Those of you who thought Holly’s expression was terrific yesterday are in for a treat today. I stand in line where Fearless Leader’s choice in banner images is concerned, but I think the face in panel one is the winner.
That’s the face of pure malevolence right there. It reminds me of Boris Karloff at his most murderous, leading a torch-bearing mob against those who dare oppose his villainy. How did he rouse the ire of the crowd–did he accuse his foes of being witches, or Satanists, or grave-robbers? Maybe it was something worse!
When I altered the above, I originally drew the widow’s peak way too far. I ended up with someone quite different-looking. In fact, what the heck–
In both those images, the only thing I altered was removing Holly’s hair and adding a bit of ear. The face is pure Batiuk.
As for actual content, those of you who guessed “Engagement Ring for [Rocky]” you can collect your prize money at the ticket window. While that was probably the most likely possibility, it still leaves Cory as the crook who stole the Lisa funds. I never thought that act would simply get glossed over–it was pretty much Cory’s defining moment–but then, most of the stuff that happens in this strip is inexplicable. And not in a fun way, either.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Whoa. Just whoa.
Crankshaft
Is
Pissed
Off
If Batiuk can spend a year and half on Holly getting comics for Cory and then skip right over her actually giving them to him, there’s nothing he could leave out that would surprise me.
I’m curious why Cory would need to sell the comics in order to buy the ring. He’s been in a combat zone for years, with all kinds of hazard pay and other bonuses, I’m sure. And he’s living at home now. He should have some savings.
Another not to miss feature (though not as striking as Holly’s “Mad Face”) is the complete makeover Cory’s nose undergoes between Panel One and Panel Three.
Ha, gold star for me, I KNEW it was for an engagement ring! Why else would BanTom bother with including the forgettable Rocky Rhodes in the airport pickup arc? Dead giveaway, not to mention the most boring path possible. Next up: the standard gazebo wedding followed by the reception at Montoni’s, most likely comic book-themed too. And pizza!!!
I really hope that this isn’t what it looks like, but is actually Cory embarking on his (and Batiuk’s, of course) new hobby: collecting antique wedding rings.
Good for Batiuk. It looks like he finally gave up that silly Pulitzer quest and cashed that check from DeBeers.Good for him, I say.
@Gerard Plourde:
Batiuk has absolutely no clue on how to draw Cory. His face keeps morphing from panel to panel like he was built from a tube of Silly Putty®, and dare I say, he hasn’t been drawn the same way twice over the past few weeks.
How else can six months of chasing down obscure comic books last forever?
@Spacemanspiff85, “I’m curious why Cory would need to sell the comics in order to buy the ring. He’s been in a combat zone for years, with all kinds of hazard pay and other bonuses, I’m sure. And he’s living at home now. He should have some savings.”
Because its called writing. I never get tired of that lame ass excuse for lazy plot development/ character development/ continuity/ putting random words on a page and hoping a coherent sentence forms.
Speaking of engagements and weddings and whatnot…. whatever happened to Wally and Rachel? I’d swear they were last seen moving above Montoni’s, but I’m guessing they’ve since been evicted from the strip to make room for the next batch of newlyweds who’ll need that sacred, not-so-private apartment space to call their own.
Holly’s face had me laughing! But the third panel had me like “this is SO bad” all over again. Imagine a deflating balloon. That was me. Oh well, two laughs out of three weekdays isn’t so bad, right? 🙂
Whoever mentioned the engagement ring theory, y’all were right!
And here we are, watching him boast about planning on subjecting someone else to living in that crap-hole apartment over that depressing pizzeria his idiot step-dad is busy running into the ground. I’d almost wish that she’d keep being infuriated.
If Tom Batiuk would ever leave his attic….Cory was making good money in the Army…tax free in a combat zone plus extra special duty pay. (and no where to spend it) A 1-carat at about $6,000 and he had to sell comic books to raise the dough?
Continuity police alert: that nose is… Ahhh, fergit it….
