Well, at least there’s no more Dinkle in today’s strip. We do have seven panels of a guy watching TV, which isn’t the most engaging thing for a comic to depict. And we have a gag that could’ve been told in just one or two panels, or even in Crankshaft, for that matter. And it’s a complaint that probably gets made repeatedly on every sports radio station in the country on Mondays. But hey, no Dinkle, so things are looking up.
Speaking of looking up, we all have ComicBookHarriet’s return tomorrow to look forward to! For her sake, I hope this “no Dinkle” trend continues.
Mentions: beckoningchasm
The Old Rugged Crossover
So, if you’re lucky enough that you don’t follow Crankshaft, you’ll have no idea who these people are or what’s going on.
I rarely look at it; Batiuk is insufferable enough when he’s trying to be serious, but he’s unbearable when he tries to be funny. The short version is that a church organist died right in the middle of a service, and the much-loathed Lillian was drafted as a replacement. Although based on today’s thing, it looks like she’s not so much a replacement as a downgrade.
My question is this: when we see Crankshaft in Funky Winkerbean, he’s a barely sentient pile fastened to a wheelchair in the assisted living home. In Crankshaft, he and Lillian appear to be roughly the same age (if anything I’d say she’s older). So why isn’t she in Bedside Manor in a similar condition? “Well, we’d have no story.” That’s no excuse, we haven’t had a story in years.
Let me say, too, that the timeline is very confusing here. The “organist dies” bit just happened in Crankshaft. I suppose it’s possible that today’s strip is happening years later, but the scheduling of the two strips makes it seem like it’s all happening at the same time. Not even a fig leaf of dialogue, “Well, I’ve been the organist now for ten years” or something (I don’t claim to be a writer). If you’re going to be confusing, it’s a good idea to have something of substance to make it worthwhile to unravel.
“Lillian” sure does have a lot of squiggly L’s. Good thing her last name isn’t Llewellyn.
A Paltry Substitution.
Dinkle’s back. We’ve had to suffer through an inordinate about of Dinkle this winter. From piano lessons to turkey shenanigans to OMEA. It almost seems like Batiuk is intentionally giving us a break from Lisa’s Cancer Movie Extravaganza. Is he trying to reset our sensitivity to the storyline? Like letting a prisoner stew in the hole for a few weeks before bringing them back out for another round of enhanced interrogation.
Had a moment of confusion on my first read. Who the heck is Mrs. Howard? You mean One-Armed-Becky? The wife of Dead-Skunk-Head? I’m so far removed from thinking of either of them having surnames. I can barely remember DSH is named John.
I don’t think that this is a Dinkle strip that’s going to get cut out and pasted on many doors. The joke is anemic, but tolerable enough. Shrewd old teacher is down with substitute pranks. But this must either be a Freshman band class, or Dinkle hasn’t substituted for three years straight, otherwise the kids should be wise to his wisdom.
The real thing holding this strip back is the atrocious art in panels one and three. What is that hand in panel one? I could draw a better hand left handed. All the poor kids have horrible receding hairlines. I half expect that panel two was changed to black outline after the fact. After Ayers drunkenly turned in a scribbly panel of twenty mangled high school students as seen through a cracked funhouse mirror.
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!
I Have a Dream
Hello, fellow sufferers, BChasm back in the Agony Booth again after an extended hiatus. Thanks to all, especially Epicus, who covered for me while Life Happened. (Honestly, you don’t want to know.)
And a Happy Martin Luther King Day to you all. A reminder that there are things worth fighting for, and people willing to fight for them.
As opposed to other people who can’t be arsed to keep track of their own continuity. Today’s strip is a good example…
…actually, today’s strip was unavailable for preview, but I’m betting the above remark holds true anyway.
Thanks to BillyTheSkink for an excellent hosting stint. And, apropos of this, isn’t it the saddest aspect of this strip–the most Funky Winkerbeanesque aspect, if you will–that the most creative, hilarious and insightful things associated with this strip for the last ten years, come from the hosts and commentators on this site, and not from the comic itself?
If Tom Batiuk honestly had any sense of shame, this sort of thing would sting.
If.
IF.
“If” may be the harshest word in the English language.
Son of Stuck Funky 