Kerry On, My Wayward Daughter

Minutes pass as Darin stands in the doorway, all agog. The stranger clears her throat and repeats her introduction. “I’m Kerry. I’m Fred Fairgood’s daughter.”

While we wait for the ground to stabilize ‘neath Darin’s feet, we are treated to a confusing and unnecessary flashback. Bull, who would go on to become a teacher and then a school administrator, is sitting in Principal Fairgood’s office because his poor grades threaten to prevent him from playing football. Coach Stropp has made it clear to Fred that his perennially losing squad can not afford to lose Bull (I guess we’re to take Fred at his word that he’s “just kidding” about his daughter being kidnapped).

Having recently acquired and read a couple paperback Funky Winkerbean collections, I get the feeling that Batiuk has redrawn an actual Act I strip, and in the context of Act I it was probably mildly amusing. Shoehorned into today’s comic, it’s disconcerting, and not just because Batiuk’s sepia-toned the panels, instead of deploying the “photo album corners” he typically uses to denote flashbacks. Bull’s got nothing to do with the current storyline. It’s more like Batiuk’s playing this card to defend against accusations of retconning: “See? September ’79! Fred clearly states that he has a daughter!”

No Hllllp in Sight

Were it not for the strips last week, where Annie revealed not only that she and Fred were not in love “so much”, but that their marriage kept her from pursuing her dreams…today’s strip might provide a chuckle. Instead, all I can think about now is that Ann is going to pay Fred back for taking away the best years of her life. She’s going to be the one helping him regain his speech? I guess tomorrow Coach Bushka will show up to start Fred’s physical therapy.

Smotherly Love

Ann hears the nurse’s footsteps coming down the hall. She has just enough time to remove the pillow from Fred’s face and fix his glasses and hair, to hide the telltale signs of the fierce struggle that has taken place just moments before the nurse enters the room. Composing herself, Ann mutters some nonsense to Fred about the stroke being “God’s way of telling him to slow down a little.” Fred, enfeebled by the stroke, and near exhaustion from fighting off the murderous Ann, tries vainly to alert the nurse that his wife has just tried to smother him, but is horrified to hear his own voice sounding like Mimi from Rose is Rose. Thinking quickly, Ann helpfully “translates” Fred’s garbled speech for the nurse, who continues on her rounds, never suspecting Ann’s cruel plans for her husband…

Less Hope

Yes, I know this is a “comic” strip, but must every conversation serve as setup for a wry riposte? For starters, Jessica’s is sort of a loaded question; asking about old Fred’s chances of a “full recovery” from an obviously severe health episode. The guy’s lucky even to be alive. Then Darin goes into the windup: “We-e-e-l-l-l, hope isn’t dead, dot dot dot…” The “punchline”—and I always feel the need to put that word in quotes when talking about FW—is confusing as well: so is Fred on life support? Hope is on life support? Way to stay positive, “son”.

On a side note, the Westview P.O. Bombing Arc page has been updated, and is more or less complete.