"Camelot" is the prom theme for 2012, huh? That's timely…bet it was the theme for Batiuk's own prom at Midview High back in '65.
Linda and Becky are still (weeks later) discussing Mr. Blackburn's public dressing-down of his wife in front of the whole high school. Becky shares that her hitherto meek Dad, the father of four girls, "hardly said two words the entire time" she was growing up. TB must think that having him finally find his voice in order to publicly tear his wife a new one over her opposition to the same-sex prom couple makes Mr. Blackburn seem heroic. I think it makes him seem pathetic.
So he never said a word when you became One-Armed Becky and show off your pinned-up sweatshirt/blouse whenever possible? What a jerk.
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Mr. Blackburn's "I've never had anything that needed saying before" is eerily, revoltingly similar to FBoFW's Anthony Caine when he said, "I've never had anything worth fighting for before." Here's a tip, TB: If you really have to plagiarize another strip, "For Better or for Worse" is pretty much the worst choice there is. Not only was the strip utter crap, but Lynn Johnston is at least as litigious as you are, Tom.
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so thats the big same sex masterpiece ,don't hold your breath waiting for awards Tombat cause there not coming,on second thought do hold your breath, please
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Flappy, hang loose. There's Moore, WHOOPS!, more to come. I'll say no more, so as to avoid spoilage.
So we see this IS 2012 in the Wankerverse. Wanna explain those time warps again? No, better yet, let's not.
Camelot. Heeyeah right. Will President Kennedy be making an appearance?
I too can list a number of similarities between Flunky Wankerbean and For Better or Worse — And that's NOT such a good thing.
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Linda: "I still can't get over your dad at the school assembly."
Becky: "Me either."
Linda: "I mean, chewing out your mother was shocking enough, but when he stripped naked, climbed up the walls, and began to sing "Mairzy Dotes"? Man. That was different."
Becky: "He hardly said two words the entire time I was growing up."
Linda: "Uh, what does that have to do with anything?"
Becky: "Well, it proves what a noble cause it is, allowing the gay couple to attend the prom!"
Linda: "…*…how?!? And 'The Gay Couple"? REALLY, Becky? Don't they have names?"
Becky: "Get off my back!"
**************************
Today the role of "Linda's arms" are being played by two bendy straws. Becky's sleeve, meanwhile, remains courtesy of the Cinnabon ™ company.
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I'm amazed that there was nothing more to it after Mr. Blackburn told Roberta to shut up. The substance of her complaint was never addressed. We don't even know why she objected to the SSC at the prom.
I think it's pretty easy to look at this arc, rather than being about gay kids going to the prom together, as being about a beaten down, henpecked little chipmunk of a husband finally standing up to his domineering wife. Whatever he was objecting to is entirely incidental.
And having Becky and Linda talking about this today certainly supports that reading instead.
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Oh yeah, THIS is still going on…I nearly (blissfully) forgot all about it. So Becky's dad didn't have anything that needed saying until now, eh? How about "why are you marrying a guy who owns a crappy comic book store?". Or, "hey, let me pin that up for you". Or, "stop me before I bury an ax in that meddlesome old bag's skull".
I wish I had access to a time machine so I could go back three weeks and boldly predict that the SSCGTTMFP arc would really be all about Nate & Becky. How many of you would have bought it? I know I wouldn't have, that's for sure.
On the plus side, no Les anywhere in sight today! Be thankful for the little pleasures in life, I suppose.
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So Mr. Blackburn lets his wife steamroll over their own alliteratively named daughters for pretty much their entire lives, but simply must raise his voice in defense of the Anonymously Gay Duo (who I assume he knows about as much of as the rest of the cast does, ie. nothing at all)? Christ, what an asshole.
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Aren't senior proms usually held at a banquest hall or other private establishment? I thought the junior prom (at least in CT) was held in the school gym, but the senior ball was held elsewhere. Maybe Becky and Linda can be a same-sex couple, they are getting a lot of airtime together lately.
I do hope Batiuk surprises us with some unexpected date for Summer. Or Cory Winkerbean gets smashed in the parking lot and vomits on her dress.
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^^^ Well, until the expo center was built in town (and that's not a big one like you're thinking of, either) my school's proms were held in the gym or possibly the cafeteria (though the cafeteria wouldn't have worked out, since it's partially sunken). And I think when they did move it to the expo center, people complained that the A/C wasn't working very well.
In my days at school, people wanted to have it held at a hotel, though there weren't/aren't a lot of fancy hotels around in town (only like one per 100,000)
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"Camelot"? "Once Upon A Mattress" would have been more appropriate since at the end the mouse devours the hawk* to provide a happy ending.
