I guess we’re now about to have the Rhodes-Winkerbean Wedding? Even though it was just Wedding Planning Weekend? Unless there has been a massive time jump, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’m pretty sure even the smallest weddings are planned farther in advance than the weekend before. Although in this strip, probably all the planning involved is checking to make sure the Westview Gazebo is available and maybe reserving a few tables at Montoni’s (although I doubt it’s necessary, it’s not like the place is packed).
I’ve had the impression that there’s nothing more in Rocky’s backstory than “was in the Army”, and today’s strip really confirms that. Apparently the only outfit she has ever worn is camo. I mean, yes, I know anyone in the military gets used to dressing a certain way, but literally no other information about Rocky has ever been provided other than “met Cory in the Army”.
Funky Weddingbean
Filed under Son of Stuck Funky
Son of Stuck Funky 
I peeked ahead at this week’s strips, and hoo boy, get ready for some eye-rolling.
How exactly do people peep ahead at these, btw?
Be very, very careful here. In all of recorded history, no one has ever uttered the phrase, “Hey, I’m glad I got an advance look at those upcoming Funky Winkerbean strips…”
Let’s not start that again; when there was an easy way to do it a few years ago it started the Comics Curmudgeon comments for Mondays becoming a whole weeks comments, then everyone’s bored by Tuesday. Really sucked the life out of snarking for a while.
I stopped commenting on Mr Fruhlinger’s site when he went west and I would be full of comments when for him it was still the middle of the night.
Yeah, let’s not do that. Please at least try to maintain the illusion.
Better to leave Funky Winkerbean superpositioned.
Relax, Rocky. You’re a woman in the Funkyverse. And you’re not Dead Lisa. You won’t be noticed anymore than the bare minimum required. Be grateful for that small blessing.
Oh the irony of someone who was in a minesweeping unit missing all of the red flags…
She’s not used to dressing to get noticed? Because she’s 100% soldier and nothing but a soldier? She’s never off-duty? Or do her camos blend in when she goes for a night on the town?
It’s the cheapest, most obvious way to work in a cheap, obvious backstory. Rocky didn’t have a specialty, any interests, any incidents of note, any aspirations. She was in the Army. Here’s a picture of her in the Army wearing her Army clothes and doing Army things. The end.
It’s just awful. We know literally nothing else about the character. She’s been given no discernible personality at all. Serving in the army, that’s her one and only character trait. Oh, and she has some sort of interest in comic books, too, but that’s always a given in FW. Rocky is a prop, a really cheap, lazy prop.
To be fair, Beetle Bailey doesn’t have much backstory either, but Beetle Bailey isn’t so humorless and arrogant. Batiuk’s posting old Cory-and-Rocky strips on his blog, which don’t tell you a thing about the characters either. They get picked up at the airport, get their duffels from baggage claim, and ride in a car. While Batiuk acts like he’s giving you a rare peak at the rich tapestry of their lives. I feel like I’m watching some kind of Neil Hamburger act, if Neil Hamburger wasn’t in on his own joke.
(In four part harmony) To be fairrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…..!
The main difference with Beetle Bailey is the creators of that aren’t super full of themselves and pretending to create High Art, they’re just writing a strip to entertain people.
Wait a minute… I thought Roxanne was a mechanic for a transport or logistics company in the army? Why would she be under fire?
Banana, kindly check your email.
Ugh, this is Batiuk at his worst, with his unbearably one-dimensional Act III characters. Rocky used to be in the army, so now “army” is all she is or all she’ll ever be. Maybe he can do this every time she appears. Rocky sits down to eat some pizza, flashes back to eating MREs in the field. Rocky sits down to read a comic book, flashes back to reading bomb disposal manual. It’s such a cheap, lazy, stupid gimmick. If he wanted to keep doing army material, he should have just let them stay in the army. But HE brought them back and HE got them engaged and HE’S marrying them, but HE doesn’t really feel like advancing the story beyond that. Cheap, lazy pandering.
And if Batiuk ever looks at the newlyweds again, it is Cory who will have the military memories while Rocky sheds that identity for housewife/mother.
I think the whole point is to show Rocky as being a tough chick. That’s it and that’s all. More deep thoughts a 1/4 inch from reality.
But… she’s not a tough chick. We just saw her having a breakdown over a tiny bit of accidental nudity. The Funkyverse runs on Informed Ability.
Thanks for the link. I notice a lot of informed ability at my workplace, especially with senior management.
Well, I’m certainly glad we got to see them go over all the elaborate wedding planning details in last week’s arc…let’s see, one “joke” about the sign on the door, one “call me mom,” a “sin-in-law,” talk about a domain name and hashtag to set up a “punchline” about how old people don’t get computer technology, two of naked Funky, and a second try at old people messing up postings, this time online photos. Yeah, that was truly worth the set-up from Battyuk, master of the “watch as I introduce a premise and then act as though it was never there” school of graphic storytelling.
“Watch as I introduce a premise and then talk about whatever I want to talk about.” Wherever an arc starts, its going straight to smugness; forced wordplay; repeated jokes that weren’t funny the first time, hating technology; comic books; plugging his products; and giving his characters awards. And he can’t make any of this fun, or even interesting. It’s like being trapped in a conversation with a tedious, self-serving bore.
Wait… Has Batiuk forgotten this is the goddamned Funkyverse?? So why can’t Roxy have a camo wedding dress? DON’T TELL ME people haven’t done it before, and DON’T TELL ME some bullshit about a camo dress being in poor taste or out of character since fuckin’ Westview is the global epicenter of comic superhero/sci-fi cosplay themed weddings…
https://mobile.twitter.com/BuschBeer/status/1453013556996214785
Exactly! If you’re going to go for it, you might as well go all out. Let’s get the bridesmaids in tactical vests too!
Why would they need to make reservations for Montoni’s? The father of the groom runs it. He can set aside a few tables, or close it for a private party.