Category Archives: Daily Strips

Marshmallowpocalypse

Alternate titles included “Cocoa Catastrophe” and “Choc-nado of Marshmallow Mayhem.” Herb looks on as Joey surely commits a hot chocolate crime here… although it begs the question: are there really any rules when it comes to hot chocolate? I think this is a beverage where anything goes. Carry on, Joey.

Santa Snacks

Herb decides that Santa is above the typical Christmas Eve milk and cookies — chocolate nugget bomb cookies to be precise — so he pulls together a bougie spread for ol’ Kris Kringle and his red-nosed companion. Santa is confused by the espresso and Rudolph seems to appreciate the charcuterie board, complete with name cards. I’d love to know where you find Butterkäse cheese on Christmas Eve in Cold Springs, Manitoba but I digress…

The Christmas Spirit

The Planet Joey characters rock out on stage — Peanuts style — to a holiday jingle being played by Joey and Herb. The gang is so full of holiday cheer in fact, that it seems to be seeping into Gaston’s dark soul…

Snow-brainer

TGIF. Thank god it’s fluffy. Joey has the right idea: don’t hold back. It’s time to take on the weekend with reckless abandon.

Back in the Saddle

After the Le Corbusier chair incident, Herb is indeed back in his old faithful armchair, a little worse for wear after literally being put out to the curb with the trash in favour of the LC2. Everything seems to be back to normal, just with a few extra insects and rodents…

The Law of Furniture Replacement

It’s another instalment of Feline Physics, where Herb has taken his eyes off of his precious piece of furniture at the most inopportune time. As the law states, Penelope ignored the beat up old ottoman in the family room in favour of experiencing the feeling of fine Italian leather under her claws.

Obsessive Love Disorder

Herb warns Joey to tread carefully around his new Le Corbusier chair, while Joey quickly researches a disorder stemming from feelings of extreme jealousy and possessive behaviour (and not necessarily related to fine Italian leather). Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, Herb.

Hardly Reassuring

We discover the fate of Joey’s Great Auntie Mil’s chair – out at the curb on garbage day. That’s harsh, Herb.

Great Art is Never Understood

Herb fills Joey in on who Le Corbusier (Le Cor-boos-ee-yay) is and how it relates to the piece of furniture he’s sitting in. Joey has other concerns, dampening his enthusiasm for this icon of modern architecture and design.

What’s a Le Corbusier?

Herb is bringing a little style to Cold Springs, one… piece of furniture… at a time. Here, he’s showing off his new Le Corbusier chair, which raises a series of interesting questions. The first of which is: what’s a Le Corbusier?

Soaking Wet

Joey is back home – warm and dry after his disastrous first day as the new Cold Spring Clipper Newspaper Delivery Associate – breaking down the eventful morning with Herb. Elsewhere in town, two customers aren’t thrilled about receiving only a (very wet) portion of the paper.

Suboptimal

We catch up with Joey out delivering newspapers in the early morning, but the sunrise has disappeared in favour of… a torrential downpour. It’s never good news when it’s raining sideways, Joey.

Fire in the Hole

Decorating for Christmas can be dangerous, as Joey and Herb discover. The hard way. Well, at least Herb does. Joey escapes into the house and makes a mental note for next year, while the unsuspecting Herb is going to… need some assistance.

Tree Topper

It’s time to trim up the tree and Joey is having a hard time – like any kid – reaching those top few elusive branches… The family couch turns out to be… not the greatest substitute for a step stool or a ladder. Somehow, it all works out in the end! 

#Believe

Just a Job

There’s nothing like the peace and tranquility of the early morning summer sunrise – and a violent, torrential downpour – to help you take stock of things, Joey.

Top Heavy

After getting crushed by the bundles of newspaper, we’ve skipped ahead to a point where Joey seems to have it figured out, although I had to turn the format of the comic strip 90° to capture the “gravity” of the situation…

First Day on the Job

It’s Joey’s first day on the job as the official Newspaper Delivery Associate for the Cold Springs Clipper. He takes a moment to appreciate the serenity and beauty of the early morning sunrise, but the moment is ruined by the Clipper delivery truck and some bad timing.

Contractually Obligated

Joey’s new paper route is becoming closer to reality as he introduces Herb to his custom… newspaper delivery bike. The giant basket isn’t Herb Approved™ and the early morning hours mean Joey’s on his own. Not even a double shot of espresso could get Herb up before 7:00 AM.

Coupon Clippers

Joey and Herb discuss the local newspaper, coming to the realization that the daily print version isn’t going away anytime soon in Cold Springs. Internet speeds in remote Manitoba have dictated the need for locals to consume their community news in print and we all know that hardware store flyers are much more enjoyable printed on newsprint at an 85 lines/inch screen with shoddy registration. The same goes for the comics page, naturally.

The New Paperboy

Look who the new Cold Springs Clipper paperboy is! Wait – do they still call them ‘paperboys?’ Perhaps it should be ‘paper person’ or ‘paper carrier’ or… ‘paper delivery associate.’ At any rate, Joey is now gainfully employed in his new town in the integral position of ensuring the locals get their news – and flyers – in a timely fashion. Printed newspapers are still (barely) a thing these days, but Herb – ever pretentious – isn’t likening the local fish wrap to the periodicals he reads.

The Law of Cat Thermodynamics

In the latest edition of Feline Physics, we look at the mysterious phenomenon of why cats get so warm. A quick check of the interwebs provides the following explanation: “A cat’s natural body temperature is 102° F, which is significantly warmer than our body temperature of 98.6° F. Also, cats have a lower sensitivity to heat than humans. The heat sensors they do have are concentrated in their faces, making this area especially receptive to heat.” This sounds pretty science-y, so for now, let’s hope Joey can warm up from being in close proximity to Penelope’s warm, fire-like glow.

Dad, Slow Down!

Does anyone else have dreams like this? I have a recurring dream where I’m in a car, rocketing toward a hairpin turn at ludicrous speed, where I awaken with an intense sensation of careening through the guardrail. Fortunately for me, it’s just the sensation of the car going airborne. In Joey’s case, he physically ends up across the room, saved by Herb’s chair.

An Important Takeaway

Given time to reflect on ‘the punch’, Joey has a change of opinion upon a closer review of the upcoming schedule. Also, another hockey nemesis makes a cameo: the Ball Eating Bush has its eyes on Joey’s wayward tennis ball…

He Had It Coming

New character alert! Joey reveals to Herb that he crossed paths with… the Prime Minister of Canada. In the Planet Joey universe, that person is the eccentric Théodore Thibodeau. This raises a ton of questions of course, but readers should get used to the PM popping up randomly and unexpectedly.

Gotta Find That Kid

Mimi is right – the halfwitted cartoonist (that’s me!) is indeed shutting down this storyline soon – so the pressure is on our sinister searchers to find the kid in the yellow helmet who delivered that dastardly punch, as per the boss’ orders… Joey seems to have successfully evaded everyone thus far – not only Gaston and Mimi, but the kid with the glasses as well, seen here icing is face.

An Unconventional Route

After his punch sets off some post-game chaos, Joey tries to escape unnoticed back to the locker room. His unexpected journey takes him from the Zamboni, to the snack bar to the bowels of the Cold Springs Arena, putting his ninja skills to the test. Alternate title: A Good Skate Sharpening.

Safe Harbour

Joey and Herb continue discussing ‘the punch’, where we learn that glasses guy completely melted down and where exactly Joey slithered off to while chaos ensued…

A Local Recruit?

We catch up with the two sinister spectators – Gaston Malade and Mimi Dangereux – after a bit of a post-game kerfuffle has broken out, thanks to Joey. Gaston is thrilled that there is finally some violence on the ice to capture his attention while Joey seems to have made quite an impression on the mysterious Cyrus Belgrave. As for Mimi, she’s trying to figure out how exactly it is that Belgrave seems to have his own private feed from *checks notes* the Cold Springs Arena…

Slither

Joey reveals to Herb what happened immediately after ‘the punch’ at their regular kitchen table post mortem. It seems as if our protagonist was able to slink away unscathed while chaos ensued…

The Gentlemanly Tradition

The age-old hockey tradition of shaking hands at the end of a hard fought game isn’t about the winning team showboating in front of their opponent. It’s about showing respect for the losing side. Or, in Joey’s case, it’s a chance to take an uncontested cheap shot.

