‘th hell happened to Cory? Early in Act III, he really had the potential to be an interesting character: son of an alcoholic/workaholic father who had no time for him, Cory was by turns a thief, a vandal, and a test cheat. Readers still wonder what went on at the New Year’s Eve party he threw while his parents treated themselves to a Caribbean vacation. Nowadays, his sole purpose is to serve as a wisecracking foil to his hapless teachers. Maybe that experience wearing the pizza costume succeeded in finally breaking his rebellious spirit.
Tag: Les
Paper View
Cory cares not a rat’s ass about climate change; he just enjoys being a shit-disturber. What I find disturbing is the hit-or-miss quality of the artwork in today’s comic. Check out the grotesesque grinning mug at the far right of panel 2: what’s he smiling about? And I recognize Summer by her blue hair, but has her face melted? What dread, degenerative disease has caused Rana’s droopy mug in the penultimate panel? And Cory seems to age about 15 years between panels 4 & 5. He morphs, mid-harangue, from a dopey child to a sardonic hipster.
Wouldn’t recycled paper be the most eco-friendly option? I’m not sure how cutting “farm-raised trees” has less of a carbon impact than cutting trees that are, uh, free range? It’s like telling a vegetarian that it’s ok to eat that burger because it came from a farm-raised cow.
Brokedown Palace
In the history of “writing”, has there ever been a less charming “leading man” than Les Moore? Those perpetually arched eyebrows…the “Mom jeans” he’s wearing today…yecch. To his credit, at least he’s finally coming around to the idea of Cayla and Keisha becoming his family, with his talk of “two girls headed off to college”.
Anyway: what’s the deal with Cayla’s scrawny legs?
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…
In Situ Whatever
Batiuk’s “Funky felt tip” has been especially cruel to Linda yesterday and today: she looks like Crankshaft backed the school bus over her. I especially like the shadow cast by her nose.
The strip at first focused on gags about teenagers at the imaginary Westview High School. Over the years, it explored sensitive topics such as cancer, dyslexia, teen suicide and alcoholism.
—From just about every profile written about Tom Batiuk
But hey: writing means that you can play sensitive topics for laughs when you feel like it, right? So let’s all chuckle at the thought of Jim the Science Guy, alone in his hotel room, draining tiny, overpriced bottles of liquor while his colleagues dine without him.
Flashback to the 2007 Westview Senior Trip: Chien continues to demonstrate the “esteem” she has for her culturally deprived classmates.
Son of Stuck Funky 
