Flummoxicated
October 3, 2011 at 10:53 am
So I’m guessing we’re in for six days of “technology, amirite?”, complete with weak puns and vague punchlines, no doubt.
Day Two: How much does Tony love his paper calendar? In panel one, he’s smelling it! And speaking of sniffers, when did Batiuk take away Darin’s most recognizable feature: his ski nose? At right is a comparison of Darin, five years ago, and the Darin of today. He now sports the same generic aquiline beak as Funky and Wally.
Darin justifies his paycheck by showing up early for the “staff meeting”. Twenty-four hours early. Old-timer Tony takes the opportunity to show Darin why a BlackBerry is no match for a filing cabinet, rolltop desk, and paper calendar.
When he’s not guzzling free coffee at Montoni’s, Crazy Harry can usually be found upstairs talking “komix” with Dead Skunk Head John. Harry sends DSHJ on a fool’s errand to acquire a rare volume of Tarzan comics, which will complete his plan to rule the world. If one wishes merely to rule the teenagers of Westview, all it takes is putting a sign in the window advertising “Breakfast Pizza”, as evinced by the rapt expressions of the youngsters in panel 5.
Instead of tipping the Funky fedora to Burroughs, whose Tarzan books provided the narrative, TB would do well to doff his cap to Hal Foster and Burne Hogarth, two legends of the Sunday comics who brought the Lord of the Jungle to life.
Well, we almost got through a whole week without seeing Les’ smug puss: the erstwhile “weekend manager” pops in to hear about how his “step-son” is revolutionizing the pizza business. For a brief moment, Tony musters the courage to stand up for himself, and for his (admittedly idiotic) “ideas”, but TB is only setting him up to be further marginalized: notice how in every panel, Funky and Les loom above him. In the penultimate panel, Tony looks and acts like a mustachioed toddler as Funky looks down his nose at him, until finally Tony throws up his hands once again. Better warm up that Space Invaders machine; Tony’s goin’ back downstairs to sulk.
“La donna mobile”?
You may not recognize the lyric (I sure as hell didn’t) but you know the tune…
Holy pepperoni, Funkman, I’ll say it’s a roaring success: practically all of Westview (except, sadly, for Cory) has turned out to sample Montoni’s New Breakfast Pizza. Did Cody and Owen grow a couple feet taller over the summer, or do they just seem tall standing behind tiny Kevin? Even some celebrities have turned out, including Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (behind Funky and Darin) and former child star Mason Reese (behind Maddie).
