Dypak, I don’t have time to look into it this morning, but I just found that there is a website related to the book I mentioned: http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/
It’s neat how in that panel 2 silhouette you can see the boy Skeezix.
Gone by morning, yes please. But you know that’s too good to be true; the rabbit’s about to be pulled out of the hat. The gert’s going to wake up and realize it was all just a long Halloween nightmare. Bird is still washing dishes down at the diner, and what’s more, he’s snoozing away right next to her at this very moment. “I don’t care if he’s not a big star,” she’ll murmur, gently patting his tummy. “He’ll always be a rock star to me.”
The skeletal remains of Rufus and the kitty will turn up in a mysterious hole at the cemetery when the snow melts off next spring, and nobody will ever know just how THAT sorry mess came about… except us, right dear reader? Except us. Muahahahahahaaaa…
Yeah, Chubsy, that just doesn’t make sense. If she was habitually irresponsible, I could see it. Have Corky and Skeezix forgotten what it’s like to be lovestruck?
Have they forgotten how hard it was to find her in the first place? I’m with the oldbooger, Walt’ll set his foot down and settle the matter once and for all.
Joe Allen - Being family means you can do silly, irresponsible things and get forgiven. If I had to watch my step at home because I was afraid they’d ‘fire’ me I’d be a nervous wreck.
How many years has she worked there? She was very sweet here, not making him say the words, “You’re fired” but saying it for him. I hope he reconsiders, I always got the impression Skeezix had a heart of gold though I’m still relatively new to this comic, and don’t “know” him that well.
Let’s keep in mind that with Gertie in the story line, we get to see Uncle Walt (at least occassionally). When the story is about another character, no Uncle Walt. So unless you want to ship Uncle Walt to the retirement home, I say give her another chance. She did try to get back into the theater to see about him; it wasn’t her fault that she ended up on stage. As far as Byrd, I don’t think he really cares about Gertie that much to begin with. With his new fame, he can have his pick of younger women. Regardless of what he says, if he cared about her, he would have tried to get tickets for her. And where was Corky when the tickets were being given out to the diner people? Was he at the concert?
She’s been part of the strip about 2-3 years, maybe 5 at most.
She came on, let’s see….
Walt’s wife had died. There were a couple of failed attempts to have family take care of him and the house - one of the younger kids got him mixed up in a motorcycle gang, right?
Gertie came along from somewhere, they discovered she was a good fit with Walt… she didn’t previously exist somewhere else in the strip, did she?
Anyway, Walt’s wife died just after they and Skeezix had run a long flashback to the beginning of GA’s history - Skeezix being kidnapped as a baby. I think that was soon before or after a long run with Skeezix and his WWII buddies revisiting the Pacific. Wasn’t that around 2005 - the 60th anniversary of V-J Day?
Gertie has not been allowed to tell her side because of the family and certain reader’s minds being constipated with prejudice in wanting to believe only one side of the story.
I challenge onyone to be in the stress environment Gertie experienced over the period of a very FEW minutes, and react like a preprogramed robot.
Family? If every member were fired over errors made, there would be no 2 people living in the same dwelling.
You don’t get the point, do you. Some of you (who are so very perfect) are so UNforgiving, I pitty those around you. They must be living a life of absolute hell.
What Quantumtorpedo1 said reminds me of a story about Thomas Watson, who ran IBM. An employee made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. A reporter asked Watson if he was going to fire that employee. Watson reportedly replied “No. I just spent $600,000 training him. Do you think I want the competition to hire that experience?”
In 2004 - which is the first year that Gertie worked for Walt, Some time in October, Gertie realized that Walt was missing from the house. At that time, there had been a big protest over a government decision to build a new highway through the cemetery. Walt was upset because he knew so many people who were buried there. When Walt went missing, Gertie believed that he had gone to the cemetery - and followed him there. In the meantime, Wilmer had decided that his Uncle Pert had buried part of his fortune somewhere in the cemetery. So Wilmer and a relative named Jessica were tunneling UNDER the cemetery before the wrecking crews came – because they were hoping that they would be able to discover Uncle Pert’s hidden loot before the highway construction got under way. About the time that Gertie found Walt at the cemetery, Wilmer was succeeding in his tunneling project - but part of the cemetery began sinking into the tunnel which Wilmer had been digging. About that time, the wrecking crew arrived. Not being aware that Walt and Gertie were on the other side of an angel statue which the wreckers planned to move, the movers hauled the statue up with a crane, taking Walt and Gertie along with the statue. When the wreckers realized that there were people clinging to the statue, they let the statue down - but the statue fell into Uncle Pert’s mausoleum. About that time, Wilmer and Jessica arrived at the bottom of the mausoleum and the falling statue broke open a vault which did,, indeed, have a bunch of Pert’s stashed loot. While Wilmer and Jessica were rejoicing about all of the loot which they had just acquired, a lawyer for a local farmer presented proof that Uncle Pert’s mausoleum had been built on land which belonged to the farmer. While Wilmer, Jessica and the lawyer were wrangling over who owned Pert’s secrete stash - Walt and Gertie went home for Thanksgiving and the whole gang came to Walt’s house.
