It’s a Jeff.
It took me awhile, but I believe today’s strip is a Jeff (although the ink may have been done by Bil).
It’s the caption that gives it away. Bil Keane, a Philadelphia native, is a fairly devout man, but a sucker for an easy gag and, with the exception of the truly execrable and unfortunately too common “Spaghetti/pasketti zucchini/bikini/ain’t-kids-funny-when-they-mess-up-words” crutch, genuinely attuned to children’s speech. “Our Father who art in heaven, how did you know my name?” (from the link) is actually kind of plausible: I remember thinking that the last line of “My Country ‘Tis Of Thee” was “of the icing” when I learned the song in second grade, and always visualized the pilgrims eating cake and skating when we had to sing it at assembly.
In my opinion, today’s text doesn’t have that ring that Bil gets, even when he’s slacking on the caption. It reads a little clumsy, like something an adult would put in a kid’s mouth, and since Jeff is the less experienced writer, I believe he’s the writer.
But what of the art? That’s a little harder. Well, OK, a lot harder. On the one hand, the perspective is a LOT better than you’d expect from Bil… but on the other hand, Bil’s close-up perspective is usually a bit better than his efforts at long distance. Still, i will guess that the artwork is also Jeff’s, if only because the inking is DEFINITELY the younger artist’s work. Jeff’s inkwork is typically more playful than Bil’s, and more given to boldness and experimentation. The way he uses the lightening to spotlight the bright red of Billy’s pjs, and then flips the contrast around by emphasizing the shadows on Billy’s face, is really kind of cool.
With the exception of the hokey caption, I really like today’s strip, and that would be true even if I was on more than just three hours of sleep.
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