![War Funds – originally posted [3-3-10]](https://www.bugmartini.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2012-08-30-War-Funds.gif "War Funds – originally posted [3-3-10]")
War Funds – originally posted [3-3-10]
As with any creative endeavor, it’s easy to be critical of one’s work. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve uploaded a strip and thought “Well, that one sure was a clunker.” But this is one of the few that I’m really proud of. It has that perfect blend of clever and stupid.
Just think of how much more interesting wars would be if they all had a spending cap of fifty bucks. Before every war the two sides have to meet with a UN inspector to show their receipts. Wars would just be guys in flip flops and old, promotional t-shirts (the Energizer bunny, movie tie-in from Dunston Checks In, etc). Weaponry would have to be purchased at garage sales. Soldiers would be trained on how to strangle a man with a used onesie. Battleships would be comprised of two guys in a scratched up canoe, throwing pieces from an old Monopoly set. Generals would coordinate troop positions by moving McDonald Happy Meal toys around a large road map of Iowa. I’d also count fuel towards the fifty dollar limit, which would mean warring nations would have to a) be in the same county, or b) attack each other through strongly worded letters.
Ah, but only if they manage to restrict themselves to 111 or fewer (if in the US) and keep the length down (I mean really–just how strongly worded *can* you be in 1oz?)
One of my favorite things about reading your comics is how much obvious effort and thought goes into them. We can all tell how hard you work at making comics that are both funny and relatable. I’m proud to say that I was one of your first readers!
Thanks!
Pointed sticks! They’re free. That means I’d have 50 smackaroos to spend on things like fizzy beverages and snacky-smores.
I’d make a great General.
…but not TOO many strongly worded letters. Have you bought stamps lately?
It’s funny, I find most of your comics pretty hilarious, but this one definitely isn’t one of my favorites. Just goes to show you how drastically your tastes can differ from those of your audience!
Just how often do you get to use the line “I ate my grenades”? I’m going to chuckle about that all day. Thanks!!!
Having to fight wars cheaply sounds great to me. Water balloons and rubber-band guns.
Panel 4 is from Catch-22? One of the scenes therein which is the opposite of funny.
When you consider all the possibilities, dogfights without jet fuel sounds pretty awesome.
My favorite thing about this whole throwback week is seeing a comic that somehow managed to get missed when I was reading the archives. This is one of the best I have ever read and too think if you hadn’t taken a few days off I might have never seen it.
i could see this happening as a post apocalyptic war
“I know not with what weapons WW3 will be fought, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones.” ~ Albert Einstein
haha… just imagine soldiers running around and finger shooting the enemies …
PLEASE REMOVE POLITICAL ADS FROM YOUR WEBSITE
It REALLY annoys me that I have to listen to an ad that I can’t shut up unless I click on it or close the tab.
I don’t care about your political affiliation, but I read your comic among other things to get away from crap like that, not to have it shoved in my face.
Ads are probably sponsored by Google and therefor generate off your own Google searches or hidden cookies, do you share the computer with a parent of political room-mate?
All my ads are Cell phones and sports cars.
That’s not quite the way it works. I opted out of targeted ads on google as a user (you can do that on their site) Also, Political ads are not necessarily targeted at specific users but are used as ‘general’ ads interspersed with more tailored ads; most pages that come up when you browse will have a mix of general ads and targeted ones.
If you’re using google adsense, you can opt out of certain types of ads on your site, like political or religious or the like.
All my ads are for other webcomics. As for having to hear them, turn off your speakers. But I must say, I detest, no, I MEAN REALLY DETEST ads that have extremely loud volume and you can’t get them to shut up. I hate that. But fortunately for me, Adam’s ads don’t bother me at all!
AdBlock Plus…?
this reminded me of “3 people are dead after a grenade eating contest gose wrong.” from the onion news.
Dunston Checks In? My word, that was one of my favorite movies as a child. I was always tempted to pull out the tape on the VHS just like Dunston did in the attic or wherever he was…
Army Bugs are awesome, can’t wait for Special Forces Bug to make an appearance! 🙂
Know what’s sad? Today depending on the card, a single roll of gauze if cheaper….
If you read about Japanese soldiers at the end of WWII, that’s basically how they were fighting. E.g.they were making air plane fuel from tree sap but it was so dirty and low octane that it would tear the engine up after one flight. Not that was problem that really mattered as it turned out.
The big problem with the “poorly funded war” scenario is that the primary purpose of militaries throughout history was to oppress their own people, not protect them from foreign invaders.
Worse, the power of any state to enforce its laws/edicts, whether for good or bad, ultimately relies on its power to kill any of its citizens who disobey. That is true even in liberal-democracies. We usually don’t see it unless things get way out of hand but the military is always there to enforce the will of the national government. e.g. Eisenhower and Kennedy sent US Army troops into the south over two dozen times during the civil rights era.They didn’t shoot anybody but they were prepared to. The “non-violent” protest of the civil rights era were ultimately only possible because of solider standing off to the side with ostentatious nonchalance cleaning his fingernails with a bayonet and cocking an eyebrow whenever things got a little rowdy. A similar thing happened during the Russian revolution of 1992 when the Russian Army just very parked its tanks all over Moscow and then very loudly did nothing.
In short, a $50 army means a $50 government. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing but its not what people usually have in mind when they wish for lower military spending.
Interestingly enough, during world war II, the navajo cryptographers used “potato” instead of “hand grenade”.
Just came across this strip in 2022 and it describes the state of the Russian army perfectly.