Tag: Westview High School

Mayor May Not

We get it! Roberta Blackburn is a horrid, miserable woman! Bring on the gay teens already!

Charles
May 1, 2012 at 1:01 am
I usually don’t post specific spoilers about upcoming strips, but I figure this one’s okay.

So Linda’s gone from seeing Roberta putting up a sign, walked into the break room, gotten herself some coffee and had a conversation with Becky. All this has happened, and three days or so from now, ROBERTA WILL STILL BE PUTTING UP THE SAME STUPID SIGN.

You think it’s easy padding out a story arc for a whole month? Say it with me, people: endings…have…to…be…earned! At this rate, Sunday’s non-gay-prom themed throwaway gag will be a most welcome palate-cleanser.

The Mother of All Grandmothers

Flummoxicated
April 30, 2012 at 12:17 am
A helicopter grandparent?? A grandparent volunteering put up prom advertisements in the school? Because that is SO what happens in real life. Wow, this is real 1/4″ from reality, folks.

Since Batiuk’s given himself an entire month (except Sundays!) to tell this story, he can take pains to establish exactly what Becky’s mother is doing hanging around the school, thus setting her up to be the villain in the Coming Gay Prom arc. The groaner punchline and Linda’s panel 3 smirk? Merely a bonus.

Prom Mom

C’mon, who ever heard of a senior citizen (not a faculty member) volunteering to hang around the high school for no pay?

Batiuk often finds inspiration on return visits at least once a month to his old high school (Grafton Midview), where he attends classes and observes students. “I just sit and let things go by,” the 65-year-old said. “It’s a great experience. It keeps me grounded and keeps me real.”

“Funky strip to address hot-button issue“, The Columbus Dispatch, Friday April 27, 2012

Oh, right, right…well anyway, looks like Roberta Blackburn, Becky’s Mom, has gotten over the sting of the failed school levy, and has decided to once again grace the Westview School system with her presence. “My best prom ever”? Well, it’s guaranteed to be better than Becky’s senior prom…the one after which she lost her arm…

Rotten to the Cor-y?

‘th hell happened to Cory? Early in Act III, he really had the potential to be an interesting character: son of an alcoholic/workaholic father who had no time for him, Cory was by turns a thief, a vandal, and a test cheat. Readers still wonder what went on at the New Year’s Eve party he threw while his parents treated themselves to a Caribbean vacation. Nowadays, his sole purpose is to serve as a wisecracking foil to his hapless teachers. Maybe that experience wearing the pizza costume succeeded in finally breaking his rebellious spirit.

Befuddled, Fatuous Fools

Owen sure loves to talk about “fantasy”. This time, though, he’s not referring to his own overheated imagination: Amazing Fantasy #15 is the 1962 comic book that introduced the Amazing Spider-Man, who I hear has a new movie coming out.

So Blondie in the background there, I’m guessing that’s “the world’s perfect genome” Mallory Brooks, Cody’s “imaginary marriage partner” from Ms. Bushka’s class last spring. She despised Cody so much that she dropped the class just to get away from him; a year later she thinks he’s “really special”. Is it the arrival of spring causing all these Westview teens to fall inexplicably in love with each other, or is someone pumping Ecstacy into the water supply?

Proving once again that SoSF is your #1 source on the web for all things Batiuk: this breathless local news piece on the artist at work: