Well, today’s strip either illustrates how the father whose neglect turned his son into a juvenile delinquent now counts the minutes until his safe return, or it’s glum foreshadowing of Cory’s date with a landmine.
13 thoughts on “Countdown to Cory”
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Son of Stuck Funky 
It’s the Corporal Cory Comic Collection Caper Countdown Clock! Maybe he could do this with Les…”so long, Funky, see you in thirty-five days”. It’d be a helpful addition to the strip IMO. And the various SoSF guest hosts would know when to call in sick as well.
But seriously, I wonder if he means this literally? It’s TB we’re talking about here, so it could just as well be senseless jabbering too. There’s no way to tell.
“Say, are you tired of interesting characters, intriguing ideas, and stories that develop while they’re being told? Well, if all that seems ‘old hat’ to you, and if in addition you’re no longer interested in ‘jokes’ or ‘humor,’ then BaTom Inc has a property you just might be interested in! It’s called Funky Winkerbean and with your help, you can read it every day in your favorite newspaper!”
This was an actual ad I heard on the radio.*
*Okay, I lied right then. But I’m not sorry!
If this matches up to real time, we could have a heartwarming Christmas funeral this year.
So that means it’s what, thirty-eight days until he’s killed in combat? Give or take?
A knock at the Winkerbean door, a mother excitedly running to answer it with longbox in hand, then a silent panel featuring the July 1976 issue of Starbuck Jones flapping silently in the wind.
While (sadly) I could see that, IMO Cory will ultimately be the Anti-Wally regarding their respective military careers. While Wally came back from the war a shattered and ruined man, the Corporal will return home intact, all spit & polished with his surly obnoxious past nothing but a dim memory. I honestly believe he’s just screwing with expectations with the land mine stuff, just for the fun of it. Then again, with TB you just never know, I wouldn’t put anything past that crafty old bastard.
Cory dying would be too eventful for this strip. The running theme of this strip lately is “nothing happens”. Jessica thinks her dad was cheating on her mom, but no, he wasn’t. Les is going to get all indignant and self-righteous with Hollywood, but no, he doesn’t. Cory’s dead in helicopter crash, but no, he isn’t. Batiuk likes teasing and hinting at horrible stuff happening, but nothing major has really happened in this strip in a while.
I know a lot of you hate Cory, but I genuinely like him. In fact, I eagerly await his return! (**Gets shot John Darling style by dozens of angry users**)
No, no, hear me out! Cory is one of the ONLY three or so likeable characters in the strip these days. He’s actually sort of complex, which is a rarity for anyone in Funkyworld at all. Besides, at least he had the good sense to get the heck out of Westview and better his life with a military career.
…Which really won’t save him from the actual pen of Tom Batiuk–he could become the next Wally or Becky–but still.
And look at Funky “caring” again. Drop the act, man. Like Less’s shorts, it just doesn’t fit.
Has Les ever been as face-punchable as he appears in the last panel? Is a self-satisfied, all-knowing smirk his default setting? Sheesh.
Well if a returning 10 year POW get’s handed a trombone and a slap….then Cory’s return should go totally unnoticed.
Cory’s return will no doubt be a Sunday strip. We’ll see scenes of him being welcomed by the townsfolk with open arms and congratulations. The last panel will be a repeat of the last panel of the “county fair, Cory does chin-ups” Sunday strip, with Wally looking dolefully at how the returning Cory is being treated. Probably while he (Wally) is scraping crud off trash cans for sustenance.
Cory, Schmory. Check out that tiny, narrow driveway.
“So that means it’s what, thirty-eight days until he’s killed in combat? Give or take?” My #1 guess is not “killed in combat”, but blinded somehow – that way, it ties in with the Starbuck Jones collection. (My #2 guess is, the collection is a Christmas present…and his eyes have a fateful meeting with an IED when he returns to duty.)
It’s going to be even more tragic than you can imagine. Corey saves his whole platoon by throwing his Starbuck Jones collection on a grenade.