Well, it's official.
BeckoningChasm
October 18, 2012 at 12:11 am
Look closely at [Les'] face. He looks more rueful than happy.
I guess what we're seeing today is what passes for Les' "happy" face. I just had to see how that grin would look, unhidden by that damn goatee. I think it's actually an improvement. He looks like an Archie character.
"Sisters" Summer and Cayla seal the deal with a painfully awkward fist-bump. The guests are invited to pick up their folding chairs and proceed to the backyard for the post-nuptial pig roast; I'm sure they're glad they dressed up for this.
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Yes, without that beard, Les looks a lot less punchable. He has a Stan Laurel look to him.
And, um, I actually meant the look on Cayla's father's face.
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Note the increasing Lisa-fication of Summer's face: that expression is almost identical to Lisa's VHS face. What a "fine young woman she's become", eh? Also the husband & wife hatchet faces in panel one. And Cayla's uniquely squared-off head, too.
Uneventful, dull, boring, stupid, lame, insignificant, mundane, tiresome, bland, weak, uninspired, leaves…does that cover "The Big Wedding" or should I elaborate? Nah, didn't think so. If this arc was a tranquilizer, it'd be Thorazine.
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While Cayla is gradually turning white, Summer is moving towards Asian. Someone has to bring ethnicity to this radically progressive blended family. (I actually typed "blanded family" at first, and considered keeping it as more appropriate.)
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What an exciting wedding! Not only did Khan make his first appearance since Robert Gates was secretary of defense, but the wedding video was also plagued by severe lens flare. High drama.
TB even pulled off a celebrity cameo for today's panel 2, with Jolene Blalock reprising her role as T'Pol from Star Trek: Enterprise. Cant't blame her, it's not like UPN is reviving the show.
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Terrorist fist bump, amIright? It would be great if Saturday's strip was just another day at Montoni's, or band camp, or some other unrelated event.As if this sad spectacle had never taken place.
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Can this strip get any more boring ?
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Show of hands, please — how many people here found today's strip — nay, this entire wedding arc — touching and/or romantic?
That's what I thought.
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Whew! Well, that's over with. Now, on to…what, exactly?
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Hopefully, divorce. She's bound to crack under the pressure sooner or later. Or maybe a three-way with Lisa's Ghost now that both wives are on the same level playing field?
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So he didn't even show the vows. He has today's strip, and the strips from this entire week, showing utterly irrelevant minutia, but he skips the vows.
I'm beginning to wonder if Batiuk has any understanding of narrative construction whatsoever. Summer and Keisha's fistbump was more important than anything in Les and Cayla's vows. Can there be any doubt how little he cares about that relationship?
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And still no word on Cell Phone Girl.
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Charles, please… if TB had included the vows, the wedding ceremony would have lasted through mid-December.
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Again I have no words but:
"The Horror. The Horror."
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Well, what writer wouldn't fast forward through all chances for dialog – we could have had some thought-bubbles, we could have had touching vows written by the happy couple – to concentrate on an awkward teenage fist-bump?
The terribleness of this week has been astounding. When I think of the great web comics out there compared to the crap that Batom Inc. gets to publish nationwide…to quote Bill the Cat, "AACK!"
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I can't believe how much less of an asshat Les looks like without the goatee. If he dyed his hair he'd look 10 years younger too.
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Your bets please–will Ghost Lisa show up on Saturday?
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The Crankshaft story lines are way better then this. Are we sure it's the same TB? Or has he handed those off to the illustrator?
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Beanie's right, this never gets old.
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Their parents just got (ugh) married. And they celebrate with a fist bump. I was right all along – Slumber and Kareesha ARE a couple of guys.
No vows? In a way, I'm grateful. It would have been projectile-vomiting-nauseating. OR – Maybe this is all there was. A three day walk to the altar, then boom, "I now pronounce you. Have a nice day."
Way to "write," Swishy Tom.
Okay. Cue Dead Lisa. Let's get this over with.
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Cayla's cute perky pointed nose
F*ck you Tom.
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Uhg…….Dork Alert!
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It's nice that they were able to get Rick Santorum to officiate the ceremony.
Also, I am looking back over TFH's blog titles, and I realized, your punchlines are almost always funnier and more creative than the punchlines that appear in the actual comics.
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Are we sure the Batominc corporation hasn't got some mental disorder? Because, then I'm sorry for the poor thing. Otherwise, I want Tagg Romney to punch the living day lights out of it. And Les.
The transformation of Cayla in this oeuvre is racist or demented. I mean this in all seriousness. Others have noted the implicit misogyny in the portrayal of all the adult women.
It's time for this to stop. Batominc has to just stop. It's getting only worse. This project is a failure. Pull the plug! Stop! Stop! Stop!
At long last, Mr. Batiuk, have you no sense of decency?
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I agree with bobanero, the title of today's post was especially good.
(TFH sez: Thanks!)
Welcome to WHAT family? Summer and Les seem to have no friends (outside of Keisha) and no family members of their own. I'm sure Keisha's many jock relatives will just love giving up a touch football or softball game so they can come over to the haunted house and watch Lisa tapes with Les and Cayla.
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If ghost Lisa shows up at all it will be Sunday at the reception. Probably from the clouds looking down at people congratulating her former hubby and his new bride. Bets anyone?
