor, can I take the time,
To Ask you to speak your mind...."

I'm thinking she'll be happy to do so.

Dave in Parma said...

@Phoebes: I have a daughter named Eleanor. We read MW each Wed. and Sunday nights as part of a comics bed time story (that's all the frequency needed to keep up with the 'plot.' She'll be so excited to have a name sound-alike in back to back plots.

Toots McGee said...

Geez, Mary, I'm sure the "maintenance men" love it when you take it upon yourself to sub them out as valets to the tenants.



"You there, um Carl, is it? Would you be a dear and help carry these bags?"
"Well I can probably handle Lil' Wayne Cochrane here, but the other one looks perfectly capable of walking on her own."

KitKat said...

Upon reflection, I now realize that Beth and Tom will NOT meet cute. Mary will host a dinner party to welcome her new neighbors and will, of course, invite Tom. Beth's glasses will fall into the kelk terrine, Tom will gaze into her eyes, and love will bloom. Meanwhile, Mary (who's been neglecting "Ask Wendy," incidentally) will figure out why Elinor is such a sourpuss and transform her into the Charterstone Betty White.

@Thorpnotized, "John Dill's wife-in-a-jar" is a hoot!

Anonymous said...

I think Elizabeth might be the Anti-Mary. Just look at their faces!

Ben said...

Was there an accident at the cake comp? Why is Mary's finger much finglonger? Maybe it's an enhancement

Dave in Parma said...

Matching hairdo's on Mary and Elinor. Mary's is white (good), Elinor's is black/grey (evil). They're like modern day Charterstone cowboy hats.

Link3220 said...

@Dave in Parma: What a good dad and a great idea -comics night at bedtime! I'm assuming you also explain the difference of life on Earth vs life in the Worthiverse.

meg said...

Elinor's appearance has answered a question which I have been contemplating for decades:
"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"

Dave in Parma said...

@Link--even at 4-1/2 she can grasp the differences.

The bigger challenge is keeping the slightly older boys from reading the racier 'Dear Abby' columns they embed in the comics. It needs to be replaced with Ask Wendy and platitudes.

Anonymous said...

Who better to turn that frown upside down than Mary?

not a robot said...

what's the mouseover text? i can't access the mouseover text! help!

Nance said...

@Yahoonski--Such a great comment!!

You win Comments this week.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Nance. Yahoonski, you've inspired the next hit on the Charterstone jukebox!

Wanders, please add "Elinor Rigby/Kinley" by the Beatles (or as Mary calls them, "Those long-haired hippies from London.")

Anonymous said...

Elinor sure looks like she could be MW's brother or even MW herself.

Yahoonski said...

Why does Mary need to get them some help? She had no problem hoisting that honking big cake up onto the judging table.

Yahoonski said...

Unless, of course, those suitcases are filled with something extremely heavy...something like...gold bullion? or bowling balls? Nah, probably just Elinor's collection of pewter busts of Andrew Jackson.

Dave in Parma said...

Meanwhile as Mary drives to the Home Depot parking lot to pick up Mr. Allora for some tasks....

KitKat said...

Don't the Kinleys have any furniture, kitchen items, linens, etc.? So far it appears that all their possessions are in those gray suitcases. And look at that weary, put-upon look on poor Beth's face today! We can hope that she goes all Lizzie Borden on mother. That would bring excitement to Charterstone!

euclidmary said...

Meanwhile, looking out his window, Tom Harpman takes a long swig of NyQuil and watches glumly as yet another ancient weirdo moves into his building. It begins to dawn on Tom that perhaps he misunderstood the sales agent when she said Charterstone was a ‘great place to meet singles.’

meg said...

DaveinParma@9:51- :D

jennahrationex said...

I didn't realize how much I would miss the FREE secret message until I couldn't access it on Friday. I think I speak for most of the inhabitants of Charterstone when I say, you don't know what you've got...till it's gone.

heydave said...

The grey lady looks like she is about to let loose with a nice forward punch in Sunday's panel. Defense, Mary!

Yahoonski said...

In Sunday's strip, Elinor's words are so hurtful that Beth's hair shrinks a little bit more in each panel.

fauxprof said...

The depiction of Elinor Kinley is some of Uncle Joe's best work EVER! And now, Mary has invited her over for dinner. I can't wait to see how she handles a fork--and to hear her comments on Mary's cooking.

Dave in Parma said...

Elinor looks ticked that Charter stone is a quiet place, and directs her roadie to return the amp to the hatchback.

meg said...

Hmmph! "Mr. Allora" looks strangely like "John Dill" to me.
Is he back to stalk Mary, wearing a clever disguise? Did he bomb out of his apprenticeship that fast?

"What is it you mean, M'sieur Deel? You can only bake the gateau rose? Mon Dieu! Why do the cake gods punish their pauvre Chef Pierre in theese way? Go, now, you pathetique petite homme! Return to the Sant' Royale and never darken ma porte again! Sacre bleu! Theese is un outrage!"

J.R. Clark said...

Presented without comment...

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18gzqeovjj1qnjpg/original.jpg

heydave said...

OK, that counter plot was epic!

fauxprof said...

@J.R. Clark: Awesome!

Link3220 said...

Beth writes romance novels??? Oh c'mon, we know that no man has ever even given her a second glance, let alone touched her. Are we going to find out she's written a Fifty Shades of Gray-ish type novel, and the sequel is going to be about a young woman who tries to seduce her sick neighbor, only to be constantly thwarted by a meddling old hag?