So I guess today we are back in the “present” after yesterday’s regression to Harry’s mailman days. Or…is Harry working both jobs now? It looks like he’s wearing his postman vest in panel 3. In other sartorial news, Becky’s empty, pinned-up sleeve provides visual focus, as always, as she and John decorate a black Christmas tree. And whoever would equate Harry’s taking a crummy job at the Komix Korner with greed? Clearly this is another one of those punchlines, scrawled on a napkin from Luigi’s of Akron, that Batiuk’s been just itching to use.
Dear Tom Batiuk:
Over the course of 2½ years of presiding over this forum, sharing nearly a thousand daily posts and over 19,000 reader comments about your work, I’ve managed to hang on to a tiny shred of admiration for you. When the “Fuck you, TB” comments flew, I could confidently poke my head out of the foxhole and say, “Hey! Give the man credit. He’s made a forty-year career of doing something he loves.” Or, “He’s seems like he’s actually a nice guy in person.” Or, “Well, he has some interesting musical tastes.” Or, “He’s raised a fair amount of money and awareness to fight cancer.” Or, “O.K., today’s strip is truly funny.” All right, that last one, not so much.
And then, today, Tom, you pull this. You spend three weeks on an arc where Crazy Harry gets fired (or retires, according to one strip), with one week’s notice, and no severance, pension or unemployment benefit, and has to sell off his books and comics before accepting a part-time temp job (which he’d willingly do for no pay) at the Komix Korner. Come Sunday, he-e-e-e-e-re’s Harry, in full postie drag, to deliver the annual “Buon Natale dalla soleggiata Florida!” postcard from Tony (along with a bonus potshot at e-mail).
Admit it, Tom: your heart’s just not in it any longer. This is more egregious than having Les show up in Westview a week after getting on a plane to Tanzania. You fancy yourself a writer; you regularly lecture and chastise the readers; you dismiss as “beady-eyed” anyone who finds fault with your creative output. Even in a fictional milieu where continuity long ago became an afterthought, today’s strip signals to the readers that you flat-out don’t give a shit anymore.
Kevin, Wee Hardly Knew Ye
Nobody has the words to make sense of what happened in Connecticut Friday, except to say God bless those left behind, and open up Your arms to receive those innocents. Hug your kids, your parents, or anyone who needs it. Spare a thought for those whose lives are never going to be the same. Here’s my stupid fucking little blog post.
“Since Kevin left“? Batiuk has done it again: the least interesting characters get weeks-long story arcs about nothing, while the more intriguing, lesser-explored characters are either written out or inexplicably vanish. Anyway, John, even when Kevin was working there, you were “short handed”! (Oops, better refrain from midget little people jokes, lest I be summoned to issue a lengthy, rambling apology on the House floor!)
Helskor
December 14, 2012 at 8:45 am
Harry’s grateful puppydog reaction to being offered a job fit only for a not-too-bright high school kid would be the unintentionally funniest thing Batiuk’s written in years if it wasn’t so pathetic and scary.
Batiuk has spent the last three weeks trying to make us feel sorry for Crazy Harry…I must say, today he finally accomplishes that, by depicting not just Harry’s eagerness to accept John’s “job” offer, but his willingness to “work” for free.
Classic Fail
The Dreamer
December 13, 2012 at 1:51 pm
Crazy need not worry about a job. Of course Funky will hire him to work at Montoni’s.
Not so fast! If nobody here saw this coming, it’s probably because it’s just so…so stupid. “Dead Skunk Hea—”…sorry, I mean, John, is going to enlist Crazy Harry to determine the value of the comic books that he’s selling to the Komix Korner? Harry’s oblivious to John’s overture at first, correctly opining that this job could be handled by an eleventh grader. Which just adds to the smirking, dimpled glee with which John offers the job to Crazy, I mean, “Classic Rock”.
Running Dog
The shower of self-pity turns into a monsoon. Today we learn that working at the Post Office was all that Crazy Harry ever aspired to (well, besides being an air guitar champion). But before he could hang around long enough to become the PO’s resident guru, why, those bully jocks at the post office had the nerve to expect Harry to (gasp) actually work and be productive.
Since he has only rarely been shown actually delivering mail, I’ve always imagined that in the course of his appointed rounds, Harry kind of resembled this guy:
Seriously, though, we know that the Postal Service has been struggling financially; certainly longer than since one year ago, when Batiuk got the “inspiration” for this arc. And yes, the USPS has been trimming services and branches as a result. But it’s pretty safe to say that these unionized employees are not being set adrift and left to sell their belongings in order to survive.
