Tag: Les

A Lot Les


Today’s strip

BChasm here once again, despite what the byline reads.  Monday’s strip was not available beforehand, but I guessed that we’d continue with Holly’s attempt to amass a complete collection of Starbuck Jones comics to send to Cory.  And I guessed wrong!

Tom Batiuk goes back to the only character he truly loves.  I was thinking that if there are seven Starbuck Jones covers, that means seven weeks of Holly looking for comics.  I could not imagine a Funky Winkerbean arc lasting that long; I fear my eyeballs would shrivel in their sockets by week four.

I think that perhaps Tom Batiuk thought the same thing.  Or at least, he thought he couldn’t do without Les for that long.  Anyway, today we have Les, the World’s Greatest Writer, whining about how hard writing is.  I’m hoping he’s building a gallows so he can hang himself.  Hey, can’t hurt to hope, right?

Dimming of the Day

I hope everyone enjoyed Epicus’ guest stint these last couple
of weeks! Tune in tomorrow when Beckoning Chasm
takes a turn in the SoSF wheelhouse.

I was tempted to go with a “dark/light” theme in the post title, but thought better of it. Whatever other complaints can be laid at Batiuk’s doorstep, he’s always presented the biracial aspect of Les and Cayla’s relationship in a matter-of-fact style (of course, his eradication of almost all her racial characteristics is another story). But Cayla has spent most of her nearly five years with Les competing against rivals living (Susan) and dead (Lisa), while Les remained completely oblivious to her devotion. That’s why when TB decides to show Les and Cayla getting romantic, it just rings totally false.

Notice Les’ face in panel 2: instead of a contented smile, he offers a haughty, sidelong glance as if to say, “Good Lord, woman, what are you talking about now?” Cayla is observing the end of Daylight Savings Time (Crankshaft is observing it too, in a strip that at least tries to be funny). Les musters what little charm he possesses, and he shares with his Cayla what he likes about the early dusk: it allows him to sit with her in the dark and imagine he’s with Lisa.

Your Difference May Vary

Today’s strip

Bull decided NOW would be a good time to start making a difference? Oh well, I guess those kids he “educated” over the course of the last twenty (or whatever) years were just plain f*cked, eh? What a totally preposterous and embarrassingly lazy way to end this pointless and incredibly stupid arc. It’s just an amazingly dumb thing for the Bull character to say, especially when you consider that he’s done the “reformed former bully who learned to care” bit with Bull a dozen times at a minimum through the years. Just laughably poor, shabby, lazy and witless.

So what did we actually learn this week? One, if you’re a weirdo, a giant wuss or any combination thereof, keep the camera rolling when bullies attack. Two, if you’re a bully, check for cameras BEFORE the shakedown. Three, TomBat still has the remarkable ability to throw a random Les drawing in there once in a while that makes me hate the character even more, which shouldn’t be possible. Look at that face in panel three, the smugness oozing from every pixel with the leaves fluttering around his repulsive head as he smirks at his inferior, simplistic yet lovable old pal in that condescendingly annoying way of his. What a dick.

Whew

Today’s strip

My fellow snarkers have beat me to the punch on this one. Whew indeed! I might add, wow.

Look at Cayla’s face in the panel where she’s thinking “If Lisa were here?” and the following, “Whew!” panel! Yes, gaze upon Tom Batiuk’s vision of a woman.

She is weak, dim-witted, and worthless on her own. Only her relationship to Les Moore enables any worth to devolve upon her. She is the luckiest woman on earth to have hooked up with the greatest auteur the world has ever known.

Feh.

Westview’s Only Growth Industry

Today’s strip

According to a UCSF study, when it comes to funding medical research

Depression ($719 M), injuries ($691 M), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ($613 M) were the most underfunded.

If you visit this NIH funding report and click on one of the table headings to sort by actual funding, you’ll find that cancer research is well funded. Given how depressing this serious serial art form is, I might have a suggestion for a more worthy target for Funky Winkerbean’s charitable efforts.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to encourage donations to fund cancer treatment and research. It’s a generous and kind thing to do. But the constant droning of Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa… mentally drowns out the actual cause.

Not to mention poor Cayla (I thought I said not to mention her!). She’s barely visible in the background of panel 1, joyfully carrying a carton of T-shirts bearing her predecessor’s name, all the while about to be struck by a no-doubt suicidal falling leaf. At least the colorist remembered to use Fall colors for the leaves this time. Cayla’s daughter, of whom Cayla is the mother, is a barely differentiated smudge against the backdrop of The Gazebo in Westview (panel 2).

The titular character appears today, prominently displaying the effects of the contextual reality field that ensures he’s trim enough to run whenever the plot requires it. Don’t fret, though: he’ll be 75 pounds heavier the moment he returns to work at Montoni’s.