Today’s strip deserves all the oys, head shakes, groans, and boos that it gets. Even Durwood’s attempt at lampshading joins in the dopey wordplay (and I use that term in the loosest possible sense).
I’m not sure what is more remarkable, that Pete and Durwood exhausted their creative energy and all they could come up with is a gender-swapped Human Torch or that Mindy is sure a gender-swapped Human Torch is THE THING that female comic readers have been waiting for.
Oy.
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Please Marvel Comics…please please please send a cease and desist letter to Tom Batiuk!
This of course brings back fond memories of “Storch”, the short-lived comic book series about the beloved “F-Troop” star. I’m looking forward to seeing Scorch team up with Singe do battle with foes like The Chill and his frosty sidekick Freezer Burn. Seriously, I’ve read Dokken lyrics that were more imaginative than this, the lack of effort he puts into his own whimsical self-indulgent fantasy universes defies all logic.
If she fights The Big Chill, it will all be worth it.
Her actual archenemy would be Chris Claremont……owing to the fact that she’s Dark Phoenix lifted clean!!!
Honest question for those that are familiar with the comic book industry.
Are there really a lot of female readers?
Do they purchase a lot of comic books?
Last I heard, nobody purchases a lot of comic books. Comics sales are less than 20 percent of what they were 30 years ago. Movies based on comic books are hugely popular. Comic books themselves, not so much. There’s lots of little independent comics companies. Woman probably have much more of a presence in the business than they used to, but
it’s small business.
“Are there a lot of female readers?” reminds me of the time Bongo Comics (Simpsons Comics et al.) tried a comic “by women, for girls” that centered on Lisa Simpson. It crashed and burned. I have a feeling the two subsequent attempts to fill issues of Bart Simpson Comics with Lisa-centric stories went over as well as “Meg episodes of Family Guy.”
But how common is it to have a villain the focus of a comic book line? It’s “Scorch #1,” so presumably the plan is to have Scorch issue #2. And “only” $2.99!
Thanks for the replies. Focusing on energizing the female readership seems to be another money losing blunder.
I bought a lot of DC, Marvel, etc. comics in the 70s-80s (just sent an attic boxful to the thrift shop – because I am also a mother…) but lost interest after that. Now I follow a few indie(?) comics like Saga, Lumberjanes, Paper Girls, Nimona, etc, but not really any mainstream stories. I do more often read comics by women, for whatever that may be worth.
Oh gosh, don’t let Batty know….well maybe he bought your collection.
As I mentioned before, I would be ok if Batty got replaced by a female artist…unfortunately we’d probably get another Mary Worth
But maybe not….
Introducing SCORCH! The human hot flash! She fires up the middle aged female readership!
“Hey, do you remember a comic strip called Funky Winkerbean?”
“Of course. It’s still running.”
“Is that right? It was this amusing comic about these high school kids. There was the nerdy guy who kept getting stuck on the rope in gym class! Oh, and he’d be a hall monitor with a machine gun. Ha! And there was this crazy, fanatical band director in a military uniform, with his hat pulled down over his eyes! And a stoner kid who would play pizzas on his turntable. Funny stuff…”
“Now it’s all about making and collecting comic books.”
“Umm… oh.”
I think I liked the cancer storylines better than this comics crap.
If the masthead is any indication, we should transition from Komix to pizza shortly!
Yes! Carpet McDrapey, aka Reds O’Skanky, makes another appearance! She asks Walleye why he hasn’t been going to school since he brought She-Jab Gurl home from school. “Oh, I’m supposed to go back? I thought I was done with school once I became all woke about Muslims.”
This says Atomix Comics sells their comics for $2.99?! Has TomBat even been to a comics store in recent years?
Naw. Too busy creeping around the high school and yanking his crank in his mom’s attic.
Take “Scorch” off that picture and there’s no way you’re convincing me it’s not Rachel Summers/Phoenix fan art. I’m guessing that’s why the artist didn’t want his name on it.
Wait–wasn’t Mindy scandalized by the lack of clothing on the new heroine? She seems fully clad. Is this yet another example of Tom Batiuk just saying “Screw it! I’m barrelling toward that 50th and I care for nothing else!”?
I guess to ask the question is to answer it. And the answer is “whore.”