I Guess Some Seniors Were Left Behind

TheDiva
March 31, 2013 at 10:27 am

…As a former victim of bullying and a mom who worries what her kids will face in school when they get older, I’m insulted that Batiuk continues to treat this topic as lighthearted fun. On the other hand, I know that any attempt on his part to treat bullying and the tragic consequences thereof with the seriousness it deserves would be infuriating.

Not hard to see where Batiuk’s going with this. Having shortsightedly used up almost his entire new cast of teen characters, he’s pulled misfit goth girl Alex off the bench and retconned her back into a teen. Not only that, she’s the target of bullying, which only only yesterday TB was playing for laughs. And her fellow misfit Owen will be cast in the role of her white knight. Perhaps he and Cody will construct a robot to attack her tormentors.

Senior-Free Moment

Link to today’s strip

John
April 3, 2012 at 1:01 am
Cody: “…do you ever get the feeling that we never look forward to anything good? We merely mildly anticipate the absence of bad things?”

Note the date on John’s comment above: it’s from a whole year ago, when Cody and Owen last enjoyed a wedgie-free week due to the fact that the Seniors were out of town. Flash back a little further: to the beginning of the 2009 school year…

You’re already doing the math: Cody and Owen would by now be part of the Senior Class. Of course, it’s certainly likely that, being morons, they’ve had to repeat at least one grade. Still: surely they’re not still mere freshmen? Do the Westview Seniors pick on all the underclassmen, or just these two?

I’m kind of concerned about these two loners who, every school day (except for the week of the D.C. trip), endure intimidation and abuse from the Seniors, are belittled by their teachers, and after school head to the Komix Korner to play (probably violent) video games. Could Batiuk be getting ready to add school shootings to his Serious Topics résumé?

How's Your Jonson?

If Tuesday’s strip qualified as one of the “Comics I Don’t Understand“, then what the hell are we to make of today’s strip? Les bemoans his students’ performance on his latest quiz, implying that they have retained nothing of what he’s taught them. Does Cody’s response mean that while they may not have learned anything, they are at least less easy to deceive? Even more baffling than the presumed punchline is Cody’s crudely rendered profile in panel 3: his jawline resembles a peeled sweet potato.

To Be or Not to Be: That is the (Trick) Question

Grab Bag Week: High School Hijinks Edition continues, and yes, dear reader, today’s strip is the source of that oh-so-punchable Les face in this week’s banner. That’s the expression Les wears when he’s doing what he does best: being a smug, superior dick to his students. Owen’s right, Les, for once: that was a trick question. Doesn’t the fact that nobody, nobody in his class is able to answer this question say more about the teacher than the students?