Charles
May 16, 2013 at 6:32 pmAll this has taken place this week, and yet, what’s the result?
Frankie: Wanna talk, son?
Darin: No.(After this week of treading water and worthless strips, reinforcing negative impressions of both Darin and Jessica):
Frankie: Wanna talk, son?
Darin: Yes.
Gyre
May 16, 2013 at 4:06 pm
“Give bio-dad a call”? “bio-dad”?I get that they were trying to save space, but if that’s all then why not just have Darin refer to him by his actual name. That would be a great way to show the distance between the two of them.
Or how about this: have “Bio-Dad” refer to Darin by the wrong name, thus tipping off the reader (if any still need to be tipped off) that Frankie’s motives are less than altruistic? Such a slip-up might be plausible if Frankie called him “Derwin” or “Aaron” or something that has more in common with his real name than just the first initial. Not to mention that Frankie seems to have gone to the trouble of learning everything about everybody in town: it’s unlikely that he’d carelessly misremember the name of his mark.
Looking on, of course, is Lenny, Frank Pierce’s partner in whatever scam they’re trying to run here.
Son of Stuck Funky 
Thanks, David!
Oh, Frankie must be up to no good. Just look at his half closed eyes and inappropriate smirk.
When it comes to plot contrivances, we all know this BatTripe guy has no shame whatsoever. He’ll use any and every tired old sitcom trope and shopworn cornball dramatic cliche he can think of in lieu of actually taking a story in an unexpected and/or interesting direction. Frankie might as well be wearing a black cape and top hat while twirling his waxed handlebar mustache. So absurd, redundant and stupid.
And ponderous too. Day after day of droning dim-wittery to get to the plot point that was blatantly obvious from the very first panel of the story. The way he can take entire weeks to move along the simplest of plot points never fails to amaze me. Regardless of how annoying, objectionable and stupid you may find FW, no one can deny that if telling a story slowly is an art, BatSlog is the Michelangelo of the form.
The racially-ambiguous Lenny lurking impatiently in FTR’s room did make me chuckle, though. No shame with the tropes, none at all.
Black, bald….yes the quintessential comic strip shorthand for violent thug. See The Phantom, Judge Parker & Onion from Curtis.
PROTIP TO TOM BATIUK: The phrase “talking out of the side of one’s mouth” is not meant to be a physical description.
Naturally, they’re meeting at Montoni’s. It was either there, The Komix Korner, the High School, or Les’ house. There aren’t any other locations in Westview, are there? Oh, I guess they could have met at the hospital’s cancer ward.
BeckoningChasm: The gazebo in the park comes to mind. Les’ classroom seems to be a place as well. I suppose they could meet over at Citizen Khan’s, as there’s sure to be plenty of room and lots of quiet, as opposed to ten AM at Montoni’s which is when the throngs of locals swarm the place waiting for “Komix Korner” to open for the day.
Too bad The Baterpillar doesn’t feel like paying anyone to design a REAL FW website, because a map of Westview would be totally awesome. I’d love to see where the Pizza and Comics District is in relation to WHS, Les’ house, FTR’s seedy motel, the “bad section”of town and etc.
So do you think Boy Lisa’s apartment has a separate private staircase, or does he have to share one with (gulp) the Korner? Because that would make the place even worse, which doesn’t even seem possible. Much like Boy Lisa’s entire life, come to think of it.
Today, like most days, I ask myself: “Can this plot get any stupider?” Today, like all days, the strip answers back: “Duhhhhh-yup!” As long as we’re confusing D names, why not just mistake Darin as “Dickhead”? Because I think he’s more likely to respond positively to that over David.
Factor he watches them like a snake was the first real tip off he’s still an asshole. What I’m still wonder is what’s his scam? What the heck does he want? To make a movie too making himself as the victim? And he can’t exactly sue Les for the book?
Either way, this just shows how stupid Jesse was for still having those “daddy” hopes.
My guess is that Cable Entertainment Movies (or whatever, the firm that optioned Lisa’s Story) farmed out the actual production to Piercing Pictures (or whatever Frankie’s company is called). It’s a common practice among cable broadcasters. Hallmark, Lifetime, and the other cable companies that typically broadcast this sort of bilge don’t actually produce the films, they just provide funding.
The “David” thing, though, is really, really, really clumsy, especially given how “up” on everyone in Westview Frankie seems to be. I’d like to suspect there was some additional dialogue snipped out, something like–
“Thanks, David, you won’t regret it!”
