Culture Schlock

Link to today’s strip

Sigh. A completely played-out premise masquerading as a “beloved running gag”, featuring the usual half-assed and really bad “punchlines” that make less sense the more you ponder them. Otherwise known as “a Wednesday in August” in FW parlance. Hearing Bull whine about a “culture” of losing is like hearing Lisa complain about how sickeningly goody-goody everyone in town is, or Les bitching about someone else constantly speaking in bad puns. Part of me wants to believe that maybe the joke is at least partly that Bull is just too stupid to realize that he IS the “losing culture” at WHS but I know better. This strip doesn’t have any subtexts like that and whenever it appears that it might it’s pretty much guaranteed to be just an accident. Nope, the “gag” here is what the football gag always is: some variation on “we suck” and that’s it. Forty years in a row. Sigh.

Everyone here knows that I’m a big fan and admirer of Westview’s long tradition of making hand-lettered signs and banners and hanging them with haphazardly placed, non-symmetrical pieces of tape. I always wonder about that, as it’s one of the most consistent things about the artwork from year to year. Every time you see one of those hand-lettered signs, it’s always taped to the wall all crookedly and randomly. I think it’s because TB feels it lends an element of “down home” folksiness to it, but I like to believe it’s because all Westviewians suffer from some sort of strange tape dyslexia that prevents them from doing it right. Anyhow, nice job with that today, Batom Inc. Nice cinder block wall, too.

Unhappy Father’s Day

SoSfDavidO filling in for the week, level grinding through this bog of a story arc…

Today’s claptrap is Tombat’s nod to Father’s Day? I think I’d rather have a monkey card and a bad tie, thank you.

And while I don’t think this is the intended effect, the more we get to know Frankie the more I think Lisa made a mistake leaving him for the spineless, smug, emasculated Les.

In any case, Happy Father’s Day, Funky Father’s out there! Here’s hoping you don’t have a father as terrible as Frankie or a son as awful as Funky.

Hater Tots

So you thought that put a neat bow on the whole bullying issue? Today the bullying has escalated a hundredfold. Wedgeman and his boys unrestrainedly pelt Alex with tater tots, while the rest of the student body either ignores it or joins in the laughter. You’d think that having faced down the bullies seemingly on his own yesterday, Owen would be emboldened to confront them again; instead, he wisely looks around for a teacher, but is dissuaded by Alex. Her forbearance in the face of such abuse borders on masochism. Rather than making her feel inferior, the bullying actually gives Alex a feeling of superiority over her tormentors. Take that, bullies!

I’m pleased to announce that this Tuesday, April 9th is Son of Stuck Funky’s third anniversary! Let’s give away a book! Be sure to check back here Tuesday for a chance to win a copy of The Complete Funky Winkerbean, Volume II!

I Call "Bull" Shit


That was nice what you just did, Bull“?!? What English teach– uh, sorry, Language Arts teacher, let alone a pretentious douchebag like Les, would utter such a colloquialism? And the “nice thing” he did? Catching a trio of repeat-offender school bullies in the act and letting them walk away without even a verbal warning.

TheDiva
April 4, 2013 at 1:47 pm
A few days ago, I wondered if it would be worse for Batiuk to treat bullying in an inappropriately (and unfunny) humorous manner or a insufferable serious manner. Now I know an even worse third option exists: total schizophrenia.

…and TB’s schizo tendencies extend to his continuing retconning/re-retconning of Les and Bull’s high school relationship: two years ago he went to great lengths to posit that Bull was just pretending to beat Les up in order to protect him from the real bullies. But for the purposes of the current storyline, it turns out that Bull really did pick on Les, and now must spend the rest of his life atoning.

Thirty years ago…not only was the bullying real, it was actually pretty funny!