Les – Page 113 – Son of Stuck Funky

Nordic Thud

Yuck. I’m assuming that someone out there knows all about whatever it is these two droning imbeciles are jabbering about, as I have no idea. And now that I know they’re into it, I have no desire whatsoever to look it up and find out for myself either.

I guess the “joke” is that “Nordic” people tend to have a gloomy pessimistic outlook on things, which is just an outrageously anti-Nordite statement to make IMO. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if that one guy in Sweden stops reading the strip over this slur. I like the idea of Les taking a dig at Funky for being such a dreary snore, though. Takes one to know one, beardo.

No Fidelity

Link To Today’s Strip

Har har har, I get it. Add “music hipsters” to the list of modern-day whackadoodles. Or maybe it’s a fond homage to those annoying plastic converter things you used to need to play 45 RPM records. Who knows and frankly, who cares? All things considered, this isn’t the worst FW gag I’ve ever seen but DAMN is that gigantic single panel jarring, it’s just huge.

Note the park bench, as it isn’t just any old park bench…it’s a very special park bench. I like how the seasons change in Westview, just instantaneously all at once. That would be so cool in real life, you know?

One final beady-eyed nitpicky point: the floating music notes should be coming from the headphones, shouldn’t they?

The More It Struggled, The Moore It Strangled

Link to Today’s Strip.

Well, Funky, my guess would be that you’d have one nickle, as I for one have never encountered that phrase before. No idea who Sarcastic Old Bastard is, but he sure is lovingly detailed so I wonder if he’s some Real-Life Friend.

I’m more of a casual exerciser myself, so can anyone tell me…aren’t you supposed to do your stretching before you start running?

Look at Les’ delicate little pose there, right dead center of course, and tell me you don’t want to set him on fire. You can tell that was the very first thing that Tom Batiuk drew, then he sat back and admired his work for a while, then sighed and figured he had to get Funky in there “because the gum-chewers who fail to appreciate Les will expect it.”

Well, such work deserves consideration.

Or we could just cut to the chase.

In a Barb Wire Fence, Fatally Tangled

Link to Today’s Strip.

Hey, way to be the ultimate douche-bag, Les! Don’t tell your “friend” about the sports car as you approach it (or, if it’s driving, approaching you) so that he could easily see it. No, no, wait until you’re both past it, so he’ll have to turn around to see it and halt his momentum. That’ll teach him to be a fat slob of a loser!

I guess the “joke” was on Les, though–his Expression in Panel Two looks like someone who is stunned that his get-the-fat-guy-to-turn-around scheme has had no effect.

And this strip is yet another in which there is absolutely no content. No attempt at a joke, nothing that’s supposed to be “meaningful,” just another week of naught tossed off in a matter of house, then tossed into a drawer to be brought out and printed when snarkers derail your planned Ghost Lisa appearance. (I’m assuming.) Nothing to think about, except 1) who “shoots” an episode entirely from the back like this (although I guess it saves having to draw a nifty car), and 2) I wonder who went to all the trouble of shoveling the sidewalk so neatly. I mean, look at that–someone did a really good job shoveling, and just the sidewalk, too. Not like a homeowner shoveling his way from door to walk, just sidewalk all the way.

Anyway, that’s all I see here. And as it’s hard to criticize something that has no substance at all–neither good nor bad–I have to say, well played, Tom Batiuk. You’ll get to that magical 50th yet!

No-Joke

Link to today’s strip.

Ah, there’s the punchable Les we all know and loathe. Even with little more than half a face visible, I still want to punch that half until it’s gone. Funky’s Expression in Panel Two (the Theme For The Week) is one of unmitigated fury, which struck me as strange until I realized that in panel one, Wino McHomeless’s remark could have been taken as sarcasm. And to be fair, in panel one Funky looks like Holly after being (initially) denied a comic book. Oh, I’m sooooo helpless and incapable, someone needs to give me things as gifts for free. Oh boo hoo hoo, my son is in the military, soon to be slabbed as a key issue.

…sorry, got a bit off track there. Anyway, if I was out running, and some guy passed me and said “Way to go,” I think I would probably interpret that as sarcasm if I was having the same sort of difficulty as Funky. I mean, there I’d be, wheezing and puffing, trying to keep up with my Perfect Friend, and he’s essentially saying “Huh, wheezing and puffing, eh? Well you’re doing it real good!” I wonder why he didn’t say something like, “Don’t stop! You can do it!” or “It takes a while, but you’ll get there!” or something more generally encouraging.

Oh. Oh, you’re kidding. Really? He said that so that Tom Batiuk could insert his “joke” which uses the difference between “go” and “no-go”? I don’t know if I’ve encountered anything sadder this week. And I write these entries a year in advance, so that’s a lot of weeks!

Bonus: Funky’s zipper pull tab is lovingly rendered, isn’t it? That and the Button are the only items to have any care lavished on them, other than Les, of course. I mean, look at Wino’s right hand. Clearly he’s a mutant of some kind. Is he an X-Man? I bet his mutant super-power is never appearing in Funky Winkerbean again, which sounds darn handy! (ha ha ha)!