Tag: photo album corners

The Fan-Tom Empire

Cowboys, thunder riders dressed in quasi medieval armor shooting futuristic weapons, robots with flamethrowers— The Phantom Empire viewed genre boundaries as mere inconveniences rather than limits…I became fascinated with the idea of taking what was considered to be a low art form and creating something of substance within those confines, of trying to take what others considered junk and turning it into something more. That thought continued to inform my cartooning choices for the next fifty years. It’s hard to overestimate the impact that The Phantom Empire has had on my developing brain.

From the introduction to The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume One

So today, Batiuk’s “writing what he knows'” sharing with us readers a space opera that influenced his creative vision as a youth. At the same time he’s writing about something about which he has no idea: how today’s Hollywood motion pictures are made. “I think seeing that old serial is really going to be helpful with our movie.” Mason might as well be talking about a campfire skit or routine that they are preparing for a middle school talent show. And I’m waiting for the day when Darin snaps at his old buddy Pete: “Shut the fuck up already about ‘back in the days of Batom Comics!'”

Anyway, snarkers, it’s good to be back in the SoSF wheelhouse as we approach the 6th anniversary of Son of Stuck Funky! Stay tuned for a special announcement of the first contest around here in awhile. Details to follow! Happy Easter!

“I’ve Suffered for My Art–Now It’s YOUR Turn”

Link to today’s dreck.

I think we’ve reached some kind of Batiukian plateau here.  Nostalgia-Darin is distressed at the amount of work ahead, but Nostalgia-Pete seems…worried?  That Darin doesn’t have the drive for art that requires sacrifice?  Is that what I’m seeing here?  Because I think that’s what I’m seeing here.   I mean, look at his face in panel three.  That’s someone thinking, “Wh-what?  You think pulling all-nighters is bad?  You…you are not of The Body!”

Which contradicts everything we’ve seen about Darin and Pete, not only in the “real world” but their counterparts in Nostalgia-Vision.  They hate working.  They would rather complain than work.  They would rather complain than eat.  They would rather complain than breathe.

But now, because it involves weak wordplay, all that goes out the Batom Comics window.  Pete now needs to be the Pure Comics writer, who would go without food, air, water, everything if it meant producing a comic book.

Speaking of going out the window, where is this supposed to be taking place?  In the alley or something?  Because who puts the company name on the inside face of a door?  Well…maybe the two clods kept asking the boss whether they worked at Batom Comics or Bantom Comics, and the boss finally had enough and hired a sign painter, or perhaps…I’ve put more thought into this than someone I could name.

The Lost Weekend

Link to today’s offal.

So, apparently Starbuck Jones has another sidekick in addition to Jupiter Moon and Isaac the robot, apparently named Moon Mile Meek, and about whom we have heard nothing before this day.  Way to keep the quality control on high, there.  This seems to flatly contradict the advice Tom Batiuk was given (reprinted on his blog), about referring to characters by name, etc, so new readers are quickly brought up to speed.

I happen to agree with that, by the way.  While there are certainly ways to make it really awkward (“Miss Jameson, you may be the best-selling mystery author of all time, but even I, your agent, don’t know why you need to spend a night in a haunted house!”), I’ve seen movies where the lead character wasn’t given a name until halfway though the movie.  It’s nice to know who the characters are, so when they’re not around and someone refers to them, you can say “Oh, that guy.  That cartoonist guy who draws that dull strip.”

So, this Moon Mile Meek might be anyone.  Perhaps on your way home someone will pass you in the dark, and you will never know it, for they will be from outer space, and their name will be Moon Mile Meek!  Can you prove that it didn’t happen?

At any rate, or rather because of, we have today’s thing.   Those characters in panel one are really poorly drawn–I mean, that is some seriously bad artwork, but…no matter, for we’re off to Nostalgia Park.  See, it’s funny because the boss is a fat stupid guy, and the artists are all like “Whoa” because they have to make a space comic in just a couple of days.  You can start slapping your knees…now.

