Les is kidding himself comparing Cory’s physical prowess to his and Funky’s youthful own. And Batiuk’s kidding himself if he thinks it’s enough to take a phrase, replace one word with its opposite, and offer that as a punchline. It’s the third time he’s done it in the last couple weeks.
No Gain, All Pain
Paul Jones
December 27, 2014 at 1:39 am
Great. Not only is he a glutton who uses regionalisms like sitting on my mind, he’s turning into Ed Crankshaft.
Take away the ballcap and glasses and yes, you do begin to see a bit of a resemblance. Of course, thanks to the time gap ‘twixt Centerville and Westview, no one would mistake the old-beyond-his-years Funkman for the now-decrepit Ed Crankshaft.
With a new year starting in a couple of days, the Funkman carries on his Sisyphean struggles versus his weight. Yesterday we saw him buying new running shoes, and today he puts the bathroom scale through a punishing test.
Numbers Games
The whole cashier asking for your phone number thing has vexed such great minds as Cosmo Kramer. Batiuk comes thisclose to a successful gag, but typically takes it too far. Today’s strip would’ve worked just fine as a daily; padding it out to Sunday length meant tacking on the cashier’s snide reaction, as well as Funky’s meek compliance.
Turkey Meltdown
“Sitting on my mind” is a rather odd turn of phrase, and it’s a rather odd perspective in panel 1 that makes it appear that Cory’s face is smooshed into Funky’s backside. Today’s strip gives the answer to those of us puzzled by how a middle aged man who jogs regularly and goes to the gym manages to maintain the physique of a couch potato. He’s beaten booze, only to replace that addiction with one to food: he eyeballs that leftover turkey the same way he contemplated that leftover bottle of bubbly a few New Year’s Eves ago:
Merry ChristmAAs
“Nice to have you home son, even if it could potentially trigger an alcoholic relapse!” Props to Funky for being painfully candid with Cory about his condition (“…when my self-esteem bottoms out”? Lawd!). So ol’ Wade is still around…he was not looking so good when we last saw him at Christmas 2011.
Son of Stuck Funky 
