Tag Archives: rain

by billytheskink | October 1, 2021 · 10:30 pm

Dej-UGH Vu

We can only hope that today’s strip marks the end of this story arc and the depiction of this unhealthy and unsettling Melinda-Holly relationship for some time (infinity is a time, right?).

With that, I will focus my commentary on Holly’s use of term “EMS Vehicle”. So, did TB just not like the way “ambulance” fit in the word balloon or does he have a thing for using awkwardly bland language? I mean, its not an incorrect term of course, but if Holly calls an ambulance an “EMS Vehicle” then Melinda ought to have said “medical facility” or something like that yesterday instead of “hospital“… y’know, to maintain this strip’s reputation for exceeding consistency.

38 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as alumni band, ambulance, awful dialog, Batiukronym, batons, complete lack of humor, crippling yet trivial injury, crosshatching, Flaming batons, Holly, Holly's mom, Holly's mother whose name escapes me at the moment, incessant rain, injuries, Jerome T. Bushka A&L Automotive Stadium, Melinda, misplaced nostalgia for things that weren't all that great to begin with, nostalgia, Old dying people, rain, sad-sackery, the raptor claw in Holly's hair, WHS, woman with receding hairline

by billytheskink | September 29, 2021 · 10:30 pm

Slipping through the craaacks

As someone who has broken a bone after slipping on wet grass, I must admit that I briefly chuckled at today’s strip… briefly.

And that brief chuckle is the sole redeeming payoff of a story arc that began (checks phases of the moon) three weeks ago?! That’s… better than a lot of TB’s story arcs to be honest.

But what of Dinkle and the alumni band? OK, I don’t care one iota what Dinkle is doing, but the alumni band has been waiting three YEARS to perform! Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot until today that TB did this whole alumni band thing, complete with majorette performance, pretty much three years ago on the dot. I forgot about how it all started with Holly and her mom reminiscing (though then it was on a car trip from Florida). I also forgot that Holly and Melinda were told “no” on the flaming baton trick back then too. I forgot that it all ended (after taking up a whole MONTH), not with a performance, but with this. And worst/best of all, I forgot all about all of this despite being the blogger on duty when it all happened.

I was going to say “you’re welcome”, but I had to go and remember all of this today.

50 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as alumni band, anger, bad ideas, Bad medical news, band, batons, constant misery, crippling yet trivial injury, flashback thought bubbles, football, Holly, Holly's mom, Holly's mother whose name escapes me at the moment, homecoming, incessant rain, injuries, Jerome T. Bushka A&L Automotive Stadium, Life is a dismal horror from which you can never escape, marching band, marching bands, Melinda, rain, stupid, the raptor claw in Holly's hair, this is all a horrible mistake, thought provocation, Westview H.S., Westview High School, Westview HS Band, WHS band

by billytheskink | September 28, 2021 · 10:30 pm

Don’t sleep in the subway, Holly

The day of the big ~~alumni band~~ Holly and Melinda Budd vanity performance has arrived in today’s strip, and the nastiness continues. No, I’m not talking about the weather, though most of us are aware that monsoon rains during band performances are quite possibly the longest still-running gag in this strip (predating even Garfield and lasagna/Mondays, though far far less accessible).

Good crowd on hand, considering the weather, probably the biggest since Bull retired. Whoever replaced him must be doing a good job, crowds were pretty thin when Bull’s teams were struggling.

Sorry, scratch that last paragraph. This is Funky Winkerbean, so I’m sure the crowd is really here to see Holly…

29 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as alumni band, anger, band, batons, enraging facial expressions, enraging hair strands, exposition, football, fury, giant enraged baby, Holly, Holly's mom, Holly's mother whose name escapes me at the moment, homecoming, incessant rain, Jerome T. Bushka A&L Automotive Stadium, Melinda, pissiness, rain, Scapegoats, signs hung properly using tacks, the raptor claw in Holly's hair, Westview H.S., Westview High School, Westview HS Band

by beckoningchasm | September 26, 2020 · 10:30 pm

Here Comes The Flood

Link to today’s strip.

