Is There, You Know, an Actual JOKE Here?

Cidu Bill on Jul 15th 2009

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Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, For Better or For Worse, Lynn Johnston, comic strips, comics, humor | 14 responses so far

14 Responses to “Is There, You Know, an Actual JOKE Here?”

  1. Jme Jul 15th 2009 at 02:33 pm 1

    I get it. =)

  2. Mark Jul 15th 2009 at 02:35 pm 2

    I think it’s supposed to be funny because boys are seen as the ones who are so territorial, and yet he’s commenting on it being girls who are.

  3. furrykef Jul 15th 2009 at 02:45 pm 3

    There’s also the point that the boys seem to be making the assumption that, being boys, they can do what they want and she can’t do anything about it. They forgot that she essentially had a weapon.

    Not sure that really constitutes a joke or even part of one, though, but it’s some kind of something.

    - Kef

  4. Kate C Jul 15th 2009 at 03:14 pm 4

    I’m the one who sent this in; I would find it funnier if it ended on the third panel (with maybe an intro of Elly reminding Mike to be nice to his sister or something). But as it, it’s baffling. I see a couple of unfunny partial jokes, but not a real one.

  5. Charlene Jul 15th 2009 at 03:31 pm 5

    The boys are taking over the sandbox - in other words, they’re acting territorial. But when Liz defends her territory, *she* suddenly becomes the territorial one.

  6. enfueago Jul 15th 2009 at 03:43 pm 6

    Small children being hit in the head with a bucket of sand is about a thousand times funnier than FBOW normally is/was.

  7. CIDU Bill Jul 15th 2009 at 04:07 pm 7

    I guess this was a foreshadowing of how, years later, she’d attack her boyfriend with a frypan.

  8. Kate C Jul 15th 2009 at 04:16 pm 8

    I’m totally embarrassed to even know this, Bill, but it was the other woman (named Tina) who brandished the frying pan (and no one was actually hit with it).

  9. CIDU Bill Jul 15th 2009 at 04:28 pm 9

    Kate C, there seems to be some controvery about that: Many people clearly remember this one way — but when the strip was reprinted, Lizzie wasn’t wielding any frying pans. And Han shot second.

  10. S.P. Charles Jul 15th 2009 at 06:15 pm 10

    More indication that the strip was edited: Who brandishes a frying pan at somebody without at least either the attempt or threat of hitting him with it? What was she doing, offering to fry him up come Canadian bacon?

  11. Singapore Bill Jul 15th 2009 at 08:44 pm 11

    S.P. Charles, every good Canuck knows there is no such think as Canadian bacon; it is called back bacon.

    I think the “joke” is that females are crazy, selfish, and mean and will cause you nothing but pain but that males will put up with it in total befuddlement.

  12. Kate C Jul 15th 2009 at 10:55 pm 12

    This is the strip in question
    http://www.amureprints.com/Detail.asp?ImageID=111616

    I clearly remember when this storyline originally ran, and am confident that Tina was always the one with the pan. It doesn’t make sense to have Liz with it, as Tina is using it to chase Eric out of her apartment. Lynn Johnston has done stuff that makes her characters look bad before (including pretty much this entire storyline, where Liz comes off as shallow, naive, and not particularly smart), so I have a hard time believing she would go through the trouble of editing a strip to remove something “offensive.”

  13. MJB Jul 16th 2009 at 10:04 am 13

    Yes, I’m with Kate C. Tina had the pan, but they both pummel Eric in the previous strip.

    Have others noticed that, in Lynn Johnston’s semi-retirement, the strips ain’t very funny or interesting no mo’?

    It’s too bad that she didn’t continue with Elizabeth & Anthony’s marriage, as Elizabeth finds Anthony to be realllllly dullll, and her daughter to be a continual pain in the rear. THAT would be a good strip!

  14. Steve Morris Jul 17th 2009 at 02:09 pm 14

    I think the joke in this strip is that the young lady said No twice and then enforced that with a bucket.
    It’s called meaning No when they say No, and also (perhaps) there’s the element of having the last word.
    Which is a little innocent playtime whistle in the background of the last panel.
    I love it.

    Hello again, Billo, long time no post.
    Kindest regards,
    Steve.

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