The second most surprising thing about today’s strip: Montoni’s has a modern touchscreen point-of-sale system. you’d expect to see an old-time ch-ching! cash register behind the counter.
The real story here is how Rachel “I’m only a blonde on Sundays” O’Conner cleverly finagles a real engagement ring from her dishwasher fiancé. Fashioning a ring out of Wally’s I.O.U. initially seemed sweet and spontaneous. Now she makes it clear to Wally that she intends to wear that damn thing on her finger every day, informing every Montoni’s customer who asks “What’s this?” that Wally didn’t buy her a ring.
Son of Stuck Funky 
What th’?! Who are these characters supposed to be?! A young Crankshaft, mebbe?!
Okay, if you really need to “go halfsies” on an engagement ring, you should probably be questioning whether your limited resources might not be better spent on other wedding expenses, and possibly whether or not you’ve got enough financial stability to be considering marriage in the first place.
(This kind of reminds me of the cigar-band ring in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, only more awkward and without the benefit of Harve Presnell’s seriously awesome voice.)
The degree of “twee” in panels six and seven is just off the charts. Look at Wally there, scratching his chin like some sort of albino shaved ape as he tries to come up with a response to an issue raised solely by his own general dimwittedness. In what universe was it ever OK to propose marriage with a paper IOU? He has PTSD, not complete memory loss. I mean he was married once before, for crying out loud. And panel seven, that lean-in for the sitcomesque kiss…blurgh. Just nauseating.
Yet in spite of his degenerative idiocy, Wally sure does have a way with the ladies, you know? Look at him go, finagling his way into getting her to go “halfsies” on her own engagement ring! Man, Rachel is gonna be so pissed when she finds out about this blonde chick, whoever she is. Meeeee-ow, the fur’s gonna fly for sure!
Beady-eyed Nitpick o’ the Day: The clock-in station turns into a jukebox in Panel 4. What the Funk??
Does anyone else think “recalibrating” (in this context) should go in the Batiuktionary?
That’s okay Rachel and Wally, TB is often known to go “halfsies” when it comes to humor.
Here’s another beady-eyed nitpick: the lettering for “Montoni’s” on the window goes the right way again, which is to say reversed. For a while there, Batominc thought we were too stupid to read reversed text.
I’m relieved that Rachel’s simpering ring- showing isn’t accompanied by the nauseating phrase too often uttered by women in this strip: “You like?”
So if it’s 2013 in the Funkyverse (according to panel one) and Rana graduated from high school last year, she had to have been born in 1994. So what was Wally doing in Afghanistan in the early 90’s? Batiuk didn’t just age the characters by ten years, he pushed the entire history of the universe, from 9/11 to the Defenestration of Prague to the Big Bang back ten years (except for Centerville). A God is Tom Batiuk!
If I remember, Rana was a kid Wallow found along with Kahn.
“So what was Wally doing in Afghanistan in the early 90′s?”
Wally was one of the Ex-Soviet revanchists who just refused to accept the loss of Afghanistan, let alone the collapse of the USSR. His POW status was just part of the long con, arranged by the remnants of the KGB to create a Manchurian candidate for the 21st century.
Wally would have been the longest held POW in American history…..and all he got was an old trombone and a kick.
Let me tell ya…. The kicks have just kept on coming.
What the hell?? Your just asking this now, Wally???!!! She’s been wearing that paper for at least two days by comic book time!!. And presumably she put the thing on in front of you. And heck even if you didn’t see here put it on…what the hell do you think a piece of frickin’ paper around her middle finger is supposed to be!!!!! And don’t give me this “I’m an injured war veteran with mental impairment garbage either”!!!
This whole effin’ Sunday Strip was just an excuse for Batiuk to reinfore how romantic this act of “cheap-assed”ness really is. It is not!! There is no sane woman alive that would look at this as anything other than cheap and cold-hearted. And the more you attempt to point this out, the more obvious it becomes!!!
Jesus….that stupid paper ring is becoming Rachel’s equivalent of Becky’s pinned up shirtsleave!!!
—So if it’s 2013 in the Funkyverse (according to panel one)—-
Just more proof that nobody cares to proofread Funky Winkerbean.