“It’s Darin.”
“Oh, sorry, yes. I remember when Lisa told me she was pregnant, and I asked her about names. I fought for ‘David’ because it was the name of a strong Israeli King, and she wanted ‘Darin’ because it was the wussy, dominated husband on ‘Bewitched.’ Oh, I hope you’re in the mood for more stories like that! I have [quickly checks Tom Batiuk’s notes] at least a couple of weeks worth, unless, you know, the internet and all that.”
Oh, it’s not enough that Lenny is a shady looking bald Black guy. He also has a scruffy beard/soul patch, and those darkened glasses that really seedy guys wear. All that’s missing is a “Hey, I’m a Sleazebag” tee shirt. Either he’s a con artist of some sort, or he’s going to a Halloween party dressed as a drug dealer.
I’ll pile on saying it’s incredibly stupid of BatHole to have Frankiebeans screw up Durrhurr’s name at this point. This guy apparently put more planning into this visit than D-Day and all the Apollo moon missions, combined. But BatDung really feels the need to hit us repeatedly over the head with the “Frankiebeans is a bad guy who really does not care about Darin” idea – which we all knew even BEFORE Day One.
Actually, I’m convinced that the “David” thing was due to…the internet.
Since Frankie’s return, there have been many words posted about how he’s the strongest, clearest-eyed character in the entire history of the strip. Someone with goals who aggressively pursued them.
You can imagine how well that went over in the Comics Castle.
“No, no, no! You’re supposed to love Les, not Frankie! Damn it, this is not working out at all! How can I make Frankie less attractive? I know–it’s stupid, but it’ll work–I’ll have him make a really stupid mistake! Then my readers will stop being his fans. It’s the perfect marraige of drama and necessity!”
I have to say, when it comes to FW faces, I’d rather look at Frankie’s rictus of evil than Les Moore’s wimpily quirked eyebrows and/or smug smirk.
Obviously, this whole plan, ultimately, is to get one of Lisa’s Cancer Wigs for poor Lenny, who evidently has come to Wasteview to die.
Opening July 1st, it’s Lenny’s Story – The Other Gold Chain.
You know, if my estranged father looked like Guy Smiley, I’d want to meet him regardless of what wrongs he may have done.
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xexO-4As5TM/RxbT6iwEpTI/AAAAAAAAAEM/_BJ8nR0LNlk/s400/GuySmiley.jpg[/img]
Just saying, this might not be such a bad thing for Durwood.
What the hell is Stan from “American Dad” doing in panel 2?
Could this be a suggestion that he wanted his son named ‘David’ and unconsciously used that name? Nope, it’s a sign that he’s BAAAAD.
Look, with the retcon about rape and all I don’t really like the guy. You aren’t supposed to like rapists. The problem is, to date we have no idea whether the other characters know anything about him (because Batiuk seems to be unable to decide himself) and as far as I can tell the real drama is going to be (once again) about Les’ damn story about Lisa.
Because of that, in-universe it’s confusing to see Darin’s anger when we have no idea what he knows and what his wife knows and once again Batiuk goes around treating Lisa’s Story like it’s Brian’s Song (complete with scummy Hollywood types who for some reason give a damn about some minor movie).
Regardless of whether he was a date rapist or not, you know Frankie is e-e-evil because he had the nerve to Go To The Big City and consort with sharpies in pastel sports jackets instead of rotting in his home town for his entire life like Les. Unless he really did stay in Big Walnut and “the redeye” is his and Lennie’s nickname for the Regional Transit evening bus to Westview.
The only way to save this story arc is for Frankie and “Onion” to be lovers. We know that ain’t happenin’ in Westview, so I guess he came in to hang around in the background and hide his dozing off from boredom behind the shades.
What bothers me is that we’re going to take a very long time to reach foregone conclusions. Batiuk clearly intends Frankie to be exposed as a Z-list villain from a bad melodrama so that he doesn’t have to have people think that a GOOD WOMAN willingly had sex with a low-grade hustler who wasn’t all that and ran off until he needed something. He thinks that delaying the inevitable and adding drama makes it cooler.
Perhaps Frankie is from Cleveland and had people chained in his basement.
—Oh, I guess they could have met at the hospital’s cancer ward.—
Too crowded. Not enough privacy. Montoni’s seems about right. They should have PLENTY of space and privacy there.
