Today’s strip was not available for preview.
Isn’t that just like the comics industry? We finally have a story arc about a woman righting the egregious wrongs of the comic industry’s man-o-centric male-ocracy and then it stops being available for preview. Typical good ol’ boys club behavior, really…
Well, while we wait for the strip/truth bombs to drop, let’s take a look at the start of Mindy’s comics education, which began with the discovery of Lucy McKenzie’s comic book collection in the attic of the McKenzie home back in 2007… mere minutes after she smirked at a confused Lucy while visiting her at an Alzheimer’s home. That is really what happened.
Son of Stuck Funky 
God, look at that facial expression. Over comic books. Someone’s disease stretches back decades.
It’s not just the facial expression, it’s that Batiuk obviously thinks it’s how the reader feels too. That somehow “there’s a box of old comics in someone’s attic” is some kind of wondrous dramatic moment for his audience.
Panel 3: “Just some old comic books.”
[cums]
That comic book orgasm face is just, just wrong. It’s the kind of face someone makes when they realize that they are going to have to kill the other people in the room to make sure they get to keep the comics and he’s really oaky with that.
The real takeaway from that comic is that there was a time when Mindy was an icky girl who had no interest in those comic things, but somehow transformed herself into a comic professional whose opinion is revered by her colleagues.
Today’s strip: ha ha, it’s funny because comics are made by twitter tots on computers connected to the internuts, and not by artists with art supplies.
Oh? I thought it was funny because TB thinks that boxes of supplies from long-defunct comic book publishers are sent to auction instead of a landfill.
He’s complaining that artists today use computers to add shading instead of cutting out pre-printed shading sheets. Meanwhile, back in the past, when Zip-a-tone was invented, he was complaining that artists today use pre-printed shading instead of drawing it in by hand.
See, what really makes the logic of this joke work is that it supposes that three people who work for a comic book publisher, and draw comic books for said publisher, and who personally love old-time comic books, and are obsessed with the history of comic books, don’t recognize the basic tools that defined the look of comic book art for sixty years. But it also depends on how the typical reader of this comic strip will certainly recognize the names and purposes of these tools!
So the joke is absolutely foolproof and cannot possibly go wrong.
Hey Batiuk: your audience doesn’t know what “zip-a-tones” or “amberlith” are either, and after the inevitable weeks-long arc explaining them, they still won’t give a crap.
I googled the terms. I still don’t care. Somehow it’s going to finish with Mindy being slapped down for expecting comics to have changed since the Fifties.
My guess: these amberpops and zippity-doo-nads will reveal some sort of mythical comic book treasure which will most likely lead straight to the door of the now-elderly crank who created it, which will lead to a whole shitload of “back in the day” sepia-toned Batom Comics strips. He’ll be living in a very nice and zany assisted living facility a few towns over, he’ll be sharp as a tack, horny as all f*ck and he’ll have absolutely nothing good or positive to say about Batom Comics or anyone that worked there at all. He’ll be named “Felt Tippins” or something equally stupid and he’ll look like a cross between Funky, Buck and Morty.
With this prompt from Epicus I think I see where this is going. They are indeed going to find a treasure and track down the old crank who created it.
On Batiuk’s blog there was some stuff about an upcoming character, a woman artist who worked for Batom Comics in the Fifties and created some “Miss Liberty”-type character.
Chester and the guys are going to find her original artwork and scripts in those boxes and learn that Batom refused to publish such progressive material about an empowered female character.
The whole thing will we smug and self-satisfied and as usual, flat-out terrible.
Nah, Mindy will continue to get her butt kissed and be the source of all the great ideas created by Atomix.
“What’s that?”
“It’s the urine trough from the ol’ Batom Comics men’s room! I got all their old ashtrays and cigarette vending machines too! And these rotary phones might come in handy.”
I was going to look up zip-a-lots (or whatever) and amberwhozits but I assume they’re some sort of obsolete old comic book printing gizmos, as what the hell else would they be? I’m sure it’s all very fascinating and Batom will tell us all about it over the course of the next (sigh) eleven weeks. Even his fantastical imaginary comic book sub-universes are boring and remember, comic books are his passion. Just imagine how dull it’d be if he was fairly ambivalent about them.
I wish CK would publish yours and Ian’s versions as a rebuttal to FW.
I predict this will be the best SoSF gag strip of 2019.
This week’s Crapshaft: Lilian gripes about having to pay to get her driveway shoveled. She needs it shoveled so that customers can visit her for-profit bookstore, convienantly located above her garage via an ice covered, rickety staircase. What a b1atch.
I’m gladdish to see that I’m not the only one anticipate a Big Old Pile Of Smug on Batiuk’s blog and endless beefing in the strip about obsolete old crap like zip-a-tone.
I know. He’s had such a sweet gig for so long, yet all he does is gripe about how things aren’t the way they used to be—or how he would like them to be.
He complains that the syndicate was sold, yet he still kept his job and even got a better contract.
Those of us who work in the real world rarely get that luxury when the company they work for gets sold. We also get our performance evaluated.
In his world, once you’ve made it, you can do what you want. But like a true artist, he talks about the evils of money, but vigorously defends his inflated paycheck.
If my parents had bothered saving our old comic books, they would be worthless because of torn/missing covers and mustaches drawn in pen on most characters.
I thought about going back and finding one of my prior *DEEP SIGHS* about how Batty hasn’t been in a comic shop since 1960, but I couldn’t even make myself care that much.
Hoping “Amber Lith” will turn out to be “Ruby Lith‘s” hot granddaughter.
Hey, yeah! Since they’re both types of art supplies, it’s truly weird that he intends to introduce a character with a godawful pun for a name right after calling attention to the existence of said art supplies. Like it’s REALLY IMPORTANT everybody catches his facile wordplay.
From Batiuk’s blog:
“while attending one of the world premieres of Funky Winkerbean’s Homecoming in Dallas”
Again, there is only ONE world premier, unless “Funky Winkerbean’s Homecoming” opened on other planets. If that’s the case, no wonder they keep attacking us with their death rays.
Yes, but the Death Ray was only to be used for peaceful purposes!
I like how he gripes about a joke constructed around the word “élan” failing to land in a musical he wrote to be performed by high school students, a musical that includes such songs as “Mean Old Bus Drivin’ Man”, “I Want A Hunk”, and Les Moore’s number “Why Can’t I Be Popular?”
“Why Can’t I Be Popular?”
Was this a song or cry for help?
And I wouldn’t be surprised if the Author has decided that this is going to go on his tombstone. It seems apt sad and stupid.
Read the lyrics and judge for yourself whether it is a song or a cry for help.
Or you can watch a poor fidgety 1990s Illinois high schooler perform it via YouTube, though I would not recommend doing so.
Homecoming? I never knew he left!
The irony of someone slavishly worshiping the most trivial aspects of the visual storytelling medium while taking a daily shit all over it is almost too much for me.