The Wet Vet
Cidu Bill on Nov 10th 2009
S.P. Charles: “As of November 10, it appears as if Tom Batiuk plans to ignore the fact that Westview’s highest-profile veteran is home for his very first Veteran’s Day.”
Filed in Bill Bickel, Funky Winkerbean, Tom Batiuk, Veteran's Day, comic strips, comics, humor | 29 responses so far
fuzzmaster Nov 10th 2009 at 06:26 pm 1
On the contrary, in the Winkerverse, two six-packs and chips behind closed drapes amounts to the least-depressing scene in recent memory. No cancer! [chug] Still got both arms! [chug] Don’t have anything to do with my kids, so it doesn’t matter if they’re drunks or felons! [chug] Low cholesterol (for the time being)! [chug]
yellojkt Nov 10th 2009 at 07:02 pm 2
We are looking at a Veteran’s Day suicide attempt. The only fitting way to celebrate it in the Funkiverse.
Paperboy Nov 10th 2009 at 07:14 pm 3
If you’re looking for a “Garfield laff-a-day” you won’t find it in Funky. Stop critisizing it because you don’t get a laugh every day.
Chyron HR Nov 10th 2009 at 07:20 pm 4
@Paperboy: Is it called writing?
Paperboy Nov 10th 2009 at 07:27 pm 5
Exactly! He’s trying to do a “soap-opera”, with an occaisonal chuckle. You get it.
turquoise cow Nov 10th 2009 at 07:40 pm 6
a laugh every day? i can’t remember the last time i got anything close to a laugh out of Funky Winkerbean. I used to like the strip because it blended humor with a dose of hard reality, but lately it seems to just be a “make the characters as miserable as popular” sort of scheme that started with Lisa’s second bout with cancer that ended in her death. Even now, the “jokes” i see result in, at best, a guilty smirk.
Cidu Bill Nov 10th 2009 at 07:51 pm 7
The issue here isn’t that FB isn’t “laugh a day,” but rather the opposite: that in a strip dealing with serious issues, and focusing so much on Wally’s military career, it seems odd that his first Veteran’s Day home would be ignored.
furrykef Nov 10th 2009 at 08:55 pm 8
If you’re looking for a “Garfield laff-a-day” you won’t find it in Funky. Stop critisizing it because you don’t get a laugh every day.
A straw man argument. People who complain about Funky Winkerbean don’t do it because they think it’s supposed to be a funny strip and are surprised that it isn’t. If that were the case, they’d just ignore it, just like those people ignore Rex Morgan, Mary Worth, etc. No, they complain about it because they think it’s no good at being the kind of strip it’s supposed to be, the same way that Manos: The Hands of Fate is not a good horror movie, Meet the Spartans is not a good parody, William Shatner is not a good singer, etc. — they’re not complaining about the genre, they’re just complaining about the poor execution of it.
(I’m not saying that Funky Winkerbean is as abysmal as those things, and in fact I don’t think it is. But the analogy still stands.)
- Kef
Chyron HR Nov 10th 2009 at 09:09 pm 9
In case you couldn’t tell, Marge, I was being sarcastic. This is a terribly written “drama”.
Arthur Nov 10th 2009 at 09:44 pm 10
All I see of this strip is what shows up here. This one seems to me to implicitly
reference Veterans’ Day: It’s Vets’ Day, and the veteran is holing up with beer and
trying to close off the outside world. (Or isn’t that the vet?) How else can he
keep from remembering the war, and keep from answering hurtful questions from
his friends?
Jeff Nov 10th 2009 at 09:59 pm 11
Did you guys see the latest “Medium Large”?
http://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/tuesday-november-10-2009/
Paperboy Nov 10th 2009 at 10:22 pm 12
CIDU#6, Arthur#9 explains better what I meant. Veteran’s Day was NOT ignored, just not expressed in a way many liked.
S.P. Charless Nov 10th 2009 at 10:29 pm 13
Seems pretty much “ignored” to me, Paperboy. It isn’t a question of what I’d have “liked,” because I don’t feel personally slighted by it — but like Bill said, it seems odd for a strip so obsessed with Wally’s war history.
Maybe Wednesday’s strip will feature a Vet’s Day commemoration where everybody will wonder where’s Wally. At least that would be consistent.
