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.

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.

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.

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.

Jock Strap

If you’ve played ice hockey before, you’ll agree that the absolute worst thing is forgetting even just one piece of equipment. What you realize is that because it’s a game played on ice with hard rubber pucks, each piece of equipment is essential. Elbow pads offer protection from falling on the ice, gloves protect your hands from sticks and skate blades and shin pads protect your legs from a slap shot. The jock (or jill for ladies) is one piece of equipment you definitely don’t want to play without for obvious reasons. Oh and you put it on first, so you don’t want to find yourself in Joey’s predicament, having to undress – that is, if Herb can help him out somehow…

David Attenborough Voice

Joey’s mark is in and there it is: the fact his teacher found it to be a marvellous piece of creative writing kept him from failing. And it certainly is an interesting question: would a bear who enjoys a latte to start the day have been any more believable with Sir David Attenborough presenting? Y’know, I might be inclined to believe it…

Groundbreaking Discoveries

It’s the culmination of the big assignment: Joey has to get up in front of his new class and present his detailed, somewhat surprising findings after following Herb around closely for a week. Herb feels pretty confident about it. What could possibly go wrong? Also, did your school have green chalkboards or black?

Moon Hockey

The inspiration for this strip was an actual announcement from NASA on October 26th, 2020 that there is a large amount of ice located in the polar regions of the moon. Naturally, the first thing Joey thought of was not the scientific implications of this discovery, but yes: moon hockey. That does in fact seem like an awesome thing, but it only takes Joey a moment to realize there are more than a few complications with playing hockey in 1/6th of the gravity. Also, hat-tip to the first Tintin book I owned and cherished: Explorers on the Moon. The nifty orange spacesuits with the Iron Man-like light in the middle of the chest are my homage to the great Hergé’s art from that book.

The Assignment

Spoken like a true parent, Herb. Joey thinks he’s got this one figured out, but I don’t know about you – I don’t think Herb is your textbook grizzly bear. This might be interesting if Joey can use his powers of persuasion here.

Charge It

Herb seems to be settling in nicely to his new life in Cold Springs… He’s found a comfortable chair in which to do a little reading and he’s also apparently quite comfortable using Joey’s mom’s credit card. Have fun explaining your new found love of architecture to your parents, Joey.