spacemanspiff85

Claim Jumpers

Oh hey, Mitchell Knox is unpleasant, who could have seen that coming. And he’s also overweight and bald, just like every other “bad collector” character Batiuk has had in this strip. I still really don’t get how or why Batiuk thinks some collectors are good and some are bad, but he clearly does.

It’s funny that Jessica just says “we were told” without any more details, and Mitchell doesn’t care at all about who told these strangers what he owns and where to find him, which is what my concern would be if I were him.

. . . Who Was Murdered

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Surprise! Jessica is John’s daughter. Really, the first two strips could’ve been condensed into one single panel, where Jessica and Darin introduce themselves and Mitchell recognizes that she’s John’s daughter.

Honestly, I am a little creeped out that Mitchell immediately knows who Jessica is. I know this guy is obsessed with her dad and all, but immediately realizing who she is is a little off-putting to me.

I do kind of love Darin’s expression in the second panel. He looks like he’s either about to fall asleep or trying real hard to look cool.

John Dar-Ring

There really isn’t a ton of actual content here to snark on. Two people arrive at their destination, ring a doorbell, and wonder if someone is home-but he is! What interests me most about this strip is that it’s yet another example of how nobody in the Batiukverse ever calls or emails anyone, they just show up at the house of a stranger they’ve been told is odd without giving any kind of advance notice. I guess it’s meant to be more interesting or dramatic, but it’s always kind of funny to me.
I am looking forward to tomorrow’s strip. “You don’t know us, but this guy you worked with decades and decades ago told us you have something we want and gave us your address . . . “

He Also Owns Darling’s Drawers

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“He likes to collect things, so surely he’ll have John Darling memorabilia!” seems like a bit of a stretch to me, even by Westview logic. I would’ve liked a line about how Mitchell’s dad was a newscaster, or that Mitchell was comforted by watching the show after he quit Batom. Just something more than “he collects stuff, so he’ll have what you want”.

And that is quite the strange looking spaceship that Phil drew. If I didn’t know that’s what it was supposed to be, I really don’t think I’d ever be able to tell.

Batom Phenom

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Oh boy, more made-up history about Batiuk’s made-up comic company. So I guess this kid was so scarred by the abuse his boss gave him when he was violating child labor laws that he quit comics and instead collected John Darling memorabilia.
Looking back, this has been an extremely exposition filled week. The closet things to jokes were Darrin cracking about why anyone would like seeing the John Darling show, and then Flash cracking abut how Phil can’t draw horses.
I do like Chester and Flash calling someone else odd, especially given what’s going on with Chester’s head in the third panel.