Thursday, 5 September 2024

[dreadedcandiru2]

The one where Gord's dad shows where Gord gets being a dolt from.

Synopsis: When Mayes Senior is sober, he reminds us why Gord is a peasant buffoon who paints his legs with shoe polish when he gauds up the truck he gave his son.

Summary: At least it's not packing peanuts. It takes a RICH degen to stoop that low. 

Comments

[howtheduck]

I imagine the dialogue with Gordon's dad and Tracey going like this:

Gordon's dad: Now you've married him, I should let you know he will look like me in about 5 years. You might not be able to tell from looking at me, but I am only 38 years old.

Tracey: Mmmph. Mmph. {I am not allowed to speak.}

Michael has declared that Gordon's dad is "an OK guy, really" because he gave the married couple his truck as a wedding present. I think this is same truck where Gordon and Tracey started their relationship, even though the color is different. Michael sent Gordon to take his place taking Tracey to the dance in the truck.



The party after the dance started in the same truck.



And then whatever happened in the truck after that point caused Gordon to be like this the next day:



Everything has come full circle, so to speak.

[dreadedcandiru2]

What Lynn is trying to do is walking back ruining a character in the name of cheap theatrics. It doesn't work that way. Connie will always be the hysterical idiot who treats Lawrence like he's an ungrateful anomaly whom she can only tolerate.

[chocolate_frapp]

what's with this floating bullshit? you don't get to arbitrarily screw around with the level of what is realistic in the same strip.

[dreadedcandiru2]

When another arrogant failure is called out on that sort of arbitrary, make it up as he goes nonsense, he says that it's called writing. He doesn't like being told that it's inept writing.

[chocolate_frapp]

who?

[stephanie_hawks]

He's talking about Tom Batiuk, the Funky Winkerbean and Crankshaft creator. Whenever someone pointed out an inconsistency in one of Tom Batiuk's strips, he would reply, "It's called writing." In my opinion, Funky Winkerbean never really ended, because some of the Funky Winkerbean characters now appear in Crankshaft.

[dreadedcandiru2]

The Winervasion is complete because Les Moore finally showed up as the instigation of a ham-fisted arc about book bans.

[howtheduck]

If it is good enough for joggers and cars, it is good enough for boys who lost their virginity the prior evening.

[aprilp_katje]

Road not taken: If not for the zit on Michael's nose, would Tracey have ended up being Tracey Patterson? (Silly, I know... Deanna, the grade-school crush, was always going to be Mike's destiny.)

[howtheduck]

Possibly so. Tracey was portrayed as the girl so nice and sweet that she actually liked Gordon in spite of his "hormone attack" history. But Gordon did not want to date her and even on their test date, he flat out told her that he wanted her only as a friend. Lynn was trying to make a point that love had nothing to do with passion and romance and desire and frankly, she got that completely wrong. Ultimately Gordon and Tracey end up making out (and possibly more) in that truck after the dance. They were not exactly acting like good buddies in that moment.

With this setup, it seems obvious that Tracey was meant for Gordon.



And yet, Michael was going to a dance with Tracey when Gordon said he was not interested in Tracey. Gordon is not interested, so Michael is safe asking her out. Michael tries to play it off as "she's a buddy" but Gordon is clearly not buying that nonsense. He knows Mike only takes girls to dances if he is serious about them. You don't put a rope around a neck in anger, if you are just buddies.





Lynn says in her comments she was not intended marriage and in a certain respect that makes sense. A few years later we had these comic strips which clearly indicated Gordon wanted to cheat on Tracey. It made me wonder if Lynn had started to change her mind. After all, no matter how strongly the stories started with Mike and his girlfriends, there was always a point some years into the relationship when Mike started to lose interest. Why not Gordon too? Maybe Lynn was just thinking Gordon would have a romance like that.



If Lynn had planned for Gordon to break with Tracey, then possibly she was a real consideration as a Mike Patterson girlfriend. Is Mike asking Gordon if he is still dating Tracey because he is calling out Gordon's behavior? Or is he asking to see if Tracey is available?

We know that Lynn planned for Mike to break with Rhetta, but perhaps the only reason he went back to Deanna was because Lynn decided to give Tracey to Gordon and not Mike. By the time Deanna reappeared, she had been gone a long time, and she came out of nowhere. Tracey would have been an easier choice, because the readers were much more likely to remember her.

Frankly, the story between Gordon and Mike would have been pretty interesting if she did do that. Gordon would have to resent Mike for taking Tracey, even after he lost her because he cheated on her. There would be some pretty good drama there.

[dreadedcandiru2]

With a little effort, the strip would have been far more interesting. If only she could see it.......

[aprilp_katje]

Right, and Michael could have been upset that Gordon taking Tracey to the dance led to Gordon and Tracey coupling up, since Mike had made such a big deal about Gordon and Tracey going to the dance "as buddies." Lynn could have written strips showing that Mike had asked her to the dance because he was interested in dating her.

On a related note, I always found the whole "go to the dance in my place because of my zit" premise odd, since it robs Tracey of any agency. "I'll just slot my friend into my role for the night."

[chocolate_frapp]

why does Michael have a black nose in the garage strips? looks like a dog nose!