It seems like a shame to have such a hilarious first two panels lead into such a weak, unoriginal punchline. Since I have no idea if Curtis actually ice skates, it makes me worry that the whole thing is just an awkward, laborious setup for said punchline, which would make the whole thing much, much lamer.
I actually really enjoy seeing this sort of thing--not lame punchlines, but very funny mid-panel banter. The thing I most love about Get Fuzzy--and I've written about this before--is that most of the really funny stuff comes in the character interaction in the middle panels. The punchlines sometimes fizzle out or, more often, read like parodies of the punchlines you see in the rest of the comics section.
Curtis isn't as good as Get Fuzzy, of course, and I don't get the feeling that Billingsly is ever being subversive with his lame punchlines like I think Darby often is, but this is the second time I've noted an instance of funny mid-panel character interaction in Curtis. And the only other comic I've ever cited for that is Get Fuzzy. So I think Billingsly is probably pretty good at this sort of thing.
So, to me, the lame punchline doesn't detract at all from the funny in panel 2. Funny is funny, and I'll take it where I can find it.
This Curtis is, like, the black Greg Louganis of the comics section.
It seems like a shame to have such a hilarious first two panels lead into such a weak, unoriginal punchline. Since I have no idea if Curtis actually ice skates, it makes me worry that the whole thing is just an awkward, laborious setup for said punchline, which would make the whole thing much, much lamer.
ReplyDeleteI actually really enjoy seeing this sort of thing--not lame punchlines, but very funny mid-panel banter. The thing I most love about Get Fuzzy--and I've written about this before--is that most of the really funny stuff comes in the character interaction in the middle panels. The punchlines sometimes fizzle out or, more often, read like parodies of the punchlines you see in the rest of the comics section.
ReplyDeleteCurtis isn't as good as Get Fuzzy, of course, and I don't get the feeling that Billingsly is ever being subversive with his lame punchlines like I think Darby often is, but this is the second time I've noted an instance of funny mid-panel character interaction in Curtis. And the only other comic I've ever cited for that is Get Fuzzy. So I think Billingsly is probably pretty good at this sort of thing.
So, to me, the lame punchline doesn't detract at all from the funny in panel 2. Funny is funny, and I'll take it where I can find it.