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.
SosfDavidO here for a two week stint!
As testament to just how powerful the pull of Ohio is in Tombat’s world, it would appear all of Hollywood has decided to up and move production there based on, um, I have no idea what. Sure it’s cheaper there but I’m guessing a big-budget tentpole movie like Starbuck Jones would be really heavy on the greenscreens. Unless Cleveland has some effects production house I’m unaware of a lot of the digital heavy lifting would probably be done in New Zealand, where they can pay artists in “exposure” and bundles of wool.
In any case, Tony is back in today’s strip! Half of the readers might have trouble even remembering who he is. I just keep thinking he’s Mario from Nintendo, just twenty years older.
That said, the path to madcap zaniness has been set, though Tony might want to check with the lawyers for the Starbuck Jones movie before engaging in any promotional offers for a movie he has zero rights to.
Rusty
April 15, 2016 at 8:05 am
So….what’s happening with the decoder ring? Why show that yesterday?
Well, I guess it was so he could show it again today, being sold (and bought) on “Fleabay”, which, as it turns out, exists in real life and appears to be a desperately poor man’s eBay–it’s a dot net, not even dot com for cryin’ out loud. A more puzzling question is, with his rent paid for a year and any financial problems likely resolved for the rest of his days, why must Cliff continue selling off his last few Starbuck Jones mementoes?
Their Conradian quest to locate Cliff Anger complete, the Starbuck Jones dream team rush back to… Montoni’s? Th’ hell? A month ago they were tasked with scripting and storyboarding a sequel, to be shot concurrently with the feature they were already working on. Did this development lead to the boys working even harder and longer? Nope: Pete proceeded to have another of his Batom flashbacks, which was followed by a road trip to Ohio, not to Cleveland to scout locations for the story’s origin scenes, but to Centerville for a screening of the obscure SJ serial. They followed this with another trip yet further east to locate the serial’s obscure leading man. Anyway, the upside here is that mopey Pete is looking and acting positively chipper!
Hello, Rembrandt36 here – longtime lurker, sometimes poster, sometimes defender of TB (but usually not). My thanks to TFH for the lovely accommodations at the local Motel 6 where I am writing this post; the chewed piece of bubble gum on my pillow was a nice touch.
But now down to business. When we last left the Dynamic Trio yesterday, it looked as if Cindy was going to jump to her death, thus ending her misery of appearing in this comic strip. Today we see no such luck. She has in fact climbed on to the fire escape to try to communicate with the legend that is known as… Cliff Anger.
Before I address the riveting story we get today, let’s be upfront about one thing. We’ve got a lot of really pretty pink bricks drawn in perspective. With that we also get a highly detailed fire escape walk and stairwell to add to the charm. For whatever talent TomBat lacks in keeping the look of his characters consistent, he lavishes upon the location here. Bravo. Although I must admit the window on the lower level looks like it has decided to slide off the wall.
But now we get to the meat and potatoes of the matter. Starting from the left we have Mopey Pete looking like he is trying to bust a move in an inky black void. Mason is speaking into a blackboard eraser to Funky, telling him that he needs to talk some sense into his ex. It should be noted that Mason is sitting at a really weird can-this-happen-in-real-life stance on the window sill (Folks, never set your Jarrs that close to the ledge – they could fall and break).
Meanwhile Cindy is communicating to Cliff through the window. Either that or she has breathed on the glass and is now drawing doodles on the fogged surface. In the last panel we see that Pa Winkerbean has wandered away from the nursing home and has answered the phone at Montoni’s. He – what? That’s supposed to be Funky answering the phone? Huh. Anyway, the audience gets a side-mouthed smirking retort at the expense of Cindy. Otherwise known as business as usual with this comic.
Son of Stuck Funky 