Normally, a Funky Winkerbean reader would see today’s episode as one of those typical Sunday “filler” strips that has nothing to do with anything, but is just supposed to be lighthearted and fun.

But Tom Batiuk can’t resist tipping his heavy hand when he’s about to get serious. I guess it’s his way of saying “Polish off those awards, boys, the Batiuk shelf is ready for ’em!”

So we see Adeela all happy and carefree, just before the mean ol’ USA comes crashing down on her, for no reason at all (I’m guessing; there could be a reason that will turn out to be incredibly stupid). Maybe she has a brother who’s bombed here and there, and she’s guilty by association. Or it might be something we’ve never guessed (because it has never been shown.) As I mentioned yesterday, whatever it is will be so inaccurate and poorly thought-out that it should win awards–just not the good kind. The point is that Batiuk will make her life living hell, for no other reason than that’s the only kind of life available in this strip…and, for that, he should win an award. A good award, too. He thinks.

Seems odd that we had to go through nine years two weeks of talking about driver’s licenses to get here, but there you go in Batiukland.

And that’s all from me for now. Thank you for your indulgence; I appreciate your comments and your insights, and I also appreciate those who read but do not comment. And now, please welcome back reigning champion Epicus Doomus, who returns tomorrow.

Let’s have Peter Gabriel sing us out of here…

48 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as Adeela, coffee, Crazy Harry, hatchet face, jukebox, Montoni's, Montoni's T shirt, pizza, rain, smirk, The Beatles, Wally

by billytheskink | October 13, 2019 · 12:26 am

Coffin Corner Kick-ed The Bucket

Fortunately, today’s strip stays in one time line. It also quotes one of Bob Dylan’s best-reviewed songs. Well, that’s two positives to the… end-ish? of this very ~~maudlin~~ special story arc. FYI: A donation has been made to the Boston University CTE center, presumably so readers will remember what this story arc was about last month.

So was Bull a member of the local Dylanist congregation or is that the only house of worship in Westview anymore? Both?

And with that, I am relieved… both to be done with my posting stint and, come tomorrow, by the incomparable Spacemanspiff85.

37 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as Becky, Bob Dylan, Buck, Buck Bedlow, Bull, Cayla, character death, characters everyone hates, Cindy, crappy ploddinng stories that never get anywhere, CTE, death, Dinkle, endless piles of leaves, endless tedium, Falling leaves, funeral, Harry Dinkle, impending doom, insufferability, Jinx, Keisha, leaves, Les, Les. Cayla, Linda, Linda Bushka, Mason, Mason Jarr, Mason Jarre, Mickey, Now Cindy, old Harry Dinkle, one of those arcs that just never seems to end, rain, RIP Bull, sheer idiocy, Summer, things that make you seriously regret ever starting to read FW in the first place, things that never end, traffic fatalities, welcoming death

by billytheskink | October 11, 2019 · 10:30 pm

Deafinitely Dumb

Hey, remember when this story arc was about Bull?
Today’s strip sure doesn’t.

Look, I’m just going to gloss over the fact that Dinkle was actually introduced well over a year into this strip’s existence and just give TB credit for remembering that Funky Winkerbean itself is 47 (and a half) years old… And with that out of the way I’ll go right into wondering what the heck this has to do with Bull, his condition, his life, or anything. I guess if you twist your neck 117 degrees and squint until you experience sharp pain in your temples it appears the notoriously egotistical Dinkle (or is that Buck?) is paying Bull a compliment by saying they were equals despite his long and incessant history of considering all things inferior to himself and his marching band. But really this is just TB repackaging his biggest hit.

Dinkle is the only thing about this strip that has ever moved merchandise. His “football fields are for band practice!” bit covers books and t-shirts, and even serves as his character’s introductory line in the stage play Funky Winkerbean’s Homecoming. Dinkle’s shtick has sold band posters (“Dinkle wants your horn to twinkle”) and shoes, and no less than 9 Dinkle-specific collections of FW strips have been published! No, seriously, there have been 4 Lisa books and 9 Dinkle books.

