This is the first moment when the Mary Worth version of the sinking of the Costa Concordia diverges from the Vanity Fair article from which it was heavily inspired.
The second to last paragraph reads, "Few believed they would see justice for those who died aboard the Concordia, at least not anytime soon. 'At the end of all this,' one man predicted, 'it will all be for nothing. You wait and see'" (Vanity Fair, May 2012).
Life is always less brutal in the Worthiverse.
Helped? Helped? I must have missed something or are they referring to the one panel when someone reached out and grabbed Wilbur from certain mishap when his fat rump went semi tumbling down the deck?
ReplyDeleteLard ass didn't look to be in any particular danger at that point unless splitting his pants was life threatening. God knows 1/2 the people could have mounted him and set sail for parts unknown with out a worry in the world, probably shared a ham sandwich or 12 from his pocket stash and their only danger would have been sun stroke from the reflection off his hairless dome.
Please let dawn get some horrendous disease so she doesn't have to deal with that bloated pustule anymore
Besides that, loved the arc
"Heavily inspired?"
ReplyDeleteYou mean plaigiarized, don't you?
Steven, I agree about how little helping we actually saw. Little Annie Aiuto is still haunting me. Perfect chance for the Westons to show their altruistic side - they were standing right next to her, for Pete's sake. That would have gone a long way, in my mind, toward personalizing and redeeming this ripped-off story.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile back in Charterstone, we've moved into Mary's apartment and Toby is still clutching her man. Nola man-snatching types might be lurking in the living room. And we're still waiting for Ian to utter his first sentence. If he asks for a sandwich, we know we've entered the Twilight Zone.
Oh, how I love panel two, today. It may not be Panel of the Year material, but it is certainly up there.
ReplyDeleteWe have Mary and Toby squeezed into opposite couch corners by the more-massive-by-the-day Ian; a double tandem face touch (Mary on the right, Toby on the left), and finally, the emoticon frowny face on Ian's mug.
Add to that the green walls, orange couch, pink drapes and red flanked by purple clothing, and you have the essence of MaryWorthiness.
How much longer must we wait for Prof. Ian's bombastic pronouncements on all this?
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have stated it better myself Steven W. Like the JR Bob Dobbs avatar btw.
ReplyDeleteHow I missed the Mary Worth face touch. It always reminds me of what I think House Rep. Dennis Kucinich looked like when he bit the olive pit in the Capital cafeteria.
@fauxprof: and you can't forget the included platitude that ignores the main point (tragedy at sea) while wielding the whole stupid story's "point" (it's not THAT brutal)... all along with the subtlety of each character's eyeballs pointing in different directions, a minor observation that has always intrigued me.
ReplyDeleteWas the ship raised since the last time we saw it? A week ago it was almost completely submerged.
ReplyDeleteI like Toby's statement, "And Wilbur and Dawn were there!" Haven't we already established that?
there was a article today in newsday a new york paper on joe giella . while joe does the art his 47 year old son frank does the colors . by the way the article was mostly about his comicbook career.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes. So much help. The passengers trampled a little child who was left alone at the lifeboat station where, according to Dawn, everyone was killing each other.
ReplyDeleteThe Westons did nothing but try to save themselves, but Wilbur was yanked to safety by the BurlyKenos, who have been jettisoned by M&G.
Toby and Tubby are suddenly horrified by a mere "incident" as they finally connect the dots and recall that Dawn and Wilbur "were there." Sigh. This is making me crabby today.
Ian looks like he just got a whiff of some rancid salmon squares...
ReplyDeleteWhich, come to think of it, was probably my same facial expression when learning that Dawn would make it out of this "incident" alive...
Today: 8/18: TV announcer: “Survivors of the Unità del Mare say if not for the passengers helping each other … they would not have survived.”
ReplyDeleteSo let's see what mutual help there was.
7/25: “An ugly scene ensues as the gates to the lifeboats open and the people fight for spots”
7/28: “The mad scene at the lifeboats forces some to choose an alternative means of survival” [as people keep jumping overboard]
7/29: “an ugly scene develops on deck 4”; “Wilbur and Dawn are held back by the desperate crowd of people who rush to the lifeboats”
7/30: “When a desperate crowd holds Wilbur and Dawn back from the lifeboats …”
8/2: Dawn: “But people are killing each other over at the lifeboats …”
BUT:
8/1: “Wilbur is saved by fellow passengers!… As strangers reach out to help!”
The above seems to be the only instance when passengers helped "each other" (= Wlbur). So today's announcement should have read:
“Survivors of the Unità del Mare say if not for the passengers helping Wilbur … he would not have survived.”
"Unfortunately there were only two survivors: a plump middle aged man and a young woman in a purple dress, but they confess that without the help of three semi-hot male passengers they would have died on the ship just like everyone else! How delightful, and now to Tom for the Sports!"
ReplyDeleteIf we see that TV reporter (who seemingly stepped out of a 1948 B movie) interviewing the Westons in tomorrow's strip, we'll all look like we bit into a rancid salmon square.
ReplyDelete@hia5: Thanks for the excellent recap of the "incident" through captions and dialog. That news reporter must not read "Mary Worth" every day, like we all do.
ReplyDeleteDawn will be a rockstar when she gets back to Santa Royale! She and wilbur will be asked to speak at the Rotary club and people will stop her on the street for her autograph. She'll get soooo many "likes" on facebutt for her story. Haha, that will show Dave; he'll be so sorry!! And also that whatshername...Paula!
ReplyDeleteSunday Morning Thoughts:
ReplyDelete@Nance. Right on about the reporter looking like he's from a 40's movie. Does anyone outside of the Worthiverse wear those prissy little mustaches anymore?
In the Sunday summary strip, We still have the double tandem face touch (which I am suggesting as a future Olympic event), but Toby has changed her clothes. Either that, or in the throes of an emotional crisis, she has torn off her outer top, and is now sitting in her undies.
Professor Chinbeard is, as ever, unmoved by this.