Les – Page 140 – 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.

Miss All-Smart-Pad

Today’s strip

I’d hoped yesterday’s strip was a one-shot, but it looks as if this week we’re going to watch Cayla instruct Les in how to use his new tablet. I predict one of the days, Les will show us his weary-face and say, “With paper and pencil, I never had to wait while ‘important updates’ were installed.”

Other than that, I don’t know what else to say about this strip. Whenever Les appears, Tom Batiuk seems to have taken every effort to iron out any possible items of interest, so that criticism becomes meaningless. Good luck to the rest of you!

At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul

Today’s strip

Hello everyone, BChasm back for week two of my guest-hosting stint, on what we in the guest-hosting-stint business like to call “hump day.” And let me first offer an apology for the promisingly lurid title of this post, which seems to portend things of interest happening in the strip. Ha ha, this is Funky Winkerbean, interesting things need not apply!

This entry’s title comes from a 1964 movie starring “Coffin Joe” that, in the true spirit of Westview, I’ve never actually seen. But it contains the word “midnight” so it also becomes my ~~clever~~ way of saying that, once again, a preview of today’s episode was not available before press time.

I don’t like leaving everything to the last minute, so in order to “get started” on content I don’t yet have, I thought, well, I’d better “get started” anyway. Writing about something without having material at hand, or doing any research? Where have we seen that before?

Once the actual content is available, I may add what I laughingly call “insights” to this post. Or maybe not! Should I be lucky enough to fall over dead, however, I’m providing some generic comments that will work no matter what Monday’s strip might contain.

Oh, that wacky Owen! Thank you for your service, Harry Dinkle. Yes, Funky, the weight of the world is certainly keenly felt. DSH John, you sure make history come alive! Get your sad on, Wally. Becky and Bull, yes, students today can be quite the problem! Watch out for the Lord of the Late, Pete! You, uh, sure like old things a lot, Crazy. Jessica and Darrin, um, die in a fire? Les, I’d like to throttle you senseless and then beat your corpse bloodless.

UPDATE: Well, as a joke, today’s isn’t too bad. It sure looks like Les wants to take an actual bite out of his Apple in that last panel.

You Know You Know

Link to today’s strip

Boy, that first panel–yeah, Funky, Les needs more encouragement that he’s the greatest genius of our age…you know? Wait, did I say “genius?” Of course I meant “ass.”

Speaking of which: who’s the blonde in panel two? It’s not Rachel, since she (usually) has red hair and hers is less than shoulder length. Do we have a new character?

Probably not. Pretty much all the new characters introduced in this thing disappear right after they’re introduced. Aside from Chullo and Glasses, all the high school kids were shed last graduation day, and have barely been seen since. Tom Batiuk doesn’t seem to like new characters; they serve a plot point, then disappear. Take Blonde Waitress, here. Her plot point is to show that, just below her elbow, there’s another customer at Montoni’s, so take that, all you beady-eyed nitpickers!

Well, Tom, I don’t like any of your old characters, and even if I did, you seem hell-bent on making them unlikeable. Take Crazy Harry for example. I liked him because he seemed to have a positive attitude toward things he cared about (admittedly, Tarzan comics, but still). There was a strip about a year or so of the young Crazy surrounded by Tarzan books which was genuinely good, and really reflected a “sense of wonder” that stories can embody. So I thought Harry was kind of cool…well, Tom Batiuk can’t have that. So Harry was made just as obnoxious as everyone else. If any character is to be liked, by gum, it’ll be Les Moore or it’ll be nobody…which it is. Eventually the whole town will be populated by Les-clones, probably hatched from pods in Cayla’s garden. Lestables.

When I started my sidekick stint here, I was hoping to get a Les arc–the guy’s so damned punchable and pathetic, I figured the jokes would just fly from my fingertips. I should have known better, though–Tom Batiuk has become very protective of Les, and the arcs in which he plays a central role have been carefully set up so as to deny most of the potential for sarcasm. The story this week has been, basically, Funky tells Les that he, Les, is a genius. Les agrees. Cayla sits in admiration of Les. The reader vomits.

Of course, I think Tom Batiuk has become pretty protective of almost all of his characters. I’m trying to think of the last time that any of them made a simple mistake. The only example I can think of was last year, when Funky accidentally left a CD in his leased car when he returned it. Notwithstanding Chullo and Glasses, who are the only characters played for laughs (and I’m being charitable), can anyone think of mistakes made by the main cast?

I have to admit, I can’t get over Funky’s line in panel one (I would have used a different finger, though). “Wow, you are such a brilliant, talented, handsome man, Les…you know? Well? Well…did you know that? If you didn‘t know that, can I get credit for telling you? Please don’t wish me into the cornfield, Les.”

Rough Bark Roof

Link to today’s strip

Yeah, I can imagine Les Moore, super-athlete, dragging a typewriter, desk and chair up to Montoni’s roof. Then, of course, I can easily imagine him hanging off the roof to run a long extension cord through a window to power the typewriter. Then I imagine him pouring a cool lemonade, cracking his knuckles, poising his fingers over the keys, and being carried off by a Space Pterodactyl. I made up the last part myself, and I hope I’ll be forgiven if I say it’s my favorite bit.

Do we really, truly need any more of Tom Batiuk writing love letters to himself? Hasn’t it already been established that he thinks Les Moore is the greatest character in the history of literature? You might say, “He has to help new readers understand this” but can you actually imagine a new reader who says “Hang on, this Les guy is pretty cool! I think this is my favorite comic strip”? I can’t, myself, but I think I’ve just thought of a great way to get out of jury duty!

Lastly, and most germane to today’s strip…groan. Double secret groan. Are there any puns in the world worse than those of Les Moore? Yet look at those two chuckleheads, guffawing as if they’re listening to George Carlin or David Cross or even that dumb cousin of yours who tells those stupid knock-knock jokes. Or maybe they’re laughing at a knife-wielding serial killer coming up behind Les, in which case this is the greatest Funky Winkerbean ever.