Um, Les, that doesn’t really address her question at all. She didn’t ask if you wanted sparkling water, she asked if you wanted a drink. There are many, many other drinks than sparkling water. It really wouldn’t surprise if Batiuk constructed the past two weeks just so he could use “sparking water-boarded” as a punchline.
I do like how even though she says it’s nice to meet Les, Cassidy Kerr is not actually touching him. Her face in the third panel seriously disturbs me, though.
I am scared by what “Pink Entertainment” could possibly be. In the real world it would undoubtedly be an adult film studio, but there’s no way this strip would ever be that interesting. Among the many things I dislike about Batiuk’s writing, his tendency to name drop Hollywood restaurants and hotels is pretty high up there. I’m pretty sure he’s mentioned Chateau Marmont before. I’m sure he thinks it’s adding realism to his comic, and maybe fifty years ago that would’ve worked, but now anybody can search for a Hollywood restaurant name in ten seconds, so it’s not really impressive anymore.
Who do you think Les is so excited to see? My money is the guy who reads the obituaries on the nightly news, because of course in the Batiukverse that would be a thing, and it would be the highlight of Les’s day.
today’s strip
Man, that Les face in the first panel is priceless. Poor, poor Les. Being forced to have a movie made of Lisa’s Story. If only he could say no. Which he could, of course, but won’t, because he’s a whiny child. A whiny child who called his wife up to whine about the travesty being done to the memory of his dead wife. Which, if it’s not the world’s story, then why did he publish it in a book as “Lisa’s Story”, exactly?
This really is Les at his most insufferable. I have an extremely hard time believing that even Batiuk thinks Les is sympathetic or at all likeable, but apparently he does.
today’s strip
“It’s a romance movie! There’s never been one of those before! I mean, sure, they literally go back to 1896, but still romance! Surefire hit! And so what if the movie ends with the heroine wasting away and dying rather than finding the man of her dreams?” Does Batiuk think this is supposed to be a good pitch? Stating the genre of the movie isn’t a convincing argument for why it should be made.
Man, someone must have once told Batiuk that the only reason Hollywood hadn’t paid him nine figures to adapt Lisa’s Story was because it was Too Much Art for the masses. Or maybe that’s just what he tells himself. Although I can totally picture him calling up studio after studio until someone finally realized if they just appealed to his ego he’d leave them alone.
I would really, really love for someone in this strip to just not like Lisa’s Story. Even those who are against the spreading of the Lisa Gospel are totally convinced it’s beautiful art. Just once someone should react like a normal human would: “Wait, the lab results got mixed up somehow? And you spent how many pages on this ‘Darrin’ dork opening a letter? Why is this all about Les, it’s supposed to be ‘Lisa’s Story’?”.
Since Batiuk is just repeating the last “Lisa’s Story: The Movie” arc, how long do you think it’ll be before Alan Silver suggests Lisa not dying in the movie?
Also, if you want to laugh more than you’ve laughed at this strip (for a reason Batiuk intended), read the Wikipedia page for “four quadrant movie” and try and imagine how Lisa’s Story would be remotely close to what it describes.
Son of Stuck Funky 