Holly carries her bulk up the stairs to the Komix Korner. Speaking of bulk, Owen’s goatee does little to conceal his double chin; when did that happen? That flight of stairs is probably the only exercise that any of the characters in today’s strip get.
Anyway, business at the Korner seems to have picked up since last December: not only can John now afford a nicer Christmas tree, but he’s sporting one of those cool t-shirts with a Batman logo that magically disappears!
Son of Stuck Funky 
I don’t really frequent comics stores, but the few I’ve been in have contained, you know, comics. Lots of them, all neatly arranged on shelves and bins and displays, with some of the nicer merchandise in glass display cases. John’s place looks less like the store and more like the rec room of a sad pathetic man-child who’s desperately trying to convince himself he’s cool. Which, now that I think about it, is probably exactly what it is.
Crazy Harry? They actually call him that? You know, I’m pretty sure that friends of President Obama don’t call him Barack Obama. Most likely they call him Barack, Barry or something of the sort. Crazy Harry is what bratty jackass kids would call him. Seriously, unless it is a hyphenated name how many of us refer to our friends with two names? And even with hyphenated names I think people usually shorten it to one.
There’s a sign at the counter that says “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service”. There really is. At the Komix Korner.
At first, I thought that the fiber-supplement-swilling goth chick had some sort of giant purple beret. Maybe to fit in with idiot boy there? Oh no, thats just Barney the Dinosaur waddling in the background. And what’s with her lips being all sqished together? Is that what happens to your mouth when you’re pinching too many dense loafs at such a young age?
And yes, Skinny Cody all of a sudden has a definite double chin. That kid was introduced over five years ago and should have been out of high school for a few years already. He’s been 14 since 2008; Skylar Snowflake is on target to be 14 years old by 2016.
But, the disappearing logo has got to be the worst part of the artwork today.
It might be that since TKK is the sole non-pizza place of business John has been able to sell all of his comical book-based inventory in less than a week, forcing him to expand his wares; hence why we don’t see a single book in this comic. Right now he’s selling tschotskes from the church’s daycare and judging from the paucity of the shelves he’s making a killing.
That might explain why John has a genuine smile on his face in the first panel, before he caught himself and contorted his lips into not one but two kinds of smirks.
Holly’s question makes no sense except as weak set-up for a weaker punchline.
Then again, if “sense” were the point of this arc, she wouldn’t be shopping in the laughable dump of a deadbeat-run store above her husband’s workplace in the first place.
Cory, Tom. Why don’t we have an arc focusing on CORY instead of the DAMN KOMIX KORNER?!?
Coming tomorrow: Upon learning that SJ #1 sells for thousands of dollars, Holly formulates a new plan. She goes downstairs and tells Funky to remind his young self to buy several copies of SJ #1, then hits him in the head with a cast iron skillet. In his time-traveling coma state he visits himself as a youth but before he can deliver his message he is assaulted by Frankie and knocked cold. He awakens in the present day, penniless and destitute.
Man, the Korner sure is one peculiar business. The hand-drawn sign on the door, the total lack of merchandise and cases and shelves and racks, no cash register, Owen and Metamucil Girl in the corner tripping balls on the “spice product” DSH keeps behind the counter with the pipe screens, rolling papers and those little roses in glass tubes…I can’t blame Holly for being a little wary. Plus there’s DSH John himself, with his dumb self-depreciating wisecracks and the wry confidence of a man whose wife has a relatively secure union job with benefits for spouses and dependents. The Korner is less a business and more a tree fort.
The decoration at Komix Korner (one K short of a Kontroversy) is always a treat.
Purple tumbler? Yes please.
Giant magic 8 ball/possibly mis-colored Death Star model? Oh yeah.
Fall out shelter sign? Of course the only place in Westview safe in the event of nuclear war is where the comic books are stored.
But what’s that hanging from the ceiling in panel 1? Is it a golf tee remover or the world’s shabbiest model of the Millennium Falcon?
No, you don’t need a password, Holly. Only the boys need to use the password to enter John’s “very special place”.
Well, obviously, Alex is some sort of vampire; in order to appear as a teenager, she has to suck the life force out of those around her. In another week or so, she might actually look like she should be in high school, while Owen will fit in with the Act One crowd.
Hmm…now that I think about it, vampiric energies would go a long way towards explaining why everyone ages horribly in Westview. Which I suppose leaves us with the question – is Les one as well, or is he just so awful that no vampire would touch him?
“There’s no secret password, but there is a secret handshake. Unfortunately, I don’t think you have the necessary equipment.”
@TheDiva – “John’s place looks less like the store and more like the rec room of a sad pathetic man-child who’s desperately trying to convince himself he’s cool.”
That pretty much sums up the entire Funky Winkerbean franchise.
Banned from SoSF, the troll who goes by the handle @ReFlex76 takes his case to the Twittersphere:
Antonio’s all over the CW comments section. Last week he was on a great “i know you are but what am i” roll.
The secret password is “Is this really a business?”
It’s kind of pathetic really, the guy can’t even be a troll without messing it up.
Okay, I get that ReFlex76 quixotically “white knights” the eponymous Luann over on The Comics Curmudgeon because he wants to have sex with her. So… why is he so obsessed with defending the entirely fictional DSH John?
Banned from SoSF, the troll who goes by the handle @ReFlex76 takes his case to the Twittersphere:
Wow, that’s deranged. What kind of person would think a comment like that was even the least bit appropriate? Honestly, that points to some kind of personality disorder. I mean, I realize that he’s got some weird hard-on for some particular dumb comic strips, but nothing justifies that. He’s completely gone around the bend.
I thought his big thing with Luann dealt more with Toni and Brad, as I had an amusing discussion (Read: troll session) with him on that topic. The guy’s got an emotional investment in these things that’s totally out of proportion.
I was going to use an example to illustrate the point, but I don’t think I can come up with anything more manifest than “your sister’s death was cosmic justice for your making fun of a comic strip character’s hair”.
Anyway, I think I was going to make a point about the comic, but it just seems rather petty to point out that Holly really seems to think in panel two that Gross John might have a password to enter his stupid shop. She doesn’t seem to be making a light-hearted joke, and that’s… dumb.
(Holly walks around the Komix Korner, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck prickle, her perspiration pick up.)
Holly: (Thinking) Oh, gawd. John is looking at me again, with his hooded eyes, perpetual smirk, and furtive, lizard-like movements just a little bit beyond my peripheral vision. What was he going to do? What bizarre, inappropriate thing was he going to say? C’mon, DROP, you blasted other shoe!
John: “…my wife and I haven’t had sex in two years!”
Holly: “I TAKE IT BACK!”
Charles: You forget, Holly isn’t a boy, therefore is automatically and innately COMPLETELY CLUELESS about the world o’ comical books. 😛
On a somewhat related matter…why can’t I see the comments on Comics Curmudgeon?
ReFlex76 The Nelson Puppet • 5 days ago
“Funky: “The Komix Korner should have been called ‘The Police Took John Away’.””
– So, you did something illegal.
ReFlex76 The Nelson Puppet • 5 days ago
“Dead Skunk Head CT John Howard is a creepy guy, no offense.”
– No he’s not.
– It’s rather weird you project your own impulses onto him, no offense.
Yeah, i don’t get it either.
Seriously “ReFlex76”? Way to keep it classy, dickface.