the value of subtlety

ONE of the problems with The Born Loser is its style of writing. The very nature of comics creates an emphasis on the words used. It's entirely visual, so if the comic isn't drawn well or the captions are awkwardly worded, the joke falls flat. The first caption in today's Born Loser is one of many examples--"The excessive use of foul language in that film was a shock!" It sounds like something you might find in a critic's review of a film, not how you would say it in general conversation. But even that may be excusable if the joke itself wasn't so trite.

Fortunately, today's Cow & Boy makes up for Born Loser's shortcomings with a well-placed visual joke in the last panel. Cow's comment sets it up perfectly, so the reader has an inkling of what's to come, but the look on Billy's face hits it home. He looks like how my brain feels after reading certain comics that insist on beating their jokes into you with multiple punchlines. I get it!