Clobberin’ Time


I gave myself a migraine trying to decipher the tin-eared dialogue in today’s strip. “There’s a couple of tick-tocks before class starts”? This is bully-speak? Sounds like baby talk. “Kick your butt off“? “Off” doesn’t follow “butt” in this construct, unless I’m “kicking your butt off the team”, or “off the bus”, etc. Never heard of anyone getting his “butt kicked off”. Oh, I see: this is setup for Cody’s retort: “No problem, I’ll just share yours.” Share his butt? ‘th hell?!?

And what skinny teenage nerd confidently cracks wise in response to a verbal threat, however clumsily it’s worded? This is the same tactic that teenage Les used with teenage Bull. Of course now we know that that wasn’t real bullying at all. Mr. Black Shirt Hatchet Face appears to be serious. Given his renown for “tackling serious real-life issues”, you’d expect that TB would at least attempt to treat bullying a little more thoughtfully. Instead he goes for “funny” but it just comes out “wrong”.

Brokedown Palace

In the history of “writing”, has there ever been a less charming “leading man” than Les Moore? Those perpetually arched eyebrows…the “Mom jeans” he’s wearing today…yecch. To his credit, at least he’s finally coming around to the idea of Cayla and Keisha becoming his family, with his talk of “two girls headed off to college”.

Anyway: what’s the deal with Cayla’s scrawny legs?

Say Cheese

Taking the senior class photo has changed? Because it’s being taken with a cellphone? Wow, progress, huh? Something else that’s changed is TB’s draftsmanship, if indeed it is he who drew this. I have no idea who the old gent taking the picture is, but I guess he’s another throwaway teacher, or maybe a passerby who the class asked if he would oblige. But this whole strip looks like it took ten minutes to draw. We recognize Maddie by her hat and red hair, and Cory by his shifty demeanor. But is that supposed to be the Capitol dome in the background? Might as well be Podunk City Hall.

Flashback to the 2007 Washington trip…Chien is still a drip…

In Situ Whatever

Batiuk’s “Funky felt tip” has been especially cruel to Linda yesterday and today: she looks like Crankshaft backed the school bus over her. I especially like the shadow cast by her nose.

The strip at first focused on gags about teenagers at the imaginary Westview High School. Over the years, it explored sensitive topics such as cancer, dyslexia, teen suicide and alcoholism.

—From just about every profile written about Tom Batiuk

But hey: writing means that you can play sensitive topics for laughs when you feel like it, right? So let’s all chuckle at the thought of Jim the Science Guy, alone in his hotel room, draining tiny, overpriced bottles of liquor while his colleagues dine without him.

Flashback to the 2007 Westview Senior Trip: Chien continues to demonstrate the “esteem” she has for her culturally deprived classmates.