Panel 2: So that's what the speed-freak eyes look like in profile! And who wears a red tie with brown pants?
Panel 3: How does Gerald know that Becky and the band are an issue? Were he and April also discussing it? He can't have overheard April and Jeremy's convo, or he wouldn't have had to ask who just left.
Panel 4: Nice folds on the dress, whoever drew that.
Panel 5: Uh, yeah, but isn't it a fast number? Oh, right...if they dance together, they'll be hearing their own music...sigh...
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Now, I remember that during Smoochgate '03, some readers thought April was too young for that kind of carrying on. I don't quite agree, because she was a few weeks short of twelve, and that seems to be the standard Patterson age for hooking up. What bothered me was that Gerald was acting too old.
When Mike was courting Martha, and when Anthony was pining for Liz, both of them were acting in a manner consistent with their age and emotional/social development. Martha and Mike's relationship stalled briefly when it was new: he was offended that she was doing the "giggle whisper whisper giggle" routine with her girlfriends after talking with him, while she wanted him to make a gesture of commitment, like giving her his jacket to wear, or at least a pin. Then, when Liz was griping about not having a boyfriend, Dawn and Candace decided to get Anthony off the dime by forging a note from Liz, which resulted in Liz thinking Anthony was really interested in Dawn, and he had to run after her in the hallway to declare himself.
Now all that is typical middle-school stuff. Whereas Gerald, from "That's probably a good move...And here's another one [smooch]" to "No! I mean...dance" seems more like Christopher Walken as The Continental. Guys his age do not. talk. or act. like that. A lot of guys TWICE his age do not talk or act like that. I can buy it when it's Eric or Warren courting Liz, because some guys their age are that smooth. But not an eighth-grader, no way. Even if he's studied Hugh Grant movies or something, he still wouldn't be able to pull it off in real life.
