Perfectly Stupid

Buckeye Feculence
September 6, 2019 at 8:55 am
Yes, there has been a noticeable U-turn in the Funkyverse of late. Previously people’s efforts seemed mostly to end up in failure and disappointment. Now characters seem to succeed without much effort, experience, or training.

(A “perfect” summary of This Week in Funky Winkerbean:)

An so, in that way that things have of just working themselves out in the Funkiverse, Ruby Lith returns to comics (or are comics returning to her?), and Mindy adds de facto writer to her resume, right below de facto colorist.

And now there’s no bathroom in the Atomik office? But Jessica recently complained that the bathroom there were never clean. Rather than call out TB for another lapse, let’s suppose that there is a bathroom in the office; Pete just doesn’t want to have to share it with this old crone.

26 thoughts on “Perfectly Stupid”

  1. So how would someone go about NOT being hired at AK? Have an abundance of relevant experience? Be qualified in some way? Knock before entering the building? I mean they have no earthly idea if Mindy is capable of writing at all yet they’re already hired someone to draw the title, which means they’re gonna need a new colorer. Maybe Adeela will wander in next week.

  2. I’d love it if this is the last we ever see of Ruby: after weeks of hearing her bemoan being mistreated by her male coworkers, one of the first things her creepy new male coworkers talk to her about is the bathroom.

  3. Darin is hiring Ruby? Wouldn’t that be Chester Hagglemore’s call since he’s bankrolling the operation? Or has TomBa forgotten that Chester exists?

    1. What? Are you saying it’s weird for an employee to make hiring decisions totally without consulting the actual manager and owner of the business?

    1. The art is particularly sucky today, but man, for all his comic book cred, Burchette’s work in FW was just awful: so many misshapen, disproportionate heads, weird perspective, sickly expressions, and malformed limbs. Ayers at least approximates Batty’s own drawing style. I’m sure that he and Burchette were instructed not to draw too well in order not to show up Batiuk, and the result was some crappy art.

      2. Oh I agree, Burchett’s Funky work was pretty terrible, but it started out well, and the comic book covers proved that he could draw when he was let off the Batiuk leash.

  7. I really thought that this sorry excuse of a storyline would end with Ruby drawing the comic with Mindy writing it. Sure, it would’ve been stupid and reeked of RAH RAH GURRRRL POWER, but at least it’s an ending that makes sense given Ruby’s story about her experiences with sexism in the comics industry. Instead, the two happily decide that Darin and Pete are the perfect people to handle this after all. It’s just such a perfectly TomBat way of fumbling the sotry.

    A couple things I’m confused by: One, Ruby says that Darin’s the perfect artist to bring Wayback Wendy to life while he says Ruby would be perfect to draw Mindy’s character. The way it’s worded is terrible that I can’t tell who’s actually going to draw the comic. The other thing is that Ruby’s reaction to Mindy’s work space makes it sound like she has no experience with digital drawing. Shouldn’t that have been a factor before they decided to hire Ruby?

  8. The only sure thing about this messy and babbling convolution is the certainty of a sideways strip tomorrow.

  10. The funkiest thing happened to me yesterday: I was walking by Wrigley Field when the clubhouse attendant responsible for rubbing mud on the baseballs came out and offered me a contract to play for my beloved Cubs! I said: “I stand in line!”… and today I’ll be batting cleanup as the Cubs take on the Milwaukee Brewers at 6:10 CDT.

    1. When the Cubs’ season is finished, head across town and tell the Blackhawks how the game of hockey left you.

      Actually, wait…the Hawks did use a beer league goalie last year, so this might actually happen for you.

  11. When my current career dries up, I’m moving to Westview. Seems the place is approaching 100 percent employment these days.

  12. Not only did Durwood hire Ruby, he apparently just added a new book to Atomik’s publishing schedule and assigned her to do the art. Now, I’m no expert on the business side of the comics industry, but I’m pretty sure there must be plenty of paperwork involved in something like this. Also, as I understand it, a new title has to be made to fit into the production schedule. Of course, a production schedule suggests that there is a production manager, a position that, along with that of HR manager, apparently doesn’t exist in the Funkyverse.
    Near as I can tell, Atomik has no set business structure, no planning and no rhyme or reason. Chester shows up once in a while to write checks on his rapidly dwindling account and Dillweed and Peat spend all their time doing whatever strikes their fancies at the moment. Next week, they hire Jess to head the company’s new animation division because why not?

  13. The repetition of perfect this week just shows how much Batiuk is phoning this in. And I hadn’t even noticed. Good catch Hackett!

  14. You know, I started to write a long diatribe about how this doesn’t make any sense. There was no discussion of salary or benefits for probably the most senior artist in the business now, let alone in the company…no exchange of resume or portfolio – no proof of identity. Nope, AK hires anyone off the street with a “Hey, you’re hired.” What irks me the most is that Ruby and Mindy will probably win an Eisner Award or the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics because you know, it’s TB world.

  15. Today is a special day in NE Ohio. It’s Lisa’s cancer run day!

    I saw it on Batty’s blog. The local news didn’t cover it.

    I’m just sad Hagglemore is too cheap to provide gender neutral bathrooms. Where is Ruby going to pee?

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