This week’s posts brought to you by KAZ-BOT!
KAZ-BOT grows ever wearier of critiquing this odd comic. Instead, KAZ-BOT would like to alert you to the plight of some unfortunate robots. KAZ-BOT is off to hit happy hour at the local refinery to get loaded on oil shooters.
Great… now we’re recycling the “lying to the authorities will always get you in trouble” storyline from the fall. Couldn’t Stormy have warned Tyler about the consequences?
You can tell Peggy Wyche’s inner bitch is resurfacing, because they paused between panels 2 and 3 to draw heavy, pointed eyebrows on her face. On the positive side, could this possibly mean that Neal Rubin is going to knit two separate storylines into a coherent whole — injecting Peggy Wyche into the Tyler/Brynna/R.J. affair? Well, maybe… but at the same time, we have the apparent introduction of Megan Muir, a previously unknown character. So we could be on the verge of more storyline proliferation.
(Googling Megan Muir… corporate lawyer in Seattle… schoolkid in British Columbia… receptionist for an accounting firm in New Zealand… Australian soil scientist… dang, it’s a small world.)
Notice how everybody in the strip has a short name? No more than five letters each. Makes it easier to fit dialogue into those little balloons. Sigh… we’ll never see the likes of Hadley V. Baxendale again.
Art Nitpick O’ The Day: Mimi’s clipboard looks to be about 5×8 inches. Cute!
Comment by johnw — February 16, 2007 @ 11:00 am
Panel 1: Gil’s sunken cheeks and complete lack of expression suggest that he’s recently had Botox treatment. Good for you, Gil. You may be getting up there in years, but a handsome coach is a winning coach, and there’s no reason not to look your best.
Panel 2: I’m still transfixed by the fact that Milford uses a 4-panel basketball. Where are they buying these? To my knowledge, no one has manufactured a four-panel basketball since the NBA stopped using them in 1970. You’d think there’d be enough money in the sports budget to buy some new basketballs every decade or so.
Panel 3: Actually, things are worse than I thought. Not only has Milford been using the same balls for the last 40 years, but there’s no hoop on that basket. Milford’s athletic budget must really be suffering. Or maybe there’s two practice courts, one with rims and one without, and the girls are stuck with the hoopless one. Someone should call up Hadley V. Baxendale at Ballbuster University and rectify this injustice.
Also, Peggy Wyche = Satan. Look at those eyes & eyebrows. She is The Devil herself. I will not be swayed from this.
Comment by Cash — February 16, 2007 @ 11:06 am
(sigh) I do miss Hadley V. Baxendale and her skunk stripe hair.
Comment by Tim Goral — February 16, 2007 @ 11:10 am
Thanks to johnw, I just noticed that not only did Peggy Wyche’s eyebrows change between Panels 2 & 3, so did her hairstyle. Obviously the reason is demonic possession. I’m hoping that Peggy’s head starts spinning around tomorrow.
Comment by Cash — February 16, 2007 @ 11:12 am
Cash: Mimi better be on guard; if Peggy starts projectile-vomiting green slime during the next game, Milford might get hit with another technical.
Comment by johnw — February 16, 2007 @ 11:47 am
I’m not sure if the shadow person behind Gil in Panel 1 is vogue-ing it up bigtime or if it’s about to blow it’s brains out.
Comment by Ned Ryerson — February 16, 2007 @ 11:55 am
…or blow its brains out. (hate when I do that!)
Comment by Ned Ryerson — February 16, 2007 @ 11:56 am
Creepiest. Eyes. Ever.
Comment by Indexer — February 16, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
It’s all in the details in Panel 1:
The bandage-like thing affixed to the back of Tyler’s head looks like a patch on an old inner tube. Or maybe it’s the product of some kind of drunken pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey kind of party game.
Is someone very short holding up the basketball between Tyler and Coach Thorp? Is it hovering independently? Or is it actually drawn on Coach Thorp’s T-shirt to remind him what season it is in this Milford High School year from hell that seems like it just won’t end?
All that said, KAZ-BOT is the SHAZBOT!
Comment by Joe Piscopo — February 16, 2007 @ 5:52 pm
1./johnw – For a few weeks now, I have felt that panel 3 is actually drawn by someone other than whoever does 1 and 2. Would they do that? There seems to be a bit more detail or the fill-in lines are crisper and/or closer together.
Comment by dale — February 17, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
Well, there’s only one credited artist on the strip, but you never know. He might be breaking in an apprentice… or maybe by the time he gets through two panels, he’s so drunk he can’t see straight, so his apprentice has to finish the strip. (Just kidding, Mr. Hardworking Gil Thorp Artist! You da man!)
Comment by johnw — February 17, 2007 @ 8:57 pm
“Rock the catbox”? No! It’s “Rock the KAZBOT”.
Comment by Ennui, Willie Keeler — February 18, 2007 @ 8:22 am