* for those you unlucky enough not to have seen this yet, the queen who was a real harpy was the hawk and the king who was meek and a mute was the mouse.
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Okay, so exactly how much time has now jumped since Saturday's strip? Has it been a week or two, or this later that same night? Actually, it could be five minutes later, and I'd still be rolling my eyes at the idea of Becky and Linda still talking about her dad within a storyline that's supposed to be about a same-sex couple going to the prom. In fact, we've seen Becky and Linda share more time together in this storyline than the alleged same-sex couple everyone is fighting about. What I'm really asking is: Forget about those two fake characters, Tom, and let's get something steamy going between Becky and Linda. It would be the first interesting storyline you've done in this strip since… since… well, frankly, since 1972.
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‘The Gay Couple”? REALLY, Becky? Don’t they have names?
Apparently not, not that they really need them. And without names, as anonymous Funkytowners, they can slip off the strip, out of town, and into a better life without anyone being the wiser.
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There has been no substance to this arc at all. Its one of the most shallow things around.
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There is one thing that is not similar – For Better or For Worse actually had a real gay character.
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Someone forgot to tell the couple in panel 1 that the prom theme was "Camelot" and not "20+ year old television shows". Solid job on the Marge Simpson and Daniel Boone get-ups, though.
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Wow! What a lot of nit-picking haters comment on this thread! If you all dislike the strip so much, why do you bother reading it? Relax ferpetessake! It's just a comic strip! If you want in depth social commentary and multi-level character development, try reading a book. Mr. Batiuk deserves serious credit for addressing the same-sex couple at the prom issue, regardless of how he develops his characters. It may come as news to some of you but this issue is far from resolved and LGBT kids have been denied access to their school prom as recently as last year's prom season – and no doubt this year as well – especially in certain Southern states. By placing the issue in a nationally syndicate strip, Mr. B. does those kids a major service and THAT is the important aspect of this matter – one that seems to have gone right over the heads of the "oh this is all so ten minutes ago" phoney sophisticates who have been negatively commenting.
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If the two gay kids show up again before May 31, I'll send $10 to the Lisa's Legacy Fund. If Batiuk actually gives them names, I'll send $20. If he makes them regular characters who hang around Montoni's all day being all gay and stuff, I'll make the Lisa's Legacy Fund the contingent beneficiary of my employee term life policy.*
*Donor reserves the right to define "regular character."
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Thoughts:
1) Great title for today's post. I was half expecting to find a link that TB won a "major award" for this tripe.
2) Ace and Gary are going to be named king and king of the prom, but they'll still be off camera. I'm beginning to think they had contract issues with TB and left the set as the arc was starting.
3) Tommy, if you're going to post on this site, use a moniker less obvious that Toby (TB, really?). This story has no guts but plenty of pretension. When people favorably reference FOOB compared to your strip, it's not a good thing.
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So are we ever going to see the gay couple with no names again?
What an absurdly flat failure of arc this is. Most of the action is off stage and talked about by people who have seen it – no real conflict no drama at all. The only thing I seem to be taking away from this strip is that bossy women are evilllllllllllll – and Becky's mom's objections to the nameless gay couple as nameless as the gay couple. Her hissy fit could have been about anything really, dancing, short skirts, rock and roll, inter-racial couples. the idea of joy itself, anything really. Now you could use that to make a point but that skil seems a bit beyond Batuik's range. So we get this vanilla pudding of a story arc.
Now it's possible the Batuik got some flack from the syndicate about the story line – it doesn't take much to panic a syndicate these days – when newspapers cost cut one of the first things they do are cut the number of comic strips – so it's possible that rather than have the driect confrontation Batuik made the story line as bland as possible on purpose to avoid conflict or have real life folks complain to the newspapers about the "gay postive strip on the funny pages" – Which if true, he should have just ditched the strip as this was a bland tiresome flop. I also have to again point out that Doonsberry's whay of dealing with controversy is go in with both elbows – as in the recent arch about the state required ultrasounds for women who want an abortion in Texas.
And I see that is thunder has been stolen by DC comics who have announced that one of their long time characters will come out as gay soon – some thing wonder woman but my money's on Aquaman who nobody really pays any attention to anyway.
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I'm pretty sure the pre-arc interviews stated the Anonymously Gay Duo would only appear twice, so don't hold your breaths for a comeback.