In 2006, some time in October, when a lady from the Social Security Administration arrived to speak to Walt, Gertie discovered that Walt had gone missing. Gertie and the Social Security lady discovered a letter from Mutt and Jeff to Walt - which invited Walt to visit them at the Old Comics Home. So Gertie insisted that the Social Security lady accompany Gertie to the Old Comics Home. In the meantime, Walt was having a fine time, chatting with people like Mutt, Jeff, Daisy Mae,, Li’l Abner,, Maggie and Jiggs, etc. When Gertie arrived with the Social Security lady, most of the Old Comics leaped to the conclusion that the Social Security lady was from the IRS. When they learned that the Social Security lady was looking for Walt, the rest of the old comics decided that they would help Walt hide. Among other things, Jiggs helped Walt hide outside on a beam being used to add to the construction of the retirement home. While Gertie and the Social Security lady were looking for Walt,, Walt and Jiggs were outside on the beam - playing cards! The adventure at the Old Comics home lasted until close to Christmas - when Gertie finally found Walt, the Social Security lady was satisfied that she had seen him - and everyone ended up at Walt’s place for Christmas dinner. Afterward, Skeezix went over to Corky’s diner and they talked over old times.
It seems to me that it has become traditional for Walt to go missing some time in October, with Gertie tracking him down and looking in places like the cemetery and the Old Comics home for Walt. It is usually all resolved in time for Thanksgiving - although, as in 2006 - the adventure lasted until Christmas.
As nearly as I can tell, the LAST time that Walt and Skeezix actually took their annual walk in the woods - they discovered that the place where they usually walked had been built up with apartment complexes. They DID manage to find a few trees in a park behind the apartment complexes - but the trees were looking kind of peaked. So it has been a while since Walt and Skeezix took their annual walk in the fall.
At any rate, if Walt could manage to get through being aboard a statue of an angel being raised by a crane as well as hanging out with Jiggs on a beam outside the Old Comics home while hiding from someone from the government, I think Walt will be able to recover from wandering around in a theater while Gertie was trying to find a way back in.
I am still guessing that Bird will turn up with another marriage proposal and Gertie will be headed for a happy ending soon. Hopefully, in time for everyone to get together for Thanksgiving dinner.
Always nice to read Deborah’s insightful comments.
Well, I’m home from work to find another hotly contested exchange. As for me, I hope Gertie will continue in the strip as both wife of Byrd and helper to Walt. I don’t mind if she’s not punished for her actions, which I did find comically ill-advised, as long as no real-world legal precedents are thereby set. But even if Jim decides to put her on trial for her life, I will check in everyday to see what happens!
I agree wholeheartedly with all that is for Gertie!! She has been on GA for over 5 years now and Yes, does seem like part of the family. I only hope Jim sees it that way. Like Axe stated I feel the same way. Jim is actually the judge to what happens to Gertie’s fate but either way, I will still be checking each day for any story arc that he may bring up. I am a true fan of his cartoon and especially of his artwork.
axe-grinder over 14 years ago
Dypak, I don’t have time to look into it this morning, but I just found that there is a website related to the book I mentioned: http://www.pbs.org/gunsgermssteel/
ocean17 over 14 years ago
It’s neat how in that panel 2 silhouette you can see the boy Skeezix.
Gone by morning, yes please. But you know that’s too good to be true; the rabbit’s about to be pulled out of the hat. The gert’s going to wake up and realize it was all just a long Halloween nightmare. Bird is still washing dishes down at the diner, and what’s more, he’s snoozing away right next to her at this very moment. “I don’t care if he’s not a big star,” she’ll murmur, gently patting his tummy. “He’ll always be a rock star to me.”
The skeletal remains of Rufus and the kitty will turn up in a mysterious hole at the cemetery when the snow melts off next spring, and nobody will ever know just how THAT sorry mess came about… except us, right dear reader? Except us. Muahahahahahaaaa…
axe-grinder over 14 years ago
ocean17 said, It’s neat how in that panel 2 silhouette you can see the boy Skeezix.
