28 thoughts on “Cody-chrome”

  1. Oh, I get it. It’s one of those “grab bag” weeks, apparently featuring no one’s favorite dimwits, Cody & Owen. I guess actually drawing a humorous photo of Owen was just too much trouble, so Tee Bee leaves it to our imaginations, much like how he does with his (ahem) “jokes” and (guffaw) “stories”.

  4. Darnit, my copy of today’s strip is missing the brick of gum that’s supposed to come in every pack.

  5. Oh come on. If Owen were really that concerned about how he looks, he wouldn’t walk around dressed like that. Also, he’d manage his hygiene better than he does.

    Although it is a bit silly of Batiuk: “Heh heh, I purposefully draw him as a shabby mess, and then I make fun of him for being a shabby mess!”

  6. Bricks, and plenty of them! I approve.

    Am I the only one who thinks Cody looks suspiciously like a young Leslie in panel 3? Regardless, Owen appears to be armless and hunchbacked in said panel. He’s fitting in nicely.

  7. Owen’s not being sarcastic; that’s what passes for comfort in the Funkyverse. Most school photos could be caption with, “known for eating babies and giving cancer to women, but no one minded because it was bound to happen eventually”.

  8. Now hold on. Nobody – NOBODY – captures the appearance, mood, speech, and spirit of teenagers like Tommy McCreepy. As he’s told us, he hangs out at the local schools, eyeballing the boys and girls and boys. Observing… Watching… Taking notes… Watching… Sketching… Watching… Creeping… Watching… He knows how they talk. Their “groovy” slang. What color chullos they all wear.

    Maybe you Beady Eyed Nitpickers need to spend hours sitting in hallways and the back of classrooms, watching… observing… watching… and maybe YOU can try to come up with a more accurate depiction of today’s young Ahians.

  11. I’ll give TB this, Cody’s comment is probably not too far off from what a normal person would say when asked to describe a yearbook photo of a chin-fuzzed kid who never takes his chullo off.

  12. I think the more likely reaction would be, “He’s stoned and considered having a case of the munchies.”; or so TV had taught me about chullo-wearing slackers.

  14. I hope Tom Batiuk goes to the “Brazos Bookstore” again, which I’ve actually passed by in person and, since it’s not TOO far from where I live (unlike, say, Ohio) I’d like to be there, and, with your help (what was the thread where people posted what to ask to Batiuk again) exchange a few choice words or at least a few good questions with our least favorite “writer”. Any way, here’s my translations/interpretations from Batiuk’s blog.

    It appears that this year’s hibernation is just about over. I’ve already ventured from the cartoon castle
    “Cartoon castle”? What the hell is he talking about? Either he’s on drugs or just as much as a milksop as Funky for naming his car. Probably both.

    for a couple of great book signings and if they were any indication, this is going to be a fun year.
    ZOMG! You actually killed one of your critics, din’t you? I always wondered what happened to Aviatrix from the Comics Curmudgeon.

    So a quick shout out to the folks at the Ohio Music Educators Association for hosting a wonderful signing at their convention last month in Columbus.
    And you repaid them with a boring story with the two characters you ruined.

    They not only treated me with great cordiality, but have invited me back for next year as well. Also, this past Saturday I got up well before the crack of noon to talk with the nicest bunch of Funky readers at the Columbia Branch of the Lorain Public Library. It was a sharp, friendly, standing-room crowd and I frankly can’t think of a better way to spend a wintery Saturday morning.
    Frankly, it boggles my mind that there would be that many non-ironic Funky Winkerbean readers. But the Internet has taught me there are many people with far more disturbing tastes, so what do I know?

  15. From TB’s interview: B: The characters have been growing up, and I finally reached a point where they’ve grown up enough where it was going to be impossible to keep repeating the same high school jokes and scenes over and over again. So I aged the characters, and they are in their young adult life and started encountering things that were a lot more nuanced, a lot more complicated than the issues they dealt with in high school – and one of those was cancer…..
    Translation: I ran out of ideas. But unlike Gary Larsen and Bill Watterson and by God even Lynn Johnston, I kept on plugging away. And I thought that doing a time jump like Trudeau did would make me profound.

