So: the utter drivel we read yesterday worked like a charm on Les, and his writer’s block is broken. I guess that Les’ teleplay will be filled with similar, um, “observations” and, once it makes its way to the Lisa’s Story producers, it will nestle nicely in the bottom of a trashcan. Although I’d hate to sully a nice trashcan with whatever trash Les will flap out into a manilla envelope.
And now we have today’s strip. Sorry, Cayla, but despite what Les says, it didn’t take any courage at all. You’ve been a doormat for Les and Lisa for pretty much your entire existence, aside from a couple of amusing injuries you’ve inflicted on Les. Helping Les mainline his Lisa addiction is not a sign of courage. It’s a sign that you’re no longer willing to try. You’ve given up. Les will reward you for giving up, of course, by perhaps comparing you somewhat favorably in Lisa’s light. But the rest of the world sees you as suffering from a far worse addiction than anything Les has. In the real world, I believe this is called “Battered-Wife Syndrome” and it is not pretty.
It takes courage to fight for what you want. It takes courage to stand up for yourself. It takes no courage at all to surrender to a ghost that your husband still clings to after all these years. I don’t know what you expected when you married this blind, boring narcissist, but those expectations are clearly long forgotten. Now, your only available path is feeling endless self-congratulatory and wearying self-pity. That doesn’t make you brave. That just makes you even more pathetic than I thought possible, frankly.
Welcome to Westview.
Son of Stuck Funky 
My god…. so this is how Tom views women?
What with all his comic strip feminine portrayals (think about every single one)….what on earth is his real world views?
Not sure if we’re supposed to be seeing anything yet, or are you just responding in general merry?
Ah, now I can see it. Not sure why I usually can’t. Doesn’t seem related to NoScript.
Anyway, what courage? She’s encouraged him to keep writing, to work on that Hollywood movie deal and to write this script, even pushing him to write when he’s just bumming around. How is THIS the point where she’s showing courage? Did he think she was going to just toss away the journal after Summer was done using it?
Pink Floyd and Bachman Turner Overdrive can get away with addressing others with “Hey, you,” but Les Moore and Tom Batiuk would get their asses kicked by the women they think they’re being cute with every time. Also, was it Batiuk’s intention to make it look like Les finally decided it was time to strangle Cayla to death for not quite living up to his Lisa fetish.
Actually Jeffcoat, what I notice more is how the last panel is obviously stock art Batiuk has of Les and Cayla. That’s not bad itself, but when you just put two stock images right next to each other you get a pretty creepy picture.
Wow. So after Cayla had the “courage” to suggest to Les that he should read the stupid f*cking journal, he does and the end result is that he’s slightly more motivated to tackle the project now. Talk about glacially paced, at its current pace the “Lisa’s Story screenplay” story arc will wrap up in about twelve years or so…maybe.
Forget about DickFace, Cayla, magic journals and all that crap. The really weird, creepy and sad thing going on here is watching TomBat pining away for his beloved Lisa. And the fact that he chose THAT as the diary entry Les happened to read is very telling too because God forbid anyone should ever remember or even mention Lisa without reminding us that a) she got pregnant in high school or b) that she died of cancer. It’s like he won’t stop preening over those arcs and honestly it’s really obnoxious. Maybe he should try to write a “story” that isn’t a ponderous, meandering pile of nonsensical horseshit instead of gloating over his “prestige arcs” from years past, especially the ones involving a character that’s supposed to have been dead for sixteen f*cking years.
Forgive me……
Admit it, it does take courage to suggest to someone like Les that you might know something he doesn’t.
I can’t even bear to read the dialog.
Les: “It took real courage, breaking the sacred vow all married women in Westview MUST obey and attempt COMMUNICATING with me, Cayla.”
Cayla: “…um…gee….thanks?”
Les: “Despite this, I do not want you getting ideas beyond your station. Therefore, as punishment, our hourly readings from a random page in “Lisa’s Story” or “Fallen Star” will be suspended! No more will you receive my apples of gold, my pearls of wisdom! I hope that this experience will teach you a lesson, missy!”
Cayla: “Somehow, I’ll find a way to endure, Les.”
In Panel 1, it would appear that Less has transmogrified into The Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards.
That, or he’s become a living envelope. o_o
Epicus is truly the master of the Batuikian domain. I stand in line!
…I’m not entirely certain whether that’s great praise, or a stunning insult. Oh well, I suppose I’ll eventually find out when there’s a website devoted to my own comic strip, “Stanky Withermelon,” and a commentor starts, like, totally mocking my utter genius and stuff…:)
I can’t even parse this dialogue. “Stitches on the fastball?” “Facing the right direction?” Please tell me this isn’t some weird code for sex.
Not the wisest metaphor, Cayla, considering what happened the LAST time Les saw the stitches on a fast ball…
Gross! Gross! Icky! Making me blush with embarrassment cause it looks like Les is getting all randy with her from behind. Yuck.
“…at least now I’m facing in the right direction” he said, mounting her from behind and staring past the back of her head…
Stock art indeed, Gyre. And it’s like Batiuk’s finally using the Holly-Harriet stock to give Cayla that complete Woman of Westview look.
Thx BC, also for a stellar two weeks of snark-er-iffic fun! In the main, I mean.