ACTUAL STRIP CONTENT UPDATE. (Thanks to TFH for the scan!) Nothing much to see here, just some lead-footed obviousness from The Most Hated Man in Comics. Two things do stand out, however–one is the picture that appears on the phone when Summer calls. I like to think that’s a photo of Les in the graveyard, just before the famous crying-in-the-rain scene.
The other is Les’ sheer manliness. Remember how it took both Cory and Funky to manhandle the Christmas tree into the house? Well, none of the wussy “help me” from Les Moore, folks–he can haul that tree down to the curb with one hand–and pulling the tree through the door in the wrong direction, too! Which, eh, pretty much guarantees a shower of pine needles all over the floor, but what the heck, Cayla will clean that up, amirite?
ORIGINAL BCHASM “TL;DR” POST
Sunday episodes always have to wait until midnight, which means that I’m going to blather on endlessly about something or other. Aren’t you lucky!
You might remember the “Darrin Finds His Birth Mother” collection of strips gathered right here at SoSF. Right in the middle of that rather underwhelming arc, there’s a genuine left-field surprise when the “Seinfeld” gang makes a bizarre cameo (just to illustrate something Jessica bleated–what a humbling experience that must have been).
Comments on the arc were genuinely dumbfounded by this appearance, but I think Tom Batiuk was telling us something.
I think I’ve seen about two complete episodes of “Seinfeld,” and bits and pieces here and there, but through pop culture osmosis you couldn’t help but know pretty much everything about the show. My main impression is that the characters were all fairly unlikeable and spent their time sniping at each other (verbally, I should add, not through small arms–now that I would have watched) and complaining about the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. I think even big fans of the show would probably acknowledge that, say, George was pretty much an obnoxious jerk who caused most of his own problems…but that Jason Alexander made him funny, so that when he showed up, people said, “Hey, it’s George! This’ll be great!”
Unlikeable? Sniping? Complaining? Obnoxious jerk? Causing their own problems? Wow, those elements sure seem familiar, don’t they?
Yes…I think Tom Batiuk was saying “Funky Winkerbean is exactly like Seinfeld. Funny people doing funny things. You should laugh every time you read my work.” Why else would the cast make that strange cameo, except to point out the similarities? “Seinfeld” had ended its television run over ten years before the strips ran. Granted, the show was popular enough that it’s probably still seen in reruns on a half dozen channels, so I’m sure Darrin and Blondo (already forgotten her name) probably knew about it–though for them the show is over twenty years old.
What’s really strange about the cameo, though, is that it doesn’t seem to be related to the characters at all. Tom Batiuk’s comic book tributes at least try to illustrate something current about the cast members involved, and as comic-obsessed as Westview is, one can see them thinking of themselves in comic book terms (“This is just like when Superman had to make a million pancakes!”). But the Seinfeld thing is just…there. It would be different if Darrin was trying to write a teleplay (hm) or Blondo was trying to start a local TV station that showed old sitcoms, but neither is the case here. There’s no reason for that panel not to contain Darrin and Blondo. Unless Tom Batiuk is making a point–Funky Winkerbean and “Seinfeld” are the same.
Well, the parts are all there. There’s a cast of characters who, purely on paper, are defined by only a couple of traits and are kind of unlikeable. Look at it this way–
1. A depressive, cheap, fat, balding loser – is that George from “Seinfeld,” or Funky Winkerbean?
2 – A weird, unfathomable guy with strange obsessions – Kramer, or Crazy Harry?
Okay, let me say this before you kill me. 3 – The sane, grounded one, who looks out for his friends and has a generally broader, smarter outlook on life – Jerry, or Les Moore?
As I’ve said, I never watched the show enough to know who Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character would be an analogue to. Probably Summer, since there really aren’t any females in Funky who have any sort of character or personality other than her.
So, the parts are all there. The difference is in what is done with those parts. You all remember, I’m sure, the Sunday strip where Les, on his book tour, is an obnoxious prick to a half-dozen service personnel at the airport. Can’t you see that done on “Seinfeld,” but done in a way so that it’s actually kind of funny?
As another example, one of the “Seinfeld” episodes I saw had the gang at a hospital for some reason. An inmate there got loose and threw himself off the building, landing on George’s car and totaling it. George then tried to get the hospital to pay for the damages. I can see Funky doing this exact same thing, except that in “Seinfeld” it was kind of amusing.
I recognize that there’s an enormous difference between twenty-odd minutes performed by skilled professionals, and three panels written and drawn by one man. That’s certainly one reason for the difference in result between “Seinfeld”and Funky Winkerbean. You can build a great deal of audience trust over the course of an episode, so that what are fairly obnoxious characters actually become somewhat charming.
Consider, though, that while the Seinfeld show had ten years to build these characters, Tom Batiuk has had over forty to do the same thing, and it just hasn’t worked. Les Moore is probably the most loathed character in comics. You might say that the formats are too different, that one shouldn’t take what works in one medium and apply it to another and expect the same result. I don’t know–some things about entertainment tend to be universal across all kinds of different media, with similar results. In newspaper comic strips, look at Charlie Brown (mopey depressed loser) and Calvin (obnoxious brat)–somehow, people came to love those characters, despite traits that would otherwise make them unlikeable. So it is possible. It’s just not possible with Les Moore.
