SoSFDavidO here for the next two weeks, takin’ the reins!
Every fairytale has to come to and end, and in today’s strip, Mason Jarr drops off Les in the middle of downtown Hollywood with nary a peck good night. I’m not sure what point Les is trying to make here, as I can’t think of anything much cooler than tooling around in Hollywood as a bankable star in a Porsche. So Mason has to live in an apartment and study lines for a script. Boo-hoo, woe is Mason in his beachside 2700 sq ft apartment-away-from-his-Aspen-Home. I really feel for the guy as his $80,000 car drives him and his perfect hairdo into the sunset.
Son of Stuck Funky 
That is exactly correct. We’re supposed to join Les in wishing he had Mason’s problems.
If the script is in the process of being re-written, why is he bothering to study it? Wouldn’t that happen closer to having a finished product? i will not take the bait on the comics nerd joke, Batiuk can’t see beyond his nose at this point.
Finally a Sunday strip in which bathing each panel in Creepy Blue Twilight is justified. But why did Mason drive Les all the way back to his hotel? Does Les take the bus to the studio every morning?
The metaphor for Less’s life.
Emptiness.
He loves only dead Lisa…a ghost…a memory.
In the 20 years since her death there has been nothing in his life to offer true joy and happiness. Not even his labor of written adoration has given him peace. Nor has there ever been replacement joy from teaching moronic students…being a Father of a forgotten daughter….or the Husband of (for reasons unknown) of a dedicated wife.
What a sad and miserable existence.
Man, this whole “dark side of Hollywood” schtick is really getting on my nerves right now. Typical TB, he spends a few days painting Mason as a moron then begins to give him a personality as he drives away. And all so he could use a few really awful “actors are so stupid” gags earlier in the week, too.
What’s the deal with that last panel? Was something profound said, or did Les have some sort of inane “realization” there? Beats the hell out of me. This Mason seems like a real hoot to hang out with, interesting how Batom always reaches for “boring” whenever he needs to develop a character. It’s innate, like a reflexive thing with him.
Anyone interested in starting a pool on when the next time TB will use a Fortress of Solitude “joke”?
If Mason pushes Les out of a moving car, he’ll be a hero to millions.
Is this strip supposed to be ironic? It’s so poorly constructed, I can’t tell.
“… interesting how Batom always reaches for ‘boring’ whenever he needs to develop a character. It’s innate, like a reflexive thing with him.”
Well, authors are always told: “write about what you know”. Boring is as boring does, after all.
@Pookster: The problem is that we’re supposed to prefer the tower of anhedonia called Les to the more engaging and sympathetic actor meant to ‘defile’ his work by giving him a personality.
I’m kind of wondering what Batiuk thought moviemaking was all about if what he has just described is considered incompatible with glamorous,
I’m also wondering why Mason is dropping Les off at his hotel at the end of the day when the narrative was that they were going to lunch. Did they take a 5-hour lunch break? That’s pretty glamorous.
Also, Mason’s life was pretty sexy until he found himself in the position of having to do lunch with Les Moore.