Ugh, this certainly doesn’t bode well for the rest of the week. When did they suddenly begin talking about the choir? I thought this was about the organ. And there’s no joke here, other than how this happened to Dinkle before back in 1977 or whatever. And that ain’t funny.
Instead of a silly hat that always covers his eyes, I believe Act III Dinkle should wear a silly hat that obscures his entire body AND his word balloons too. He’d be way more palatable that way. He’d still suck, of course, but at least we wouldn’t keep seeing proof of it.
This arc should be more like the movie “Hustle And Flow”. Dinkle would sit down at the organ and start playing a hot riff, then the church ladies would jump in and lay down a tight beat and it’d end with Dinkle in jail for beating the hell out of Les after discovering that Les threw his sheet music in the WHS urinal after promising Dinkle he’d get it to his publisher. I’d buy that anthology AND stand in line to get it signed, too.
Son of Stuck Funky 
So Dinkle walked into a gender-swapped version of Southern Methodist University’s old “96 Guys and a Doll” marching band both here at St. Spires AND when he was first hired by Westview High?
I’m sure there are dumber parallels, but I don’t know what they are.
I don’t get it either. Why wouldn’t there be any boys in the band? And is “trombone” some sort of penis reference? I’m just lost here.
I think an ever dumber parallel is Batiuk trying to turn this unremarkable event into a nostalgia trip for Dinkle. As Harriet herself said, he’s already got two other jobs and two band-leading commitments. Getting your first job as a young adult, especially when you stay in it for 40 years, is a major moment in life. Getting a fifth job, when you’re supposed to be both retired and deaf, is not. It’s like drinking a can of Pepsi and having a flashback to the Dom Perignon you had at that fancy wedding when you were 25.
And what the hell is a “DNAB MOOR”, some sort of Welsh reference or something? This one just keeps getting more and more confusing each day.
I for one was simply relieved to finally see one panel where “BAND ROOM” wasn’t a paper sign that was taped to the inside of the door.
Which just goes to show that he knows better, and he just doesn’t care and/or thinks it’s a joke otherwise.
I’ve heard of high school girls being two-faced, but sheesh.
And so the saga of Harry Dinkle and his Wonder Organ (Wasn’t that a working title for the film “Boogie Nights”?) enters its third week. Three weeks and counting of “Funky Winkerbean” dealing with Dinkleberg, Lillian the Lizard, and her all-crone choir. Wow.
Seriously, why isn’t this arc being done in “Crankshaft”? The 10-year time variance notwithstanding (it’s not as if Battyuk cares), wouldn’t having a newly-retired Harry, bored with not tormenting Westview High students, pop up as a guest star in Cranky’s town and taking part in St. Spires’ madcap musical mix-ups make more sense? Instead we have to endure all this in “FW,” where it supplants the usual hi-jinx of Funky, Holly, Les, and company (Not that I truly miss them, but the fact that their continued absence has me wondering is a testament to Battyuk’s lack of writing ability).
An all-girl high school marching band in 1970s/’80s Ohio? Yeah, I’m sure. Makes about as much sense as a male-free church choir (I’d love to see those voice arrangements).
“Makes about as much sense as a male-free church choir”
Apparently, they didn’t air the color (after Don Knotts left) episodes of The Andy Griffith Show where you live
First of all, he could have asked about the size and makeup of the choir during his interview/audition. It would have been a reasonable question as it appears to be part of the job. Second of all, while I can certainly buy idea of a small choir comprised of all women, I have a tough time believing that the Westview High School band had NO boys in it, even when Dinkle started. Surely there must have been a few boys who liked blasting trumpets or beating on a drum thinking it was a little cool?
Why is does it even matter that Dinkle’s initial high school band was all girls? For a choir, this is relevant because men and women have different vocal ranges, and having only one gender available would limit what you can do. But as far as I know, musical instruments don’t produce different results based on the gender of the player. It’s like the strip is trying to say “when Dinkle first arrived at Westview, the band was so neglected that only girls joined.” And the inherent sexism of the Funkyverse shines through yet again.
Ah, we’ve finally arrived at that strip Batiuk blogged about. This is the reason he edited that male choir member into a woman back in Crankshaft. And…he didn’t need to do that? Suppose this guy left the choir nine years ago. Well, the Crankshaft strips took place ten years ago! Where’s the problem?
Or he could have left the male choir member in there and changed the caption to “We’ve only had one male in the choir in recent years, and that would be Cliff Treble” who promptly smirks. Unless the all female choir turns out to be a major plot point, of course…
Keep in mind that Tom Batiuk corrects absolutely nothing, ever. He won’t update a drawing or a word of dialog to fix the massive continuity problems writes himself into. He won’t even re-order strips to address the existence of COVID, or avoid awkward timing of certain plots. But a line that might interfere with indulging Harry Dinkle is a five-alarm crisis that must be fixed immediately! And warrants a major entry on the Funkyblog.
Maybe Dinky actually landed a job at Ospedale della Pietà.
I wonder how many weeks of this we’re going to suffer through. So far he’s taken two weeks to cover what should be two or three days’ worth of material.
Wait! Who won the race to the bedroom?
We know who the losers are, and that is, of course, us readers.
Dead heat. Literally.
In the second panel, someone appears to be holding a violin. Is that common in marching bands?
My school had both a “marching band” and a “concert band”, with mostly the same members. Perhaps WHS does the same?
Only if you’re Woody Allen…
The repeated use of the whole “one time 45 years ago something similar to this happened” is one of Batiuk’s laziest go-tos. If it actually happened in the strip decades ago, he’s merely repeating what he did before. If it didn’t, it just allows him to present a pedestrian scene without any drama, humor or hook. It’s just essentially a “this happened” strip. What happened in today’s strip? Dinkle talked to a woman. What did they say? Nothing of value. Did it move the story forward? Of course not. Was it interesting or amusing at least? Are you kidding?
“We had a man in the choir, but get this! It was hilarious! He dropped dead while we we singing ‘Nearer My God to Thee’!”