Actually, I don’t see how the Deflated Due have a problem here.  They can just concoct a story where Starbuck, Moon Mile, Jupiter and Isaac are all sitting around the space office, space bitching because the space boss expects them to go out on space patrol, and they’d rather not.  They’d rather wax space nostalgic about the olden days when–and here’s the space twist–old TV movies were made and the staff totally hated working on them.

They hated working so much, they actually broke the space barrier and space hated it.

Dung

Link to today’s strip.

Sigh.  So, tomorrow (Sunday) we get to look forward to another comic book tribute.  Hey, why not, it sure saves writing and drawing effort on Tom Batiuk’s part, and the artwork is usually not too bad.

Now, I’m no expert in comic books–thank goodness–but it sure looks like Cigar McBalding is holding a finished proof in his hands.  If he’s asking for a cover change at this stage, he’s either a moron or has so much money he can afford to throw lots of it away.  (Or, to be fair, both.)  This things is ready to roll off the presses–it’s a bit late to be making major changes.

This episode contrasts with the others this week.  In those, Cigar McBalding suggested “improvements” to be implemented in the future (at least he discusses it with the creative team, unlike the people at Cable Movie Entertainment who just present a list of demands).  In those episodes, at least he steered the folks toward what he wanted.  Today, he’s looking at something that (presumably) he approved, and wants changes made way late in the process.

Sigh again.  If Tom Batiuk’s fantasy world consists of crass publishers and beleaguered writers…man, that’s just too depressing to think about.   Imagine Sam Lowry from Brazil daydreaming about being buried under tons of garbage…and liking it.

Another example of a “who cares” episode, by which I mean more evidence that Tom Batiuk just doesn’t care any more.  It seems to be obvious that he would rather be eating cookies, drinking hot chocolate, and reading old issues of The Flash in the attic rather than put any time or effort into his work.  (This seems worrisome.  Is is possible for nostalgia to become a mental disorder?  I’m serious.)

There’s no joke here.  There’s no here here.  There’s also a deliberate blindness here.  If he’s so passionate about genuine creativity being pushed aside by crass mediocrity, why is his comic strip taking up space that could be used for something good?

Sponging Off Relatives

Link to today’s strip.

Ha ha ha, the first line Darin’s had all week and Pete immediately steps on it!

I continue to be amazed that anyone, anyone at all, could find a sponge-based superhero to be interesting.   When I was back in the ninth grade and was drawing superhero comics on notepaper, I would never have considered such an idea, much less dealt with it for more than a few seconds.  (“What a stupid idea.  Must be too much eraser dust in the air, confounding my brain.”)  Perhaps I’d use it as a comedy character who was immediately defeated in some humorous way, but anything ongoing?  NO.

And remember–I’m talking about the ninth grade.

I don’t know what to make of Tom Batiuk’s fantasy publishing world.  In a way, it’s quite impressive in its scope and detail, but it makes me wonder why he doesn’t apply some of that creativity over here, in the strip that puts bread on the table.   Wouldn’t that be something?  Imagine reading posts on this site telling how much we liked the episode of the day.  As it is, Funky Winkerbean comes across as an afterthought–as Gerald and others have pointed out, no one who only reads the strip would have any of the Batom Books details provided in the blog posts, which robs these flashback strips of rather most of their impact.  Not that it would really make much to people not obsessed with silver age DC comics, but still, some context is always nice.

Without any of that, reading about some guy’s fantasy comic-book publishing world is like listening to a really boring person at a party.  You suddenly realize you’ve heard nothing he’s said for at least five minutes, and you start to worry he’ll ask you a question and you won’t have any idea how to respond.  And your drink is almost full–can’t use “Going to get a refill!” as an excuse.  Maybe plead for a bathroom break?  Give it a shot.  You can hide in the den…and read old comic books.

Heh heh heh.