Pop quiz, comic book hot-shot! There’s a deranged woman with a original splash page of Mister Sponge standing at your gate and she’s threatening to slice it up! What do you do? What do you do?
Open the gate and let her in. I mean, sure she’s obviously deranged and has a large pair of scissors, but she probably doesn’t have a gun in that satchel, right?
Son of Stuck Funky 
This whole storyline just remains puzzling. We’ve never seen Holly develop any negotiating skills–since she’s mostly just handed the things she wants, there you go, thank your son for his service at robbing charities! Yet here she knows how to get the goat of a professional collector.
(Though to be honest, if said collector was truly professional, he would probably have said, “Wait, don’t slice up that Mister Sponge splash page! At least not until I get the hi-def cameras focused…ooo, this will get hits on YouTube!”)
It’s as if Tom Batiuk wants us to think “Collecting comics is teh awesome!” at the same time he wants us to think “Collecting comics is for weak-minded fools!”
I mean, okay, fine–which is it?
I’m just hoping he let her in so he could watch.
As DavidO mentioned yesterday, this part of the great SJ mega-arc is moving at lightning speed for FW. All this off-screen action explained with just a few words or not at all…it’s a novel approach to storytelling, isn’t it? Now watch, it’ll take her all week to go through the gate and walk up the driveway.
Boy, she really thought this through, you know? Scissors and everything, take THAT, Hagglemore! I find it pretty hard to believe that a drawing signed by that schmuck who used to live above Montoni’s would be considered this priceless, but apparently I just don’t understand comic books like TB does.
And speaking of comic books (sigh) that blog post of his was pretty weird. I find it interesting that he’s inventing a little mythology for his imaginary comic book company while ignoring his strip’s actual history at the same time (the SJ #1 paradox). Also interesting how he put more effort into that one post than he’s put into this entire arc (and year) so far.
The really annoying thing is that we’re supposed to either think that she knows what she’s doing or that she really doesn’t.
Since Batiuk usually explains the hell out of everything, but hasn’t explained this: what’s a splash page? Just the original panel art? If so, there should be pages and pages of that dreck kicking around Mopey Pete’s Dodge Omni.
A splash page is basically a one-panel page of an onoing comic book, so it functions as a poster. Usually the first or combined second and third pages in a comic are “splash pages.” The original art market has its own terminology and ranking system–which, of course, Batiuk skipped over. But a splash would be more desirable ($$$) than a random page with multiple panels ($) but less than a cover itself ($$$$$).
Sigh. Every Sunday when they don’t run a Starbuck Jones cover just means we have that many more to go.
“oh come right in.. SECURITY!”
The Batman logo on the iron gate is another example of money can’t buy class.
Dobermans kill her, leaving Funky free to reconnect with Cindy.
I would rather had have a pompous lecture explaining it all than this strip. Heck, I would have rather had Hagglemore depicted as Doc Ock in a tribute to a classic comic.
With an estate like that….Hagglemore could buy DC Comics.
So we expect Billionaire recluse to be impressed by something Mopey Pete scribbled out?
So we (snarkers) expect Batiuks contract to be renewed?
Next week, we find out Chester is a drug dealer and has Fatty McBimbo shot.
“See this???”
(Holds up fan-fic painting of TB making sweet, sweet love to bald Lisa on her deathbed)
(Gate swings open)
Do you think he has giant Les and Funky heads on the gates at Batom Inc. World HQ? And when people drive by do they say “what the hell is a Funky Winkerbean”??