Tag: Becky

Enrolled Up Sleeve

As the first students to move TO Westview in decades, Emily and Amelia are receiving the red carpet treatment from the WHS staff. See today’s strip, where Principal Nate personally escorts them to Lefty’s band room to get them involved in the school’s only extracurricular activity. Nate was so excited to be showing new students around that he didn’t even check to see if Dinkle was lurking, waiting to make Crankshaft look good by comparison, before bursting into the band room.

Strip #4 with Emily and Amelia, and we’re almost kinda sorta getting some insight on their personalities. Emily, the “cup-is-half-full” one, wears pink and plays the flute. Amelia wears black turtlenecks, “shreds” a “pretty mean” “guitar”, and says so while standing in a sassy half-akimbo pose (or whatever that’s called).
I haven’t seen character traits summed up this succinctly since the third season theme song of Sister Sister.

The Blue Bird of Hideousness

Link to today’s strip.

Tom Batiuk’s slipping–there are barely any signs that Becky only has one arm.  Someone who has never read the strip before would not get that information from today’s offering.

Harry Dinkle is one of those characters that I loathe–in my ranking he’s just below Les.  Yet I don’t hate him in today’s episode.  I think that’s because he’s substituted his typical sneering condescension with genuine bafflement; instead of finding someway to insult Twitter and its users, he simply admits he has no use for them and lets it go at that.  (Of course, it wouldn’t be Funky Winkerbean without smirking condescension, so Batiuk gives the line to Becky.)

So, a Funky Winkerbean first–the only appearance thus far of Dinkle where my revulsion didn’t kick in instinctively.

That blue Dinkle-Twitter abomination on the other hand…wow, somebody had a really bad acid trip.  I think I saw that thing chasing the Beatles around Pepperland.

Thus ends my time in the chair.  I thank you for your wit and indulgence, and ask that you give it up for the fabulous DavidO!

A Harry Little Christmas

Today’s strip, and this whole past week really, is brought to you by the letter Y.

As in why did this happen? Why are so many things explosively offensive in Westview? Why did no one at the syndicate read this before allowing it to be printed? Why did TB decide that Nate should suddenly become Carl Moss, except without the humor or incisive commentary on modern American public school administration? Why is there not even an attempt at a punchline in today’s strip? Why are there so few notes in the opening of “I’m Dreaming Of A Rainbow Holiday”? Why is the allegedly retired Harry Dinkle at the high school? Why hasn’t Lefty changed the locks to the band room? Why, if all music is sacred to Harry, do attempts to censor it not bother him? Why would I rather listen to an Elmo and Patsy record for 24 consecutive hours than continue asking “why” questions about this comic strip?

Haiku-ly Offensive

Today’s strip is same
Joke as rest of this week’s strips
What did you expect?

“Merry Gentlemen”
Not offensive to Batiuk
Workaholic? Ha!

Depressive also
Not offensive to Batiuk
It is his trademark

Nate’s “war on Christmas”
As long as Six Day War but
There are no winners

What will Sunday bring?
I’m on sleeve pins and needles
I know you are too

Boondock Nates

Hey, did you like this joke on Tuesday? How about Wednesday? Thursday? Today is the fourth verse, same as the first. I swear that today’s strip is properly linked, and that you aren’t looking at one of the earlier strips from this week. “Seriously?” Lefty asks? Seriously Mrs. Howard, seriously.

A more valid concern about “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” for Nate is that Pa Winkerbean might start singing it during the performance. OK, that’s not really fair of me, because at this point I’d welcome that happening in any of this week’s strips.  Anything to break this up, even a joke TB obviously repurposed from a Crankshaft draft.

You know, I just saw this strip in the dictionary next to “slog”. Whoever’s footprints those are in the snow in panel 2, headed away from this den of insipidity… I envy you. I truly do.