Everything I’ve said above is sheer speculation, and is presented only as a means of entertainment, and no rights or ownership are implied. I’m just trying to figure out why, in the midst of an arc that has nothing at all to do with them, the “Seinfeld” cast makes an appearance. It in no way reflects any sources other than my own imagination, and the need to post something on Sunday. And I thank you for allowing me to stretch your indulgence way past the point where it should have snapped, and smacked me in the face! Holy crap, can I go on forever about nothing, or what?!
Son of Stuck Funky 
Wow, Les is really ramping up the punchability today. “Sure, Summer, I have time to talk, not-Lisa can take care of the whole un-decorating the tree thing, I don’t know why she didn’t start it sooner…by the way, have I mentioned my trip to Kilimanjaro today?”
Of course Summer, with her “Waaaaa, college is such hard work and nobody’s recognizing my Specialest Snowflakeness!” is a chip off the old block.
Man, the artwork today really stands out. You have the stressed, disheveled disembodied Summer head (shudder). Then you have that weird reflection in panel three which seems to be capturing Les as he struts around the room like a dick for no reason. And last but not least you have Cayla in panel four, just dripping with ennui, depression and intense remorse as the reality of what she has done finally begins to sink in to that affable skull of hers. Haunting stuff.
BC: So ya went and re-read the infamous Boy Lisa origin story, did ya? That one is probably my most loathed non-Les FW arc of all time. TomBat was so stuffed full of himself back then too, with the ridiculous week-long dramatic pauses as Darin looked at mail and everything in the Funkyverse centering around his dying Lisa victory lap.
I LOL’ed when I got to the part where you pointed out how “Seinfeld” had been off the air for a full ten years before TB worked them into a strip. “Get out!” was also the reaction of every FW reader (all ten of them) as Batom’s latest contrived and cockamamie scheme unfolded. Just as Act III is known for it’s glacial pacing and overall air of ponderous never-ending misery, Act II was marked by some of the most ludicrously over-the-top melodramatic drivel ever committed to newsprint.
I was a fan of Seinfeld from it’s very first season. Were the characters all unlikable jerks? Of course they were! But like Basil Fawlty or Jack Benny’s stage persona, they were obviously MEANT to be. And the writing was so good, the performers so brilliant, that it became comedy gold.
In contrast, we have this strip here. Princess Les has a full-ride scholarship and countless other blessings no one else will ever have. But the world keeps expecting her to show EFFORT and AMBITION! How evil! Her father taught her passively complaining is the best thing to do.
And Les “Hollywood Auteur” Moore, who has yet to complete the FIRST DRAFT of “Lisa’s Story: The Made For TV Movie” in the over three years he’s been working on it is the very LAST person who has ANY right to lecture ANYONE on perseverance and endurance.
Yeesh. Tom, the story in your head must be truly blinding.
Can we get a link to that Seinfeld cameo? No way I’m looking through those archives. It remains unnaturally snowy in Ohio.
God Cayla looks like she’s killing her emotions. That’s not me not liking the comic. That’s me being genuinely creeped the hell out by her face. Batiuk, please, give us a smile. Closest I ever came to that face was going over the death toll from Indonesia’s abortive 1960s coup (talk about overkill).
And actually an arc about Summer and Keisha finding out that they’re not nearly as good as they thought they were and having to really push themselves would be really fun to read. I have some ideas on NJ for Keisha, anyone else want to take a stab at what incredibly interesting things she’s doing off screen that Batiuk will never think of?
Rusty: here you go….note the original Act II Darin nose. Speaking of noses, did Mr. Seinfeld sue?
That is so horrible I don’t know what to say. Why not have Jess just push Durrwood? Only George even resembles the actual actor. And why would Jess be pissed about learning Durrwood is Westview royalty?
My favorite part of today’s trash heap is panel 1. What parent enters their child’s contact with the full name? Wouldn’t that just say Summer on just about every other phone in the world? But not Less, he needs to see that Royal surname whenever possible.
I guess the simple answer to “why show Seinfeld?” is that having Jess push Durrwood while shouting “get out” would be a reference no one reading would probably pick up on. And since Batiuk saw it once and thought it was hilarious, he had to steal it for his strip.
What… Sum-more is a sophomore on a full-ride scholarship and can’t make it on a losing team such as the KSU girls team…. have you seen there record the last few years.
Wonder where the girls were of the Christmas break….KSU is what… 20 miles?
That’s all I got….I have to go take down my Christmas tree today.
So much stupid so little time to comment:
1. Prove to me this strip has a punchline! C’mon, I double dog dare you!!
There is no fucking punchline to this strip!!!
2. *GASP!* Westview’s answer to Pistol Pete, cant’t break a major conferences starting lineup filled with sophmores, juniors and seniors! Oh, noes! That means Summer’s dreams of being a WNBA superstar are doomed! Cause really what is the downside to being on the bench of a women’s college basketball team? It’s not like their gonna revoke a scholarship or anything.
