Comic Book Harriet back again! And really wishing I had something more to look forward to than a stupid mopey prestige arc where everyone will act ‘super serious’ which to Tom Batiuk is completely indistinguishable from ‘super bored’
Like today’s strip. Lets imagine, for a moment, that we haven’t been warned about the nature of this week’s strips. Lets imagine that Bernie has passed Les a detailed editorial on comic book death matches. Lets imagine that every line is dripping with so much dry sarcasm they might as well be airing this strip on the BBC. Lets imagine anything at all, except for what we will be getting, it’s the only way we’ll enjoy today for what it is.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Less, if you’re not sitting down you need to say SHRIIIIIIIEEEEEKKKKK!!!!!
And Les Moore falls behind yet another in the ranking of living writers.
Yeah he showed him his author ranking on Amazon. Lisa’s story sells worse than “Windows 95 for Dummies”
Uh oh, are about to be treated to a week of “Batiuk thinks he’s ‘woke?'” I can’t wait to hear what he learned by accident this time last year! Either that or it’ll be the typical “kids/technology are terrible things”
This is how Batiuk thinks writers build suspense and tension, by having one of your characters just say something is shocking and then making your readers come back the next day to have any clue what’s going on.
But then you milk it for a few more days. Tomorrow we will get 3 panels of the letter sitting on a desk.
Again the art of ‘tell not show’ of which the Author is a master.
Based on Les’s reaction, I’m sure Batiuk is expecting us to think Bernie’s written something absolutely mindblowing and earth shattering, like:
“We need to violently overthrow Principal Nate!”
“I’ve seduced your daughter Summer and she’s bearing my child!”
“I’ve poisoned this town’s water supply with Bernie Toxin!”
“I’m somehow the gay student from that prom storyline and I’m ready to come out from behind the castle now!”
“I know where John and Harry buried Cody, Alex, and Owen!”
What we’re going to get:
“Gun violence is bad!”
“I was born a poor black child.”
Gad what and utterly miserable storyteller he is. The only thing I can imagine is that he thinks that all his readers check his blog so they know what’s coming. Other than that I don’t have a clue.
I have no great hopes for this arch other than hoping it’s over in a week. The Author as Teddy Roosevelt noted about William Howard Taft “Means well feebly” and as a result these arcs rather than being memorable just fade into mush to be forgotten. Lisa’s death is an exception because something actually happened – Lisa died. The rest of the time we get an anti climax and a sense that it would be better if things were nicer.
Don’t worry, Bernie. Principal Nate checked the school handbook, and it says that school shootings are NOT allowed. Problem solved!
My, my…whatever Bernie wrote *must* be very serious, if it locked Les’s eyes into the Extra Beady setting for the last two panels!
“Mr. Moore’s true wife love is dead. Dead!! But she had quite a story! It all began, fatefully enough, at Westview High School back in…..”
Oh no, don’t tell me that Les will rediscover some videotapes of Lisa and she will share her wisdom with us about the evils of guns.
If you haven’t already seen this, watch it right now, as this guy captured the mentality behind these “prestige arcs” better than I ever could.
Brilliant !
Damn that dude nailed it. Was that you Epicus?
I could have sworn that he made some comment about the Wacky Skateboardin’ Squirrel always drinking RC Cola, but maybe that was someone’s comment on it the last time it was brought up here.
I’ve read more than a few humorists who pretty much drained all the satisfaction that they got from it and got more serious and/or resentful of their creations, but Batiuk’s far and away the most nakedly obvious about doing it to grab status. I’d probably have more sympathy for his situation if he wasn’t like that.
Les really isn’t good at his job. First, Bernie needs to be taken aside and told not to talk about “nonsense” and now he practically dies of the vapours because Bernie wants to talk about something “too deep” for the Lord Of Language.
Tomorrow’s alleged joke will, of course, be all about how Les’s advice about serious subject matter worked TOO well. What Les probably wanted Bernie to talk about is the scandalous shortage of clicks on copy machines afforded Lords Of Language…..
If the school can afford a real, live production studio, it can afford a broadcast journalism teacher instead of this hack.
Wow, so whatever’s on that paper totally reshaped Les’s head!
Or maybe he’s unhinging his jaw to swallow the diminutive Bernie whole.
That would make for a much more interesting week than we’re likely to get, especially if TomBat decompressed it like he just did The Affair of the Hasty Sport Coat. Tomorrow the jaw unlocks. Bernie’s feet are swallowed Wednesday, and he’s in up to his shoulders Thursday. Friday sees out the week with his final, unanswered pleas for help before Les gulps down his head.