Forget those first two panels–that smug smirk at the far right is the real Funky Winkerbean pay-dirt. Ol’ Harry Lunaire is about to start lecturatin’ the folks all about the ways of them comical-book hunters.
You can see he is of a mind to speak on the matter; it’s too bad he’s not smoking a pipe so he can thoughtfully puff on it a couple of times before waving it to illustrate his points.
Other than that, I’m somewhat surprised to discover that the Komix Korner is large enough to have two windows. My previous impression is that it was little larger than a shoebox. A shoebox that holds someone’s bug collection. And, lastly, there’s the expression on John’s face in panel three.
That is an absolute masterpiece of sheer, unadulterated boredom. God, are you still here? And still talking, on and on? I am so sorry I asked you anything, John thinks.
And, well, that’s about all I can say. I mean, how long was the last conversation you had with someone who started with, “I just bid on a comic book on eBay”?
Son of Stuck Funky 
Once again TB is talking out his ass about something that is easily researched. In panel three Holly says she must have scared everyone off. In a live auction you can make a jump bid way over what is currently being asked by the auctioneer and sometimes scare people off. On eBay you can’t do that. You can place a maximum bid, but no one can see it. Your bid only goes up when someone outbids you and only progresses by the bid increment set by algorithm.
I’m gonna guess is the smirk means Crazy Harry is going to win the auction and then gift her with yet another Starbuck Jones masterpiece. That’s the only way an eBay auction story can end well for a n00b like Holly. Everyone knows you don’t bid until the literal last minute.
Based on Harry’s snide know-it-all-ish smirk at the end of panel three, I’d say that Holly is about to get yet another lesson on the various comic book collecting protocols that she remains blissfully unaware of despite doing this for six or seven months already. It’s called “foreshadowing”, you beady-eyed nitpickers!! It’s a trick “writers” sometimes use, particularly when they don’t have much story and need to stall for time.
Coming tomorrow: After sending him four thousand dollars and the deed to Montoni’s, Holly is stunned to discover that the Nigerian comic book collector who emailed her might not be on the level after all.
“The Great Starbuck Jones Comic Book Hunt” sounds like the title of the lamest children’s book ever.
Attention Holly… you’d better sit you fat a$$ in front of the computer for those last minute bids. I doubt she knows how to do automatic bids.
I see that Tom Batiuk gave me a thumbs down yesterday.
Sorry for ruining your surprise ending Tom.
So DSHJ immediately asks Holly how the great SJ collection hunt is going, as if there might be another comic book hunt she might be on. This sort of implies that she’s not a frequent KK visitor, as if she was they’d already be totally sick of hearing about the SJ hunt. Which raises the question of why she’s at KK in the first place. And I think you and I know the answer to that: because she has to be in order to stretch out the story and to give himself a reason to explain the fine points of comic book collecting yet again even though the story itself will just end with her getting the books for free anyway.
I can tell you this: if this part of the endless SJ arc ends with some anonymous Ebay asshole graciously donating their SJ comics to Cory in order to thank him for his service and so forth, well, it’ll be quite unrealistic and highly infuriating to say the least. And we all know that scenario is well within the realm of possibility too.
Boring, arch and ill-informed lecture about a topic our Noble Scribe is abysmally ignorant in Three, Two……..
John: “Still have nothing going on in your life but your deeply cuckoo belief that seventy year old comics are a meaningful way of connecting with your military son, Holly?”
Holly: ‘Oh, yes! I posted on my BLAG about my web-based auction bid while doing an online-ical chat on the internet using my screen name and online-ical alias! I am on my way to being a fifth level web MASTER!”
John: “…I wasn’t actually interested, Holly. I was just patronizing you. Now get out of my face!”
Harry: “I sold all of my old comical books to this shop for a pittance. I now watch John re-sell them to others at inflated prices. Are you telling me -I- could have used the evil, stupid internet to actually MAKE MONEY from it?!?”
John: “Hush, Harry. Go and dust that shelf of polybagged X-Force issues ones.”
Holly: “For some reason, my ability to use a computer and pay for things with a credit card has left me extremely smug! Does Tom’s low opinion of women have no limit?”
John: “No, no it doesn’t.”
His low opinion of an evil Interweb where he risks having to see people tell him where he can stick his stupid belief that misery = art has no limit either. Heh. He’d fit in great down at Dismemberment Comics with their New 52 thing. He’d really dig cutting people’s arms off and making Superman evil.
Crazy Harry is smirking because he’s already hunted down and killed the other potential bidders. Next week, Jessica interviews him for a documentary.
Bricks, comic books, smirks and an overwhelming sense of smug. The only thing missing is cancer.
– “Hello potential customer. How has your attempt, that I am aware of, to complete a collection of a specific comic book series been proceeding?”
– “Greetings local small business proprietor. I am expecting to purchase the remaining issues needed through a retailer that is not you, nor anyone who operates an establishment similar to yours.”
– “Smirking unit malfunction… No disassemble!”
This makes so much more sense if you translate it into pidgin robot.
Followed by her rushing home to watch a video tape her and HER DADDY WHO WAS MURDERED having a tea party……
(See what I did there?)
Why do I have a feeling that the shipping costs from the seller are going to be $999.
Howard Mittlemark and Sandra Newman’s excellent resource HOW NOT TO WRITE A NOVEL includes examples of plots too weak to sustain a reader’s interest in serial fiction. Their ultimate example was an inspector at a sock factory chiding co workers on insufficient elastic in the latest model of sock.
With this “Holly has an eBay account and she totally USES IT” plot, I believe Tom has found its equal.
At least it’s another day without Les…