Month: January 2013

A Stroke of Bad Luck

Epicus Doomus
January 10, 2013 at 11:45 am
…Maybe it’s a new mix of meds, maybe it’s the constant online criticism but whatever it is [Batiuk]’s holding back on the “life sucks then you die” stuff for some reason…

Duane
January 15, 2013 at 9:58 am
It’s either cancer or someone’s dead. It’s been too long since we’ve had some tragedy around here.

Happy now? The Mom on the phone, of course, is not St. Lisa, but Darin’s adoptive mom, Fishstick Annie, with the news that Fishstick Fred has suffered an apparent stroke. FW‘s Era of Good Feeling that was 2012 belatedly, officially draws to a close. Jessica takes a turn chirping like a newlywed about the whole marriage vs. dorm dynamic.

Hide Yo' Happiness

Today Batiuk revisits one of FW‘s dominant themes. No, not clumsy sentence structure (“…go ahead again anyway”?). Nope, not bricks. Naturally, I’m talking about the need to conceal one’s happiness, lest one attract the wrath of the universe. I truly wonder if this notion exists anywhere outside the Funkiverse? Imagine being unable to express even the slightest joy, out of an abject fear of recrimination. This might work as a quirky trait for a particular character (think Joe Btfsplk from Li’l Abner), yet this phobia is clearly understood and shared by everyone in Westview. Anyway, in this case, said wrath takes the form of an ill-timed phone call from…Darin’s mom? Is Lisa checking in from the afterlife again?

Our Show of Shows

Nary an ex-postman nor a comic book guy to be seen. Let’s all do our “happy dance!” Today we drop in on Mr. and Mrs. Darin Fairgood, at home in front of the world’s only black and white flatscreen TV. By some freak happenstance, Darin has been proven right about something for once, but magnanimously refuses to gloat. How nice to see that after ten years of marriage, Darin’s figured out that he shouldn’t treat his wife like a roomate.

Running Gag

Just as we saw the leaves in Westview falling every day during October, this winter has seen snow every day. This does not deter Les and Funky from their jogging, as they eschew the park for what looks like an icy, glass-slick sidewalk. And once again we wonder how a man so devoted to jogging (and tennis, played with a wooden racquet) manages to stay so goddamn fat. Do you think Funky’s ever the one who has to ask his running partner “How’re you doing?”

The Flamenco Bits

While we often take Batiuk to task for his “tell, don’t show” storytelling style, let’s give him a pass just this time for not actually depicting Crazy Harry in the throes of his “happy dance”. But he gets no points for rehashing yesterday’s panel 2 reaction shot in order to milk this gag for another day. As a bonus, we get another rendering of John’s lumpy mug and some tortured, redundant sentence structure from Owen. And anono-hoodie is going to be haunted for the rest of his life? Not to worry: as far as this strip’s concerned, your life is over and you’ll never be seen again.