PS as one who lived through our long national nightmare I could have gone all month without being reminded of Nixon. Thanks a lot, Beckon! 😉
Further proof that comic books are the real legal tender in Westview.
Based on what we’ve been told about this comic collection, it’s ridiculously valuable, so the proceeds from selling it (unless DSH totally screwed him over, which is a possibility) would not only buy one hell of a ring, but would also pay for the wedding (reception someplace besides Montoni’s even) and the honeymoon.
Anyway, I would think that one of the reasons that a man would want to spend a large amount of money on an engagement ring (thankfully my wife was up-front about the fact that she did not want this) is that it represents a sacrifice on the part of the man (thus the “two month salary guideline” from DeBeers). If all Cory had to do was carry the comic book collection out to his car and cart it over to Komix Korner, that doesn’t represent much of a sacrifice on his part. The sacrifice was all Holly’s. The problem is that we don’t really know how much Cory valued the comic collection other than one time when Holly walked past the bedroom and saw him reading one.
You know…Afghanistan has a pretty large black market in jewels and other valuables. Ethics aside, I’m pretty sure Cory could have gotten a really nice engagement ring at a ridiculous price from a local Afghani storeowner. Heck I’m pretty sure there are soldiers on his base that could get him that ring at a better price. Hell if I remember correctly my brother got a rolex watch on the Naval Base he was serving. Selling your comic books wasn’t necessary Cory.
If comic strips were like concurrent sentences, Batiuk would already have his 50 years between Crank and FW.
@Funky Ringerbling:
Wally has popped up from time to time in recent months, inexplicably without his support system, Buddy the Therapy Dog (the lone character in FW ever worth caring about, go figure).
Buddy and Rachel were both put on a bus right after the wedding and have not been seen or heard from ever since. Batiuk couldn’t think of any material for them that didn’t or doesn’t pertain to fake comic books or Dead St. Lisa, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone.
I did not sell my comic books to that woman.
Merry Pookster: “A 1-carat at about $6,000 and he had to sell comic books to raise the dough?”
I would argue that if he has to sell comic books to pay for an engagement ring, then he probably can’t afford to be married in the first place.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if, in FunkyWorld, the Army pays its soldiers in pizza and comic books instead of money.
Who wants to bet that she turns down the proposal?
No, Cory didn’t HAVE to sell the comic books to raise the money. He just (rightly) felt that having a longbox of infantile tripe under his bed was cramping his style when he brought Rocky over to his parents’ house to make sweet love.
@Carrie Kube: Who also wants to bet that Batiuk thinks that no one could have possibly seen this coming?
I’m curious why Cory would need to sell the comics in order to buy the ring.
It’s something we saw in FBOFW as well with the child generation. For some reason, Batiuk just can’t imagine a kid being able to make real money to support himself, make his own way, and be able to afford nice things. He’ll always need help from his parents to do this. This fits in nicely with the fact that Cory’s smaller than both his parents, even accounting for the fact that his parents are both whales. He’s basically smaller and slighter than any of the “adults” in the comic, even though he’s a soldier and a grown man. To Batiuk, he’ll always be a child, even when he’s doing grown man things. I mean, hell, he’s still living at home, and I bet he’ll only have a new place to live because someone’s going to cut him a special deal. Meanwhile, Crazy works a minimum wage job at a comic book store and yet still has enough money to own a house and support a wife and three children.
Color me not surprised, however, that Batiuk is so weak and unimaginative a writer that all he can do when he has two young adults in a romantic relationship is have them get married. (A relationship where the only evidence in view was the two of them sitting together at the counter in Montoni’s on Valentine’s Day)
Why does everyone assume the rock is for Rocky? Maybe Cory’s thinking about one of those new-fangled Chinese marriages between a woman and two men. Cory, Funky and Holly would be a great “couple,” no?
Storyline like that, there’s gotta be a Pulitzer in there somewhere… (Oh, wait, my mistake–the actual line is, “there’s gotta be a PONY in there somewhere”)