Oh, Tony, how we missed you. You were gone for so long we’d forgotten about you completely, only to have you pop up when it’s least expected and with all that’s going on in Westview lately, a rather inopportune time. You’re like a herpes. It’s gone, no, wait, never mind. It’s back.
Still, time jumps have been kind to the man, as today’s strip shows. He doesn’t even need glasses to read whatever week’s worth of gags he’s written down to unload on us like yesterday’s stale breadsticks.
HeyItsDave
April 15, 2016 at 7:51 am
Characters just seem to vanish without a trace in this arc. First Jessica disappears after the movie, and now Cindy and Mason seem to have ditched the Dorknamic Duo in Westview on their way back to California.
Jessica’s whereabouts are still unknown, but today Darin, Pete, and Funky are replaced by Mason and Cindy (or “MaCin” as they must be know in the tabloids) and Holly at Montoni’s counter. Mason the actor bemoans how fickle Hollywood’s rejection can result in “the actor’s story” ending in obscurity and despair; probably not wise to bring this up with his fiance sitting right next to him.
Anyway it’s been a fun few weeks celebrating this blog’s sixth anniversary! Thanks to each and every one of you for reading and commenting and being such a wonderful online community. SoSFDavidO jumps into the driver’s seat tomorrow!
Albeit only briefly, Cindy brightens as she remembers that she too has a career, and can maybe wring some publicity out of old Cliff Anger. Until she does the mental arithmetic that the rest of us have already done. But Mason is having none of it. He’s either trying to sound pithy with his “technicolor to monochrome” rejoinder, or perhaps he’s watched so many “Oscars In Memoriam” segments that the idiot really does think that’s what becomes of old actors.
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Should be right up the alley of “Lord of Language” Mr. Moore, and likely a bookmarked site for Tom Batiuk as well. Les, after all, must keep his pedant game strong so he can continue to make his students and everyone else he meets feel ignorant and inferior every chance he gets. And say what you will about Batiuk’s craft: his dialogue may be tone-deaf and stilted, and his jokes are by turns weak or incomprehensible (or in the case of today’s strip a little of both), but you’d be hard pressed to find fault with their grammatical construction.
I honestly don’t know how to read today’s strip. Really, no idea at all.
I suspect TB wants us to take Cindy’s overly maudlin metaphor and Funky’s seemingly-pleased reaction to it at face value, something that is rather difficult to do if you have a history of reading this strip. Funky and Holly are fairly amicable ex-es these days, but simply knowing that they are ex-es opens this up to interpretations such as Cindy rubbing her new beau in Funky’s face or Funky’s “So Mason’s the one?” being delivered with sneering sarcasm (“I was the one once too…” he mutters under his breath). Understanding that this takes place in the thoroughly unpleasant Batiukverse makes these alternate interpretations seem even more likely, as they fit the generally sour mood of this strip.
I’m actually more interested in the conversation going on at the other side of the room. Presumably, Mason is complimenting Holly on the Christmas decorations she bought at Dollar General 5 years ago, but maybe he’s just really excited about seeing a flat, printed cut-out of Santa Claus. Perhaps he is showing her the pose he does on the Starbuck Jones movie poster. Or maybe I just start inventing background stories when TB’s writing doesn’t hold my interest…
Son of Stuck Funky 