Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for December 17, 2022

Obviously the writer does not know that the game clock is stopped while a team is attempting a two-point conversion. (Or a one-point one, for that matter.)

Huh buh wha? Aside from Oldiesfan’s correct observation, it takes FIFTEEN SECONDS from the handoff to a line plunge?!?!? What the blazes were they doing, everyone pausing on the field to take selfies? Doing a haka on the sideline? Going out for a smoke? This makes about as much sense as claiming they were going for a THREE point conversion.

The only way a run up the middle would take fifteen seconds would be if he was running the length of the field towards his own goal.

That clock is Woke!

I’m not sure which team is cheating now by trying to drain the clock during the conversion attempt, but you know that even worse shenanigans are going on in today’s Mopped Up Thorp.

https://moppedupthorp.wordpress.com/

The right play would have been to heave the puck from midcourt through a space-time wormhole, then run the bases backward.

Elias Bermudez? Tobias Gordon? Where does he get these names from?

Henty is just effin’ with us now. He apparently thinks Thorp readers know as much about football as he does. I can’t wait for the basketball season to start. Looking forward to games going into extra time and another Thorp Special – the five-point shot with no time left on the clock.

In all reality , I woke up today and hoped the game would end in controversy and basketball would start Monday, no such luck. Hope I have better luck at Hawthorne this afternoon , I need some Winter Solstice presents $$$ !

Monday, more rule book creativity as Toby will fumble in the end zone and Marty will announce that “…the extra 2 points won’t be counted because time ran out and he fumbled…”

The joke would be on all of us if we learn on Monday that Tobias goes down at the 1-inch line as time expires, but the refs realize that the clock operator was wrong and this game gets drawn out for another week…

Whigham must’ve pinched himself when he was told to show the QBs hands today

I’ve never seen a single football play take 15 seconds. The desperation let’s-lateral-the-heck-out-of-this-kick-return might come close. But 6 seconds to execute a hand-off? Nine more seconds to leap over the line of scrimmage? Are these guys playing in syrup?

For perspective, bull riders only have to stay on for 8 seconds, and that’s an eternity.

Good thing Gil watched that game tape to prepare for this game

I’m really hoping this kinda ends up like The Bad News Bears (the original, not the Billy Bob Thornton remake) and Sheriff Martinez slaps Luke Jr. and is never heard from again…

The leap of faith is believing that defensive linemen would stay low like that on a goal line plunge and let Tobias Gordon vault over them. And where are the offensive linemen who would be blocking them?

It looks like Tobias has reasonably well defined guns in P2. Has he been juicing in order to bulk up to play running back while continuing the transition to being a male?

Absolutely, positively one of the worst strips EVER !!!! Which, as we all know, is really saying something . Clock running during 2-point conversion?6 seconds to hand-off? A staggering 9 seconds to run 3-4 yards for a ………….. wait for it ……….“leap of faith”?Runner is #12 in P2 but Tobias Gordon in P3?

Huskiecoach stated the average play is 4 seconds. Last night, I surmised the majority of plays occur in the 4 to 8 second time frame. Several of us mentioned the Tip Nunn over the top score from years ago. The difference is Tipperello VAULTED to score, which is more impressive than a leap of faith. Isn’t it far fetched for Toby to go through gender change, no football experience to becoming a key contributor on a potential playdown team? And where the hell are the aliens while all of this has transpired? Probing minds need to know.

The writer hasn’t ever watched football. So the clock will hit zero and they’ll blow the play dead.

P-1: The QB is obviously scared to death, as his hands are pale white.

P-2: Marty suffers floating brain syndrome and cannot remember the halfback’s name.

P-3: As the Milford Offensive Line mysteriously disappear, Iron Leg Tobi uses good Kung-Fu to leap over the Evil doers from VT and causes the game clock to magically run at an accelerated pace during an extra point attempt.

dadjo: “Henry is just effin’ with us now. He apparently thinks Thorp readers know as much about football as he does.”

I’d hope Henry is more professional than that. Responding to comments on this board directly is one thing but to do so via the strip would be unacceptable. What is evident is that he is in over his head with GT. Writing comic book stories like the Helm Greycastle series, Tata Rambo, and Batman Urban Legends is a different process than writing a serial comic. Henry clearly has a passion for comic books and has had success writing about things he is familiar with. What’s obvious is that he knows very little about Gil Thorp the character, the GT strip or the sports that are featured. Both of the previous writers had been, to some degree, readers of Jack Berrill’s version of GT which helped them maintain continuity of the characters and storyline structure. Henry was adamant about not wanting to follow the same script for his tenure but there is really only so much that can be changed. His plan for writing the strip as a soon to be available comic book isn’t all that original as the past GT anthologies have already shown that a well written serial strip can be published as a stand-alone. If that’s the ultimate goal a better approach might be to invest the time necessary to fully understand your subject matter and just write a good serial comic strip. The rest will take care of itself.

Henry – I am begging you, PLEASE turn this strip over to someone who has a clue what they are doing.