John
July 29, 2013 at 2:18 am
Wally: “I thought that maybe I’d enroll at community college this fall and get back to work on my degree.”Rachel: “This fall?!? You do realize that August begins THIS WEEK, right?!? You need to march right down there and BEG for a spot NOW.”
Looks like Wally heard you! Wherever this arc is going, at least it’s moving along. Wally has put word into action and enrolled at community college. Sure, book learnin’s important, but where will Wally learn not to blurt things out that will earn him the death smirk from Rachel?
Son of Stuck Funky 
Not a bad strip overall, but the artwork is terrible. The faces in panel two and Rachel’s “anatomy” in panel three certainly don’t say “Pulitzer-nominated” to me.
Wally, you should take Rachel’s kid to the park; those things are chick-magnets, too!
Eh, I can’t complain. Most other strips would take it for granted that the girl would fly into a rage, but this is a good playful interaction instead.
It’s kind of odd how the Funkyverse gets more lighthearted when it focuses on the PTSD victim whose family abandoned him. Yet even Crankshaft is grimmer than this.
Dear Tom Batiuk: do not, I repeat, DO NOT attempt to do foreshortening again. Panel two looks like Buddy has contracted a sudden case of encephalitis.
Buddy may be a “chick magnet”, but panel three Rachel is “man repellent”. She’s contracted a bad case of wry smirkery, probably from being around those Montoni’s regulars too much.
And yeah, panel two Buddy, yikes. What the hell is Wally DOING to that dog??
Apparently at some point Funky gave his Act 2 black shirt to his nephew/cousin. Wally continues to look just like a malnourished Act 2 Funky.
Damn it. At first I thought Batiuk had realized his mistake and given Buddy a harness. But the more I look at it, the more I realize that it’s just some folder or book. Batiuk, there is nothing wrong with admitting a mistake and being sure not to repeat it.
Wally: “Well, I’m all enrolled! I’m taking Klassic Komix Kalvacade, Advanced Pizza Topping Techniques, and The Collected Works of Les Moore!”
Rachel: “Sounds like a balanced, rounded set of class-”
Wally: “I also learned today that Buddy attracts young, flirty women in tight shorts and midriff revealing t-shirts! Kind of made me wonder why I’ve spent the last three years having sex with just you!”
Rachel: “….”
Wally: “Uh-oh! Did I just comically say something clueless and embarrassing?” *loser horns sound off*
Um, Did I misread the last panel or did Wally seriously attempt to turn this tepid situation into a outright request for a menage a troi? Judging by the Pizza Twat’s sinister smile..such a request may not be far from her wheelhouse!
Also, did someone splice Les Moore’s DNA with Buddy at some point? I hate hitting hurting dogs, but Buddy’s self-assured look is getting close to the Les Moore scale of punch-ability!
I know TB doesn’t color the weekday strips, but you gotta wonder if he sends the syndicate notes.
“Wally’s outfit: reference Boomhauer. Rachel’s shirt: Top front part is a pale lavender, not a lighting effect on a black shirt. Cayla: use classic Crayola flesh.”
@John — excellent class list. What you left out was that Wally actually joined the faculty in the IT department. He will be teaching “Advanced Breakfast Pizza App Development”.
If there’s something I seriously like about today’s strip, it’s that I -know- Tom would only have a female character bragging about a sudden ability to attract lots of men as either a sign she was EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL or as prelude to her getting a disproportionate comeuppance. Male characters make quips like this? Well, unless they’re EvilFrankie, it’s just signs of what funny rascals they are! Be more understanding of them.
….feh.
—I know TB doesn’t color the weekday strips, but you gotta wonder if he sends the syndicate notes.
“Wally’s outfit: reference Boomhauer. Rachel’s shirt: Top front part is a pale lavender, not a lighting effect on a black shirt. Cayla: use classic Crayola flesh.”——
I’m under the assumption that all syndicate colorists are color-blind. It’s the only thing that makes sense after seeing how some of these strips are colored.
Eh, I can’t complain. Most other strips would take it for granted that the girl would fly into a rage, but this is a good playful interaction instead.
Maybe if you only look at how Rachel reacted to it in Panel 3. Wally responds to her look with genuine fear, as if parts of his body will show up in eight separate dumpsters tomorrow morning.
I feel sorry for Rachel. Think about how hard she worked and how much she put up with to get Wally to go out with her, and it’s f’ing Wally. How sad must her life be?
Also, since Wally’s had Buddy for a few years and has never been shy about taking him out in public, he should have learned long before now that dogs are a chick magnet.
I thought that maybe he’d do a “Wally’s service dog gets denied from the classroom and etc.” arc here, but that’d be way, way too much effort for a mere Wally arc. It’ll just be a bunch of mindless smirking and “that’s my Buddy” drivel for the rest of the week, then Wally will be sent packing for another year. At their current pace, Wally and Rachel should be tying the knot officially in about eleven years or so (which is like thirty in FW time).