He who last leaf’s last laughs…laughs last? I forget how that old Westviewian folk saying goes. Anyhow, today we learn that a truly healthy marriage is based on a strong foundation of subtle threats and emotional extortion, with lots of crippling anxiety, some neglect, a degree of guilt and shame, extravagant make-up gifts and possibly a fear of heights thrown in for good measure. Cayla is thrilled about the opportunity to visit a Chinese publishing mill to get the very first benzene-soaked copy of Les’ new book where he apparently compares her to the last dying leaf of dying leaf season, which is just too touching for words (unless the word is “yuck”). She can read it on the flight home and kill a healthy six or seven minutes if she takes it slow and appreciates the (chortle) “artwork”. Hopefully Summer’s absence indicates that she put her hoodie back on (hopefully) and went back to KSU to continue her studies in inanity which is fine by me as she wore out her welcome as soon as she ambled out of that car of hers. The guy does a ten year time-skip to accommodate the Summer character and she never adds anything to anything. Nicely done there, Pulitzer (nominee) Boy.
You can be sure this isn’t the last we’ll be hearing of this “Last Leaf”, you can bet your Funky ass on that. Maybe it’ll all lead to a collection of Les & Cayla strips. He can call it “Ebony and Irony…The Other Shoe Meets Its Foot” and it could feature all the big Les & Cayla moments, like the time she stood there when he did the thing or the many other times she was featured in the background of the strip. And a bunch of other crap to fill it out to book-like length. Maybe even a launch-party at Montoni’s…(shudder). It could potentially generate tens of dollars of sales, some of which could be donated to charities devoted to helping anniversary-forgetters. Everyone wins.
Man, just a few weeks back we were making fun of Owen’s head injury. Seems like a lifetime ago. Les just swoops in and dominates all with his smug eyebrows and annoying facial expressions that are always more fully realized than any of the other characters. It’s all so frustrating and rage-inducing and once he settles in he never goes the f*ck away. The whole thing read like a pitiful attempt to compensate for all the times BatTom inexplicably left Cayla out of his little “stories” because he can’t really ever draw her hair consistently. Just pathetic.
And on that note, I am outta here, off to the Les Moore recovery suite with a gallon of rock & rye and some pills I found on the floor. Stay tuned for your next snarktacular guest host…the legendary TFH himself! See you all in the comment section and stay Funky!
Son of Stuck Funky 
It was the least he could do seeing that you went to so much trouble transforming into a white woman.
That’s right, Les’ problem is that he’s too good and must always struggle to maintain the high standards he has set. Sure it is.
I have to say… you half-assed these gifts so well on a day’s notice, I can’t wait to see what you come up with when you have a full year lead-time…. Oh, wait.
Now we know why Les prefers a dead wife: No gifts to buy and a town’s eternal pity at his feet.
Nice as is to see the real Les again, have we seen this strip before? Like earlier this week? Super familiar…
God, what a tool! “Oh, NOES!!!! Now I have to think about what to get this person for the rest of my life….and my brain is singularly devoid of imagination, intellect and insight!!!! Oh, WOE IS ME!!!!!”
The writing in the Funky Winkerbean blog only goes to show that there actually is something worse than the comic strip. Let’s, as they say, keep that in mind. In the main.
I, too, would say that my reaction to the gifts was one of amazement.
I’m curious what publishing company picked this one up. I’m guessing it was Vanity Press.