You Move Me

Pete is a disorganized, dysfunctional wreck. He’s arguably Westview’s most successful writer (sorry, Les), and was already established in his field when he inexplicably moved back to town nearly five years ago. Does a professional at this stage of his career not understand how deadlines work? Pete has no girlfriend, wife or kids, and friends who only appear when he’s moving in or out. What distractions could he have from his writing? It might be plausible and amusing to have him deal with writer’s block once, but Batiuk has gone to this same well several times.

And now he’s supposed to sit on the floor to do his work? I guess Darin, Montoni’s Chief Technology Officer, never installed WiFi in the pizzeria.

Oh Lord, Not Again

Look at the bright side: hopefully this week will serve as Pete’s swan song. Once again he’s faced with a deadline, and once again he is utterly and totally seized with writer’s block. Meet the guy entrusted with the world’s most iconic and beloved superhero…

Hopefully too, perhaps after this week TB will retire the creepy “Lord of the Late”. Not only is TB plagiarizing this earlier arc, he’s recycling the art as well: compare today’s panel with this Sunday strip from 2008 (or just see below).

BLAM!

So the cash-strapped Westview football can shell out between four and seven grand for a football helmet tunnel to give the team “some real class” (because “real class” is what wins football games). And from the looks of panel 4, they inflated it with…highly flammable hydrogen? It took me a long while to discern that those aren’t leaping flames but rather letters spelling out “BLAM!” Of course, by the final panel, things aren’t as bad as they looked (unfortunately). Evidence found at the scene will later reveal the blast to be the result of sabotage by last Sunday’s player-turned-ballboy Jason Williams!

Finding Religion

“The worst time to have a son is 18 years before a war.” –Anon.

As Cory innocently frolics on the lawn with his carnival buddies Evil Sunglasses Kid and Baseball Cap Boy, Holly puts on her Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes and is surprised to see her husband doing the same. Seems that his son’s enlistment has awakened Funky’s spiritual side, compelling him to return to church for what must be the first time in a couple years.

He's Leaving Home, Bye, Bye

TheDiva
September 5, 2012 at 2:09 am
Given the amount of affection and attention Funky has displayed towards his son in recent memory, I would think his reaction would be less “Can’t we talk about this?” and more “Have fun, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.”

Charles
September 5, 2012 at 1:55 am
…We’ll also discover, over the next few days, just how bad this format is for this type of discussion. Two or three panels requiring a setup and punchline could never adequately address the issues that this family would need to address, and I doubt Batiuk’s ability to do this even more than an average cartoonist’s.

In a Funkiverse where a basketball foul shot can hang in the air for a week, the Winkerbeans’ reaction to “little Cory’s” enlistment goes from shock to “being ok with it” in a mere couple days. I’m pretty sure as soon as their soon-to-be-soldier boy is out of the room, Mom and Pop will be exchanging  high fives and breaking out the vodka and orange.