I can kind of see the joke, here. A fortune cookie without a fortune would be “un-fortunate.” It just seems oddly constructed, like he had the basic idea and struggled to fit it into a less clunky shape, finally saying “Oh, the heck with it” and just writing it in like it was on the napkin.
Maybe Funky’s line could have been something about “It was probably bad news anyway” or something. Or, the idea could have been dropped as unproductive.
But that would have meant coming up with another idea, which is work, so…”in” goes the cookie jest.
Son of Stuck Funky 
How terrible. Now Holly with have to pick her own numbers for the lottery…
“The fortune cookie that I got with our takeout…” You’re both sitting there eating chinese takeout. What other fortune cookie could you be talking about? The only reason for that awkward statement is to pad things out so her sentence takes two panels. We could reduce this to two panels. 1 – This cookie has no fortune 2 – How sad, an un-fortunate cookie.
At least today’s strip features something that could be considered a punch line, unlike yesterday.
“Misfortune cookie” is funnier. I mean, they aren’t called “good fortune cookies” or “fortunate cookies”, right? Leave it to BatHam to screw up this otherwise elementary gag.
“Hey Tom, why did the moron throw his clock out the window?”
“He wanted to see time pass by very quickly, as if it was flying.”
Now he’s resorting to doing gags about takeout he ordered. The idea well is running awfully dry these days. He tosses the bucket down there and “poof”, just a big puff of dust. Sigh.
Isn’t this the kind of “joke” Batboy usually reserves for Crankshaft? Maybe he figured it was sub-Crankshaft, so he said, “Fuck it, I’ll just throw it into this week’s throwaway arc.”
At any rate, it’s nice to see the pubes-covered Barcalounger again. Nice homage to The Dinette Set.
I can’t even comment on the joke or lack thereof because I’m too appalled by the “artwork” in panel 2.
Seriously what the actual fuck am I looking at here? Funky in a wig? A troll doll? A police sketch of my sleep paralysis demon? Ayers you and Batty deserve each other😠
This sounds like something a whiny six-year-old might complain about, but I can’t ever imagine an adult caring enough to even mention the missing slip of paper…
As long as the Chinese joint got your order correct, they should rejoice
There was a “Sex & the City” episode where Carrie got a fortune cookie with no fortune and freaked out.
To be fair, in that episode she was going through a bad breakup and financial trouble so it would be easy for her to see a minor thing as more bad luck. And the show was always pretty up front about the fact that Carrie was self-absorbed; at least her friends called her on it occasionally (unlike a certain “hero” created by mister T. Batty.)
We move in different circles. In mine, anyone getting a fortune cookie without a fortune observes the fact, and we all agree it’s a bad omen. It’s not much of a joke, but we enjoy the sharing of it.
It’s a joke the worst amateur on open mic night would perform. “Don’t you hate it when you get a fortune cookie with no fortune in it? What is it? An unfortunate cookie? (crickets) Hello, is this thing on?”
Today’s Funky Winkerbean. How sad… An unfortunate attempt at a comic strip.
Again, there’s no story. No beginning, no middle, no end. No information at all. This whole week was just an excuse to string together a bunch of random jokes. Which would be allright if the jokes were passable, but they’re atrocious.
Passable gag with an atrocious set up due to over exposition.
Best case scenario Funky Winkerbean.
It’s like he doesn’t even know how to tell a simple joke! Everything is too wordy. too packed with unnecessary details, and he emphasizes the wrong things.
I’m not surprised. Who or what does have a future in the Funkyverse?
Oncologists.
Did you notice how HUGE Westview Hospital was? For a town that’s implied to be a small exurb, that thing was gigantic. But it makes perfect sense in light of the town’s elevated rates of cancer, injury, disease, and amputation.
I’m a little surprised both by the strip and some of the takes on it here. In our family, it was always believed that an empty fortune cookie was highly desired. It meant that the recipient was in control of their destiny.
Excellent take, never really thought about it that way before.
I have a picture in my head of Battyuk ordering Chinese food to be delivered to his Flash paraphernalia-filled studio and trying out today’s “punchline” on the driver. “Hey, when a customer gets a fortune cookie that’s missing its fortune, do you call that an UN-fortunate cookie?,” he jovially asks the hapless delivery guy, who laughs and says “Say, that’s a good one!” because he knows the size of the tip is hinging on his reaction.
It’s like you were actually there.
“Heh, that’s a good one, Mr. B. On point as always. (Sigh).”
There’s……There’s more than just pizza in Westview?
I think enough has been written about what failure today’s “joke” is. I’m guessing Batyuk is raiding other writers’ discarded joke piles.
What is up with Holly’s appearance in panel #2? She looks like a garden gnome. All that is missing is one of those pointy red hats.
The hat isn’t a 100% match, but I think this is the one you mean:
Sorry, am I missing out on a joke here? That’s Elmer Fudd in his hunting hat.”Be vewy vewy quiet I’m huntin wabbits.”
I should have specified a female garden gnome.
I thought Holly in panel 2 looked like Elmer Fudd. The eyes, the big round nose, the mouth shape are all there.
I see it now. I’m a bit slow sometimes.
The way Hollys face is drawn it looks like an incestuous brother sister marriage.