SosfDavidO here, taking the penny tour of Batcom, Inc, along with the Little Knox Kid as he goes through orientation. Whaddya know, in today’s strip, our comic nerds are once again complaining about things like deadlines and story arc changes and edits made by the.. what’s he called again? Oh yeah, the EDITOR.
Tag: Amazing Mr. Sponge
Dog Gone Dumb
SosfDavidO here again, plodding through the week because the noose I tied to my shower head slipped off, forcing me to continue with this awful arc.
Ok, at least there’s dialog in today’s strip— something I can work with. It’s not like we’re watching Funky’s fat bulk heft up a hill for a week.
It looks like alternative-verse Pete and Darrin have been tasked with creating a super pet, which was all the rage in the 40s. Spongedog seems as useless and impractical of a super pet as one could get, though. Not to ask the obvious, but what if it rains!?
Black and What?!
SonofSFDavidO here and… aw, shit, this again!? Today’s strip kicks off yet another Batom Comic’s storied history/imagined timeline/dunno what I’m the hell I’m even looking at arc.
Aside from realizing we’re in for the literary equivalent of a week-long root canal, I’m scratching my head over what Pete’s goddamn complaint is. They’re putting “more things” into the new movie? Boo hoo! Unless it’s going to be an Andy Warholesque film that shows StarBucks Jones sleeping for 8 straight hours then yeah, scripts change. I know this complaint is just to shoehorn in a sepia mess but still, complaining about doing the job you’re getting paid for is pretty lame, Mr. Hollywood.
Sponging Off Relatives
Ha ha ha, the first line Darin’s had all week and Pete immediately steps on it!
I continue to be amazed that anyone, anyone at all, could find a sponge-based superhero to be interesting. When I was back in the ninth grade and was drawing superhero comics on notepaper, I would never have considered such an idea, much less dealt with it for more than a few seconds. (“What a stupid idea. Must be too much eraser dust in the air, confounding my brain.”) Perhaps I’d use it as a comedy character who was immediately defeated in some humorous way, but anything ongoing? NO.
And remember–I’m talking about the ninth grade.
I don’t know what to make of Tom Batiuk’s fantasy publishing world. In a way, it’s quite impressive in its scope and detail, but it makes me wonder why he doesn’t apply some of that creativity over here, in the strip that puts bread on the table. Wouldn’t that be something? Imagine reading posts on this site telling how much we liked the episode of the day. As it is, Funky Winkerbean comes across as an afterthought–as Gerald and others have pointed out, no one who only reads the strip would have any of the Batom Books details provided in the blog posts, which robs these flashback strips of rather most of their impact. Not that it would really make much to people not obsessed with silver age DC comics, but still, some context is always nice.
Without any of that, reading about some guy’s fantasy comic-book publishing world is like listening to a really boring person at a party. You suddenly realize you’ve heard nothing he’s said for at least five minutes, and you start to worry he’ll ask you a question and you won’t have any idea how to respond. And your drink is almost full–can’t use “Going to get a refill!” as an excuse. Maybe plead for a bathroom break? Give it a shot. You can hide in the den…and read old comic books.
Heh heh heh.
Ex-Sponged
Today’s “contemporary issue affecting young adults”? The high rate of turnover among comic book artists. I wonder if the artist is “leaving the book” because he’s sick of having to work with the deadline-averse Pete Robertini? In any event, it seems that Batiuk just realized that Crazy Harry, though he may look like it now, was not born in the 1940’s, and has updated young Harold’s appearance (compare with this strip from 2010).
Son of Stuck Funky 