Mostly gripes
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Daddy Daze, 9/21/24
How it started.
Blondie, 9/21/24
How it’s going.
Archie, 9/21/24
Veronica tries a little too hard to sell Archie’s lame observation—not even a joke, really. Foreground Babe knows the score.
Luann, 9/21/24
What is it with this strip and basic repairs? We’ve seen Toni use a torque wrench to remove bolts (when the torque is zero you’ll know it’s off!) and a pipe wrench backwards until the fitting broke and flooded the laundry room. And now instead of splurging twelve bucks on a good flap valve, Bets here commits to a lifetime of jiggling the handle. Which is somehow a metaphor for her relationship with Gunther but I don’t wish to explore that any further thanks.
Gil Thorp, 9/21/24
Coach Kaz—man of action—has a go-getter’s literal-mindedness. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for Gil. Here, at this table, drinking wine with you! He invited me!”
Program note: Rod Whigham, Gil Thorp‘s artist since 2008, is retiring. He will be replaced on September 30 by Rachel Merrill, who looks to me like a good fit. Congratulations, Rod and Rachel!
9 Chickweed Lane, 9/21/24
Here we see that Edda’s self-image pretty much corresponds to Amos’s image of her, albeit with subtle enhancements. And Amos, “briefed” isn’t quite the right word; the one you’re looking for is “pantsed.”
Well, that’s all for me; Josh will be back tomorrow. This was a lot of fun—thanks, everybody! But as much enjoyment as I get subbing in for Josh, it’s also a lot of work. So I think I’ll go find myself a nice park bench and sit for a while.
—Uncle Lumpy
6 replies to “Mostly gripes”
DT: Uh oh, looks like someone is grounded! Hopefully Ro-Zan is finally about to do his sinister lab invasion or whatever it is he came here to do, because I’m running out of ways to describe how ridiculous all these characters are. Speaking of which, what happened to that public fearmongering campaign against Lunarians? Mysta and Ro-Zan went to the zoo with Discount Elon Musk the following day, and it was totally uneventful. A bit of writing advice, Mike Curtis – don’t start a race war subplot if you’re going to immediately forget about it.
CS: There aren’t enough synonyms for “stupid” in the English language to fully describe this. Just go buy yourself a little plaque and fix your goddamned building so your neighbors don’t have to live next to an eyesore and your customers don’t die walking up the stairs, you vile self-aggrandizing crone.
JP: “It’s like I’m some kind of extremely underdeveloped character in a bad story, existing only as a wall for more important characters to bounce their tennis balls against over and over without ever becoming a real person in my own right. And it scares me, because I don’t know how if I have what it takes to break the cycle and create my own identi-”
“Sorry, I was checking my phone. Did you say something about tennis? Oh my God, that reminds me, Sophie borrowed my racket and I never got it back! Can you believe her?”
MW: Finally we get to meet Pam, whom Estelle (canonically at least sixty) hasn’t spoken to in thirty years, and… heh. Heh heh. Heh heh hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, man… Estelle, you dumbass, did you get into a decades-long feud in your thirties with a literal child?
Thanks and good job, Uncle Lumpy.
FC-So no escaping from the basement.
Luann-As it was predicted yesterday so it came pass Bets would fix the toilet.
MW-Estelle makes the ‘drinky drink’ motion when she mentions Ed.
GT — Can you ever really leave Milford?
Thanks, Uncle Lumpy!
Archie: I would say that Veronica is overly acting but the quaaludes have kicked in so everything is a riot.
Blondie and DD: The irony is not lost.
MW: Pam looks like she’s both half Estelle’s age and ready to stab her with a butter knife. I think I’m in love.
By the way, Lumpy, you’ve done a great job stepping in and it’s always a fun time with you.
@jroggs: Earlier I would have said Estelle wouldn’t be that petty but with how she’s successfully managed to be as unsympathetic as her fellow Charterstone residents, I can believe she’s as much of a child hating, adult spoiled brat as the rest of them.
9cl – So Edda’s fantasy self has a chin! Who knew?
Luann – Shaking my head at the bad writing. Les correctly diagnosed the toilet problem, and then became convinced by the internet that he had to replace the toilet? That only works as some kind of political metaphor.
As for Bets spending her life jiggling? Well. She isn’t built for it. That’s more a Tiffany or Toni thing really.
But Les is back in his room with his cat. We must imagine Les content, because he is.