Senior-Free Moment

Link to today’s strip

John
April 3, 2012 at 1:01 am
Cody: “…do you ever get the feeling that we never look forward to anything good? We merely mildly anticipate the absence of bad things?”

Note the date on John’s comment above: it’s from a whole year ago, when Cody and Owen last enjoyed a wedgie-free week due to the fact that the Seniors were out of town. Flash back a little further: to the beginning of the 2009 school year…

You’re already doing the math: Cody and Owen would by now be part of the Senior Class. Of course, it’s certainly likely that, being morons, they’ve had to repeat at least one grade. Still: surely they’re not still mere freshmen? Do the Westview Seniors pick on all the underclassmen, or just these two?

I’m kind of concerned about these two loners who, every school day (except for the week of the D.C. trip), endure intimidation and abuse from the Seniors, are belittled by their teachers, and after school head to the Komix Korner to play (probably violent) video games. Could Batiuk be getting ready to add school shootings to his Serious Topics résumé?

How's Your Jonson?

If Tuesday’s strip qualified as one of the “Comics I Don’t Understand“, then what the hell are we to make of today’s strip? Les bemoans his students’ performance on his latest quiz, implying that they have retained nothing of what he’s taught them. Does Cody’s response mean that while they may not have learned anything, they are at least less easy to deceive? Even more baffling than the presumed punchline is Cody’s crudely rendered profile in panel 3: his jawline resembles a peeled sweet potato.

To Be or Not to Be: That is the (Trick) Question

Grab Bag Week: High School Hijinks Edition continues, and yes, dear reader, today’s strip is the source of that oh-so-punchable Les face in this week’s banner. That’s the expression Les wears when he’s doing what he does best: being a smug, superior dick to his students. Owen’s right, Les, for once: that was a trick question. Doesn’t the fact that nobody, nobody in his class is able to answer this question say more about the teacher than the students?

WHSTV

You’d think that producing Westview High’s closed-circuit morning newscast would be a job that a couple of geeks like Cody and Owen could not only do but might actually do pretty well. Naturally, everything goes terribly awry, as typified by the fact that the picture on the TV is upside down. Just more fuel for Les and Linda’s disdain of their idiot students.

Never mind that, though. Get a load of who’s sitting in the front row: it’s Alex, most recently seen dispensing totally worthless relationship advice to lovestruck Owen. Surely there is some retconning going on here: we met Alex at mopey Pete’s book signing in December 2007 (see below), and she appeared to be at least high school age five years ago (I was going point to the fact that she sported tattoos even back then, but apparently Ohio law allows minors to get tattoos with parental consent). She’s certainly old enough for Pete to attempt hitting on, though we know that that’s not the best indicator. Note that her model sheet on the Meet the Cast page is one of the few that does not give an age. How convenient.

Dec. 10, 2007 strip: