Back to the Grind

Epicus Doomus
August 23, 2012 at 3:35 am
Oh that wacky Owen, always so stupid, unmotivated, lazy and worthless! And he has a trademark daffy hat, too! He’s OUR Crazy Harry! And just like how Harry had his trademark air guitar gag, Owen has a beloved running gag of his own too: the look of general idiocy on his face!

Well today’s strip offers something new (besides a respite from the “Becky’s Mom’s a Bitch” arc): a glimpse of Owen laughing and enjoying himself like a normal kid. Although skateboarding seems a little too cool a pastime for these two marching band/comic book nerds. At any rate, their fun soon falls victim to Westview’s Undercurrent of Melancholy.

That's Alls I Can Stands

Well now she’s just totally out of control, unilaterally making decisions that even Becky herself would not be authorized to make on her own. A high school that last year was nearly forced to cut its athletics somehow has money to order new band uniforms? Yeah, whatever. The good thing that happens here is that Roberta finally sends Becky right around the bend, changing her facial expression from yesterday’s utter deadpan to today’s look of…rage? Disgust? Agita? Whatever Becky’s feeling, she looks funny as hell. And if “Dad” is “filming”, that camera is even more archaic than it looks!

Crow's Nest

Rusty
August 15, 2012 at 2:02 am
What does a Band Mom do? I don’t recall them having an actual role in this strip. Do they help with selling the fundraising turkeys? Do they play in the 4th of July concert in the gazebo? Do they attend band practice? I don’t get it.

TheDiva
August 18, 2012 at 3:05 am
…Oh noez, Becky’s mom is going to be involved with the band! And that’s terrible! We haven’t seen her do a single thing yet, but we’ve just spent an entire week complaining about it so it must be bad!

Señor Tortilla
August 20, 2012 at 12:57 am
Right now, I don’t see any reason to really hate Roberta…

Now do you see it? What I’m seeing is how Becky’s lack of  a backbone enables Mom to turn her job and her life into a nonstop waking nightmare. That lift that the two of them are standing in: there’s no ladder or stairs. Becky had to allow Roberta onto the platform before hitting the “up” button. Becky’s “victim” status is hereby revoked.

The one tidbit of humor that can be gleaned from this strip is that the “young man” whom Roberta is picking on is, naturally, dopey Owen.