I had no idea Les was teaching a class in comic books but it makes sense, considering Westview’s entire economy runs on the currency of comics, pizza and heartache.
It’s almost weird seeing Les without his yellow shirt in today’s strip— it’s like Charlie Brown without his striped shirt!
Son of Stuck Funky 
As I said over at the Curmudgeon, the high school funding is so low that they have to cut art, choir and even lunch…but they continue to have Les teach about comic books. It’s no wonder the people of Westview don’t want to fund this moronic high school, but it’s curious why they haven’t burned it to the ground yet.
All comic books, all the time. Good God.
This morning on CBS Sunday they had a feature about 100 years of newspaper comic strips and King Features with our very own Brenden Burford. Whatta dick. He looks like a DINK MBA about two steps away from writing a pizza app.
@MerryPookster–fuck, it was bad enough he got quoted in the NYT last week (I think, someone at CC linked it but i can’t find it now). A typical puff piece about how strips are still doing well, then they mentioned that A3G was ending, and never asked WTF had happened to it over the last year (editorial mismanagement, perhaps Brendan?).
Anyway it’s hard to phone it in more than TB but here we are, folks. Not everyone has the energy and imagination that an Epicus or Beckoning brings to the task.
While this piece of crap is about as inoffensive as a strip featuring Linda and Dick Facey is going to get, the comic books, man. I just had a vision of a deranged BanTom running down the sidewalk and hitting people over the head with rolled-up comic books, screaming about his favorite issue of “The Flash” all the while. Comic books, comic books, comic books…what I wouldn’t give for a breakfast pizza arc right about now.
The irritating thing is that Batiuk and Burford don’t connect the blizzard of garbage we have to deal with and the lack of interest people have in their medium. Neither man seems to remember that the purpose of a comic strip is to attract readership.
I wasn’t kidding the other day, IMO he’d be way better off with just killing these stupid comic strips and sticking with comic book nostalgia full-time. In fact, why not just create a new strip centering totally around the world of comic collecting? It’s obviously his passion now, he’s obviously putting way more effort into it than he is with the strips. What (aside from the 50th anniversary thing) does he have to lose? One door closes, another opens, you know? The whole idea that everyone in Westview is equally comic book-obsessed is just stupid. A character or two, sure, but everyone?
Just pen a new strip and center it in a comic book store. Jokes about the hobby, obsessive nerds, the ridiculousness of various titles, lots of nostalgia and trivia and homages, that kind of stuff. He could even just shift FW in that direction, I mean who the hell is going to notice or complain?
Somehow I suspect Les’ graphic novel couse is less “Watchmen” and “Persepolis” and more “The Amazing Mr. Sponge #64, February 1967.”
Knock knock knock
“Hi there, I’m from Westview High School and I wanted to ensure that we have your vote for the upcoming school levy.”
“Well, sure, I’m certainly in favor of education. What sort of things are you teaching these days?”
“Comic books.”
“I’m sorry, ‘economy’ of what?”
“No, not ‘economy.’ ‘Comic books.’ You know, the Flash, Batman, Superman.”
SLAM!!!
@ Epicus Doomus
You’re right. He should change the focus of the strip to revolve around the comic book store. It’s definitely where his interest is.
Batiuk is so clueless about education, he makes Ohio’s governor John Kasich sound competent by comparison. Which is the LAST THING I ever expected to see.
I sorta think Bathack was attempting to write a “relevant” strip about the “common core” teaching standards, but since he couldn’t be bothered to actually look up what the term means, he just made this stuff up.
It’s more of the same when he has Pete and Durwood complain about Hollywood adulterating the purity of the beloved source material in order to appeal to the ignorant (female) masses.
Relevant content my ass. TB was a teacher right? So yes is obviously riffing on the Common Core controversy here while trying not to offend by actually uttering the toxic term. But for a self styled lord of language, he should know the two shadings of the word “core” (one would suggest “basic or “essential”; the other, “strip away”; the semantic difference is subtle but relevant), and he is utilizing the wrong one in the context here. Despite its perceived pros or cons (and there are both), Common Core is not about stripping standards back and limiting what is covered, but rather focusing on essential standards implemented across the board. But the impression he’s having Les give is the latter shading when it would make more sense for him to complain about another round of teaching to the test. Guess he wouldn’t be able to work comics into that though.