Tullia Nov 10th 2009 at 10:42 pm 14
If Wally’s drinking himself into a stupor because it’s Veteran’s Day, that’s not “ignoring” it. The strip is spending the week on Wally and his misery on Veteran’s Day. He may be trying to escape the parades and so on, and he’s not commemorating or honouring other veterans, but he’s aware of the date and doing something about it rather than pretending it’s not happening, and the plot seems to be centering on Wally’s unhappiness on Veteran’s Day. Wally’s hiding from the date, not ignoring it, and the strip is being depressing about a holiday that should be depressing. No ignoring going on here.
On a lighter note: man, 12 beers equals a stupor? Lightweight.
S.P. Charles Nov 10th 2009 at 10:53 pm 15
Tullia, my original comment was that as of November 10, there was no acknowledgment that Veteran’s Day was this week. That remains an accurate comment regardless of what Wednesday’s comic brings.
By the way, unless there was food in the white bag, it’s 18 beers — though if there was a 6-pack in the bag, Wally’s teeth must be hurting by now. Well, at least he has something to ease the pain.
Tim O'Shenko Nov 11th 2009 at 12:07 am 16
S.P. Charles: The previous day’s strip showed Wally being some frozen tv dinners to go with his beer. No dialogue in that strip either, so there’s no explicit statement so far that this week’s strips are connected to Veteran’s Day. But the implication is there (we’re following Wally around, after all), and the week is young.
S.P. Charles Nov 11th 2009 at 12:51 am 17
The week’s not that young, Tim: If something’s supposed to happen on Veteran’s Day, tomorrow’s as long as he has.
S.P. Charles Nov 11th 2009 at 02:05 am 18
Wednesday: Yup, TB did ignore the fact that today’s Veteran’s Day
chuckers Nov 11th 2009 at 07:47 am 19
Are you sure? Isn’t he just going to drag it out into a long protracted suicide attempt on/around veterans day by shutting himself in and skipping whatever session he was supposed to attend (AA? Dunno. I haven’t read the strip since it WAS a laugh a day kind.)
Powers Nov 11th 2009 at 08:22 am 20
S.P., I really don’t get how this is “ignoring” Veteran’s Day. It sure looks like a veteran-themed week.
The Bad Seed Nov 11th 2009 at 10:34 am 21
#4 & #8 - Chyron HR - Don’t worry, newbies may not get the joke, but the rest of us got it. By the way, in light of yet another tortuous storyline (which will hopefully be abruptly cut off on Saturday) - is anyone else all tingly with anticipation about what fantabulous ending we’re earning?
Todd Nov 11th 2009 at 06:07 pm 22
In comic strips, as a general rule, ten years go by and no one ever ages a day. In Funky, they suddenly skip years. So maybe the storyline isn’t taking place on Veteran’s Day. But it being the story about a veteran, it certainly is acknowledging Veteran’s Day.
Todd Nov 11th 2009 at 06:10 pm 23
By the way, where does one find Funky online? It’s not on Comics.com, Yahoo Comics, or Arcamax.
I am curious where the writer is going with this particular storyline, if anywhere.
Elyrest Nov 11th 2009 at 07:12 pm 24
Todd - here’s one source. You can go back a month.
http://www.sfgate.com/comics/?feature_id=Funky_Winkerbean
Frank the curmudgeon Nov 12th 2009 at 11:57 am 25
It’s now November 12th and I have to admit I curious but I the strip has turned me off repeatedly over the years. Damned if I’m going to look.
Frank the curmudgeon Nov 12th 2009 at 11:59 am 26
Please insert ‘m and delete the extra I in the above.
Ed Whitson Nov 13th 2009 at 11:07 am 27
I don’t think Wally’s depressed. I think his butt is itchy and the little peashooter is the only thing handy.
paperboy Nov 13th 2009 at 05:55 pm 28
Todd#22, try http://www.comicstriparchive.com/Funky_Winkerbean/
Araxie Dec 10th 2009 at 08:37 pm 29
Okay, WAIT a minute…. He works this buildup for a week… and NOTHING COMES OF IT?? Am I MISSING something here?!?? I mean… It’s not like I wanna see the guy shot, but that’s obviously where it’s headed… where it WAS headed….
I mean… just…. yeahhhgggg!……