What a great point. As Skeezix talks of family, we are reminded of his origins and past by his classic silhouette.
oldbooger over 14 years ago
Walt will soon reaffirm himself as the head (albeit temporary in a very lucid moment) head of the family and retain Gertie and her services.
vasaaaa over 14 years ago
If Gertie goes, who’s gonna fix the turkey? Happy Thanksgiving to all.
axe-grinder over 14 years ago
Everyone deserves a second chance, a clean slate. Maybe she can reapply for her job with a slightly altered name.
stringmusicianer over 14 years ago
Yeah, Chubsy, that just doesn’t make sense. If she was habitually irresponsible, I could see it. Have Corky and Skeezix forgotten what it’s like to be lovestruck?
Durak Premium Member over 14 years ago
Have they forgotten how hard it was to find her in the first place? I’m with the oldbooger, Walt’ll set his foot down and settle the matter once and for all.
Joe Allen - Being family means you can do silly, irresponsible things and get forgiven. If I had to watch my step at home because I was afraid they’d ‘fire’ me I’d be a nervous wreck.
Thanks Axe, I’ll check it tonight, after work.
alondra over 14 years ago
How many years has she worked there? She was very sweet here, not making him say the words, “You’re fired” but saying it for him. I hope he reconsiders, I always got the impression Skeezix had a heart of gold though I’m still relatively new to this comic, and don’t “know” him that well.
Larry L Stout over 14 years ago
Let’s keep in mind that with Gertie in the story line, we get to see Uncle Walt (at least occassionally). When the story is about another character, no Uncle Walt. So unless you want to ship Uncle Walt to the retirement home, I say give her another chance. She did try to get back into the theater to see about him; it wasn’t her fault that she ended up on stage. As far as Byrd, I don’t think he really cares about Gertie that much to begin with. With his new fame, he can have his pick of younger women. Regardless of what he says, if he cared about her, he would have tried to get tickets for her. And where was Corky when the tickets were being given out to the diner people? Was he at the concert?
rmbdot over 14 years ago
“All these years”???
She’s been part of the strip about 2-3 years, maybe 5 at most.
She came on, let’s see….
Walt’s wife had died. There were a couple of failed attempts to have family take care of him and the house - one of the younger kids got him mixed up in a motorcycle gang, right? Gertie came along from somewhere, they discovered she was a good fit with Walt… she didn’t previously exist somewhere else in the strip, did she?
Anyway, Walt’s wife died just after they and Skeezix had run a long flashback to the beginning of GA’s history - Skeezix being kidnapped as a baby. I think that was soon before or after a long run with Skeezix and his WWII buddies revisiting the Pacific. Wasn’t that around 2005 - the 60th anniversary of V-J Day?
jumbobrain over 14 years ago
There’d better be a happy ending here…I don’t like that the Wallets are going to show Gertie the door without her telling her side of the story.
EarlWash over 14 years ago
Gertie has not been allowed to tell her side because of the family and certain reader’s minds being constipated with prejudice in wanting to believe only one side of the story.
I challenge onyone to be in the stress environment Gertie experienced over the period of a very FEW minutes, and react like a preprogramed robot.
Family? If every member were fired over errors made, there would be no 2 people living in the same dwelling.
Have any of the readers yet walked on water?
JanLC over 14 years ago
Gertie B Rose rang Walt’s doorbell on September 2, 2004 and was hired as caregiver on September 15.
EarlWash over 14 years ago
And don’t forget to look upon yourself as being a downright arrogant posterior.
EarlWash over 14 years ago
You don’t get the point, do you. Some of you (who are so very perfect) are so UNforgiving, I pitty those around you. They must be living a life of absolute hell.
stringmusicianer over 14 years ago
Don’t cry Gertie, you have another job waiting.
stringmusicianer over 14 years ago
Bassmanbob, that’s quite a leap in logic. Walt is fine.
Quantumtorpedo1 over 14 years ago
This is the United States of America. Our greatness is that we do provide second chances.
Mistakes are made, corrected and forgiven. It is the fatal mistake that can not be corrected.
Jogger2 over 14 years ago
Gertie is not aware that Byrd doesn’t have her phone number. He can find her by contacting the Wallets, but what if that happens after she leaves?
Jogger2 over 14 years ago
What Quantumtorpedo1 said reminds me of a story about Thomas Watson, who ran IBM. An employee made a mistake that cost the company $600,000. A reporter asked Watson if he was going to fire that employee. Watson reportedly replied “No. I just spent $600,000 training him. Do you think I want the competition to hire that experience?”
