Now you know how many ‘holes it takes to fill Montoni’s Pizzeria.
TheDiva
July 10, 2013 at 11:50 pm
Okay, folks, place your bets:
Halle is drawn in the background of a Sunday spread in a listless nod to continuity: 6/1
Does Halle Dinkle’s presence here qualify as a “crossover” if nobody knows about her comic strip? She’s the one helpfully holding up a placard-sized “Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad” card. There’s another unfamiliar face in the crowd, above Dinkle’s head, whose identity will be revealed Friday (as an afterthought; TB’s just giving a shout-out to one of his music friends). Rachel’s been made to don the dreaded red apron but Wally (and his wonder dog Buddy) have been permitted to mingle with the invited guests. I would give Dead Skunk Head John a hard time for showing up in a t-shirt, but hey: we’re in a pizza parlor.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Fred’s condition must be getting worse, because he has shrunken to Kevin-size. I don’t think that’s normally a side-effect of having a stroke, but hey — this is Tom Batiuk’s universe.
At first I was having a lot of trouble trying to figure out why Harry brought his wife to the local morgue. THIS is the big wing-ding Harry was in a panic over? Bleh. That snide cackle of his really ruins the mood here too.
Check out the pinned-up sleeve today. And we have a Buddy sighting! Good to see he’s still OK and all after that ferris wheel debacle a while back.
We’ve all joked and criticized Batiuk in the past, but this is a 50th anniversary. How in the seven hells (strangely specific number) do you write that poorly?
We had one guy, completely on his own, planning the event and complaining about how hard it was to plan the event (not that we ever saw him doing anything difficult mind you) and nothing that we heard about the event suggested it was going to be anything remotely fit for a 50th anniversary.
And why was it kept secret? How was it kept a secret? Unless she’s going senile I seriously doubt she would actually forget that it was coming up.
Why didn’t Batiuk do something like have them plan it together, take a pleasant cruise or something, reflect on all the changes they’ve seen in their town and end on an upbeat note (p.s. that took me less than three minutes to think up and write here)?
Yepper…Big planning effort for cup-cakes and 15 people. No Kahn?
No Durwood & jassica … I know I know a long commute…..no summer & kiesha or rana. 15 stiffs.
Good planning makes for good times
Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit
(Cheer!) Eins, zwei, drei, g’suffa!
Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke,
hoi, hoi, hoi
Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke,
hoi, hoi, hoi
Prost!
So who’s the corpse standing above Dinkle? All kinds of problems here with perspective and proportions, people seem to standing on different levels and seen from different distances.
Ok TB I admit I’m impressed. Somehow you managed to plunge below my already rock bottom expectations for today’s strip.
I love how Comic John has decided to dress up for this gala by wearing his Superman T-shirt instead of his usual Batman. That guy is tops!
Well the header is suggesting at least one more week of this boredom. And where is the cake? Maybe we get seven days next week of sepia-toned flashbacks of the cake’s ordering arriving and slicing? In the world of ever shrinking comic pages Batuick uses Sunday as an excuse to draw a crowd of his characters and one of his meat-space buddies?
FW is very much like Mary Worth–unrealistic actions, card board cut out villains and the only suspense is how boring and unrealistic the eventual plot resolution will be —but the art work is worse and continuity is work and there is no pretense in Mary Worth
Yes Harriet, I’d be surprised as well if my 50th anniversary was at Chucky Cheese instead of Paris or London or in Cancun or a week long sea cruise. But I guess a slice of pizza is from FW is better than those things – not!
@Bill A; He’s saving up for their 60th when he will take her John Philips Sousa museum:
John Philip Sousa Library and Museum
1103 South Sixth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
217-244-9309
@merrypookster: As if Harry would spring for a trip all the way over to Illinois!
For sneering at her like Dick Cheney, there is no chastisement severe enough, unless it be to dine at Montoni’s all the rest of his days.
An analysis of today’s spread reveals Batiuk’s drawing process. The Dinkles were drawn first, and are the only ones to effectively convey the emotions they’re supposed to be displaying (pleasant surprise and self-satisfied smugness). Then the guests were filled in from left to right: note how the taut, forced smiles attempting to display happiness gradually dissipate as the author stops trying, until Wally, Mr. and Mrs. Token Minority Principal, and Random Old Lady are just shoved into the edges of the frame with vague, unfocused grins, no doubt knocked off in the minutes before Batiuk left for his tee time.
Jeez, did Mrs. Dinkle swallow a thesauraus as an appetizer?
And now, after a week of talking about planning a party, we’ll get a week of talking about ATTENDING the party. FW: where everyone talks about things that never happen.
Today, the part of Fred Fairgood will be played by Fred J Muggs.
The header is another fill-up of NIGHTMARE FUEL!
Brain Dead Fred needs his own word bubble: “NRPRZZZ!”
Dead Skunk Head wore his Superman tee shirt because he has to go directly to a child molestation after the party.
I see the Dinkles’ daughter just arrived from 1941. Welcome!
Principal Nate is eyeballing Crayola. Nothing new there. He’s done her several times.
A hand is reaching down from the Funky Winkerbean logo to snatch a cupcake.
As a gag, Summer is wearing one of Becky’s pinned-up jackets. Hilarious. And you said she had no sense of humor.
Surprise, and welcome to the elegant banquet hall at Moroni’s. Your main course will be a huge, steaming bowl of Who Gives A Crap.