(Strip Number 11143, Original Publication Date, 22 February 1986)
Panel 1: The next day, Brian irritates Mike by being disappointed in himself because he got three questions wrong. Mike doesn't want to be reminded that too-good-to-be-true people like this actually have work ethics and aren't being helped by Teacher because that means that he,
Panel 2: Gordo becomes Lynn's primary mouthpiece when he tells Brian that his getting good grades without even hardly trying is some kind of horrible character flaw.
Panel 3: Brian's response is to trot out the whole model minority canard by saying that as an Asian, he was born that way.
Panel 4: We end with something condescending and racist when Gordon reassures him that despite his accidentally making them all look bad, they like him anyway.
Summary: It seems that I've uncovered a fourth reason why Mike's grades are horrible: he shares Lynn's belief that people who actually do study and do pay attention are suck-ups who get help from Teacher because the alternative is that he's a lazy imbecile. Tune in Monday when I seek to reject Lynn's insight into things and replace it with Robert Heinlein's.
