I'm glad there are still so many of these compilations left for me to read :) It makes a really nice change to be able to go back to the "reliable" books for a good smile and laugh :)

You can see that Patrick is experimenting in this volume as gag strips are set up and run for a good two weeks or so before a final pay off (for example, Mooch and Earl sitting on a street corner and having various people pass them by on which they comment).

The cast of characters grow, and the main cast we love so much continue to be as zany, whacky, and especially as funny as we remember them to be :) The hardest thing for me to do is suppress my laugh-out-loud guffaws while reading this book on the train :) ( )

I tend to like the earlier Mutts the most, but I still always enjoy the antics of Earl & Mooch. ( )

More of the same gentle animal humor from McDonnell, who has quietly turned into an accomplished comic strip creator with one of the more endearing strips around. I don't think it's a strip I would often re-read, but the first time around for each episode is a real charmer. I think I'm developing more of a taste for it's old-fashioned flavor. ( )