Led by faithful Flippy, I mean Buddy, Wally and Rachel head for the fairground exits. They pass by Cory and his equally jerky-looking friends testing their mettle at the Army recruiting booth. Not sure what we are supposed to make of Wally's sidelong glance as he passes by. Certainly his own stint in the service was no picnic: in addition to being a P.O.W. and mistakenly presumed dead and buried in abstentia, Wally survived a land mine, chopper crash and even being blown up in a video game. Still, I would suggest that for an able-bodied, directionless young punk like Cory, military service might be just the thing.
Category Archives: Buddy
Some "Buddy" Help Me
Remembering where he parked the car is "not a problem anymore" for Wally. 'Cause remember all those wacky gags dealing with his absent-mindedness? Neither do I. But I wonder if Buddy can help whoever colors these strips remember what color Rachel's pants are supposed to be? She's gone from black, to brown, to black, to brown…
Now It's Depressing
From the cartoonist who turned a Kilimanjaro adventure into a mundane trial…today we bring you the "undercurrent of melancholy" associated with the county fair! Nothing, nothing in the Funkiverse is meant to be simply enjoyed! Nice going, Rachel. Wally actually had a smile on his face until you went there.
Wheel in the Sky
The anthropomorphism of Buddy continues…Yesterday he sported a huge grin as he watched the DockDogs® perform; today he cowers Scooby Doo-like at Wally's feet. A little more than 1/4" removed from reality, as is the likelihood that even the most clueless carny Ferris Wheel operator would let a service animal ride in the bottom of the car, endangering the animal, his owners and the people below.
Arf Imitates Life
I've never seen a dog smirk. Yes, DockDogs® is a Thing That Exists. Our fairgoers are watching the World's Premier Canine Aquatics Competition. It's an event held at various locales around the country, including—what a coinkydidnk! The Medina County Fair, right in Batiuk's hometown.
By the way, both of these people have young children. Did it occur to them that maybe little Robbie and probably not-so-little Wally Jr. might enjoy a visit to the fair?
Filed under Buddy, Rachel, real places in Ohio, Wally
I'll Be Your Mirror
Rachel's weird panel 3 mug recalls Becky's bemused expression from this November 2011 strip
Jeffcoat Wayne
August 6, 2012 at 2:12 am
Oh, shit. Rachel dyed her hair blonde. That means she'll be big as a blimp in the next Time-Jump, just like all the other formerly-semi-attractive blondes in this strip.
Aaaannd in case you were wondering what Rachel would look like if it came to that, I give you today's panel 2. But you can't blame a funhouse mirror for what's happening to Rachel and Wally's faces in panel 3!
Taking a cue from Rachel, here's a song I like called "A Little Bit of Everything" by Dawes:
Fair to Middling
…is Les gone? Oh, thank God.
So long has it been since we last saw Wally, Rachel and Buddy that whoever colors these strips has forgotten that Rachel was a redhead, and Buddy is a Golden (not Silver) Retriever. Comparing today's strip with this strip from nearly two years ago shows what a difference Buddy the Wonder Dog has made in Wally's life. Back then, it was Rachel who dragged Wally to the fair, where his anxiety immediately got the better of him. These days, it's Wally who takes the initiative (weirdly waiting until they are already getting into the car to suggest a destination). It's unclear how the dog developed a fried pickle addiction in the two years since their last fair visit.
Filed under Batiukmobile®, bricks, Buddy, coloring gaffes, PTSD, Rachel, Wally
Bathtime for Buddy
I'm posting today from a campsite in NJ's Pine Barrens (not so barren that the campsite has no wi-fi, fortunately). Not gonna go on at length about this relatively innocuous end to an innocuous arc, except to point out that TB sabotages the whole thing with that lead balloon of a "punchline". "Wondering what a mind would sound like when it snapped"? File that gem under Things No One Would Ever Say, particularly if the mind in question was one's own.
Filed under Batiukmobile®, Buddy, Wally
