Tag: book tour

Les can speak his mind, but not on my time

How about a round of applause for Epicus Doomus, who went the extra-extra mile in covering three consecutive weeks of Funky madness? That’s four weeks more than doctors recommend. Your friend billytheskink here, hopefully (but probably not) prepared to tread water for two weeks right along with this strip as it tries to stay afloat until March 2022.

Alas, Sunday’s comic was an omen and Les Moore’s tour of contempt continues in today’s strip. Yet another person (one of Pete’s relatives, perhaps?) has been standing in line to meet the author of a book that they know nothing about? Skinny McBrowncoat has never heard of Les or the previously released Lisa’s Story book? I mean, that is believable, sure, but did he just see a line at the bookstore and decided to stand in it?

Panel two’s look over our dazed customer’s shoulder seems to confirm that this book is all text, not a graphic novel like it originally was going to be. I wonder if it was Les or his publisher that decided to stick all of Durwood’s artwork in the circular file.

Who are these people?

Link to today’s strip

Today’s strip shows two new characters to the strip talking over…

Oh, it’s Summer, with her first dialogue since 2015! And she’s talking to Cayla, and of course, they’re talking about Les, since that’s the only thing these two are ever shown doing anymore.

As it turns out, this is one of Batiuk’s annoying introductions. I suppose it’s no spoiler to reveal that this week’s going to be about Les at a book signing, which also means that today’s strip is a useless one to introduce the subject. He could have easily introduced this sequence by actually starting with Les at his book signing, but that would mean that he couldn’t repeat the premise and effectively skip a day.

But I guess the larger point that this strip makes is that it establishes that Les’s signing is taking place at the Columbus Museum of Art for some damn reason. This only reminds me of how Batiuk has insisted that true art such as his belongs in a museum, rather than being in a more commercial venue. We can only hope that’s this is the last time he flogs that particular conceit in this sequence.

But hey! Marvel at Batiuk remembering that Summer exists and giving her a line. It might be Fall, 2019 before we see this again! Admire her awkwardly angled dorm mirror and try not to think too hard about what exactly that odd bottle of I-don’t-know-what is on her dresser, which Burchett decided to include for some reason.

Fail Well

Q. Why has Harry Dinkle never been circumcised?
A. Because there’s just no end to that prick!

Me
Yesterday
Those of us here in the real world can freely express our joy over the fact that the Dinkles appear to be exiting the convention at last…

Yeah, I was wrong, we’re still at the convention. For once, Batiuk leaves exposition aside, trusting the reader to know that we are at Harry’s book signing (we don’t see a lobby card that says “‘I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE PARADE’ AUTHOR HARRY DINKLE TODAY 1 PM”).

The first young person we’ve seen in two weeks meekly approaches the wise Dinkle (and hey, Harry gets no long line of adoring fans?). She expresses to Harry her desire to teach, and in the next breath reveals her crushing self-doubt. Harry parries by telling her to “err on the side of confidence”, which Sally Student clearly lacks. Finally, with a wag of his pen, Harry advises her that while she probably will fail, to make sure that she fails for the right reasons.

You Can't Go Back If You Never Leave…

I don’t know about you all but today’s strip left me feeling a little wistful– whoops, nope, that was just gas.  I have to say, with all of the retconning going on lately and TB’s freedom to claim *whatever* bulls*** he wants, I’m left a bit disappointed that from the looks of things, the most exciting thing that happened to Les during one of those mysterious time jumps is that he sulked around a college campus with his nose in a book of bad poetry he’d written.  How much more interesting would it have been if Les had said: “Failing that class was rough, but it was nothing compared to when I thought I could enlist in the Marines…”

Um, a zillion times more interesting.

Just for the record, here’s the distance he’d have to travel for his “big escape” from Kent, Ohio, back to Medina, Ohio.

36 miles.

 

I know this was in the days before Google maps but didn’t he at least have a car!? Escaping talk aside, as an ex-Ohioan I can tell you that most kids dream of getting the hell out of the state, not moving back to the small town they grew up in.

This begs a question I actually have *no* idea about.  Does Les have parents?

 

 

If This Made Any Sense At All I'd Call It Retconning

My head asploded as I attempted to summarize today’s strip.  At first I was as confused as hell because I thought the sepia-toned flashbacks were hearkening back to Les’s college years except for the fact:

1. He still looks in his 40s.

2. He still has that now retcon-yellow yellow shirt.

Then I realized that Les is getting all sentimental and reminiscing about something that happened literally *yesterday*.   The problem is, does his reference to “planning my getaway” refer to when he wanted to leave Kent State as a college student after he graduated or is he referring to want to leave yesterday?  ‘Cause if it’s the latter, hey, Einstein, get in your car and drive 90 miles to home.

One last thought: please, God, I don’t ever want to see that Panel 2 expression on Les again unless I can see where his hands are.