Auctioneer-ring

Rusty
April 15, 2016 at 8:05 am
So….what’s happening with the decoder ring? Why show that yesterday?

Well, I guess it was so he could show it again today, being sold (and bought) on “Fleabay”, which, as it turns out, exists in real life and appears to be a desperately poor man’s eBay–it’s a dot net, not even dot com for cryin’ out loud. A more puzzling question is, with his rent paid for a year and any financial problems likely resolved for the rest of his days,  why must Cliff continue selling off his last few Starbuck Jones mementoes?

From Your Perspective (Point)

Hello, Rembrandt36 here – longtime lurker, sometimes poster, sometimes defender of TB (but usually not). My thanks to TFH for the lovely accommodations at the local Motel 6 where I am writing this post; the chewed piece of bubble gum on my pillow was a nice touch.

But now down to business. When we last left the Dynamic Trio yesterday, it looked as if Cindy was going to jump to her death, thus ending her misery of appearing in this comic strip. Today we see no such luck. She has in fact climbed on to the fire escape to try to communicate with the legend that is known as… Cliff Anger.

Before I address the riveting story we get today, let’s be upfront about one thing. We’ve got a lot of really pretty pink bricks drawn in perspective. With that we also get a highly detailed fire escape walk and stairwell to add to the charm. For whatever talent TomBat lacks in keeping the look of his characters consistent, he lavishes upon the location here. Bravo. Although I must admit the window on the lower level looks like it has decided to slide off the wall.

But now we get to the meat and potatoes of the matter. Starting from the left we have Mopey Pete looking like he is trying to bust a move in an inky black void. Mason is speaking into a blackboard eraser to Funky, telling him that he needs to talk some sense into his ex. It should be noted that Mason is sitting at a really weird can-this-happen-in-real-life stance on the window sill (Folks, never set your Jarrs that close to the ledge – they could fall and break).

Meanwhile Cindy is communicating to Cliff through the window. Either that or she has breathed on the glass and is now drawing doodles on the fogged surface. In the last panel we see that Pa Winkerbean has wandered away from the nursing home and has answered the phone at Montoni’s. He – what? That’s supposed to be Funky answering the phone? Huh. Anyway, the audience gets a side-mouthed smirking retort at the expense of Cindy. Otherwise known as business as usual with this comic.

Krack-a-toe-r

Looks like another antique joke in today’s strip.

I actually don’t dislike the hacky old jokes that TB so often leans on, but they never EVER land in this strip because they are delivered in an environment completely and totally absent of joy. It’s like interrupting the end of Old Yeller with Hee Haw cornfield shtick and then using scenes from Schindler’s list for reaction shots.

That elderly relative we all have who asks “if it’s nacho cheese then whose is it?” doesn’t do so in between discussing their various medical ailments and how their life insurance policy will only pay for a fraction of their funeral. If your elderly relative does do this, then I am sorry that you are related to Tom Batiuk.

The often imitated but never duplicated beckoningchasm returns to the helm tomorrow. Thanks for putting up with me for the past couple weeks.

Sortwhere is this going?

The red blue carpet tour continues in today’s strip. The Westview hive mind has fully taken control of Emily and Amelia now, as they both smirk at Nate’s anti-joke and don’t seem to even consider fleeing at the very sight of Les.

Given that Nate has shown the sisters “The Bleat” (which is really more min comm than mass comm) in addition to the band, can we assume that, like the band, Les’ video journalism fiefdom is failed levy-proof?
Of course we can! The last time Les didn’t get what he wanted, I could still watch UPN on my analog television.

By the way, I’m still wondering where the news desk that Cindy and Channel 1 donated went. “The Bleat” clearly isn’t using it. It’s rare that TB makes a plot point and then ignores it or forgets about it later…

They say this Crankshaft is a bad driver… (shut your mouth)

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! TODAY’S STRIP IS PART OF A CRANKSHAFT CROSSOVER! HE IS EXPLICITY MENTIONED BY NAME AND SOME CHARACTERS EXPLAIN THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO HIM AND HOW THEY KNOW OF HIS ANTICS SO THERE WILL BE NO CONFUSION ABOUT THIS BEING A CRANKSHAFT CROSSOVER!

When meeting someone for the first time, it is common to expand further on a topic in which you discover that you share knowledge. Even so, a crotchety troll of a school bus driver (who neither of you has ever actually met, by the way) would seem to be a topic of conversation that that both parties would want to avoid. Indeed, I intend to teach my children to go out of their way to avoid discussing religion, politics, and Crankshaft in unfamiliar company.