His near-beatdown at the hands of the bully Wedgeman apparently has triggered PTSD-induced hallucinations in Cody. Or could it be…love? Whatever the case, Batiuk does Summer no favors with this side-by-side comparison with the Amazon Princess. Wonder Woman’s curves (those thighs!) only call attention to Summer’s androgynous form. And anyway, I thought Summer’s comic book analogue was Supergirl.
Tag: Westview High School
Most Ineffectual Bully Ever
Charles
April 10, 2012 at 11:31 pm
You know, if you want your bully to be credible, it’s probably not a good idea to have your bullied character insulting him, seemingly with impunity…If Cody really believed that Wedgieman was going to beat the crap out of him, he wouldn’t have sassed him like that.
Yep, Cody’s a real tough guy when he’s standing behind his new bodyguard. Her work done here, Summer walks her angular, boxy ass away down the hall.
Sum' Came Running
Cody’s Christmas-themed comeback is particularly ill-chosen: judging from his surname, his tormentor Wedgeman is possibly Jewish! But before he can deliver a chmalyeh to Cody’s punim, who should come to the rescue but Summer. Rescued by a girl? It might be less humiliating just to take the beating.
Clobberin’ Time
I gave myself a migraine trying to decipher the tin-eared dialogue in today’s strip. “There’s a couple of tick-tocks before class starts”? This is bully-speak? Sounds like baby talk. “Kick your butt off“? “Off” doesn’t follow “butt” in this construct, unless I’m “kicking your butt off the team”, or “off the bus”, etc. Never heard of anyone getting his “butt kicked off”. Oh, I see: this is setup for Cody’s retort: “No problem, I’ll just share yours.” Share his butt? ‘th hell?!?
And what skinny teenage nerd confidently cracks wise in response to a verbal threat, however clumsily it’s worded? This is the same tactic that teenage Les used with teenage Bull. Of course now we know that that wasn’t real bullying at all. Mr. Black Shirt Hatchet Face appears to be serious. Given his renown for “tackling serious real-life issues”, you’d expect that TB would at least attempt to treat bullying a little more thoughtfully. Instead he goes for “funny” but it just comes out “wrong”.
Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's Forty
Still with me after yesterday’s post? Thank you, reader.
Let the celebration begin. By some remarkable coincidence, both Funky Winkerbean and Montoni’s Pizzeria celebrate their fortieth anniversaries this week!
Jimmy
March 23, 2012 at 2:05 pm
So, 40th anniversary strips coming up? If Bathack brings us in the wayback machine, I get the feeling they’re going to be a reminder that Funky Winkerbean wasn’t all that good in the 1970s either.
Into the Wayback Machine we go: looks like TB’s going with a “now and then” theme, and if every day is like today’s strip, snarker Jimmy may be on to something. If panel 2 is indeed an original, and not a “reimagining” a la Lynn Johnston, there was probably an original first panel that set this up as an actual joke (Funky dashes into Fred’s office: “Mr. Fairgood! I need to use your phone! It’s an emergency!”). The absence of humor here leaves us to contemplate the young, likeable, slender Funky, whose cargo pants conceal the merest suggestion of a butt that forty years later would threaten to burst right through Montoni’s window.
Son of Stuck Funky 
