“Hey Rufus, th’ Shifty1 fella think Jim’s lost his Marvels. I neva’ knew Jim don’ wri’en Marvel comix. I likes th’ Daredevil guy ‘cause seeing dis st’ryline make me wish I was blind too.”
I’m a bit amused by the recent slapstick and zaniness, but it still feels out of place in Gasoline Alley, which I’ve always thought of as a simple and folksy slice of life comic. The whole town turning into Green Acres is weird.
Let’s hope this Felix has a magic bag of tricks to save Rufus and give the bizarre “What if Natasha Richardson were a country bumpkin?” storyline a happy ending.
“Four score and seven years ago—hey, is that my old pal Ida Noe down front? That doll once took me back in time to meet George Washington. He wanted to cross Lake Titicaca and Ida suggested the Delaware instead. Hmm…can we strike that time travel stuff from the transcript? I don’t want people to think Mary Todd is rubbing off on me. Aaaanyways, our fathers brought forth on this continent…”
Depending on what date they went back to, Gettysburg in 1863 may not be the safest place for these kids. Of course, we may find out that Lee was well on his way to crushing Meade’s forces before General Ida Noe took over.
There was an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents about a woman who becomes infatuated with a ventriloquist and spends her life following him around the country to see all his performances. She finally gets a chance to privately meet him, but disobeys his order to keep her distance. She touches him and his lifeless “body” falls crashing to the floor, a glass eye falling out, as the little “dummy” yells at her. She grabs the eye out as she runs away – scared, humiliated and heartbroken. That eye becomes her most cherished possession, a momento of her one true love, until her death decades later as a lonely broken recluse.
I hope people were super charitable back then, because it might be hard for the girls to buy anything. “I’ll have the ten cent mutton dinner, please. Do you take Cash App? Venmo? Mastercard? How about a good old-fashioned coin from the 21st century with a picture of a guy who hasn’t been born yet?”
Gene, explain that you just need to invite people over to watch your awesome tv with the understanding that they bring the food in exchange. With the money you save on grocery bills, the tv more than pays for itself in a couple years. In fact, it’s actually a money-maker. It would have been financially irresponsible to not buy it. Shift the blame back onto Miles. Also, keep him and Donna away from your parents and the stories about all the things you broke playing football in the house at his age.
“Hey Rufus, th’ Shifty1 fella think Jim’s lost his Marvels. I neva’ knew Jim don’ wri’en Marvel comix. I likes th’ Daredevil guy ‘cause seeing dis st’ryline make me wish I was blind too.”