I Stan in Line

Is she based on one of Batty’s real-life book signings? Who knows? And how does she know that she got every single one of Les’s references? One or two might have gone right over her, and everyone else’s, heads. This lady’s just a little too pleased with herself. Les seems pleased by her fawning over him. I’m not even sure if he’s being sarcastic about wanting to give her a gold star.

32 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

32 responses to “I Stan in Line

  1. William Thompson

    “And please make your signature look exactly like the one you put on your checks!”

  2. She sees Les’ signature as the greatest thing she can ever acquire.

    You can’t tell me that’s not the saddest thing. Even LieBot would hesitate to tell this story to Philippe. And there’s not a lot LieBot would hesitate to tell Philippe. “Noooooo!”

    • none

      “… and because he couldn’t get what he wanted whenever he wanted as a child, he created his own world where, eventually, he granted himself every wish he ever asked for.

      And he did this for fifty years. And somehow, he got paid to do it. Meanwhile, billions of people yearn for sustenance and meaning while living half as long until they’re dead and forgotten.

      The end. No moral.”

      CLICK

  3. Banana Jr. 6000

    Six comic strips in a week, and “I got your references!” was the punchline for three of them.

    Reading this is like watching the heat death of the universe.

    I imagine Funky Winkerbean will continue to get slower and more repetitive until one day, the strip has lost so much energy that it will consist of three blank panels, every day, for thousands of years.

  4. Count of Tower Grove

    Isn’t it supposed to be Chemosabe?

  5. none

    If today’s strip was any more masturbatory, it would be printed on paper that leaves a residue on the reader’s hands. I’m surprised the coloring doesn’t have a lighter tint. Don’t hold it under a blacklight.

    I’m less disgusted by tribute pictures. The sheer arrogance and self-aggrandizement captured in these two panels should inform and remind anyone as to why this strip deserves every ounce of negative criticism it receives.

    What a pathetic man.

    • Rusty Shackleford

      Now I wish I had attended that webex book fest so I could tell him: No more Lisa please!

      • Jimmy

        RS: “When are you going to let Lisa die?”

        Batiuk: “She already died of cancer.”

        RS: “Exactly.”

  6. Mr. A

    We all know that in the Funky-verse, appreciating someone else’s dumb jokes, puns and references is the deepest form of emotional connection. Look at the joy on Les’s face in panel 1. He’s thrilled to meet someone who understands him so completely. I’m surprised they haven’t started making out, right there over the author’s table.

    On a positive note, this strip implies that Les had even more boring anecdotes that we didn’t have to sit through. So…I guess we should count our blessings?

  7. Olive McSweeney, LLC

    “Who should I make this out to?”

    “Ida Doan Havalife.”

  8. Gerard Plourde

    The consistent presence of the “ I got every one of your references” woman in this week’s strip makes me think this parallels an experience TomBa had during some speaking appearance of his last year.

  9. The Nelson Puppet

    Batiuk must have a fetish about book signings.

    • Rusty Shackleford

      He complains about them a lot, but you can tell he sees himself as the big man on stage, the star of the show.

      He gets mad when people don’t see the wisdom in his words.

      • Banana Jr. 6000

        Like everything else in Funky Winkerbean, it’s wish fulfillment for Batiuk. The huge crowd of people at Les’ book signing is the kind of attention Batiuk thinks he himself deserves. But the book signing pictures on his blog tell a different story.

  10. ian'sdrunkenbeard

  11. Rusty Shackleford

    What a week for the comics page. Crankshaft, FW,and Mary Worth, all terrible.

    Over in Mary Worth, I learned that if you give a dog another dog’s leash and then tell the dog to find “go find your friend”, the dog will obey immediately and start leading you towards the other dog.

    Likewise, calling out “ momma loves you” will bring the lost dog out of hiding. Bleh.

  12. billytheskink

    At least it appears that this reference-getting looney is the only one interested in Les’ autograph, there are about as many books on the table as we saw earlier this week and everyone else appears to be gone or milling around as far from Les as possible.

    Any port in a storm and all that…

  13. Count of Tower Grove

    My mom dropped me off on my first day of high school, and this was on the radio.

  14. angusmac

    Les signs her book “To my smuggest fan.” One can only hope this turns into a Misery plotline where Les is crippled and hopefully has has tongue ripped out, his hands smashed, his mustache shaved, his brain trepanned….oh the possibilities if only Tommy Batboy had the imagination. After all, it is what the fans want.

  15. Hitorque

    1. So we’ve just had some mystery retcon where the whole movie project last year never happened? And exactly what the fuck is Les signing books for? He hasn’t written one in years yet he still goes on these signing tours on a fairly regular basis?

    2. You’d think a 70-year-old woman being the only person who “got” all the references would be a sign for Les to update his material, but of course he’s just going to self-congratulate his own pop culture wit…

    2a. It’s funny because I’m reminded that Les has spent a third of his day for working with teenagers for 25 years and he still can’t reference anything past 1965 for his audience

    • Mr. A

      Like everything else related to Lisa, the most important part of the movie project was how Les felt about it. Once Les gave his approval to Marianne’s portrayal of Lisa, the arc was concluded and there was nothing more to be said.

      Even so, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of the movie. I predict that we will hear about it again after production has wrapped, when the movie is screened for critics. Some beady-eyed nitpicker will claim the thing stinks, forcing Les to leap to Lisa’s defense yet again.