Football Fields are for Band Practice!
Sunday Concert
Harry L. Dinkle Live at Carnegie Hall
I Never Promised You a Rose Parade
Gone with The Woodwinds
Would the Ushers Please Lock the Doors!
Attack of the Band Moms
The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Football Field
Music is Worth it… Music is Worth it… Music is…

This is nothing more than TB pushing his most-recognized character/cash cow into a story the New York Times inexplicably gave him ink for. Ugh!

43 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as Act I call-backs, Becky, Bull, character death, CTE, death, Dinkle, endless tedium, football, funeral, Harry Dinkle, Jack Stropp, leaves, Life is a dismal horror from which you can never escape, marching band, marching bands, old Harry Dinkle, one of those arcs that just never seems to end, pinned-up sleeve, rain, retcon, ridiculous clothes, RIP Bull, Scapegoats, sheer idiocy, silhouette, silhouettes, smirk, things that never end, things to do in Westview when you're dead, time travel, times I wish I'd never discovered FW at all, uninteresting stupid anecdotes, Westview H.S., Westview High School, Westview HS Band

by billytheskink | October 10, 2019 · 10:30 pm

Tempo Of Doom

Today’s strip… or July 11th’s strip? YOU make the call!

This time warping stuff is getting really really old, especially when it makes negative amounts of sense. At least with Tuesday’s “five years ago” mishap you could chalk it up to the strip’s time simply not matching real time even while matching real time’s seasons (not an uncommon thing at all in comic strips). This strip has long done that, though not in a consistent way – Summer’s generation was in high school for 5 years, Pete and Durwood’s for almost a decade, and the Act I gang was there for 20 of course.

Today, though, we’re at “three months ago”. That places this flashback in early July, and yet both Buck and Bull are wearing coats? I mean, this is presumably still an October funeral, right, what with the falling leaves colored a bright orange hue? Heck, this doesn’t even line up with Buck’s mid-September visit, where he and Bull stroll out to Jerome T. Bushka A&L Automotive Stadium, as neither man is wearing a coat then.

Is this beady-eyed nitpickiness? Maybe, but when there are little errors like this in nearly every strip it starts to add up to genuine distraction. This is especially true when the story hops all over the calendar, which *gasp* makes invested readers hop through the calendar with it in an attempt to understand what is going on.

31 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as brain damage, Buck, Buck Bedlow, Bull, character death, CTE, death, football, funeral, impending doom, incessant rain, Jack Stropp, leaves, Linda, Linda Bushka, rain, ridiculous clothes, RIP Bull, sheer idiocy, silhouette, silhouettes, time travel, welcoming death, Westview High School, Westview HS Band, WHS band, WHS Scapegoats

by billytheskink | October 8, 2019 · 10:30 pm

Lespicable

I don’t have words right now for today’s strip, so here is a list of synonyms for “Les Moore” that I found in the thesaurus:

cheap, contemptible, cruddy, deplorable, dirty, grubby, lame, lousy, mean, nasty, paltry, pitiable, pitiful, ratty, scabby, scummy, scurvy, sneaking, sorry, wretched, abhorrent, abominable, condemnable, detestable, execrable, hateful, loathsome, odious, disgusting, reptilian, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, revulsive, discreditable, disgraceful, dishonorable, disreputable, ignominious, shameful, base, ignoble, low, shabby, sordid, squalid, vile, blamable, censurable, reprehensible, reproachable, cowardly, craven, dastardly, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous, base, currish, detestable, execrable, low-down, low-minded, snide, sordid, , evil, foul, immoral, iniquitous, wicked, cruel, vicious, debased, degenerate, depraved, atrocious, villainous, monstrous, horrible, appalling, pathetic, egomaniacal, jerky, are-you-still-in-high-school-?-good-grief-get-over-it-man-!-don’t-you-have-a-life-now-?

