Wow, this is shocking. I mean, what’s shocking is that Wally actually remembers Rana’s name. This is one of the many, many reasons why Batiuk is a terrible writer. If he’s trying to create relatable characters, having a father and daughter who apparently still live in the same town not have any clue at all what’s going on in each other’s lives to this point is not the way to do it. I kind of think this is the result of Batiuk explaining this plot to the artist, who, halfway through, reminded him “Wait, doesn’t Wally have a Muslim daughter?”. Batiuk probably laughed it off, of course Wally doesn’t, I’m the writer, shut up and draw. Then the artist pulled up a strip showing Rana, and Batiuk decided to just cram her in at the last minute like this, who cares if it makes both characters look like uncaring morons and realistically should render this whole arc pointless. It’s a whole lot weirder for Wally to react to one Muslim woman wearing a hijab when his own daughter is a Muslim woman wearing a hijab.
Author: spacemanspiff85
Plugging Away
Putting aside how it’s at least a little presumptuous for Wally to just decree what he’s going to do all by himself about the “group” project while Adeela sits there silently, I do think it’s kind of funny how Wally says he’s going to just send her the outline, rather than e-mail or use Google Docs. Which, as backwards technologically as this strip is, it would not shock me if he just photocopied her notes, cut them out, pasted them together with his, and then mailed her the results. Because when I was in grad school ten years ago people were using Google Docs for this exact situation, so all group members can collaborate on one single project, without one having to swipe the notebooks of the rest of the group. Which is going to make it pretty hard for her to do any additional work.
This latest entry in “Batiuk Really Doesn’t Understand the Students Today” still make more sense than Rana creeping up on Wally like she’s stumbled upon Elvis or Jimmy Hoffa. Which Wally is basically the FW equivalent of, I guess.
You Never Know, But They’re Sure to Be Boring and Badly Drawn
I’m excited to be getting a chance to contribute my bit here. I was honestly dreading that my first strip would be a Les strip, or Dinkle writing a book, and I’d have to come up with something halfway interesting about that.
I do like how this strip somehow managed to shoehorn in bricks. Precious, precious bricks. And “breaking down the barriers between people” translates to two people each saying one sentence and then staring robotically at each other. I mean, look at Adeela in the third panel. She looks like Wally just gave her a diagnosis of Total Body Cancer and she has seconds to live, and her memorial service is going to be at Montoni’s.
I think Wally’s in trouble though. He had enough difficulty with one Muslim in a hijab. When he turns around and sees they have him surrounded, even Buddy might not be enough to keep him on the Montoni’s Manager track.
Charming the Angry Cliff
Hey, everyone. SpacemanSpiff85 giving it a shot today. All week I was afraid I’d get a full panel of antique Starbuck Jones memorabilia drawn by whoever Batiuk last cornered at a con, so I’m glad I actually have something to write about today.
So…Mason just sat on the window sill like that? And not just while he was watching Cindy on the balcony, but even after she went inside Anger’s apartment and talked to him, which probably took a little while? He didn’t wonder if maybe he should be concerned for her well being? While he had Funky still on the phone? And Pete just stood there awkwardly in the hallway, probably daydreaming about how the old Batom writers used to break into people’s apartments through fire escapes, back in yesteryear? As dumb and typically Batiukian as all this is, it is kind of great seeing Mason’s sad little expression as his fiancée’s ex-husband basically says he still finds Cindy attractive. And who doesn’t Funky have the hots for? Not Holly, as far as I can tell, but his fitness instructor, ex-wife, and his son’s fiancée clearly do it for him.
And the multi-cellular organism bit is another dumb bit of what Batiuk thinks qualifies as wordplay. Single celled organisms don’t find her charming? Plants and mold and lichen do? I kind of wonder if Batiuk originally had something along the lines of “Who wouldn’t?” or “Him, too?” but thought that was too creepy and unfunny even for him. Or maybe he just thinks “multicelled organism” is impressive science talk, like “anti-matter brownie” or “time pool”.
And finally: is she a hag or a seductress charming her way into stranger’s apartments with her beauty, Batiuk? I’m sure in a week’s time she’ll be moaning over how she’s far too worn and decrepit to be the Vera Moon to Mason’s Starbuck.
Son of Stuck Funky 