I’m far from Miss Manners here but it’s gotta be in poor form to unload your woe-is-me tale on someone that’s actually losing something, including possibly his finances, house, marriage, kid’s college fund, who knows what else. It’s like telling your neighbor that you’re sorry that huge oak tree fell on his house; it was a nice tree for birds to hang out on and sing.
And with that uninspired observation, I turn the rest of the week’s snarking back to the master, TFHackett! Thanks for the opportunity to try and dredge some chuckles out of this bleak week!
Son of Stuck Funky 
I thought the same thing: what a narcissistic asshole. Not a word of concern, gratitude or appreciation for Mr. Booksmith and his sad plight, just “Where will I go? What will I do? Where will I purchase my annual Tarzan book?”. He’s approaching Les-like levels of self-absorption here, and all of it over having to find a new way to buy his children’s books for himself. What a baby.
Gee thanks, Harry, that’s just the sort of thing Failed Bookstore Guy needs to hear right now–another reminder that he’s losing his livelihood due to his inability to adapt to a changing marketplace. So glad you stopped by.
P3
Book store owner (thinks to self): “Where is that pistol I keep under my coutner for those ruffians. Yes, here it is, good. Harry keep standing. Say one more word, one more word. I keep standing there…”
I still say this is just Les in a Crazy Harry mask.
TB musta lost that smirk endorsement deal he had with Amazon. Explains the utter lack of smirks this week, yes?
Anybody remember that seen in Airplane? Where Ted Stryker is sitting next to a passenger and Stryker starts telling his long flashback story. When the flashback is over, we pan over and he passenger has hung himself? I keep expecting the last panel of the strips to show this poor sod having hung himself having to listen to Crazy Harry’s stories.
Pretty much.
I think this week’s arc proves TomBat is Les. Even when Tommy tries to write for other characters it comes out as Les-ish.
A man loses his entire livelihood, and yet it’s Harry who’s hit hardest by it. Sounds about right. He dreads having to use Amazon, because he knows he can’t even deliver his own mail to the right address.
prick
Eventually, every character in the strip will turn into a Batominc-shaped version of Al Franken’s old “Al Franken” character from SNL. “How will this other person’s tragedy affect me,
Al FrankenTom Batominc?”