Life'sThe AGD's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing. — Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)
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You guys, the Funky Winkerbean fan who is never Toby seen on this site again makes a good point. Why can't you just praise Batiuk for his bold stance that gay people should have rights?
(Unless, you know, the school handbook says they shouldn't in which case they're out of luck. Or if you're alone in your office without a big crowd of like-minded people around to shout down people who disagree with you.)
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Rusty asked, "Aren’t senior proms usually held at a banquest hall or other private establishment?"
Yes, but the budget for Senior Prom was one of the sources used to make up the Athletic Department shortfall that jeopardized Summer Moore's chances of a basketball scholarship. Not that her classmates will hold having to hold the dance in the gym rather than a hotel where couples have the option of sneaking up to the rooms they booked. She'll still be named Prom Queen and break the long-standing tradition of the first dance by having it with Les. I'm stunned Funky didn't offer the roof of the pizza place.
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And once again, Batiuk demonstrates his "tell, don't show" technique of having characters talk about events after the fact instead of showing them as they happen. I could almost accept this when he uses it for things that are difficult to draw (like sporting events or any physical action), but he's having Becky recount a CONVERSATION she had with her father. As weak as this "I've never had anything worth saying before" pay-off is, it could have been marginally more meaningful if we'd actually seen him say it.
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Worse part: Mr. Blackburn was outside with the anti-gay protesters and never said a WORD.
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ToBy said: If you want in depth social commentary and multi-level character development, try reading a book.
What would you suggest? "Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe", mayhaps?
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If Toby is in fact Tom Batiuk, he should know that to write a good story, you need an accurate representation on both sides, not just weak characters and strawmen. No one wants to read the same "Very Special Episode" they've seen for years. No one wants to have one-sided drivel shoved down their throat, even if they are in agreement.
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Mr. Batiuk deserves serious credit for addressing the same-sex couple at the prom issue…
I think Toby has identified the crux of the problem (albeit unwittingly): Batiuk doesn't see the Anonymously Gay Duo as people, as human beings with identities and personalities and voices of their own. He sees them as an issue, a broad concept that he can soapbox about and receive accolades for. Who they are and how they react to the prejudice that faces them aren't important–only that they can be identified as an example of "them" so Batiuk will have an excuse to say what he thinks about them. In that respect, he's no better than the Roberta Blackburns of the world.
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And what were the two little words that her father said all during Becky's Childhood???
"Piss Off!"
and after that , they never asked his too speak again.
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Toby: Credit for addressing the SSC/prom issue? OK, perhaps a smidgen. But it was mostly about some annoying windbag whose motivations were left completely unclear. Oh, and the WHS "student handbook". And how Lefty feels about her parents. God forbid we actually SEE the SSC enjoying themselves with their fellow prom-goers, that'd be too edgy and might alienate one of the half-dozen regular FW readers.
Nonetheless, it was definitely interesting to hear from a "real" FW fan, you're the first one I can remember ever posting here.
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Hey, I think I know "Toby." He's the guy who interrupts people laughing and having a good time to lecture, "You know, that's really not appropriate"!or some such self-righteous nonsense. So sue me – or slap me with a "cease and desist like your hero – I enjoy snarking on a smug, arrogant, pompous load like BatPutz. I think if this were simply a BAD comic, like so many other bad comics out there, yeah, we'd probably just not read it and simply ignore it. But Wankerbean is so dreadfully awful, and its "writer" is such a prick about it, it's Good Christian Fun to bust on it. And if you don't like that, well, tough shit.
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I just checked back on this thread and was astonished to see a number of posters have assumed I am in fact Mr. Batiuk himself, pretending to post as a fan. This is not so. My name really is Toby – or rather that is my life-long nick name and is short for Tobias, my full first name. If you require proof, you can check the website of the regional magazine of which I am senior editor. It is "Out In Jersey" and the website is http://www.outinjersey.net
I deny any special connection to this comic strip and am merely an ordinary fan of it.
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No sweat, Toby. And I don't think anyone seriously thought you were Tommeh BatYuck. Look, any time you want to check in and present an opposing point of view, have at it. It's nothing personal.
Have you checked out the Comics Curmudgeon site at joshreads.com? Yes, some of us enjoy snarking on the comics. It's something you either "get" or you don't. For various reasons, some comics and some cartoonists are bigger targets than others. FW is so dreadfully awful, and BatPutz is such a schmuck, we enjoy jabbing at him the most. On the other hand, we realize even the strips we hate have fans. I know my local paper isn't a fan, having dropped FW for good years ago. But if you like FW, more power to you. Just have a thick skin. G'day.
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