Greetings, folks, BChasm temporarily in the captain’s chair for the next little while. What’s this?! The viewscreen shows a sea of hostiles–ready photon torpedoes! We must annihilate this threat before it spreads across the galaxy!
I’m going to skip over Mason’s “movie we filmed here,” comment, because while I don’t think any of the film was shot in Centerville, I honestly don’t remember the “school bus drives into shot” bit well enough, and–Tales to Astonish–I have no desire to look and see. So I’ll give him that.
What else? Well, we’ve got a crowd shot of almost everyone, including Les–which sets our Les Watch back to zero, damn it. At least he’s not saying anything, and is both poorly drawn and partly covered by a word balloon. Funny, though, I’d have expected both Comic Book John and Imbecilic Harry to be there, but I guess they got their exposure in at Comic Con, so no need to feature them any longer. But who is that between Jim KibblesNBits and Marianne? It looks like they flew Marianne’s mother out there after all! I guess?
The fact that so many of the cast and crew are in the audience–and sitting right up front, too–makes me wonder if Tom Batiuk believes that the first time anyone involved with a movie actually gets to see the finished film is at the premier. In the real world, the director would have seen the film dozens of times by now, and there’s almost always a screening for the cast and crew. So all these people would be backstage, or at the back of the hall, gauging audience reaction–pacing, room for laughs, people getting bored at certain parts, and so on–and looking for “oohs” and “aahs” for the cast members.
But not in the fantasy land that is the Funkyverse. Here, everything happens the way a five year old imagines that it happens–it’s all just magic, and friendship, and comic books and pizza, and it works every time! In a way, that sounds like an attractive world…for a few minutes. But after those few minutes, I’d want something of substance, something that would stir the imagination rather than just “be” everything forever.
Poorly thought-out as the Lisa stuff is, it’s at least an attempt to address adult concerns–something that a comic strip aimed at “contemporary problems of young people” should attempt more often. Because I’m pretty sure the contemporary problems of young people aren’t that they wish there were more comic-book movies.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Please! Let there be a right-wing terrorist attack! Please!
A non-partisan fire, flood, collapse or ventilation disaster would suffice IMO. The post office bomber is presumably still out there, just saying.
Maybe Mossman could get an early release?
Could we get Les screaming “USA! USA!” while running down the street?
That never fails to completely crack me up.
Only if Les is on fire. Actually, if Les runs down the street aflame, he can yell anything he wants–I’ll be generous and give him that. “I love Barbie forever!”
Har har har, good one there Mason. Apparently Dick Facey scored an invite, just in case they run low on maudlin, and our old pals Owen, Alex and (unbelievably) Cody are back for the first time since they graduated from the fifteenth grade. In true Batom fashion he’s in “fireworks factory” mode, stalling for time and dragging out the jabbering for as long as humanly possible. And if he’s resorting to using this gag on a Monday you know the tank is even emptier than usual.
Nice to see Summer and Kiesha’s first appearance since the Carter administration…
How big is that dang theater? I don’t think a premiere is going to build much hype if everyone seeing it was involved in making the movie.
The Darin and Pete bit is priceless. They’re doing a stupid little fist bump while two unreasonably hot blondes are desperate for their attention.
I guess it was really lucky for all the citizens of Buttfuck*, Ohio that no one from Hollywood wanted to go to this premiere.
*-It might be called Westview, actually.
Yeah, I was going to ask where all the industry people were, along with the celebs, the Hollywood power brokers, studio execs and other big players… I mean, FFS the movie was getting official oscar nominations 8 months before release, and it costs $1.4 billion to make…
All of the “industry people” are waiting for the “Hollywood Premiere”, the way there were two “premieres” of The Simpsons Movie – one in Hollywood, with celebrities, and one in Springfield, Vermont
Except the Load specifically stated that this Ohio premiere was in place of a premiere in the more typical LA spot.
Well, at least it saves time having the caterers show up for the showing.
Yeah totally forgot that this strip focuses on contemporary issues facing young adults, all we have seen this summer is grown men facing first world issues.
That back row looks hammered. Les looks especially wasted and Jim is in another world. C’mon, Cayla, puff-puff-give!
“COMICS BE PRAISED! ALL PRAISE DUE TO ALMIGHTY COMICS! HAIL, COMICS! And I owe it all to the Westview Nepotism Mafia!! That reminds me, those of you in the crowd who did NOT get a chance to get on the payroll for the last production will be guaranteed a cushy, no-show job in the sequel, so don’t worry!”
Bow down before them! Offer them burnt offerings of pizza! Worship comics at the church of your choice!
Oh, Jeez…I’m going to need to be really drunk and/or if I am going to read this week’s strips! Any recommendations?
Ugh! The return of Chullo. The fist-bump between Boy Lisa and Pete Ralagazaciwicz. Ugh. The only thing staving off the smug-pocolypse is the absence of the Crankshaft cast. I doubt that will last long.
It says *SO* much that Pete+Darrin are sitting next to each other playing grabass while their women sit on the outside….
Also interesting to see Pete has snagged a second date with scrawny blonde girl… But why wasn’t she on his arm when he was getting interviewed on the red carpet?
Wow – there are more nits to pick here than you’d find in a troop of baboons.
Just a couple 1)- shouldn’t the Director be the one giving the speech? And 2) shouldn’t the producer who after all who got the film made be on stage as well?
I know the author doesn’t have the guts to have the film bomb but lord it would make the story a lot more interesting. There would be tears., bickering arguments people being told they’d never work in this town again and conflict which tests the characters and allows us to follow along on their journey. Alas the only journey these folks are going to be making is to a pizza joint were smirks will be abounding.
I’ve actually never seen the producer… I’m pretty sure Masone appointed himself producer since he had total decision-making power on the set, including hiring every unqualified crony from West Bumblefuck, Ahia that he could…
I’m also pretty sure Masone is the shadow Chairman and CEO of the studio, since not one word has ever been spoken about deadlines or budget… He’s certainly come a long way from the dimwitted yutz who could barely speak coherent sentences and got crippling stage fright before even doing a table read….
Am I the only one wondering why with all his retconned executive power, Masone didn’t try a little harder to get “Lust For Lisa” made? I mean, just to let the staff already working on the project continue to get paid if nothing else? Les trying to take his ball and go home wouldn’t have mattered since the studio still owned the rights to the book… I just can’t understand why the script writer quitting instantly and completely ended production for LFL, but the script writer for Starbuch getting fuckin’ FIRED was no big deal, since all they needed was a script doctor/surgeon…