Intermission — April 23 — Bigfoot Problems

Posted on April 23, 2026 by Brad Guigar

There are some Bigfoot problems that hit harder than others — and for certain legendary figures, male pattern baldness anxiety isn’t just about looks… it’s about legacy. Today’s comic imagines what happens when one very famous cryptid starts wondering if his myth might not survive a receding hairline.

What I’m Watching: Invincible, JJK, and the Great Animation Trade-Off

I’ve been watching Invincible with my sons, and I’ve got… thoughts.

First off: the story? Very, very good. Genuinely compelling stuff — even though the violence and gore is way past my personal comfort range. I'm not super comfortable with one character shooting another. The stuff that happens on a median-level episode of Invincible is a real challenge for me.

As someone who does NSFW comics, I'm constantly amazed at how perfectly acceptable Invincible is... yet an animated series based on Phil Foglio's XXXenophile would have people losing their ever-loving minds.

Further, it's a little disappointing to go from watching Jujutsu Kaisen (which we're also following at the moment) to watching Invincible.

JJK features jaw-dropping visuals and animation that constantly raises the bar episode after episode. It's phenomenal.

On the other side of the spectrum, Invincible clearly put all of its budget into getting celebrity voice talent. Some of them are very good.

I just wish a few of those Amazon dollars had been spent on the animation. Some of the scenes are pretty clearly PNGs that get enlarged to show an object moving through space, and it's a goddamned embarrassment.

But the story itself is very, very good.

Requiem for a Snow Miser…

Posted on December 18, 2008 by Brad Guigar
The Year Without A Santa Claus is my all-time favorite Rankin-Bass Christmas special. There’s just no beating the charm of the hopelessly dated plots, proudly corny character designs, and jerky stop-motion animation.

But the real reason Year Without stands apart from the pack is the Heat Miser and Snow Miser. For starters, there’s the theme songs each sings. Once you hear ’em, you’ll be humming the tune for the rest of the year. Need proof? Here’s the Snow Miser song. (If you’re at work, put some headphones on!)

But beyond the enjoyment of the TV special itself, watching Year Without lets me launching into my story about Dick Shawn. Mr. Shawn was the voice of the Snow Miser. He was an up-and-coming comedian in the 50s. He was a contemporary of Jonathon Winters and styled the same manic, zany, weird delivery.

Unfortunately, he just never had that One Major Break to catapult him to Super Stardom. The movie role that he is best remembered for is the “Hitler” character from Mel Brooks’ original “The Producers” starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostell. He was also the distraught hippie in “It’ a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

But he toured a lot — and his act was big on college campuses.

So, he’s playing the University of California in San Diego in April 1987… He’s worked his set up to a fevered pitch, launching into a bit about nuclar war… He was his manic self as he began to imagine the holocaust. Nobody would survive, he explained, except the audience in the little sheltered theater! Then he shouted, “And I would be your leader!!”

And then he fell face-first onto the stage.

The crowd erupted into thunderous applause. The house positively shook as Shawn lay on the stage, unmoving.

The applause died down… aside from a few nervous giggles… and still no motion from the comic. An audience member rushed up.

Dick Shawn, of course, was dead.

New York Post columnist Cindy Adams remembered what Shawn said about trying to find the right audiences for his brand of comedy: “I can’t work places like Vegas or the Catskills where people are belching. Maybe I belong in colleges. At least if I die, I die in front of intelligent people who know what I’m talking about.”

Year Without a Santa Claus airs throughout the Christmas season on ABC Family.