Does ‘Former Douche’ ring a bell?

Well it didnt take long for the new storyline to run into a bump in the road. New lefty Cane looks every bit like trouble down the road with that scowl and ear to ear frown. Oh thats the same thing but whatever..

Usually they intro a character who gradually becomes unlikable; this chap claims to be over that already, as if there’s a rest home in Milford for “guys that used to be asswipes” and they get treatment and come out reformed. Cane is one of those.

I’m sure Cane still has plenty of temper that he will display before this long sledge of a season is through. Or he will break new ground and prove that even fairly nice guys, albeit sourpusses like he looks like, can still wind up unlikable like the rest and perhaps even apply for re-admission to the Milford Asswipe Rest Home.

Bingo!

P1: Pantheon of Hair profile shot

P2: Lots going on here. Regardless of whether Ken’s shot went in, pretty clear foul by Jefferson under the hoop.

P3: Welp, I guess everything’s resolved between Ken and Aaron. That wasn’t so hard now was it?

Periodic Domination?

Let’s leave aside the mysterious periodic relationship between Aaron, his mother and Milford basketball for a moment and get back to something we really haven’t talked about enough.

Someone needs to explain to me what the hell is going on with Aardvark’s hair because between panels one and two it is not at all clear to me where it is shorn nor where it has been left to grow out.

Bonus point: Panel two is pretty darn awesome. Not sure why it couldn’t have been done across the final two panels as the drawing of Marty doesn’t add anything.

 

The Red and The Black

Slightly meta: While I was away from the TWIM rotation there was a big change to Gocomics, where I used to crib the strip for my posts. You can no longer zoom on a strip, right click/save as, and insert into post anymore. I haven’t yet mastered the screen grab and resize to fit to my satisfaction – the strips always end up too big for my liking. Instead I’ve been saving the zoomed strip from various Comics Kingdom sites, which I don’t particularly like using because of the color monkeys’ slipshod work.

For example, whenever a Milford team is drawn in light uniforms, they invariably get colored red, which is very unlikely to happen IRL. Most teams wear white (or at least a light color) at home for contrast. Color-on-color games are more the exception than the rule, and when they do happen there’s usually a fair amount of contrast between the colors.  Having gone to a red-and-black school, I can say I’ve never seen black numbers on red jerseys without a white outline.

I’m bringing all this minutiae up because I don’t have a lot to say about today’s strip which, after a week of promising but not delivering on Mother Aagard’s mysterious line of work, promises but doesn’t quite deliver actual basketball action. Panel 2 gives us a couple other oddities: Whigham’s typical tonsure on the unnamed Mudlark gets colored brown, and the ref gives an atypical hand signal for the digit “zero.” I’m used to seeing a clenched fist represent that digit; this ref’s version could be interpreted as code for “I saw Aagard toking up behind the bleachers before the game. Don’t expect too much from him tonight.”

Song for today:

Feed and Granger

As Ned would say, “It’s Madison Time!”

Have you ever seen a basketball court where the free throw lane is three times as wide as the tipoff circle? No, that can’t be the three-point line since the lines for the lane are coming straight down from it with no top of the key in between. The basket doesn’t exactly line up, either. Follow that up with the weirdly foreshortened right arm of the Madison hooper and Aaron Aagard’s exploding forelock and the visuals are a bit much to take today.

Why am I expounding on this minutiae? Because it will come as no surprise on Monday when Quadruple A (channeling his inner El Hechizado in P3), missing his mommy, bricks the easy inside shot and sends Milford falling from the ranks of the undefeated. After that, we’ll spend the rest of next week trying to find out What’s Eating Aaron Aagard.

Too Much Aaron and Not Enough Mom

After four excruciating days of exposition that Aaron Aagard’s girlfriend (and not his drug of choice) is named Molly, and after Gil has thrown Ken “Encyclopedia” Brown and Mike “I Don’t Have a Catchy Sleuthy Nickname” Granger off Aaron’s scent, and after Gil has had an extended expositional chat in the risers with Aaron, we’re now being led down the path of assuming that Aaron’s inconsistent on-court performance has something to do with his mom.

So now it’s our turn to engage in rampant speculation. Is Mother Aagard under house arrest for some criminal activity of her own? Doubtful; that son-of-a-judge Ken Brown would’ve already known about it. Agoraphobic? Possibly, but  Aaron’s “…why you don’t come to more games” implies that she comes to some games. (Not as many as Milford’s infamous Sign Man; if we could read that Woodstock scribble of his, maybe that would give us a clue.) Bad hair day? Also possible; check out those roots on Mom. Break out the Preference by L’Oréal, girlfriend!

We do know that Mother Aagard has to work late sometimes, so that’s a plausible excuse. As some TWIMers have speculated, it could be that she suffers from some sort of drug-related problem; with all the talk of drugs in this arc leading us nowhere thus far, they have to be somebody’s Chekov’s gun. I’m sure Aaron will explain all as soon as Gil banishes him to the bench tomorrow. Talk amongst yourselves.

Musical inspiration for today’s post title:

Did I do this right? I’m kinda rusty at this blog posting.

Is Marty Holding A Pencil Or A Stylus?

Putting quadruple-A in for a Pantheon of Hair nomination now that it’s clearly the case that its posture is proportional to his perceived performance.

I tried, and failed, to line up all of the high fives with the arms in panel three. Nevermind that, however, because what is the deal with AAAA’s left arm? I think this is the first time I’ve used the ‘big arms’ tag but there it is.

Tight With Skrillex…Riiight

Mike and Ken continue to kibitz about their duty as friends/teammates/fellow humans to address Aaron Aagard’s apparent fondness for pharmaceutical alternatives to the traditional fun easily obtained burgers at The Bucket and get-togethers at Pete De Windt’s place. Have they figured it out?

Now, for a panel of basketball and further examination of Aaron’s signature haircut. Well, there’s another meaningless game fragment for this season’s record book.

Quickly, we set the stage for Mike Granger’s intervention. He’s got to be sharp. Aaron has a date with Molly and he never likes to keep her waiting. Oh Mike Granger, you’re so square. Are you sure you’re up for this?