3. Your professors are loading you with work. Well, that’s what happens when Les Moore isn’t teaching 60% of your curriculum. Bet you miss those pop trivia questions, now!
4. Someone taking down your Christmas tree in the cold January months and putting said tree out in the trash is such a great motif for this strip.
5.Okay, the park bench is Les avatar for Summer calling. But what is the ring tone? My guess is “Handel’s: Death March” Any one else have any guesses
6. As many have noticed, once again Cayla is the fourth wheel here between Summer, Les and Dead Lisa! She is slowly become a token character in this strip!
Looks like the bloom is off the Summer rose, as she shows her true colors as a Westview young’un and whines, whines, whines. Now not one of the young adults with sensitive issues is at all appealing, and Batominc’s failure is absolute.
Why doesn’t Summer just dunk the ball at her next practice? That would make her one of the top players in the country instantly.
I also wonder if the fact that Summer says that she’s not one of the starters but didn’t say that Keisha wasn’t as well means something…
(Long-term prediction: Summer gets injured and redshirts either next year or the one after that.)
The reason why we like a lot of jerks in fiction like Strong Bad and Bowser and Calvin and George C. and so on is manifold, but they generally have a few rules.
* The most important one is that karma has to be instant and clearly connected to their jerkery. Funky has received his comeuppance and punishment for his hubris many times, but they don’t seem causally connected. Yes, Funky cratering his pizza franchise and having his wife leave him and having his friend humiliate him are classic ‘jerk’ punishments, but the actual fall came way after the jerk behavior.
* Jerks usually have some kind of mitigating factor to their destructiveness and/or to their immaturity. Calvin’s is excused by him being 6 years old — to see how big of a difference that makes, Jeremy@Zits has a better social and moral sense than Calvin and is still a lot more loathsome. George’s unpleasantness is limited by his pettiness and blockheadedness. FW Jerks like Les and Funky and Linda are not only unsympathetic due to their expected maturity but they cause a lot more harm to those around them.
* Self-awareness. Do I even really need to go on about this? By comparison I find Crankshaft a lot more readable than FW and I even find it occasionally funny. But that’s because the authors know that Crankshaft is a jerk who makes the lives of innocent people miserable — and of course Ed satisfies caveats 2 and 3 a lot more. His jerkery doesn’t (or at least isn’t shown) as wrecking marriages or alienating his stepchildren or stealing from charities. In fact, the most annoying parts of the comic come when they try to explain or redeem him.
Maybe Summer should do what Les did while conquering Kilimanjaro: leave halfway through, go all the way back home and help a fat dimwit name his car.
Sometimes i can’t tell if TB is aware he’s doing it or it’s all a cry from the subconscious. Here we once again get confirmation that Summer’s time in college would be a lot more interesting than any of this, but instead of focusing on her for even a week-long throwaway arc (hello last month), she gets an off-camera phone call. Wow.
you forget, bad wolf…that would require Tom to create NEW CHARACTERS. He’s already “created” Rocky, Kerry, Evil Frankie’s Evil Hollywood Producer, that Sporto Kid, and Skyler last year.
It’ll be six, maybe seven years before he even -thinks- about adding a new cast member without sweating, screaming, and weeping.
Then, come 2021, prepare to meet “Melverison”, a new Westview teacher who teaches “classes” to “evil, cheating, internet loving brats!” who’s supposed to be in his twenties but is drawn as a very old, bitter 74.
Good points, John. The last week’s arc also suggested that TB knows deep in his heart that Cody and Owen are at least seniors (although god knows what that makes Wedgeman), but it’s 100:1 that he’ll have a graduation this year. He paces far too slowly to have a ‘real time’ strip, but refuses to let things play out and start over with a new class. Smart money says he’ll just have these characters be the “kids” until the strip ends.
Whether that includes when KSU alumna Summer Moore becomes the new coach/language arts teacher/pizza enthusiast, odds are about even.
@$$$WESTVIEW ONCOLOGIST$$$, as for Les’ ringtone I would have gone with Charles Gounod’s “Funeral March of a Marionette”, but none of TB’s characters are as lifelike as a marionette.
TB will spend eight weeks on someone buying a comic book, yet he can manage to summarize a year and a half of a character’s college experience in one Sunday strip. For a while there it seemed that Summer would be one of Act III’s central characters but she’s kind of faded from the regular rotation in recent years. Yeah, she’s still around but she never gets her own arcs anymore.
And I couldn’t be happier about that because aside from her despicable father she’s the most irritating character in the entire strip, even more grating than her annoying mother was (and that’s a bold statement). The “twee” was always off the charts during her arcs, unless basketball was involved, in which case he just replaced the twee with grit. Summer has exactly three character traits: she’s either a whiny puty jerk, a squealing do-gooding idiot or a fierce cut-throat competitor and they’re all equally insufferable.
Cayla will smile- as she tells Les the reason his milk tastes funny is the poison she dumped into it.