DebJ4 over 14 years ago
In 2004 - which is the first year that Gertie worked for Walt, Some time in October, Gertie realized that Walt was missing from the house. At that time, there had been a big protest over a government decision to build a new highway through the cemetery. Walt was upset because he knew so many people who were buried there. When Walt went missing, Gertie believed that he had gone to the cemetery - and followed him there. In the meantime, Wilmer had decided that his Uncle Pert had buried part of his fortune somewhere in the cemetery. So Wilmer and a relative named Jessica were tunneling UNDER the cemetery before the wrecking crews came – because they were hoping that they would be able to discover Uncle Pert’s hidden loot before the highway construction got under way. About the time that Gertie found Walt at the cemetery, Wilmer was succeeding in his tunneling project - but part of the cemetery began sinking into the tunnel which Wilmer had been digging. About that time, the wrecking crew arrived. Not being aware that Walt and Gertie were on the other side of an angel statue which the wreckers planned to move, the movers hauled the statue up with a crane, taking Walt and Gertie along with the statue. When the wreckers realized that there were people clinging to the statue, they let the statue down - but the statue fell into Uncle Pert’s mausoleum. About that time, Wilmer and Jessica arrived at the bottom of the mausoleum and the falling statue broke open a vault which did,, indeed, have a bunch of Pert’s stashed loot. While Wilmer and Jessica were rejoicing about all of the loot which they had just acquired, a lawyer for a local farmer presented proof that Uncle Pert’s mausoleum had been built on land which belonged to the farmer. While Wilmer, Jessica and the lawyer were wrangling over who owned Pert’s secrete stash - Walt and Gertie went home for Thanksgiving and the whole gang came to Walt’s house.
In 2006, some time in October, when a lady from the Social Security Administration arrived to speak to Walt, Gertie discovered that Walt had gone missing. Gertie and the Social Security lady discovered a letter from Mutt and Jeff to Walt - which invited Walt to visit them at the Old Comics Home. So Gertie insisted that the Social Security lady accompany Gertie to the Old Comics Home. In the meantime, Walt was having a fine time, chatting with people like Mutt, Jeff, Daisy Mae,, Li’l Abner,, Maggie and Jiggs, etc. When Gertie arrived with the Social Security lady, most of the Old Comics leaped to the conclusion that the Social Security lady was from the IRS. When they learned that the Social Security lady was looking for Walt, the rest of the old comics decided that they would help Walt hide. Among other things, Jiggs helped Walt hide outside on a beam being used to add to the construction of the retirement home. While Gertie and the Social Security lady were looking for Walt,, Walt and Jiggs were outside on the beam - playing cards! The adventure at the Old Comics home lasted until close to Christmas - when Gertie finally found Walt, the Social Security lady was satisfied that she had seen him - and everyone ended up at Walt’s place for Christmas dinner. Afterward, Skeezix went over to Corky’s diner and they talked over old times.
It seems to me that it has become traditional for Walt to go missing some time in October, with Gertie tracking him down and looking in places like the cemetery and the Old Comics home for Walt. It is usually all resolved in time for Thanksgiving - although, as in 2006 - the adventure lasted until Christmas.
As nearly as I can tell, the LAST time that Walt and Skeezix actually took their annual walk in the woods - they discovered that the place where they usually walked had been built up with apartment complexes. They DID manage to find a few trees in a park behind the apartment complexes - but the trees were looking kind of peaked. So it has been a while since Walt and Skeezix took their annual walk in the fall.
At any rate, if Walt could manage to get through being aboard a statue of an angel being raised by a crane as well as hanging out with Jiggs on a beam outside the Old Comics home while hiding from someone from the government, I think Walt will be able to recover from wandering around in a theater while Gertie was trying to find a way back in.
I am still guessing that Bird will turn up with another marriage proposal and Gertie will be headed for a happy ending soon. Hopefully, in time for everyone to get together for Thanksgiving dinner.
axe-grinder over 14 years ago
Always nice to read Deborah’s insightful comments.
Well, I’m home from work to find another hotly contested exchange. As for me, I hope Gertie will continue in the strip as both wife of Byrd and helper to Walt. I don’t mind if she’s not punished for her actions, which I did find comically ill-advised, as long as no real-world legal precedents are thereby set. But even if Jim decides to put her on trial for her life, I will check in everyday to see what happens!
ORteka over 14 years ago
I agree wholeheartedly with all that is for Gertie!! She has been on GA for over 5 years now and Yes, does seem like part of the family. I only hope Jim sees it that way. Like Axe stated I feel the same way. Jim is actually the judge to what happens to Gertie’s fate but either way, I will still be checking each day for any story arc that he may bring up. I am a true fan of his cartoon and especially of his artwork.