TB pivots from an industry about which he clearly knows little, to one that he professes to understand well…and still gets it wrong. Anyone who’s worked in or around the print industry knows that if a printer fucks up the job , he eats it; he re-runs the whole job at his own expense, not charging the client for a “correction run.” Meanwhile TB amuses himself, if no one else, by name-dropping himself, and (mis-)quoting his Crankshaft strip from a month ago.
Tag: Crazy Harry
The Dork Funk Returns
Once again, technology, not limited to and including digital cameras, emails, faxes, overnight packages and scanners don’t exist in Westview, necessitating a long car ride for Holly to visit Pete to look at some original art of Mister Sponge that she thinks she can trade for the last couple Starbucks Jones comics she needs. Wow, as today’s strip, shows, this stuff writes itself!
Actually, this isn’t a bad ploy, Holly.. not a bad ploy at all.
I mean, I someone I sort of knew showed up at my doorstep having just driven 800 miles and said their adult son who is in the military collected comic books and hey, could I give up my signed George Lucas Lightsaber so she could trade it for the last two comics he needed, I’d have to have a heart of stone to say no.
I’m betting Holly’s lip can quiver with the best of them when faced with the prospect of driving back to Ohio without the original Mister Sponge art she needs.
All of this sounds convoluted and insane. How do we even know Hagglemore *likes* or *wants* anything to do with Mr. Sponge? Sorry, lady, I only collect D.C..
You would think Holly would have at least spoken with the guy before driving across the country to hassle Pete.
Mr Sponge Worthy
Back to Starbuck’s Jones’ arc! For those of you just joining by popping in on today’s strip, Holly is the mother of a US Army Solider that’s currently deployed in the Gulf and retconned into collecting Starbucks Jones comic books. Despite coming out in the 1970s, apparently these comics are so rate getting the last 6 key issues is about impossible, or would be, for most collectors. More than a few times collectors that had the issues Holly needed just rolled over and gave it to her for free, or for “a buck” because her son is in the military.
It looks like the favor well has run dry. The last issue she got by winning it on eBay (A 6 day arc, seriously) and now she’s about to trade a piece of original comic art for the chance to buy the uber-rare Starbucks Jones issue.
Original comic art sold at Heritage is serious business, way out of Holly’s league. Would Cory even get $9,000 worth of enjoyment out of it? I’m sure the thing is slabbed in a tomb, never mean to be read. A single crease on the cover from a carelessly turned page could cut the comic’s grade (and value in half).
Me, I just look forward to seeing yet another maniacal comic collector depicted in Westview.
Comical Tragedy
Back to Starbuck’s Jones’ arc in today’s strip! The good news is, there is only two more comics to go, and both appear to be owned by Chester Hagglemore, who apparently needs a moniker despite the fact his last name is a pun.
Holly looks a bit green around the gills at the news, and considering she just took out a second mortgage on the house to pay for the last issue of Starbucks Jones I can’t blame her. She’s probably already wondering what Funky’s spleens would go for, or if her womanly charms could persuade Chester out of these last two issues.
Tactics of Conquest
I always thought the term was “poaching” and not “sandbagging,” but what do I know? I certainly don’t have a Pulitzer nomination on my shelf. I would also think that someone snatching a last-minute prize wouldn’t “snipe”* it, but now I’m just getting all beady-eyed.
Judging by Harry and John’s wild gesticulation, the Starbuck Jones saga is something they find quite engaging. And it serves as a good illustration of one of Funky Winkerbean‘s problems: telling and not showing. Stories about people in comic books can be very entertaining, since those people are usually doing things or plotting to do things. Stories about people collecting comic books are not interesting. At all. Especially when they consist entirely of “I’m looking for an issue,” “Oh, well, here you are, then” stretched out over a week. As pointed out some time ago by BillyTheSkink (thanks Billy!), it’s the reverse of Monty Python’s “Cheese Shop” sketch.
What would be funny (in a rather “meta” sense of course) would be if the object of Holly’s quest wasn’t Starbuck Jones but instead something more in keeping with the general tenor of Funky Winkerbean. To wit:
Holly: “Good morning, I’m looking for a particular comic for my son, who’s serving in Khahnistan.”
Wensleydale: “Certainly, ma’am, we’re a comic shop. What would you like?”
Holly: “Have you got volume nine of the complete newspaper Spider-Man?”
Wensleydale: “Ooo–that’s the one where he sits on the couch while his wife works, right? And the other Marvel heroes keep saving him? And there’s the special Sunday strip where he almost orders a pizza but stops himself at the last minute? That’s a fairly rare item, I’m afraid.”
Newspaper Spider-Man and Funky Winkerbean are made for each other.
Speaking of artwork, initially, it looks to me as though the colorist here got Tom Batiuk’s notes in the wrong order. You’d think the second panel would be the one shrouded in an all-encompassing darkness. That is how my favorite character, the Pouncing Darkness, rolls in this strip. On the other hand, we all know Holly’s going to get this issue no matter what, so perhaps Tom’s doing a bit of subtle foreshadowing by having panel two suddenly brighten.
Hey, it could happen.
*Seriously, check out definition 6 on that page.
Son of Stuck Funky 
