billytheskink

With Bows of Holly

Check out today’s strip! Yep, we’re still at the airport. Looks like we’re in for a week of pacing that makes Rex Morgan M.D. look brisk (June Morgan, by the way, has been pregnant for 2 and a half years!).

But we’ve made it to the baggage claim at least, giving Holly her second opportunity in three strips to complain about the uniformity of military-issued equipment.

Rocky appears to have settled nicely into the engrossing role of panel periphery smiler. Wait, doesn’t Rocky have a mother named Carla who lived somewhere within a reasonable driving distance of Westview and who one would expect to be here to greet her daughter upon return from deployment? Why yes, yes she does. Kudos to beckoningchasm for reminding me.
OK, maybe Carla wasn’t able to make it as a working (single?) mother with two small children and two large golden retrievers still at home, but surely we’ll see her during this story arc, right? For the answer to that question, look at the status of her hope that she and Holly would become good friends…

Priority Bored-ing

The mystery of whether or not Holly can recognize her own son when he is wearing his military fatigues goes unresolved in today’s strip, as we do not get to see who recognized who before this embrace takes place.

Cory has no hug for Funky? No handshake? No “hello pops”?
Nope, just a stab at ironic humor that earns a pity smile from his mother and a slight change of expression from Rocky (or maybe a cardboard standee of her). Whether intentional or not, one can reasonably infer this as a nod to what I thought was the most underdeveloped potential plot line in all of Act III, Cory’s tenuous relationship with Funky.

Though TB has essentially ignored this fact for the entirety of Act III, Cory is not Funky’s “bio-son”, he is Holly’s son from a previous marriage/relationship and his attitude toward Funky is not unlike the attitudes that some stepchildren do display toward their stepparents. That strained relationship is a mine loaded with realistic and relevant drama, but TB really never tried to tap it. He hints at it, perhaps inadvertently, but the hints are there nevertheless. Cory was depicted as a petty troublemaker (even once a thief) whose behavior exasperated his workaholic father, but TB never explored why Cory behaved like he did. I guess that would have taken too much time away from the Lisa tape library.

What did Cory feel he needed from his parents, especially his stepfather, that he wasn’t getting? How did Cory feel about it being decided that he take Funky’s last name? How did being blackmailed by both Funky and Les affect his opinion of the two most prominent male adults in his life? Did Cory look to anyone else as a father-figure? How did Cory’s behavior affect Funky and Holly’s relationship? Why did Funky struggle or refuse to connect with his stepson?

All the readers got to see is that Cory was a hoodlum until he wasn’t, because the military builds character or whatever. Why and how that all happened could have been interesting, realistic, and relevant to a lot of people. Those are three things TB has been running from since about 1994.

The Holly See

Good Monday morning all, billytheskink here, back for another two week tour of deconstruction.

Of all the many places on this terrestrial ball, where would you most like to be on a Monday morning? If you answered “why, waiting for someone in the Cleveland-Hopkins International airport terminal Mr. theskink, where else?” then today’s strip is definitely for you!

While this strip is seemingly innocuous, would it really surprise any of us if Holly mistaking every male-female pair of soldiers at the airport for Cory and (I’m guessing) Rocky was the launching point for a “very special story arc” about Prosopagnosia?

Pitching A Snit

Hey, have you ever wondered what goes on with band kids in the summers, before Lefty gets ahold of the big-and-brassy, loud-and-flashy, Westview High School Scapegoat marching band? Well then, today’s strip is for you! Turns out there is no “before”, as Lefty asserts year-round control of the extracurricular lives of several dozen high school students.

Looks like Owen is still a member of the band, entering what I think is his fourth senior year at WHS. To the surprise of no one, he still has not gotten any better at playing or maintaining his trumpet.

But, unfortunately, it is Dinkle who is the focus of this strip. I do not like these characters in the least, but I do think the punchline is a step above terrible. What is not, however, is the entire set up, which is utterly destroyed by a small piece of artwork.

It makes next to no sense for Dinkle to be so upset that Lefty’s multifunction battery-operated device (smartphone) can perform the function of his single-function battery-operated device (pitch tuner). That small box he is holding, with its clearly discernible button and speaker grate, is a fairly accurate depiction of an electronic pitch tuner. This is “old-fashioned”? No. No it is not. NOT. AT. ALL.

What would be “old-fashioned” would be a tuning fork, or one of those little round harmonica things that telegram messengers in movies from the 1940s blow into before they sing. Had TB drawn either one of those, this strip would have been a far less infuriating read.

Anyways, thanks for putting up with me for a fortnight. BC, I believe, takes over tomorrow. No, not that one, the funny one.

Wally and the Eager Beaver

Why does Funky not take Wally’s earnest interest in being the new Darin seriously in today’s strip?

Is it because he doesn’t trust Wally to manage Montoni’s or pay his rent?

Is it because he’s mad that Rachel hasn’t shown up for work at Montoni’s since she married Wally?

Is it because he believes that anyone who shows that much enthusiasm in Westview is a Soviet spy or alien pod person?

Is it because he’s mad that he wasn’t able to send Cory to the orphanage that has apparently taken in Wally Jr, Tyler and Little Abbey Klinghorn, Jamie and Kerri Thorp, and now Rachel’s son whose name I don’t remember?

Is it because he’s emphasizing the word “worked” in an awkward phrase while trying to subtly tell Crazy to get back to his job at Komix Korner and quit downing free refills of his $2 bottomless cup of coffee because he’s sick of calling the Royal Cup delivery man every other freaking day?

Is it because he’s a schmuck?