Thursday, 16 June 2011

The real end of Mike's second grade experience has him making a mildly humorous joke about how his gym stuff is sort of overripe.

(Strip Number 273, Original Publication Date, 17 June 1982)

Panel 1: We start things off with Elly looking at all of the notebooks and other school supplies Mike brought home and asking him "So, you're a free man all summer; is this all the stuff out of your desk?"

Panel 2: Mike panics a little because he realized that he's left his gym bag in his locker.

Panel 3: His mildly funny joke wherein he asks Elly if he should go get it or let it crawl home by itself makes her roll her eyes in mild annoyance.

Summary: You know you're sort of in a bad place when the realization that at least Elly doesn't look as if she'd been hit with a two-by-four is a reassuring one; ordinarily, a bad joke that predictable would leave her baffled and horrified because it came out of nowhere.