I wish they kept the strips around longer for comparison, but it looks to me like “Lenny” was also one of Wedgeman’s gang of girl-bullies! That guy is everywhere.
maybe Lenny is going to westview high, the goth student they bullied was in her 40’s also
Maybe they’re in a pedophile ring with DSH John.
The only other venues I can think of: Khan’s Falafel Cave (or whatever it was called—it’s probably long shuttered, though), and the generic bar where Funky almost drank a screwdriver.
Lenny is obviously Owen’s dad. Owen has his facial hair.
@MKay: “rictus of evil” is the best thing I read on the Internet today!
This is odd: Westview, Ohio is a completely fictional place, but there is a Big Walnut High School north of Columbus.
Frankie: “Welp, it’s all finally coming together. Yup! After weeks of plotting and scheming, the plan is finally falling into place!”
Lenny: “Feels good, doesn’t it?”
Frankie: “You bet it does! Hey, wanna sunbathe nude?”
Lenny: “…what?”
Frankie: “Well, frankly, I have nothing planned between now and 10 AM tomorrow! I thought we could hang out!”
Lenny: “….um, actually, I think I’m going to go haunt a second hand bookstore. C-ya.” *SLAM*
Frankie: “…*…dear diary…I’m so stupid! I had almost had him with the sunbathing invitation, I just know it! But then I had to admit how I totally have nothing else going on, arrgh, I’m so lame! Oh, well, diary…looks like it’s just you, me, and a pint of Blue Bell.”
Tomorrow: Frankie and “Onion” kidnap Durrhurr and force him to lead them to Taj Moore Hal. Once inside, they make their way to the basement, where Lisa’s cancer wigs are stored on 10 life-size Lisa mannequins. “Onion” snatches them and piles them on his shiny head. Frankie laughs maniacally, as —
The curtain falls.
Here’s what bothers me most about this neverending storyline: Frankie’s entire scheme hinges on the fact that he just happened to tune in to Cindy’s news blurb about Les’s book/screenplay. In other words, if Frankie had been watching “Wheel of Fortune”, then we probably would have instead been subjected to four weeks of Funky deciding between Ben-Gay or Preparation H to treat his aching butt rash. Furthermore, we’re supposed to believe that Frankie only learned about “Lisa’s Story” on 04-18-13, then proceeded to set whatever nefarious scheme he has in mind later in the following week. If this were truly 1/4″ grounded in reality, it would have taken him this long just to organize said scheme properly (including getting Darrin’s name right every time). But again, none of this makes sense because it all depended on Frankie being tuned in for a blurb that never would aired on a legitimate news outfit. But, whatever. Let’s just hurry up and get to the part where Ghost Lisa saves the day and is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for her trouble. Because there are people who care about this, and they’re waiting patiently for this arc to end so they can walk Batiuk back to his padded cell and scrub him down for his weekly bath.
Probably a better response for yesterday’s strip, but what the hell.
How much better (well, okay, less awful) would this have been if Darin was the one who wanted to meet with Frankie, but Jessica had reservations? When Frankie calls Darin, Darin is intrigued to meet this mysterious man who impregnated his biological mother, and what’s the harm? It’s not as though he needs to maintain a relationship if the guy turns out to be a terrible human being. But Jessica is reluctant, filling in the blanks (which Batiuk missed) about what Lisa said about Frankie, which is much more natural and less dispositive than if Darin is the one listing the objections to a potential meeting. But Darin decides that he’s going to do what he wants, and adds to his argument that at the very least that it’s important to find out any health issues that he and their baby might inherit from Frankie, which convinces Jessica to back off.
But no, that’s not how it works, and Batiuk went with something much more inexplicable and unreasonable. (Great character building there: Jessica will be a bitch to Darin until he does what she wants him to, which is something that doesn’t really even involve her. I mean, it’s one thing to do to get him to clean the bathroom or something…) I’d like to be wrong about this, but I can’t help but think that Batiuk believes that there’s no way a woman could ultimately have proposed the better course of action over a man, especially when said man is the Spawn of Lisa. It really seems that Batiuk follows a specific Right/Wrong hierarchy in his strip, an affectation of bad writers.
@Charles, spot on, except for the part where this doesn’t involve Jessica: her unborn child is presumably the grandchild of FTR, so she and Darin have a shared interest in the biological (read: genetic) aspects of that relationship.
That you came up with a more interesting and plausible storyline than our Batominc astonishes me not at all.