The Three Faces of Crazy

In typical Westviewvian fashion, all of Les’ friends are offering unbidden and useless “help” with his Kilimanjaro conquest. First, self-styled personal trainer Bull shows up to whip Les’ pasty ass into shape. Today Crazy Harry offers to loan his precious collection of “comical books about Tarzan”. I think Crazy may have confused “Tarzan” and “Tanzania”. Look for Funky to send Les and Summer off with a shipping crate of freeze-dried Montoni’s pies to sustain them on the climb.

I’m sure you all recognize the delirious kid with the Tarzan comics swirling around his head as young Harold Klinghorn, pre-hat, pre-nickname and pre-drugs, back in those innocent times when his only “high” was Tarzan funnies. The Sunday-strip color gradients and shading do not make him any cuter. We recognize his teenage (and actually likeable) self in the little portrait in the banner. Would anyone not familiar with Funky Winkerbean see today’s comic and figure out that the boy, the kid in the hat, and the old geezer are the same person? Or that the two men talking went to high school together?

Beating 'Round the Bushka

Epicus Doomus
June 5, 2012 at 12:39 am
Panel two [of Tuesday’s strip]  = worst Summer drawing ever?

Well, maybe…that is, until today! What the hell happened here? Looks like TB put down the “Funky felt tip” and went for the Sharpie Magnum 44! Summer’s crudely rendered mug resembles that of an an Egyptian mummy.

Jeffcoat Wayne
June 7, 2012 at 12:48 am
Bull’s gonna help Les train to climb a 19,000-foot mountain? Riiiiiiight. Bull looks like he can’t even climb into the team bus without breaking a hard sweat. Christ, he looks like he’s about to pop a spleen just climbing out of his minivan.

Meanwhile, fat, lumbering, old Bull Bushka is all of a sudden this powerful, bellowing drill sergeant, and for the sake of a “punchline”, Batiuk has un-retconned Les and Bull’s high school history. Today’s strip just sucks on so many levels.

Training Day

“But I don’t think you understand what you’re taking on here.” Wonder if anyone said that to Bull when he undertook Summer’s “knee-hab”? Anyway, more than enough smirks to go around in today’s strip. Bull’s a “teacher”, huh? I’m reminded of a quote by one of TB’s (and Les’) idols, Woody Allen: “Those who can’t do, teach, and those who can’t teach, teach gym.”