billytheskink
January 10, 2013 at 9:13 am
All I really take from this storyline is that Crazy’s “happy dance” is not spontaneous in any way, but rather, a premeditated event purposely intended to scar those who view it. Frightening.
Spontaneous? No. Frightening? Presumably. I don’t know. John sure seems pretty used to it. Owen looks like he just got a whiff of something bad. Cody and the peanut head in the blue hoodie just look fearful. Blue hoodie kid has some kind of jagged sparks emanating from his head, signifying perhaps that he’s “on something”.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Is there any way this does not involve Crazy Harry naked? Please tell me if there is; just the mental image is making me fear for my sanity.
Also, John seems to be enjoying his young charges’ discomfort away more than is healthy.
@ TheDiva: Oh, Dead Skunk Head is is very familiar, and pleased, with the discomfort of young boys.
As always, I’m enjoying the lovingly detailed brickwork. But what’s with all those white dots between the bricks? TB obviously takes his masonry seriously, so I’ve got to believe they signify something very important!
The overall tone may have lightened a bit, but the content? Still 100% crap-ola. I suppose it’d make a little more sense if the “happy dance” was some sort of all-too-familiar beloved long-running FW gag instead of a lame attempt at a joke the author pulled out of his ass a few days ago, but I doubt it’d be any funnier. Right now I’m so sick of Harry, DSH John and comic f*cking books that I want to vomit at the thought of it: I am aware that whatever’s around the corner could be worse but screw it, let’s get off the damned comic book thing already and move the f*ck on.
So what is the deal with Anon-o-Hoodie kid? He’s rocketing right up the old “character frequency” chart, cruising right by such notables as Khan and Jinx. Who is he? Why is his head buzzing like that? Are his parents aware that the husband of a one-armed band director is allowing their son to watch a fifty-plus year old man behave lewdly with a comic book? Why is he apparently voluntarily hanging around with those two universally-despised morons, not to mention Owen and Cody?
I keep thinking that it’s pretty damned great that the Tom Batiuk – George Lucas meeting never took place. Can you imagine? Oops, sorry, Diva, didn’t mean to spawn such horrors. Such horrors, sometimes, were just hidden there all along.
sourbelly: I think it’s snow. Something’s always falling in Westview: leaves, rain, snow, hopes, dreams.
But those bricks…they are magnificent, what craftsmanship. You just don’t see that kind of drawing consistency anymore, you know?
Blue hoodie kid has some kind of jagged sparks emanating from his head, signifying perhaps that he’s “on something”.
No, no…those are morph lines. Look closely – he’s changing into a pig.
Ugh, this is borderline molester-ish and not funny at all. Now would be the perfect time for John’s in-laws to come through the door with their camcorder.
Oh, I know what Blue Hoodie’s jiggle lines are. Can you see his hands? Exactly. Ew.
Dancing with the scars? Getting the idea BatSlop thought of this pun in the middle of the night and wanted to use it in an episode. Came up with the idea of Lazy Harry dancing naked so his needle tracks (or whatever – I don’t give a shit) could be seen.
As I said yesterday, this is something “astounding” associated with Beardo, and after all these years, we’re seeing it (or not seeing it) for the first time??
Agreed.
How bad is it when the strip leaves you wishing for some of Roberta Blackburn’s righteous indignation?
I guess we should be thankful for the small blessing that we the readers do not actually have to SEE Crazy’s “Happy Dance”……
….um…we AREN’T…going to see it right?..right??..RIGHT?…(panic)
Jeez, now I AM scarred!!!!!!!
Who wants to place odds on whether Batiuk will actually show us this monstrosity?
This confirms the theory that non-Les arcs are designed to be so awful as to make us want Les-centered arcs.
I’m thinking this “Happy Dance” goes something like this (starts around :40) (except when Crazy Harry does it, it’s not funny.
I sure the idea was to leave the exact nature of the happy dance to the reader’s imaganation – however the creepy undertone of this strip leads the imagination of the reader to a very dark place.
Monty Python did this from time to time but would toss in weird detials to add to the nonsense – as in “with a mellon?” and also it was funny.
Easy fix: have Harry play an ecstatic air-guitar solo.
This, of course, will lead into the next storyline/”serious issue” that Batiuk tackles…sex offender registries.
The kids are shocked because, yes, Beardo is stark naked as we expected, and his pubic hair has been dyed to look like that weird shit on Kid Toucher John’s head.
John: (Hushed, whisper tone) “So, you’ve seen the dance now, you dirty, dirty little boys. Would you like to see the other secret, scarring things that go on here? Things beyond your wildest imaginations?!?”
Owen: “Sorry, dude, I just remembered today was the day I wanted to hang out at a second hand book store!”
Blue Hoodie: “Wow. I never saw someone get papercuts THERE before!”
Cody: “…won’t that hurt its collectability? At the very least, it’ll downgrade its Overstreet rating significantly!”
Look, boys! The helicopter!
So this is the next plot arc: Crazy Harry’s “Happy Dance” becomes a Westview sensation. Funky invites him to table dance in Montoni’s and Montoni’s actually gains customers, becoming an erotic dance club in the process. The money allows him to quit his job at the Komix Korner and he buys Montoni’s from Funky. Then Les shows up and says something and everyone smirks.
No actually dance or even any sort of wrap-up ending……..as usual.
TB has never met and ending he liked (wrote).
This week is simply inane.
I have a feeling that beside the couch are a lot of empty aerosol cans, those boys look like the huffing type.
So, to summarize, this is what rattles around in Batty’s pointy little head: Grown man who dresses like a teenager and has teenager hair opens a comic book store to attract little boys. He hires an elderly man-child and lets him do a nude lewd dance in front of teenage boys.
Honestly, I never could have or would have come up with twisted shit like this. How about you?
But Tommi did. Draw your own conclusions.
Thanks, TFH. Every day is a good day for an Andy Kaufman video!