Your humble blogger is as sentimental as the next guy, particularly at this time of year. But puh-leeeze…this is some corny-ass shit. Where’s Cayla? Why, she’s run off into the night, screaming in terror at the sight of Lisa’s ghostly apparition! Now Les and his “favorite girls” can enjoy Christmas as a family. Corny and creepy. The part of Summer in panel 2 is being played by cartoon Stan Laurel.
Over hot chocolate (turns out Cayla, sadly, was not being suggestive), Les spins a riveting yarn of being stuck on the tarmac in Houston, getting in yet another mention of that damn infernal “dead” phone. Nary a word, though, about the “dead” wife whose dire warning he chose to ignore.
What’s harder to ignore is the background in panel 1. What the hell is that on the wall? Abstract art? A broken mirror? Snowflake cutouts that Summer made in first grade?
TB’s penchant for never drawing Summer the same way twice continues. Who is that heavy-lidded, slack-jawed boy in panel 2?
And Cayla, bringin’ “some hot chocolate”? Mmm-hmmm. Rent a room, you two!
When what to their wondering eyes should appear…it’s Les, home safe and sound. To the astonishment of absolutely no one, TB has gone to great lengths to build intrigue, with no payoff, none whatsoever. Hard to believe the erstwhile hall monitor has the strength to hoist his strapping daughter with a rib-cracking hug, but anyway.
The tension not only has Cayla biting her fingernails, but causes her hair to stick straight out from her head. Oh, wait…that’s how her hair always looks.
Son of Stuck Funky 
