by | December 31, 2020 · 10:30 pm

Auld Lang, Sigh

Link To Today’s Strip

Happy New Year to all! In typical FW fashion, BatYam kicks 2021 off with a soft, barely perceptible plop, like a soggy tissue landing on a damp bath mat. I’ve been doing this for a long, long time and let me tell you, this past week has been as downright stupefying as any week I can remember. Then again, I say that a lot. “Entropy” doesn’t really describe FW, it’s more like after that, when all the protons and neutrons completely fall apart into a boring stew of quantum particles, all sitting around doing nothing. Except in that scenario there’s at least a chance that SOMETHING might happen. Sigh.

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13 responses to “Auld Lang, Sigh”

  1. beckoningchasm
    December 31, 2020 at 10:36 pm

    Translation– Tom Batiuk really, really hates the straitjacket he has assembled for himself. He would LOVE to have a Les Moore strip, where he could troll for awards all day long, but those damn syndicates won’t let him.

  2. William Thompson
    December 31, 2020 at 11:09 pm

    So “The Paper” features a “Bowl Preview.” Or did they mean “Bowel Preview,” which would be a perfect way for this strip to comment on itself.

  3. J.J. O'Malley
    December 31, 2020 at 11:33 pm

    “The Paper”? “Police Squad” did the generic noun joke better 35 years ago.

    The universe is expanding? “Annie Hall” did it better 40 years ago.

    Stocky, middle-aged comic strip man groans about his physical condition to his stocky, middle-aged wife? “The Lockhorns” and “The Better Half” did it better–well, they did it, anyway–50 and 60 years ago.

    Daily observations about the futility of life where no one is happy but everyone enjoys smirking at others’ pain? Truly, no one does it like Battyuk. Welcome to 2021, all.

  4. billytheskink
    January 1, 2021 at 12:12 am

    Nuh-uh, TB. You can’t use entropy as an excuse for the last 13 years.

  5. Rusty Shackleford
    January 1, 2021 at 1:22 am

    Who is staying up tonight watching the Twilight Zone?

  6. Mr. A
    January 1, 2021 at 2:03 am

    If you’ll humor my pedantry: an increase in entropy—that is, in disorder—doesn’t really equate to things “slowing down”. In fact, you could argue that a state of low entropy is the “slower” state on the atomic or sub-atomic level, since particles tend to be bound together in orderly forms instead of bouncing around freely.

    Alternatively, if you look at the universe per se (that is, the fabric of spacetime) instead of the stuff that the universe contains, you’ll notice that it’s expanding, and that the expansion is accelerating. So that’s a yes on “spreading out”, but a no on “slowing down”.

    I realize I’m getting deep into the weeds here, but I have to squeeze enjoyment out of this strip somehow, and the intended joke isn’t doing it for me.

  7. Banana Jr. 6000
    January 1, 2021 at 5:10 am

    This strip almost feels like a self-parody. Funky Winkerbean jokes about entropy, as the strip itself continues a long, slow slide into disorder. On what’s supposed to be a day of optimism, as if to mock the strip’s over-the-top bleakness. With a Bill Clinton catchphrase (“I feel your pain”), as if to provide another bit of randomness.

  8. beckoningchasm
    January 1, 2021 at 10:56 am

    By the way, was “sitting on the couch” what they had to get dressed up for?

  9. Margaret
    January 1, 2021 at 11:10 am

    Maybe Batiuk felt that there should be a period of extreme dullness as a counterpoint to the extreme craziness of the Hollywood storyline. Sort of like if the comic was a symphony it can’t all be crescendo and kettle drums. So Mason and Murania and the burning of LA were the brass and the cannons and now Funky and Holly get to be the quiet woodwinds.

  10. Gerard Plourde
    January 1, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    My only reaction to this is that it must come from his “Filler” drawer. It bears no relationship to the “Holiday Hijinks” tear he’s been on. Despite a rich vein of possibilities connected with putting away with putting away decorations (like how do to get live reindeer off of Montoni’s roof) I guess he couldn’t come up with anything

  11. Charles
    January 1, 2021 at 7:46 pm

    Since the strip’s a throwaway, I won’t say anything about it,

    Instead, I’ll just note how incredibly good our commenters were all throughout 2020. Throughout all the ridiculous storylines – Les and Mason visiting New York City; Les and Mason “pitching” Lisa’s Story; Mason stalking Les because he’s just so fascinating that he must be studied in his native environment; Los Angeles burns down in order for Les to accept Marianne as Lisa in the movie version of Lisa’s Story; “Kitch Swoon” and all that crap about Atomik Comix; Adeela gets pinched by ICE and is saved by Bill Clinton; Even the regular standbys of Dinkle and his stupid turkeys or Becky and Dinkle at the Music Convention, you guys really came through. It was a joy to be part of this community over the last year, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.