Monday, June 29, 2009 Heathcliff Analyzed

A baseball umpire calmly succumbs to his fate of being overrun by sightless skunks.

Heathcliff is seated on a bench with some baseball players. As he is dressed in a little cat-sized uniform, it would appear that he is the mascot. However, he is blowing a whistle, which is not normal mascotlike activity.

In the foreground, an umpire is standing at the home plate, his nose in the air, while two skunks are perched on his shoulders. At his feet, two more skunks patiently wait their turn. Despite the strange weapon that the umpire is holding, he makes no attempt to discourage the skunks from doing whatever it is that they're doing.

The only explanation that we have for all of this strange activity, is a single sentence uttered by one of the ballplayers: "It's a whistle only skunks can hear."

Maybe it's just me, but I really can't see anyone reading this comic and then rolling on the floor in laughter. In fact, I can't see anyone reading this comic and understanding it. How could a cat come upon a whistle that only skunks could hear? Why would anyone invent such a whistle? If it's a skunk call, why do the skunks not go to Heathcliff? Does the umpire smell like a skunk? And why the hell is Heathcliff even doing this? Are there not better ways for a cat to hold up a ballgame?

Is the joke supposed to be that it's a skunk mating call, and that the skunks have come running and now have attached themselves to the only creature that is black and white? Not only is that completely immaterial to a baseball game, it's blatantly stupid. Even if we disregard the fact that the skunks appear to be blind, the umpire is dressed more in brown than in black and white.

Perhaps they think the umpire is a large, dirty skunk. Perhaps I'm starting to think like the writers of Heathcliff. Perhaps I should close this post before I completely lose my sanity. . . . .