Installing a Hard Drive

Link to today’s strip.

Hiya folks, BChasm back manning the tower.  Thanks to Comic Book Harriet for her excellent stint last week; that she was more entertaining than the strip itself goes without saying, if I do say so myself.

As for today’s entry, well those of you speculating that Dullard, Jess, Skyler and Peeved were going to drive to Ohio were indeed on the right track.  The fact that this trip is going to take nearly forty hours of non-stop driving to cover nearly 2300 miles makes this plan an idiot’s delight.   If this was a week-long vacation trip to see the country and visit some landmarks, that would work fine, but Dullard said the purpose was to visit “the grandparents” so this just becomes a stupid waste of time.  (Hey!  Just like some comic strips!)  Oh well, I bet Skyler’s been ret-conned into a teenager, so he can probably help with the driving.

And it’s not as if these people are afraid of air travel–I seem to recall Peeved beaming dopily at some Ohio landmark (Les’ house?).  I’m sure in Tom Batiuk’s mind, a trip like this is mebbe a leetle bit longer than going from Dayton to Columbus, so gasoline, restaurants, hotels and a screaming toddler wouldn’t be issues at all.

And yes–it is possible that they’re just driving to the airport.  And all this garbage about  backpacks is just as meaningless as every other episode of this strip.  But, you know, telling the readers things (“I’ll be happy to give you a lift to the airport”) is so much more effective than simply attempting some “wry” “banter” that implies an arduous journey.

But doing things the simple, logical, understandable way, so that readers know what’s going on…why, that never leads to award nominations.

Just Like Howard the Duck in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Link to Today’s Strip.

Whelp, it’s been a fun two weeks at the helm. In fourteen days, we learned that Chester Hagglemore wants to meet with Pete for some reason. And that Darin does at least occasionally visit his parents. I feel like we’ve accomplished a lot.

Beckoning Chasm gets to see us through to the end of the month and beyond. Think we’ll know what Chester has planned by then? Think again! Ann Fairgood in the masthead heralds at least a brief stopover in grandparents’ land.

It is weird, it’s been so long since there has been any kind of suspense in these strips. Some question that you KNOW will actually (probably) get answered. Batiuk doesn’t know how to weave suspense into his day to day, so when he accidentally gets any at all he drags it out to a week of envelope opening.

One thought I’d like to leave you with: What if it IS actually scary inside Darin’s head? What if…hidden under his bland milquetoast nature…his brain is a twisted kaleidoscope of terrifying imagery that would make Hieronymus Bosch double take? This is my personal headcanon now.

 

Right. The taxi thing.

Link to Today’s Strip. 

Either Chester has two homes with one located in Ohio, (admittedly possible) or (more likely) Batiuk has forgotten that he established that Chester’s comics palace is located in New York.

Darin is actually referring to the elder Fairgoods, his adoptive parents! For the first time since last March. He called them ‘Mom and Dad’ then, but now calls them ‘The Grandparents,’ which is weird. Unless you’re a Funkysnark Addict or Batiuk Defender TrueFan, you will just assume that they’re visiting Darin’s grandparents.

And wow…that last panel…I haven’t seen nerdy homo-romantic chemistry between two allegedly hetero-males like THAT since Poe and Finn, Or Magneto and Professor-X. The Flash and Green Lantern. Frodo and Sam. Captain America and Bucky…

Huh, maybe Batiuk is actually intentionally referencing comics here…

It also took me second to get the ‘Uber’ joke. In my comicdom myopia I was associating it with the idea that Nichtize’s Ubermencsh was a inspiration for Superman, and the irony of Jewish comics writers appropriating a proto-Nazi concept. And also how creepy it was the vaguely Semitic looking Pete associating the ‘Ayran’ looking Darin with anything even tangentially Nazi.

And then I was like…ohhhh Uber….like the car thing…

Spot Six Differences!

Wow! Bob Weber of Slylock Fox would be proud of today’s offering.

At first I thought there was something wrong, and they simply hadn’t updated the strips. Because today is a reprint of yesterday’s strip. But upon further inspection there do seem to be tiny, subtle differences between yesterday and today. See if you can find all six!

It took me hours and hours, but I finally found one: The cosmic treadmill that Pete and Darin bought on their second honeymoon is in the background of panel two! How many can you find?

What a fun and interactive game Batiuk has given us. It may not progress the plot, deepen the characters, or be even in the least bit interesting or funny, but at least it fills a Friday shaped hole in our week. One more box checked off as we all coast inevitably to an obscure retirement, and an unlauded death.

So Fun!

Bloop Bloop.

There is less than nothing going on today.

This is like when horrible one note authors attempt to pad out their paychecks by writing the same story again, but gender flipped or from the guy’s perspective this time! We have reached Life and Death or Grey levels of storytelling here people.

So because there is no plot to speak of. I’ll just point out some tidbits I noticed in each panel.

Panel 1.) Boy Lisa’s table seems positioned in the middle of the room, instead of up against a wall, and his overhead light seems to be behind his head AND pointed away from his workstation. He asks if the text is ‘more script changes’ which means that they regularly get TEXTS of script changes in a major motion picture sequel. Pete has a tiny phone.

Panel 2.) You know that this is California because of the medical marijuana growing right outside the window. Pete’s hands are the size of his head and the bags under his eyes have drifted so far down his cheek they might as well be Tony Montana scars. Pete’s phone has grown in size.

Panel 3.) Boy Lisa’s desk light is now in front of him. His face is a horrifying mask with terrible pencil eyebrows drawn all the way up on his forehead. He is apparently wearing a black v-neck t-shirt like a total tool. We can see that Pete’s now minuscule cell phone isn’t even a touchscreen smart phone, but rather some knockoff blackberry-lite. I link a picture of my phone, for reference. Sad, cheap, pathetic reference.