While TB is clumsy at portraying genuine affection (think of any scene involving Les being romantic toward Cayla), when it comes to smarminess, he’s got that down pat. Frankie embraces Darin in panel 3 like a boa wrapping itself around a feral pig. Darin recoils as Frankie’s leering mug looms mere inches away from his own, exhaling a vapor of sour coffee, generic cigarettes, and last night’s beer.
Tag: smirk
There's Moore Where That Came From
Tom Batiuk: If you could see my drawing board now. I’ve got a project that’s going to come up starting the end of the year and it’s really cool…Cory is in Afghanistan and [Holly’s] looking to complete his comic book collection…So she’s going to complete his collection of Starbuck Jones comics…I have seven covers that I’ve had guys create for me and it’s such a kick.
Tom Batiuk Talks ‘Funky Winkerbean’, comicbookresources.com, Mar 19, 2013
Too bad Batiuk didn’t bring in a pro to create a cover for Les’ first book: it looks more like the cover of a book report by a fourth-grader.
Father Figuratively
Funky Winkerbean is a reality-based comic strip that depicts contemporary issues affecting young adults…
Unfortunately, the young adults in this case are Darin and Jessica Darling Fairgood. Their “reality” involves starting a family while he’s an MBA assistant-managing a pizza parlor, and she’s a documentarianne whose project about her father has been stalled for two years. Speaking of stalling, today’s strip does nothing to move this story along.
Burden o' Joy
Forget Batiuk’s Quarter Inch, we are in Bizarro World. Jess and Darin, who clearly don’t have a pot to piss in, are actually apologetic to Ann for their having conceived a child. “Eight Track”, meanwhile, is not merely pleased: she’s insane with glee at the prospect, declaring herself “totally ready” to help care for an infant…though you’d think she’d have her hands full, having already appointed herself as Fred’s speech therapist.
Stork Reality
I suspect that those of you who didn’t venture a guess that yesterday’s “news” was Jessica’s pregnancy suspected it anyway, but were hoping against hope that it’d be something, anything else.
billytheskink
April 22, 2013 at 9:25 am
This a great setup for Darrin to hand Ann the newspaper he just picked up out of her yard…
Now that would have been funny!
Rusty
April 21, 2013 at 11:48 pm
Time for Lisa’s “Now that my bastard son has gotten some bimbo pregnant” VHS tape.
You know such a tape must exist; St. Lisa covered every (ahem) conceivable possibility!
Jim
April 22, 2013 at 6:40 am
Why would a pair living above a crappy pizza joint with no real source of income view a pregnancy as anything but ambivalent news?
That was my thought, too. Unless she also has some Hollywood “WOW” checks coming in, Jess has no visible means of support other than Darin, who leveraged his MBA to become VP of Marketing…for Montoni’s Pizzeria.
Son of Stuck Funky 
