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June 10, 2006
The Big-Boned Lady Is Warming Up...
So this is what it's come to.
After a week of directionless strips about God, Stantis falls back on Winslow trying to "get his wings" and fly. Unfortunately it seems as though Scott's dust up with the Radical Right over his series on the war in Iraq and immigration have neutered him something fierce, and I get the feeling he didn't know the troubled waters he was treading when he stuck God's big finger into Prickly City.
It could have been really interesting - just what was God talking about? Did He want Republicans to start acting like conservatives, which is Stantis's main complaint? Maybe He wanted us out of Iraq. Maybe He wanted us to quit arguing about the illegal immigration problem and find a solution. Or maybe He wanted the Republicans to stop trying to cut taxes for the rich in a time of war. But we'll never know what He wanted - because Stantis didn't have the balls to pick something and run with it.
As CJo opined, could this be the end? What good is a neo-con comic strip if it doesn't tackle any political issues, or at the very least make good arguments for his side when he does pick an issue? For over a year now the powers that be have let it slide - because Bush is in office and the Republicans control the Congress and the judiciary. But with the fall elections on the horizon, and Stantis afraid to take a stand on anything, should they keep his lame brand of humor and horrible drawing or does Beetle Bailey make a comeback?
Originally I was going to strap on the Shrubville Future Goggles and try to predict where Stantis was going to go with the strip over the next few weeks. But what's the point? Odds are even if Stantis does go after a topic he won't actually state a position, and if he does Winslow will be the one to be made to look the fool no matter what.
I mean how funny would it be two weeks from now to see Carmen possessed by the insane spirit of Ann Coulter and have Winslow befriend one of the 9/11 Widows? Stantis could draw Carmen again with long skinny legs wearing a cocktail dress at all hours of the day with flowing blond hair and an adam's apple. She'd then call Winslow's new friend a "harpy" and suggest that her husband was going to divorce her right before the planes hit (why that little passage in her book didn't get as much attention is beyond me).
Or maybe Stantis could have them standing there talking about the death of Zarqawi (he can't really have them go back to the desert and name a hamster with the same name since the Radical Righties would tear into him for that again).
Heck, this upcoming week could be about Bush trying to ban gay marriage with a Constitutional amendment. Hook Winslow up with his illegal immigratant pal and let the sparks fly.
But nope, I don't think any of those stories will get any attention in the coming weeks. We'll probably get some lame nonsense about Winslow flying or Carmen lecturing us on being fat. Because that's all Prickly City is anymore - just another lame comic strip. And it's about time his editors realize that and pull the plug - a mercy killing, if you will.
Hey, that would make for a pretty good strip as he's shown the door...Carmen on a respirator...Winslow literally pulling the plug...and then we realize it was all a terrible dream that Opus was having. "It was terrible - it didn't make any sense and it was drawn by a pre-schooler and I said I was a conservative but I was really a Republican - thank God it's over!"
Maybe that's what God wanted us to knock off: Prickly City.
Comments
Didn't Stantits actually do a pullin-the-plug strip once, as a statement about that bulimic women in a coma in FL or wherever?
He's so lame.
Posted by: FredN. at June 10, 2006 10:30 AM
My theory: Scotty looked at the calendar, realized this might be 'Rapture Week' -- (6/6/06) and all -- and figured he might as well phone it in since the only readers left would be heathens and Friends of Shrubville.
Posted by: jackmac at June 10, 2006 02:57 PM
