WAITER, THERE’S A TIE IN MY SOUP...

WAITER, THERE’S A TIE IN MY SOUP by Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich (Andrews & McMeel: $6.95; 104 pp., paperback original). The creators of most new one-panel comic strips ape the off-the-wall absurdity of Gary Larson’s “The Far Side.” Wise and Aldrich adopt a more original strategy in “Real Life Adventures,” focusing on the minor embarrassments and discomforts of daily life: “If you can’t get the ink to come out of your pen, just stick it in your pocket,” or “You may be hopelessly lost. But thanks to your car compass, by golly, you know you’re facing south.” This second anthology shows that “Adventures” is developing into a noteworthy and often very funny strip.