Funksgiving

Thanksgiving 2010: Becky is so exhausted from selling band turkeys that she’s unable to stay awake for Thanksgiving dinner with her family (no wonder she stuck Owen with the job this year).

New Year’s, 2011: While two living, breathing women compete for his affections, Les rings in the New Year pining for his long-dead wife.

Labor Day 2011: At Cayla’s family picnic, Les fouls a softball off his face.

New Year’s, 2012: Coach Bull is too busy fretting over the Lady Scapegoats’ winless streak to enjoy a party with friends.

Mother’s Day 2012: Summer carefully selects just the right card to leave on her mother’s grave.

Father’s Day 2012: Funky “honors” his father by dragging him from the rest home for an awkward meal at the food court in the bustling mall.

Readers have surmised by now that, in a Funkiverse where people avoid expressing joy lest they tempt cruel fate, the holidays are occasions to ratchet up, rather than leave aside, despair. Having decided that it’s too taxing to take Dad out of the home for the holidays, Funky contents himself with paying  the old man a visit “now and then”. Pop may not recognize his only son, but you can’t blame him for thinking that this “nice man” must live in the nursing home too: he certainly looks to be of age.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Dolt with a Poult

Westview is truly a town without pity, as Owen finds no takers for the thawed and bleeding bird he’s schlepping from door to door. As a parent, I’ve been around my share of fundraisers. People tend to be inclined either to give, as long as it’s for a good cause; or not, in which case they simply refuse to answer the door. The folks in Westview, though, insist on asking pointed questions of the seller, before finally declining to buy. And forget about how that turkey was raised, ma’am: its thawed carcass has been conveyed through the streets of town for the last three days tucked ‘neath the arm of a hippie. You do not want that turkey.

Tuesday Turkey

Charles
November 19, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Perhaps if Becky is looking for potential improvements in her program and its acceptance in the community, she could advise her students who are soliciting door-to-door to clean themselves up a little bit when they’re interrupting people to ask for money…Owen looks so shabby in this strip that I’d almost think he’s homeless and he found the turkey after it fell off the truck and is now trying to sell it for glue-huffing money.

If only those band turkeys could sell themselves, because between Owen’s shabby appearance, complete lack of manners and salesmanship, not to mention his ignorance of basic food safety guidelines, he’s sure as hell not going to sell any. Certainly not to this guy, who buys only band candy, not turkeys, and only from quirky redheads.

Ribbed For Her Pleasure

Speaking of St. Lisa, panel 1 seems weirdly evocative of the cover of the first Lisa’s Story book.

I hope you all enjoyed your nearly three-week respite from Les (I know you enjoyed it). Today he’s back, and if you thought his marriage to Cayla meant he’d finally stop talking about his dead first wife, well– oh, you didn’t think he’d stop? Neither has Les stopped thinking that his wry, nonsense-logic brand of observational “humor” is funny to anyone but himself. What has changed is that Cayla, rather than rolling her eyes at Les’ mentions of his late bride, has taken to physically and verbally abusing him each time Lisa’s name comes up. The fact that we see Les in the bathroom taping his ribs before this action takes place suggests that the abuse is ongoing. Notice in the last panel how he’s gone from a smug wiseguy to a pathetic, cringing little milksop.