Wall Street Weak

I read the words “I’m like Wall Street…” and braced myself for one of TB’s ripped-from-last-year’s-headlines “topical” punchlines. Which probably would have been preferable to Holly telling us that she steps on the scale four times a year. I think when it comes to fitness goals, surely there’s a happy medium between weighing oneself daily or quarterly. And I don’t pretend to understand the financial world, but doesn’t “Wall Street” check to see how it’s doing like, every hour of every day? Isn’t that why they have those stock-ticker things?

So Funkin' Old

We can’t believe it either, especially those of us who ostensibly would be close in age to you. I’m starting to think that Tom Batiuk (born 1947) has decided to skew the ages of his main characters closer to his own, and realizes that even his most loyal fans aren’t going to let him get away with a third “time jump”. So he goes about it subtly: playing up Funky’s health woes, framing Crazy Harry’s termination as “retirement“, and just generally accelerating the aging process for the original cast (except Les, of course, who’s holding up relatively well), and most recently, tacking about a decade onto Funky’s sobriety streak. Still, the Funkman’s hip enough to quote John Mayer in panel 2!

(skip to 2:25)

Water You'll Have

Epicus Doomus
December 28, 2012 at 8:37 pm
…Rule #2: DO NOT try to make sense of the timeline…it is a fool’s errand.

Not so much trying to make sense as just pointing out how wack this “25th soberversary” is. Funky’s battle with the bottle was depicted in Act II sometime during 2006 (and was published in book form in summer of 2007). If you figure in the 10-year time jump, and the five years and two months that have elapsed since then…oh, screw it. Why do we care if the author doesn’t? Careless!

Let’s ponder instead why John and Crazy Harry are entering Montoni’s through the back door. Is the “Comic Book Convention” we saw them at yesterday taking place in Montoni’s back room? Holly and Funky toast his sobriety with a couple glasses of “City of Westview” because Funky couldn’t find anything cheaper. Crazy Harry seizes the opportunity to appear magnanimous, by offering to pick up the tab on just about the only thing he can afford on what John’s paying him.

I Flash Gordon

Looks like Crazy Harry’s “dream job” is permanent after all, as he and Tête Moufette Morte John man a booth at Westview Comicon. Their customer is an Imperial Stormtrooper (and apparently the only one attending this event in costume).

Epicus Doomus
December 23, 2012 at 12:10 am
I remember the “deadpan stare” at the reader after the punchline, something that might make Act III a lot funnier than it is now. There’s certainly nothing to lose by trying it.

If TB is reverting to the “gag-a-day” format, that “deadpan stare” would be most preferable to John’s knowing, sidelong smirk in panel 3. The guy is just made of creepy.