Cody – Page 14 – Son of Stuck Funky

WHSTV

You’d think that producing Westview High’s closed-circuit morning newscast would be a job that a couple of geeks like Cody and Owen could not only do but might actually do pretty well. Naturally, everything goes terribly awry, as typified by the fact that the picture on the TV is upside down. Just more fuel for Les and Linda’s disdain of their idiot students.

Never mind that, though. Get a load of who’s sitting in the front row: it’s Alex, most recently seen dispensing totally worthless relationship advice to lovestruck Owen. Surely there is some retconning going on here: we met Alex at mopey Pete’s book signing in December 2007 (see below), and she appeared to be at least high school age five years ago (I was going point to the fact that she sported tattoos even back then, but apparently Ohio law allows minors to get tattoos with parental consent). She’s certainly old enough for Pete to attempt hitting on, though we know that that’s not the best indicator. Note that her model sheet on the Meet the Cast page is one of the few that does not give an age. How convenient.

Dec. 10, 2007 strip:

Cody-chrome

Apparently Owen is sensitive about his looks, or lack of same, but he gets no “comfort” from his only friend, whose own school photo surely must be at least as hideous as Owen’s.

Fool's Overture

Band class is in session, and no doubt Becky feels energized and inspired after following the Dinkles around the music educators’ conference. That energy is short-lived, however, as she must deal with OwenandCody’s attempt to waste everyone’s valuable class time.

A Lowell in the Action

Today’s strip takes us through space, from London to Lowell, Massachusetts, and through time, to the mid-nineteenth century, to finally arrive at a weak “pun-chline” which a year or two ago would have been served up by Cory “Call Me Fishmeal” instead of Cody.

As an aside: a long-running comic to which FW is often (unfavorably) compared explains how “small lapses in continuity and art…only add to the charm” of “artisanal comics” such as Funky Winkerbean…check out today’s Doonesbury!

[Edit: Link to today’s FW and to Doonesbury were incorrect; I’ve fixed ’em now]

The Flamenco Bits

While we often take Batiuk to task for his “tell, don’t show” storytelling style, let’s give him a pass just this time for not actually depicting Crazy Harry in the throes of his “happy dance”. But he gets no points for rehashing yesterday’s panel 2 reaction shot in order to milk this gag for another day. As a bonus, we get another rendering of John’s lumpy mug and some tortured, redundant sentence structure from Owen. And anono-hoodie is going to be haunted for the rest of his life? Not to worry: as far as this strip’s concerned, your life is over and you’ll never be seen again.