Jim Kablichnik – Page 6 – Son of Stuck Funky

The Return of Jim

TFH of course solved the great “Jim Mystery” of last week, but here at least is proof that Tom Batiuk hasn’t forgotten how to draw Jim Kablichnik. He, er, hasn’t drawn him very well–in panel two, it looks like he’s about to vomit up his mashed potatoes (which is I suppose a natural reaction when meeting Les), but he’s nonetheless recognizable as the ol’ chair-stealer we’ve come to know and, uh, recognize.

I guess the rhetorical question Jim refers to is not the one he himself posed, but the implication from Les that everyone believes Les to be an amazing incompetent who cannot master any skills beyond usually putting his pants on with the top at the correct end. For the record, I’d hardly call that a rhetorical question, more like a casual observation, but it does allow Les to raise his ire. So, job well done, Jim. You can leave now. I hear they’re hiring at Sprawl-Mart.

He has many, many pairs of trick pants.

Chair Up, Jim

Guess the whole Lord of the Late arc really is over and done. Not that I was looking forward to week 3…anyway…looks like Linda’s dire prediction has come true: Westview’s voters have rejected the school levy and some teachers have been let go. Sadly, thanks to tenure, Jim Kablichnick not only gets to keep the job he despises, but is allowed to help himself to the spoils of others’ misfortune.

Here’s another strip that would have worked without Batiuk tacking on a punchline: the humor derives from the fact that even in the midst of a crisis, sour, selfish Mr. Kablich-prick thinks only of himself. But we get Jim not only offering a sassy retort, but mangling the famous “when the going gets tough” quotation. Maybe he means to say “When things get tough, the tough get…things”?

Who Could Ask For Moore?

Well. The tree managed to hang onto its beautiful golden canopy of leaves until the big day. And Mrs. Les Moore hangs on to her groom, the better to flash that band o’ gold (remember Les still has his from last time). The guests (where is Cayla’s family?) are all choked up, but Jim goes even further by inexplicably declaring this union to be the best thing that ever happened to him.

Tuesdays with Snorey.

Guest blogger DavidO here again, making a quick entry from the road, trying to be as funny as I can at a Motel8 lobby’s shared PC while a couple argues loudly about estate planning in the hotel breakfast bar no less than 10 feet from me.

Cory, Westview’s favorite badboy, has been reduced to that “kid sleeping in class character” for a quick gag. We’re so rarely given any glimpses of the Winkerbean homelife that it’s impossible to tell what’s keeping him up at night. Meanwhile, we’re treated to a possible sighting of Cell Phone girl and Celebrating Guy from Westview’s big win!

As the school year grinds down (In real life, a good amount of school years across the country are already over) it’s looking more and more like Westview’s kids might be keep in class well into August as TB tries to make up ground lost to the utterly pointless Promeggedeon storyline.

Say Cheese

Taking the senior class photo has changed? Because it’s being taken with a cellphone? Wow, progress, huh? Something else that’s changed is TB’s draftsmanship, if indeed it is he who drew this. I have no idea who the old gent taking the picture is, but I guess he’s another throwaway teacher, or maybe a passerby who the class asked if he would oblige. But this whole strip looks like it took ten minutes to draw. We recognize Maddie by her hat and red hair, and Cory by his shifty demeanor. But is that supposed to be the Capitol dome in the background? Might as well be Podunk City Hall.

Flashback to the 2007 Washington trip…Chien is still a drip…