  16. From the Westview Yearbook:

    [img]http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=national+lampoon+high+school+year+book&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=31836FF7F2C07975364344B0E1EDD33E6187B353&selectedIndex=240[/img]

  17. Owen’s picture is surely accompanied by the caption “Neighbors said he largely kept to himself prior to the spree“

  19. Considering all the mass shootings last year, this is really one Tom’s editor should have killed.

    Then I remember: WHAT editor?!?

  20. TB actually used the word “nuanced” in an interview? Good grief, Charlie Brown, he’s done for.

  21. “Ventured from The Cartoon Castle??” I knew it. He’s telling us it was HIS hand behind the castle is the Gay Prom waste of time story! He’s leaving the “castle?” I think Tommy is telling us he’s coming out of the closet! Well, it’s about time. In the main, most of us suspected so much.

  22. Oh…my…GOD…he’s coming to NJ! I’m barely a 1/2 hour from Freehold, my guess is he’ll be at the mall near the racetrack. I don’t think I can pass this opportunity up.

  23. June 2, 2013 – 12:30PM-4:00PM
    Cancer Survivor Day
    CentraState Medical Center
    Freehold, NJ

    Sigh. Now how can I manage to break TB’s balls in person at a f*cking Cancer Survivor Day at a f*cking medical center? I may be a snarky, cynical asshole but even I have standards. However, on the other hand, I AM somewhat thin AND fairly bald, so perhaps I can….ahhh, no, that’d be stooping pretty low I suppose. Why can’t he just do a regular signing at a regular bookstore?

  24. …a f*cking Cancer Survivor Day at a f*cking medical center?…Why can’t he just do a regular signing at a regular bookstore?

    Well, if you must know, the Senior VP and Chief Operating Officer of CentraState Medical Center is Daniel J. Messina, TB’s climbing buddy from Mt. Kilimanjaro. Apparently “Dan” didn’t have a problem with his buddy Tom depicting his character as a pathetic, cringing little milksop. We’ll never know for sure, since Dr. Messina never replied to my email.

    Freehold’s not that far from where I live in Jersey. Might be fun to go and introduce myself…

  25. A-ha, I see. Wonder if Kili will be there too? If this was a normal book signing I’d definitely go, no question. But a cancer survivor’s lecture? Ehhhh, I don’t know, I mean if I want to hear all about some guy’s balky prostate I can just read old FW strips, you know? And I really don’t want to be involved with a “Heckler Ruins Cancer Talk, Arrested” headline on NJ.com, either. I’ll have to settle for loitering in the parking lot looking for cars with Ohio plates, I guess.

  26. I was pretty tempted to make the long ride to Kent State to see that auction last year, but looks like nothing as interesting (or close) this time around. I know I would be interested to see him blow hard about his stuff for a while even if i wouldn’t have the nerve to ask him about some of the failings in the strip in person.

    Now, just because I (and most…well, some of us on here) would be too polite to confront Batiuk with my complaints in person doesn’t mean I’m just a “beady eyed nitpicker” hiding behind internet anonymity. The complaints are valid. But it’s the very evident lapse between what the writer intends and what the audience reads that also means that he wouldn’t understand a word out of our mouths.

  27. I’d certainly never actually harass or bother the guy during any sort of event, it’d be interesting to see what he’s like in person though. It’s never been a personal thing, I just loathe his comic strip. I would like to ask Dan if he really was stupid enough to pack a live cat in his luggage, though.

    What I’d REALLY like to do if given the opportunity would be to ask him to sign something that has nothing to do with FW while pretending to mistakenly believe it does. For example, like handing him a “Family Circus” collection and saying “I love your work, Mr. Keane”. Or a big rubber band while saying “my family has been in the elastics business since 1919 and we adore your band-related jokes so much, Mr Dinkle”.

    Or maybe shake his hand very sincerely while saying “Mr. Batiuk, I’m not ashamed to say I wept like a baby when Lisa was diagnosed as cancer-free/Lisa died in that bombing/they saved Donna’s arm/Funky shot himself/Summer blew the shot in the big game/Les finally took the movie money”. And then insist adamantly that I’m remembering it right.

  28. I think ” wanted for meth dealing, check fraud and public indecency” is more likely to be Cody’s APB.

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