Wally – Page 12 – Son of Stuck Funky

You’ll Wonder Where The Yellow Went

Okay, this has to be a deliberate FU to Batiuk’s critics. All last week Rachel’s hair was pumpkin orange. Now, she’s a frosty blonde. And, check out Wally–his hair has gone from acorn brown to some kind of gold-bronze sheen, like Doc Savage on those old paperbacks. I think I had a GI Joe with hair like that when I was a kid, but his hair was plastic, so he had a good excuse. (“Only his hairdresser knows for sure!”)

Really? Is this what quality control is supposed to look like? Is this the comic strip you are presenting as something to admire, Mr. Batiuk? Seeing as it’s all, according to you, reality-based, but 1/4 inch from reality? Is this why you think you deserve awards? Do the chains of continuity rest heavy upon you, sir?

Maybe he was inspired when the MCU had Black Widow’s hair change from red to blonde in “Avengers: Infinity War.” I like to think the comics geek in him thought “Oh wow, I just have to do that!”

Of course, “Avengers: Infinity War” was supposed to take place some time after Black Widow’s previous appearance…not later that same day.

Sheesh.

As for the rest of today’s thing, it’s a typical Mary-Worth-style “recap of the previous week” and thus contains no new information. At least it has the word “ASS” in there–a handy designation for everything in this strip. (Not to mention a shout-out to the future Academy-Award winning film.)

Also, nice bowling trophy. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone in this strip go bowling (happens a lot in that other strip), but I guess someone was good at it once. Can’t have been Les or we’d never stop hearing about it.

Westview: Silent Hill Edition

Link to today’s strip.

Wow, look at that background in panel one! It’s going to be great when Pyramid Head shows up and starts butchering everyone. I’m going to take back everything bad I’ve said about this strip!

Ha ha, not really. Anyway, here’s another Funky Winkerbean “story” in which speculation far outstripped reality. Imagine, you folks talking about affairs and house-building! You should’ve seen yourselves! Don’t worry, I’m not making sport of you, as I fall into the same trap pretty much every time. Sigh.

A question for those of you more knowledgeable than myself. Adeela seems like a fairly devout Muslim–aren’t there strictures on the company that Muslim women can keep? Isn’t being with a man who is not in her family (and a married man at that) forbidden?

I know that women driving was restricted (until recently) in places like Saudi Arabia, so she’s clearly bucking that trend. So, why continue with the hijab, then? (I know the answer to that one–it’s so Batiuk can claim diversity by using the most superficial traits.)

Credit where it’s due: I like the drawing of Rachel in panel two. That is a genuinely good rendering of Rachel’s expression–someone who is clearly not happy, but is willing to listen.

Driving Me Backwards

Link to today’s strip.

Gad, the pacing in this damned strip…”glacial” isn’t the word for it, since glaciers manage to move a few inches per year. This is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle, except you have to wake up a really old caretaker to hand you each piece, one at a time. And in the end, the resultant picture is not worth the effort.

Let’s recap: We have a date, Wally’s off with Adeela, I’m mad, Wally and Adeela are driving….

Tomorrow, I expect them to impart that Wally and Adeela are driving a car, and they’re not on the golf course starting wildfires.

Credit where it’s due: Rocky’s been drawn nicely, especially panel three.

Here’s what Brian Eno had to say, back in the day.

John Foxx had some thoughts as well.

Heads You Lose

Link to today’s strip.

Today’s content just repeats yesterday’s–imagine that–Rachel getting more and more miffed by unexplained behavior by Wally. As newagepalimpsest pointed out yesterday, this would be a typical scenario in an Archie comic.

But Archie’s creators never succumbed to the Pulitzer’s siren call. So, its stories could still be fun and somewhat relatable. Here? I’m surprised that Rachel’s expression isn’t one of sheer terror. Imagine, being abandoned by Wally.

She must have to hire a backhoe to find her self-esteem.

Me, on the other hand, what I’m struck by is Rachel’s head in panel three. What the heck? Is she auditioning to be part of the Peanuts gang? She wants to be the Little Red Haired Girl?

I’d be interested to know how this took place. Ayers drew her with her head sunk down, looking all irked, and Batiuk said “It looks like she doesn’t have a neck. Make her head bigger.”

“That’ll just make it worse.”

[A long pause] “…you like getting paid, don’t you?”

Where’s Wally?

Link to today’s strip.

Remember the “Where’s Waldo?” books? Those were fun, because in addition to searching for the titular striped-shirt guy, there were lots of amusing details scattered here and there in the crowds. Parallel series “Where’s Wally?” on the other hand, featured dull clods, blind alleys, unfunny non-sequiturs plus the added fear that if you touched the page, you just might have a finger wet with cat pee.

Today, I get that we’re supposed to find Wally’s behavior suspicious, but let’s be honest–Wally is a clod who can’t make a sandwich without getting his head caught in a jar. He’s never going to have to fight off the females. As I recall, Rachel basically threw herself at him, over and over, until she finally clung. As a manager, he can’t be bothered to tell his employees where he’s going for the afternoon. I get that this is the author manipulating things to create suspense, but…it ain’t working.

The most interesting aspect of this is the time of day. I gather it’s sometime in the afternoon, as Cory notes. What is Rachel doing there? I figured she had to rush out of class yesterday to go home, put on some makeup, get out the nice dress and so on for the “date night.” But I guess she just shows up and that’s when the “date” starts?

On the plus side, Rachel is drawn rather well in today’s episode. It makes a nice change from the weeks of deteriorating artwork we’ve witnessed lately.