beckoningchasm

Ignorance is Bliss

First, hats off to SpaceManSpiff85, who had to suffer through one of the strip’s worst storylines in recent memory. Glad to see you lived through it.

As for today’s offering, well thank whatever gods frown down on us that “Lisa’s Story” is no longer the focus. I’m not sure what’s beginning here, but it almost looks like…whimsy? Can Tom Batiuk do whimsy? I’d have thought that he felt such things were beneath him, but who really knows.

At any rate, looks like someone’s build a costume out of pizza boxes. I’m guessing it’s Corey.

Early Dawning, Sunday Morning

Link to today’s strip (eventually).

Sunday’s strip was not available for preview…and boy, writing that makes me feel like a Tom Batiuk character, saying the same thing over and over and expecting it to be funny…eventually! As Fearless Leader noted yesterday, I think I’ve had the most “strip not available” entries of all time (a situation which forces me to pull things from my spinnerets to post, and thank you all for indulging me thus). Still…the most something–it’s an award! I am Number One!

But the situation makes me scared that I ticked off some Elder God, and as punishment I’m going to show up as a character in the strip. Can you imagine a more horrible fate? I bet if you proposed this to Dante, he’d have turned pale and said, “Whoah, dude, I only imagined nine levels of Hell. You’re like, ill or something.”

But fate is what it is. Still, I promise if that happens, I’m going to go right up to Les and ask him, “Do you read Sutter Cane?”

As for the Sunday strip, I imagine we’re going to see the Bleat crew wrap up their “podcast” and “newsprint” coverage of the fair, using more video footage of various fair goings-on. After all, the Dark Twin promised “the dark side” of the fair, which–oh, who am I kidding? That part of the story was forgotten as soon as Tom Batiuk pulled it out of his spinnerets. Thinking things through takes time away from reading Flash comics.

Speaking of comics, tonight ends my session in the agony booth; tomorrow, the lovely, talented and very well informed Comic Book Harriet takes the center seat. Please join me in wishing her luck as the long-threatened “Funky-Crankshaft” crossover feature commences. As for me, I…well, I await the Yellow Sign.

The Les You Know-Part 6

Link to today’s strip (eventually).

Saturday’s strip was unavailable for preview, but we all know we’re going to get another Kids Today Are Terrible lesson.

It’s funny (in a peculiar way) how Les has spent an entire week telling the kids what a newspaper is, and this hasn’t dissuaded him at all from his plan of having them write for one. Of course, has he really gone into any details of what the kids should be writing about–their experience at the fair, the stories of the folks running it, an overview of events…no, apparently “You’ll write for the paper” is all the instruction he intends to give.

Now, I haven’t seen the strip, so it’s possible that Batiuk’s baiting us, and that Saturday’s egg will be jam packed with informative and insightful content. But, you know, trolling people for five days sounds stupid, not to mention “informative and insightful content” takes actual work–something Batiuk seems loathe to do.

I guess we’ll all find out together!

The Les You Know-Part 5

Link to today’s strip.

I suppose it’s natural for Tom Batiuk to resent the decline of newspapers–they are, after all, his bread and butter. And I can’t really argue with Les’ dismissal of Logan’s question–this crew has proven itself remarkably cretinous. (How much of this can be laid at Les’ feet is a question studiously avoided.) It still seems rather nasty-minded, though.

Plus, if they spend all their time on their smartphones and their Nintendos, being internuts and twitter tots, how are they going to know what a “gas station” is?

A high point is Bernie’s expression in panel two: Whoah–you’re actually wanting to do extra work? What’s wrong with you?

The Les You Know-Part 4

Link to today’s strip.

I’m not sure about the obscurity level of “above the fold.” I’ve heard the phrase for decades, but I’ve heard a lot of things for decades so I can’t judge about whether it’s commonly known. Thus, I am uncertain if the twins are supposed to be stupid or not.

Oh, who am I kidding, they’re Kids Today so of course they’re stupid…in myriad ways, too.

Les’ dialogue in the last panel is really odd, with all those ellipses, and the fact that it just peters out. More evidence that Tom Batiuk just can’t be bothered with thinking how something should be constructed to convey meaning in the best way. “Okay, back in the old days, a story appearing above the fold would signify importance. Just like your stories will!” I mean, that took maybe ten seconds of thought.

Think what it could have been if I’d had a whole year to refine it.

If you’ve ever watched a kitten playing with a toy, it’s a mad rush of whirling and pouncing, followed by batting to start the whole thing over again. Tom Batiuk and his writing remind me of that same toy and cat, now at least a decade from kittenhood. The cat takes a couple of desultory slaps at that once beloved toy before adjudging the playing process “complete” and returning to its nap.