An Oldie, Not a Goodie

See it here.

The path to today's punchline (such as it is) is strewn with oddness.

We have the highly-unlikely plot device of a broken piece of lawn furniture which induces a panic in Joy if someone attempts to sit in it. This, despite the fact that the broken item is set out, conversation-corner style, just daring guests to sit down. I hate to agree with any character of The Dinette Set, because it tends to make me question my sanity. But in this case I agree with Dale...if you're that panicky, throw the damn chair out, already.

We also have a new character named Tom lurking at the edge of the panel, hands in pockets, looking smug, self-satisfied, and just a bit too-cool-for-school. Tom is a personal injury lawyer by profession, which we know because Dale makes a convoluted detour in the middle of his his rant to highlight this fact. I am assuming Dale is threatening a lawsuit against Burl and Joy. Otherwise he is randomnly mentioning Tom's profession and suggesting that Tom is an authority on when to throw out lawn furniture, which would be very weird. Though I wouldn't put it past the The Dinette Set.

At this point you can tell where the panel is heading, since Dale's out-of-place reference to Tom's profession is a clear case of Chekhov's gun.

Sure enough, your reward is the oldest joke in human civilization: the lawyer is an amoral creature, always looking for someone to sue. Cutting edge humor which is only missing a seltzer-bottle-to-the-face to make it complete.

The punchline aside, today's panel is uniquely jarring with its juxtaposition of the dynamic story and the static visual. In our story, Joy is in a panic and rushing to stop Dale. You'd expect Dale to stand up rapidly when Joy yells out that the chair is broken, in order to save himself. Dale then throws the conversation over to Tom, who carries with him the threat of a lawsuit. All of this moves the action from left-to-right.

In the one-panel format, however, Dale's ass magically hovers inches above the surface of the seat throughout the entire conversation. His awkwardly-drawn left arm apparently supports his body weight and prevents the certain disaster which would occur if his ass touched down.

And Burl is frozen in time, staring at Tom from beginning to end of the entire episode as if he knew from the moment Tom arrived that he would eventually sue him. Burl is so consumed with hating Tom it never occurred to him to warn Dale about the chair. If it were possible to read the facial expression on Burl, I would assume his expression was one of rage over the injustice at the possibility of being sued. But since all I have to go on are a pair of pupil-less eyes, two dots where his nose and mouth ought to be, and a vast expanse of white cheek and neck, I think I am projecting this onto him.

Better mention the margins, or Tom may sue:

• Tom may be a recurring character with whom I am not familiar (like Psychiatrist John). I was not about to hunt the archives for another of his appearances, especially since that would most likely have just turned up another example of this same joke. I suspect, however, he's more likely another example of Deus ex Machina invented only to make today's joke work (in a manner of speaking).
• Tom's shirt says Chicida, which I would guess is supposed to be the brand name, although the brand name is usually on the left side of a shirt. I have no idea what it's supposed to be a reference to no matter what side of the shirt it is on.
  
• Any guesses what Tom has in his breast pocket?
• As if on cue, Ms. Larson repeats the "On Ice" gag two days in a row. Nope, still not funny.

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. We're in the middle of a heatwave and have no air conditioning. It was over 100 degrees inside my house. I could not muster the energy to examine The Dinette Set under those conditions.