Funky – Page 175 – Son of Stuck Funky

A Day in the Life of a Geezer

Inside Danforth’s Drugstore, newly-blonde Summer, and Cory, wearing Maddie’s stolen cap, peruse the latest copy of Inked…what? We’re still in the past? Oh, yeah, then that must be Funky’s young self with his ace pal “Crazy” Harry, checking out the comics rack like the red-blooded high school boys of their day (yeah, right). Seeing his cue, Funky the Old Geezer winks at the boys, wags a crooked finger, and suggests that his younger self invest in Starbuck Jones #1.

So: we’ve earned an ending of sorts. Took a while, but TB has actually tied up a loose end. I like Teen Funky’s face in panel 3; almost a throwback to when he was drawn with his eyes about a half-inch apart.

Take That, Thomas Wolfe*

Checking in with the “real” world, seems our “pal” present-day Funky is clinging to life. In Funky’s mind, he strolls through a seemingly deserted (again) Olde Westview. TB probably was too exhausted after drawing that huge crowd (including four Funkys) two Sundays ago, to draw any more background characters. Watch that traffic light before you cross, “pal”. Early ’80’s Westview probably didn’t have rapid responding EMT’s like they do today.

Imagine: the chance to revisit your hometown as it was during the finest days of your life. Only in the Funkiverse does an experience like that translate to “kind of a letdown”.

No prizes for guessing who he’s going to meet in that drugstore.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Can’t_Go_Home_Again

Elvis vs. Jaws

Funky’s brief glimmer of pleasure at seeing his future wife in her teen majorette splendor is short-lived: he’s back to ruminating about the very unfairness of adult life. The “saved by rock and roll” cliché is just that: did any of us in our youth really, really take it to heart? I sure hope not.

Is Funky now wandering in circles? Yesterday he was standing beside the gazebo; today he’s approaching it from a distance.

Instead of the mangled mixed metaphor in panel three (I’m thinking of a Great White swinging a baseball bat)…it would be funny to have somebody overhear Funky in panel two and exclaim, “What? Elvis? Died???“

The Holly Budd Story

Well, look who’s up and about. Continuity has gone right out the window, folks. Not only are we back in the late 20th century, but we went from twilight in Sunday’s strip to full daylight yesterday. Now we see the band members are still milling about the gazebo, so presumably we’re still in the same day. And Old Funky continues his out-loud spoken observations as he leans against the tree, ogling Britney Spears young Holly Budd. He’s right, kids: by the time you reach adulthood, concepts like “happy” and “carefree” will be totally alien to your lives.

Benched

He may be unstuck in time, but Funky’s ass remains stuck to that park bench in Olde Westview. He continues to soliloquize about how much better we had it in the twentieth century, although he concedes that GPS is a good thing. But were it not for cell phones, Funky would have one less outlet to express his jerkitude. And if not for the 24-hour news cycle, Funky’s ex would find herself out of work…