Please feel free to add any that I and Merriam-Webster may have missed. Thanks.

Also, just to remind anyone who wasn’t reading back in 2011, or those who have had the good fortune to forget, Bull’s bullying of Les in high school was an act to protect Les from real bullies. It’s like Les doesn’t even read this strip…

64 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as Act I call-backs, Bull, bullying, Cayla, character death, crappy ploddinng stories that never get anywhere, CTE, death, disgust, endless tedium, Falling leaves, funeral, impending doom, Les, Les being a giant smug douche, Les' death, Les' Slob-ass Tie, Les. Cayla, Life is a dismal horror from which you can never escape, Now Les, one of those arcs that just never seems to end, rain, Remembrence of Strips Past, retcon, RIP Bull, things that never end, things to do in Westview when you're dead

by billytheskink | October 7, 2019 · 10:30 pm

Memories… Summer good, Summer not

It’s back to the WABAC machine in today’s strip. No, I’m not talking about the flashback to “five years ago…”, I’m talking about Bull’s funeral, which has itself moved two-and-a-half years backward in time in order to accommodate a five years ago flashback featuring players Bull last coached in the spring of 2012. Well, at least we are getting something that is actually about Bull in this one… that’s so damning with faint praise that it could keep an ocean at bay. (“Billy was a special blogger”, they said at his funeral.)

Also, I tagged both Keisha and Linda in this, because I’m not sure which one of them is standing next to Summer in panel 3.

39 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as awful wordplay, bad wordplay, basketball, Bull, Cayla, character death, coffin, coloring gaffes, CTE, death, dumb clothing jokes, Falling leaves, funeral, impending doom, Keisha, lame wordplay, Les, Les' Slob-ass Tie, Les. Cayla, Life is a dismal horror from which you can never escape, Linda, Linda Bushka, one of those arcs that just never seems to end, please make it stop, rain, random students, real places in Ohio, Remembrence of Strips Past, retcon, RIP Bull, sad-sackery, sub-moronic wordplay, Summer, terrible wordplay, things that never end, things to do in Westview when you're dead, unidentified background objects, Westview H.S., Westview High School, word zeppelins, wordplay

by billytheskink | October 6, 2019 · 10:30 pm

Back Page News

Are you wondering how Bull’s wife and children are mourning his death? Maybe how his former players and fellow coaches, whose lives he surely had a large impact on, have reacted? Well, too bad for you, for the art of storytelling, and for general decency… because today’s strip is focused on four schmucks, only one of whom even knows Bull moderately well (and one who has NEVER once met the guy) and none of whom have talked to Bull in at least 3 full years. Heck, they aren’t even talking about Bull, they are awkwardly reminding us that Cindy was popular in high school.

Bull’s death only made page 2 of the Westview Gazette? This is a town with only five employers and Bull was the most decorated employee in the history of the largest of those. What could possibly have made the front page?

70 Comments

Filed under Son of Stuck Funky

Tagged as Cayla, character death, characters everyone hates, Cindy, complete lack of humor, Complete Worthless Ass, CTE, death, Falling leaves, football, funeral, Les, Les being a giant smug douche, Les' death, Les' Slob-ass Tie, Les. Cayla, Life is a dismal horror from which you can never escape, Linda, Linda Bushka, Mason, Mason Jarr, Mason Jarre, Mason's Nose, newspapers, Nobottom Road, Now Cindy, one of those arcs that just never seems to end, please make it stop, rain, RIP Bull, sad-sackery, smirk, Spider-Man, things that never end, things to do in Westview when you're dead, traffic accidents, traffic fatalities, Westview Gazette, Westview H.S., Westview High School

Tag Archives: rain

Dej-UGH Vu

Slipping through the craaacks

Don’t sleep in the subway, Holly

Here Comes The Flood

Coffin Corner Kick-ed The Bucket

Deafinitely Dumb

Tempo Of Doom

Lespicable

Memories… Summer good, Summer not

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