The Final Horn

And there it is, the Golden Turkeys lose to the Bacon Ridge Rhinos. As the teams line up to shake hands, the game isn’t quite over for Joey, who seems to have his focus elsewhere…

My Kind of Scoundrel

We catch up with our resident ne’er-do-wells in the Cold Springs Arena, enjoying the Canadian minor hockey experience: mediocre hockey and sub-par food and beverages. As expected, Gaston has taken a shining to the kid with the glasses…

Guy with the Glasses

As the game wears on, Joey can’t escape the wrath of a certain bespectacled goon, who is absolutely relentless. What we have here is an assault in three parts: a cross check, hip check and a good old fashioned flying elbow for good measure. Now Joey has a few bumps and bruises (and maybe a missing tooth) to go along with that shattered stick.

Hack!

The game continues and Joey has a scoring chance! Unfortunately, the kid with the glasses has other ideas.

Bespectacled Dump Truck

It’s game on for Joey and the Golden Turkeys! It doesn’t take too long for Joey to lose his focus — and he suffers the consequences for it.

A Little Entertainment

We find ourselves catching up with the resident villains of our humble strip – Gaston Malade and Mimi Dangereux – and find out that they have indeed been stationed in northern Manitoba by evil mastermind Cyrus Belgrave to work on some sort of top-secret project… And not just anywhere in northern Manitoba, but good ol’ Cold Springs. In fact, they’re headed toward the arena where a red-headed kid takes to the ice, representing said town for the first time. Cue the foreboding music…

Buzzer-Beater

Joey’s jump shot at the buzzer rims out. Again and again. The game is lost and he has a mess to clean up.

The Law of Cat Magnetism

Feline Physics returns where we learn The Law of Cat Magnetism also applies to green sweaters as well as black and blue – and on game day for Joey, no less!

Black Cats and Broken Mirrors

There are consequences to being late on uniform day. For Joey, one of them was receiving a bright yellow Jofa helmet (circa 1981) instead of a new green lid like the rest of his teammates. The second consequence was the all-important jersey number. It turns out #13 was at the bottom of the pile. It’s true that players like Mats Sundin, Teemu Selanne and Pavel Datsyuk – all Hall of Famers – donned this number, but Herb is fearing the worst…

Yellow Hat

Joey shows up at the Cold Springs Arena on a high to pick up his official Golden Turkeys uniform after making the team… And because Joey’s stories are based on my stories, of course he gets an old yellow helmet (yes, I had a yellow helmet) and of course it’s because he shows up late. As usual, Herb has a way of putting it all in perspective at the kitchen table.

Eat at Nan’s

It’s the first ever appearance of Frank and Egmond as they meet face-to-face with the Perseverance Rover on the surface of their homeland, Mars. Apparently their ‘Nan’ runs a Martian diner… Who knew?

Who Came First?

In one of the very first Planet Joey comic strips ever written (way back in 2003), Joey ponders one of the great mysteries of the Paleozoic era.

There’s Always a Catch

There you have it: Joey’s hard work and perseverance has paid off – he made the Cold Springs hockey team! And Herb’s right – there is always a catch. As it turns out, there were just enough players to fill out the roster without having to make cuts, so Joey’s on the team. Now it’s time to ponder the line combinations – will Joey and “Gigantor” play together?

Strict Orders

The coaching staff has made their decision. Will Joey make the Cold Springs hockey team? Cliffhanger alert! Yup, we’re going to drag this one out for one more strip…

Breakaway Drill

Hockey tryouts continue with Joey having the opportunity to show his scoring prowess and a theme is developing: all of these comics are ending with loud, cartoony mishaps…

The Orange Menace

Joey’s struggles continue at hockey tryouts – this time with inanimate objects. Not only are the kids bigger and tougher in Cold Springs, but it looks like the pylons are too…

Puck Battle Drill

The Cold Springs hockey tryouts are under way and the first drill pits Joey against “Gigantor” in a battle for the puck along the boards. Not only did Joey not emerge victorious, but he had to go hunting for some missing equipment. His attitude remains positive, however! Also, wearing full Leafs gear to hockey tryouts in Manitoba is definitely making yourself a target.

No Pucks

Besides having to do push-ups or dry land training, it’s the worst punishment you can receive at a hockey practice: no pucks; skating only. Well, thanks to Joey, that’s what all of the boys trying out for the Cold Springs hockey team have in store for them for the next couple of hours. I’m sure that’ll go over well…