Not the Van’again

It looks like Tombat finally secured enough of a budget to show instead of just tell. A wise move in this medium of art! It may not be enough to keep Les and crowd interested, however, as they’re starting to look as bored as most of the readers. I’m not sure why they’re facing “Jff” like they’re a firing squad but there’s not many places to go when a wall of text takes over your living room.

Today we finally get a peek at what went down that fabeled, magical night. Maybe. Actually, today’s comic left me even *more* confused than at the beginning of the week!

Mr. Machina is my father. Call me Deus.

There’s several tropes to check off here; a known fact being repeated endlessly, (Yes, we’ve known there was a struggle in the van for about three weeks now) a wall of text expanding at an alarming rate and some very, very plodding story telling.
Today’s strip is much more enjoyable if read in Droopy’s voice.

Summer Regretting They Even Came Home

DavidO here again, back and snarking after some serious WordPress glitches. On to the snark!

Mentioning the fact that John Darling is Jessica’s murdered TV host father over and over was funny at first. Then it got REAL old. But now it’s funny again!

Though it may take the next six days for “him” to get out of the car and ring the doorbell, “He” is here! I can only assume from the excitement and clunky exposition that “he” referenced in today’s strip is Kevin Bacon.

Neither Ballin' Nor Callin'

Beanie Wanker
December 26, 2012 at 9:47 am
Speaking of [Kent State], do you think BatDreck remembers sending Slumber and Kareesha there? Or did he quietly shitcan that idea after we pointed out that team is something like 2-34?


Our first glimpse of Summer and Keisha as college ‘ballers is a bit of a letdown. We’ve become so accustomed to our girls leading the team, not riding the pine. It’s rather surprising, too, that Kent State’s “Golden Flashes” wear such drab white/black unis. Les tries to relieve the boredom of having to watch other people’s daughters on the court by recalling how he and Cayla met. Cayla, however, is still unable to get beyond Keisha’s perceived slight, and for the second day in a row she earns the stink-eye from Les.

Epicus Doomus
December 27, 2012 at 12:30 am
Les, though, is as intriguingly expressive as ever. What’s he thinking there in panel three? It looks almost as if he’s amused in some sort of smug, all-knowing way. He’s the king of the difficult-to-interpret half-smirk/half-sneer, or “snirk”, if you will. Such a dick.

Yes, always.

Just found out that The Complete Funky Winkerbean: Volume 2, 1975-1977 drops on February 8th and is available for pre-order on Amazon! Something to live for, huh friends?

 

Defense-Les Receiver

This is one of those times that TB offers up what’s meant to be wacky hijinks, while we hidebound literalists go right to the darker, imagined subtext. Ergo, a lighthearted, post-Thanksgiving on the storied front lawn of the Taj Moore Hell turns violent as Cayla (weirdly looking in panel 1 like Black Linda; talk about darker subtexts) forcefully tackles Les in what’s supposed to be a game of touch, before walking away sneering. This is the second strip in less than a week that ends with Les stunned and in pain at the hands of his new bride.