First, hats off to SpaceManSpiff85, who had to suffer through one of the strip’s worst storylines in recent memory. Glad to see you lived through it.
As for today’s offering, well thank whatever gods frown down on us that “Lisa’s Story” is no longer the focus. I’m not sure what’s beginning here, but it almost looks like…whimsy? Can Tom Batiuk do whimsy? I’d have thought that he felt such things were beneath him, but who really knows.
At any rate, looks like someone’s build a costume out of pizza boxes. I’m guessing it’s Corey.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Well, the comic books came to life years ago, so I suppose it was just a matter of time until pizzas did the same. And here we are. It’s a welcome break, as the CTE and “Lisa’s Story: The Movie” arcs were just moving way, way too quickly.
Coming next week: to promote their new “Pizzaman” title, the gang at Atomik Komix decides to print a limited collector’s run on actual pizza. The printing machinery is of course ruined and AK becomes insolvent, at least until a mysterious comic book speculator swoops in to save the day. Later it’s discovered it’s Holly.
Atomik Komix wouldn’t even need to create a new “Pizzaman” title, they could just retcon the origin story of The Inedible Pulp. The name works just as well for a monster born at Montoni’s as it does for a monster born at a comic book store… maybe better.
“Speedy” Del Livery – Pizza Cop. Join Del and his sidekick Anne Chovie as they solve pizza-related crimes and thwart pizza-related super-villains like The DiGiorno and Tombstone in a strange alternate universe where pizza is a rare heavily-traded commodity.
I once heard of a KISS comicbook where the band members donated blood to be mixed with the red ink. Maybe a Pizzaman comic book could do that, except with marinara sauce.
In the Funkyverse they’d donate WHITE blood cells because, well, you know why.
I’m guessing the Pizza Monster is Walleye, who flipped out after several days of that leaf blower’s unending RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Of course it could be Bull, returned from the grave because his coffin was a supersized Montoni’s Banquet Pizza carton padded with Polonium-210 pizza. Or Creepy Les, feeling insanely boxed in by the decision just forced on him. Or Becky, having a pizza-fueled nightmare about losing her identity when her left arm regrows.
If Batty really wanted to have fun and play with everyone’s head…it’d be dead ghost Lisa in the boxes. Would be fun to show up at his door dressed as a decaying dead Lisa with baseball cap and a park bench on her behind….he’d go crazy, he’d sue!
It could be Rachel, come to wreak her bloody revenge for losing her job to her husband.
Hey now, that’s Rachel profiling!
That joke makes no sense. I guess things never change!
Hang on here…I thought the Komix Korner was on the upper floor? They had to use a crane to get Holtron in there. What gives?
It moved into Lisa’s old law office between Acts II and III, I believe.
Whimsy? In MY Funky Winkerbean? Say it ain’t so.
Clearly it’s Zanzibar the Talking Chimp here to kill Mason in order to prevent Cancerwife: The Movie from being made.
I love the headstone in panel 2. It’s called “honesty in advertising.”
Sounds like an average day in Westview, except that the “monster” is the Funky felt tip pen.
The irritating thing is that by the time Saturday rolls around, we’ll all be talking about how badly he’d bungled a simple ghost story.
The guy in the Mopey Pete shirt is still there after last week? Did he die a horrible death and is now waiting for a pizza-box-costumed Masky McDeath to take him away?
A beginning that show promise – how soon will it disappoint?
“Tune in tomorrow–same Batiuk time, same Batiuk station!”
“It’s an October night at Montoni’s, unaware in their blissful ignorance”? My God, that’s horrible writing! Who’s “unaware”? The night? Montoni’s? Who’s “their”? There’s no group of people in the first clause to whom you can apply the pronoun “their.” It’s like there was supposed to be another panel between the first and second.
This needs to be, simply, “It’s an October night at Montoni’s… everyone is blissfully unaware… a monster lurks.” Sometimes you have to sacrifice spooky words for coherence. It’s called writing.
Can’t complain about today’s strip. More like this, less death and cancer.
FW: Well, good to see on Monday that I can just skip FW the rest of this week…
Krankenschaaften: Don’t sweat it, Ed… We all know that New England is a bunch of cheating lowlife mofos and their owner is a pervert… I turned off the NFL a few years ago and never looked back.
I don’t have much to say about today’s strip but I will second that comment about the NFL. I have so much more time now that I don’t pay much attention to it. That I used to be a fan of the Washington franchise makes it all the better.
Obviously something uncanny is afoot – Montoni’s is full of customers ordering pizza instead of two people having coffee.
As others note, not much to say here other than wondering how this arc will sputter to an end like a damp squib.
I bet the Pizza Monster is a real *monster*, the rapist of St. Lisa and biological father of Darrin. Who was last seen in Westview trying to get Darrin to agree to a reality show or something. Now he’s read about Bull’s death in the newspaper and wants to do a Bull documentary. Until he gets chased out of town again
Ruth Bader Ginsburg in panel one. Is she testing fate in Cancerville?