Tag: Phil Holt

XYZ, Phil

Okay, so today’s strip really does make me wonder about something. I’ve kind of wondered for a while if Batiuk had passed on the actual writing of this strip to someone else, and crap like today really, really makes me think he has. Because I don’t really see how someone can write “guy comes back from the dead and then his coworker tells him his pants aren’t zipped up in front of a crowd” and think that’s “called writing”, unless they’re either eight or a Kent State English major who isn’t getting paid enough by Batiuk (probably because he’s paying them in surplus copies of Lisa’s Story).

Because really, the quality of this strip has taken a huge nosedive over the past few years.  With Act II and even well into Act III, it felt like Batiuk was trying and the strip was at least coherent.  Compare today’s strip to one of Batiuk’s rambling essays about cheesy sixties Flash comics, and you can definitely tell where his heart and effort are.

I Wish This Was All in Batiuk’s Imagination

I’m sure asking someone if you’re currently dreaming or your very life is somehow an imaginary story in front of a crowd and on camera will do wonders for Flash’s reputation.
This is just so dumb on so many levels. Batiuk can’t resist making everything into some kind of comic book reference or “joke”. Phil has apparently literally come back from the dead and is reunited with his former coworker/friend, and this is what Batiuk does with that moment? Instead of going with something genuinely emotional, or maybe explaining how he’s not dead anymore, he decides to criticize other people’s comic book writing? This is just sad.
At this point, why not just have Lisa randomly show back up alive next Monday?

Return of the Phil

This doesn’t quite seem to be how normal people would react to someone randomly returning from the dead. (I know it’s a waste of time expecting people to act normal in this strip, but still). I absolutely believe that if someone in the Batiukverse did spontaneously, inexplicably return from the dead, the first thing they would do would be seek out the nearest comic convention and ruin an event honoring someone else.
Boy, is Les going to be pissed with Lisa shows up and ruins the Lisa’s Legacy Run this year.

Gasp! It’s Phil Holt!

Surprise! It’s Phil Holt. Which I have to imagine most people probably guessed weeks ago. I am really loving the wild disconnect in this arc. Everything Flash has said is super nice and praising Phil, and yet Phil is acting like he’s caught Flash in something and is about to prove he’s a fraud.
I wonder if Batiuk will ever reach a point where he thinks his strip has enough old comic professionals. He killed Phil off, brought Flash in, and just brought Phil back again, for no reason. And he apparently just worked on the same things as Flash, which makes at least one of them totally redundant.

He’s a Sack of Something

Gosh, I wonder who Darth Vader will turn out to be.
I like how worked up he’s getting, like Flash is taking credit for his work (assuming it’s Phil Holt, but come on), but he literally just talked about how great he was to work with. Which, considering he’s making an ass of himself because Flash can’t remember the street a coffee shop was on decades ago, it’s kind of hard to believe he really was great to work with.
That mask makes me wonder something. Darth Vader is copyrighted. So is the Flash, but that didn’t stop Batiuk from just tracing Flash scenes to use in the Flash museum “arc”. How does he not get in legal trouble for things like that? I know fair use is a thing, but copying someone else’s work in a comic strip that you do for profit without any kind of acknowledgement doesn’t seem to qualify. I guess maybe it’s just that nobody notices or cares?