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Okay, is anyone going to the art auction tomorrow? i must confess my curiosity, particularly with Batiuk cancelling several appearances this year. And, well, there's always the chance of picking up an original piece (by Ayres).
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The role of Cayla is being played today by a slightly tanned Mary Tyler Moore, circa 1972.
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"I now pronounce you husband and 'Replacement Lisa.' Gender ambiguous children may now fist bump. Guests, please pick up your chairs and carry them into the tent. No tank tops!"
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SoSF snarkers taking over of the comments section at Comics Kingdom is the most entertaining thing that has happened this week. We're an angry bunch when we are denied our look ahead.
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Summer: "Hey, Keisha! Wonder Twin Powers, activate! HAW!"
Keisha: "…what?"
Summer: "See, it's funny because "SuperFriends", is something that existed, based on comics, and as a teenager, I'm deeply interested in comics!"
Keisha: "Um, I don't get it."
Summer: "You're RUINING IT FOR ME! C'mon! Make a reference to Batman! Spider-Man! Tarzan! POPEYE, for gawds sake! Just VALIDATE MY INTERESTS!"
Keisha: "…I no longer want you as a sister."
Summer: "Just, um, just like Batman didn't want…like Spider-Man…like…*….AAAAAUGH!"
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"In local news today, the wedding of Les Moore to Cayla Whatsherface was dramatically derailed when Mister Moore's daughter, Sports Savin' Summer, had what has been described as "A Psychotic Hissy Fit". She's currently in custody for observation, while KSU is reviewing her mental health records, considering whether or not to allow her to return. When queried on whether he was concerned, Les Moore said, quote, "No problem. I can get her old job at Montoni's back, easy."
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Flappy: The answer to that question is always yes. On the other hand the contours of the boringness can be unpredictable, though lately they've been increasingly oriented toward Les-centered navel-gazing.
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Smirks 'R Us: They were asking for it IMO. "FW" (and plenty of these other strips) have been flying under the radar for a long, long time. It was inevitable that they'd eventually be subjected to the often-ruthless online criticism everything else gets these days.
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"What happens next?" Well, after the almost obligatory "appearance" of Lisa (although I wouldn't be surprised if there's a tape somewhere for when Les gets remarried, where Lisa instructs Les to bury the remaining tapes as they're no longer necessary), followed by four years (maybe five, if there's an injury involved) of Kent State's women's basketball team getting closer and closer to the NCAA title each year (watch KSU lose the championship game, only for the winning team to have to vacate the title and KSU be declared national champions despite the fact that that's not the way it works), with one or more stories of something happening to Private Cory to fill the non-basketball months.
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…except that if the NCAA ever allows men's basketball players to accept any money (either direct payments, or giving them the rights to license themselves), expect a storyline about how the women don't get as much money. (If it's "direct payments," they have a case (and never mind that, at least at KSU, men's basketball makes money while women's basketball loses it; it's a situation like this where Title IX would especially apply); if it's based on licensing, they're out of luck, as EA Sports isn't going to be forced to make "NCAA Women's Basketball for the XBox 720 and PS4".)
(And where's the "edit comment" button on this board?)
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I still find it surprising how likeable Les looks without the beard. I mean, even saying some of the dumbass things he's said over the past few months, I could almost forgive him without the beard. Almost. I mean, he goes from "unlikeable douche, kill it with fire" to "hey, he's just trying to amuse himself, no biggie."
If Tom Batiuk shaves off Les' beard, the bottom may drop out of the snark market.
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Note to readers, in case anyone was planning to stay up until midnight Eastern Daylight Savings Time to read Saturday's post: I was unable to get a sneak peak at the Saturday strip. I'll set up a "placeholder" post to go live at midnight, with a link to the strip which should also be live by then. Snark away!
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@BeckoningChasm: Garfield minus Garfield – meet Les without goatee – the new comic strip. What, that harmless looking middle age guy who is softly trying to amuse himself? He can't be the douchebag we know…
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Re: Les's dopey goatee — I have my own theory. You all may or may not agree.
If you have a really good memory, you might recall that the goatee was "cool guy facial hair" for about 10 minutes in 1995. When BatDreck transitioned Les from dorky high school kid to young adult, he needed a way to make his faithful readers aware of this transition. He saw exactly TWO possible choices: One — Hang a sign around Les's neck saying "Not a dorky kid any more." Or two — Whip a really cool goatee onto him.
As it turned out, the goatee did not elevate Les to any level of coolness. In fact, just the opposite took place. And even more so now that he's an annoying 50-something trying so desperately to look cool with facial hair that wasn't even that cool almost 20 years ago. I think the goatee look might work better for him without the specs, but I don't think they make contact lenses the thickness of Coke bottle bottoms. (Remember how BEADY EYED and blind Les was when he foul tipped a fuckin' SLOW PITCH softball off his face and knocked off his glasses??) A goatee PLUS specs just amplifies the dorkiness for me.
Or so say I.
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It's a shame they don't show all of Cayla's relatives with their faces in their hands during the ceremony, or shaking their heads sadly as they walk back to their cars. (Oh wait, the "ceremony" was only seven words long.)
So Les has no living relatives? Or just too much effort for Tommy Phone-It-In to dream a few up?
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Summer looks… not really high… She looks like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. Who is high.
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