We go from snowbirds to lovebirds…after a day of slacking in Montoni’s kitchen, Wally trades his olive drab tee shirt and schmatte for a dentist’s smock, and Rachel dons a puke-green maternity frock, and they wait until they are about to get in the car before making plans for the evening.
For those who are looking for a little extra insight into the guy behind the comic we all love to snark on… I’d like to share some video: an interview with Tom Batiuk: Prostate Cancer Survivor.
The full transcript of the interview is below the video, for those who don’t feel like watching, but it is worth watching, especially for glimpses of some art we haven’t seen before. TB actually comes across as a likeable guy. We see him doing what he does best, and I don’t mean cartooning: I mean justifying being such a self-important downer…here’s the interview, and Tom Batiuk, in a nutshell:
“I didn’t get the memo, you know, that you’re only supposed to be funny, but what I really owe my readers is to sort of challenge my expectations of myself, and challenge theirs as well.”
Another Sunday, another episode of The Old Philosopher. Even Funky, in the throwaway first couple of panels, is beginning to lose patience with this old fool. “Oh shit…Harry’s formulating another one of his wacky observations…Hey! Hey! Postie! Get the hell outta here now. Really. Stop taking up space at my counter and go deliver the goddamn mail!”
But no, Funky the enabler has to ask him what he’s “thinking”. What follows is so thuddingly lame and nonsensical (“swallowing helium”? Swallow this!) that Funky cannot even muster a smirk.
Right. Two sixty- or seventy-somethings give a rat’s ass about “M.T.V.”
The unseen fourth panel depicts Purple Hat Lady and Tony re-enacting the famous scene in “From Here to Eternity“.
Batiuk’s attempt to make lemonade out of real-life disaster continues to leave a sour taste. Doonesbury did a terrific job with these events, taking aim at BP as well as at the White House. TB uses the spill as an excuse for more lame wordplay and, of course, smirks.
Son of Stuck Funky 
