Cory – Page 13 – Son of Stuck Funky

Rocky Strangler

“Rocky Strangler” would be a great name for a guy in a metal band, wouldn’t it? I think it’s way better than “Mason Jarr.” You say, “The character’s name is ‘Rocky Strangler'” and people go, “Cool!” You tell them “The characters are Mason Jarr and Rocky Rhodes” and they say, “Wow, that’s fairly stupid. What are you, three years old?”

Anyway, sorry for wasting a paragraph like that, but heck, this is Funky Winkerbean where “waste” is a middle name. What’s interesting here is the contrasting reactions in this strip, as opposed to the previous two. Holly’s reaction that her son is going to be married is a kind of firm interest, whereas the thought of comic books being sold brought her to a volcanic rage. Why it’s almost as if marriage is nothing much, but comic books are the very stuff that dreams are made of. Given the citizens in Westview, comic books are far more permanent than marriage anyway.

Another curious thing. If I remember rightly, Cory and Rocky were originally linked together because of a shared love of Starbuck Jones comics. Now, comic books aren’t anything more than a source of cash to Cory. Could that be why he collected them in the first place, because he saw them as a commodity, and not as entertainment? If that’s the case, it might explain why he went behind Holly’s back to sell them–she thought he was interested in the stories and he didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise.

Distracting from all of this is today’s artwork. It’s amazing that you can have two characters positioned the same in two panels, and have such wildly divergent artwork. Holly sheds enough tissue to resemble a skull, and Cory’s hairline sets out on a trek to unite with his eyebrows. It’s the very definition of “dashed off carelessly.”

“Dash Doff Carelessly” would be a great name for a guy in a punk band. “Dashed Doff Carelessly and The Batiukophonics.” Well, I’m off to copyright some things!

Psychotic Reaction

Link to today’s strip.

Those of you who thought Holly’s expression was terrific yesterday are in for a treat today. I stand in line where Fearless Leader’s choice in banner images is concerned, but I think the face in panel one is the winner.

That’s the face of pure malevolence right there. It reminds me of Boris Karloff at his most murderous, leading a torch-bearing mob against those who dare oppose his villainy. How did he rouse the ire of the crowd–did he accuse his foes of being witches, or Satanists, or grave-robbers? Maybe it was something worse!

When I altered the above, I originally drew the widow’s peak way too far. I ended up with someone quite different-looking. In fact, what the heck–

In both those images, the only thing I altered was removing Holly’s hair and adding a bit of ear. The face is pure Batiuk.

As for actual content, those of you who guessed “Engagement Ring for [Rocky]” you can collect your prize money at the ticket window. While that was probably the most likely possibility, it still leaves Cory as the crook who stole the Lisa funds. I never thought that act would simply get glossed over–it was pretty much Cory’s defining moment–but then, most of the stuff that happens in this strip is inexplicable. And not in a fun way, either.

You Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth?

Link to today’s strip.

Well, I have to say that Holly in panel three is a sight for sore eyes. Finally, someone moved to exhibit an emotion, and it isn’t abject despair! This has got to be a Funky Winkerbean first. Even Funky didn’t approach this level of anger when he learned that Cory stole the Lisa’s Legacy funds. The force of her rage has actually flattened Cory’s head! Well done, well done, Mr. Batiuk!

It now pains me to point out that the sentence structure sure suffers by comparison. For one thing, Holly was vacuuming, not sweeping–and there is a difference. “Cleaning” would work in this case. But the third panel really shouldn’t be a question, based on the content of the first two panels. Panel two should have been “When I noticed something…” which could easily fit the available space in that word-balloon and wouldn’t make the final panel seem so awkwardly put together.

I guess the least aspect of this episode is the idea behind it. Holly collected the comics for Cory and gave them to him. That’s the end of the matter; he’s free to do with them as he pleases. I guess in the Author’s mind, a gift isn’t just a gift, it’s an actual aspect of the giver, and thus must be treasured forever as that aspect instead of being appreciated as an object with its own function. Thus, selling the gift is a terrible, terrible insult.

(I guess. In my mind, I have an amusing picture of Tom Batiuk in high school, and a “friend” of his finishes a candy bad, then hands the wrapper to Young Batiuk. “Tom…I want you to have this,” he says, trying to hold back the laughter. “It…it meant a lot to me.” At home, Young Batiuk has whole shoe-boxes filled with candy wrappers et al which he would never consider parting with.)

Well, at least we got a classic face out of today’s episode. It’s the best thing I’ve seen in this strip since…well, it has been a while, let me just say that.

And the guy behind the counter sez “why the long box?”

Is today’s strip a clip show? Further examination reveals that none of the artwork in these panels is reused, but I had to double check, because this is the third day of the exact same conversation.

Cory continues to sell a mystery that we all stopped caring about after Tuesday’s haiku-legram read:

Cory sell comics
Looks bad but probably is
for decent purpose

I’m not sure why we need to receive this message every day. I guess it keeps Western Union in business.

All this time is not wasted, though. We do gain some insight into Cory’s life here, specifically about how little privacy he believes his mother will give him.

Heavy Lidded

*yawn*

Sorry about that. Today’s strip is, in fact, a thing. It’s a thing where stuff happens, technically, I think.

Cory continues to sell us on the mystery of why oh why he would sell his mother’s beloved collection of Starbuck Jones comics behind Holly’s back. This is day four of the sales job but I’ll let the redundancy slide because having to half-explain it to DSH serves a minor narrative purpose even if we’re all going “again?!”

Here’s my only real problem with today’s strip: why bring Bob Hope back from the dead if you are just going to give him a silent silhouette cameo in panel 3? I mean, not even he could make this material entertaining, but I’d at least appreciate it if TB let him try.