actual action | This Week in Milford

June 3, 2026

Sand(geet) Volleyball!

Filed under: ?, actual action, Coach Babu, Gil Thorp, Volleyball, wedding plans — robmize2013 @ 9:21 am

Filling in for teenchy while he takes a well deserved break from being Joan Rivers. What have we here? Beach volleyball, or practice? Hey, its summer. Why not break out a new sport? But we’re never sure until we see more, since the artist may just be using this background for now. And we have coaches, and uniforms, for practice. I already said uniforms are for GAME use only, but its falling on deaf ears. Maybe its some kind of summer league? Whatever it is, please stick with it for more then 2 days.

We havent seen coach Babu in a while either, but she is volunteering to help out at Gils wedding. Thats great. But why not talk to Beth first? Does Beth have enough bridesmaids? Maybe get that one crossed off first.

Babu qualifies her help; she will only help if she can plan ‘THE’ sangeet. https://emmalinebride.com/planning/what-is-a-sangeet-ceremony/Uh, how does she know thats even on the program? Theyre allegedly having the wedding in the school gym, and what wedding doesnt already have some music and singing (and dancing etc)? Babu wants to introduce her own personal touch, probably from her own family traditions, (reading more on it it looks like an Indian pre-wedding ceremony involving wearing special garb, and also has its own invitation) but just assuming Gil will be cool with all this, without even talking to the bride about it, is so presumptuous it borders on bizarre.

But surprise! Gil gives the ok just like that. Without a moments thought, or even consulting Beth, who is the de facto captain of the wedding ship. Just- ‘there is now’. Hey, he needs all the help he can get, no matter what radical alterations to the agenda there are. Talk about flying by the seat of your pants involving the big day.

Cant wait to hear Beths reaction. If it involves more tears, what does he do now?

Comments (3)

May 22, 2026

You’re Killing Me, Barajas!

Filed under: actual action, anatomically implausible, Bad Jokes, Colorist Error, freak hands, Gil Thorp, golf, Jackie Carter, lame jokes, Marty Moon, Mimi Thorp, Miserable characters, same story 2 days straight, sports Henry knows nothing about — teenchy @ 8:28 pm

Once I learned Milford High has a sandlot, today’s post title was a natural. (Acceptable alternate titles would have included The Longest Day, It’s Another Tequila Sunset, [The Mudlarks Wanna Wear My] Red Shoes.) Once I learned Milford High is still fielding a baseball team – one we never see – I realized that today’s strip was just one big troll. Let’s break it down, shall we?

P1: Tiny putter, oversized golf ball, hovering in red sneakers, and what the hell is going on above his knees? Who is “he” anyway?

PP2-3: Telling but not showing the baseball season (who’s coaching baseball? gotta be Luke, no?); the crowd is a monochromatic shadow when nothing and no one else is; the new colorist can’t even color a sunset correctly!

P3: Even Gil knows what just finished was a “match.” Calling it a “game” is just playing dumb and feeding the narrative that he’s bad at golf. Add the handshake while still wearing a golf glove (why would the coach be doing that, anyway?) and it’s a big double diss to the ex. Emily’s “those who can, do; those who can’t, coach” retort is weaksauce.

Tomorrow: back to the ICE detention center? Keri’s social justice crusade? Or do we find out where Jami’s been all this time? See you then!

Comments (2)

May 20, 2026

McKees Rocks

Filed under: actual action, Fat Guys, freak faces, hands in the air, Henry's friends, Lantern Jaws, Mimi Thorp, Miserable characters, Pissy faced Mimi, same story 2 days straight, sports Henry knows nothing about, Valley Tech — teenchy @ 9:04 am

Another day, another strip worthy of the MopMan treatment.

And now for the actual strip.

Once again we have a coach glued to the side of a player, following them around the course. Pretty sure that’s not how this works. We also have the ex-spouses getting the Goofus and Gallant treatment: “Goofus Emily praises her players when they do well and scowls at them when they make mistakes. Gallant Gil gives constructive advice to all his players… well, at least to one of them.”

This golf match has dragged on for two weeks now, with no plot advancement beyond showing what a horrible human being Mimi has become. Barajas might’ve chosen to work ICE into the strip this spring, but tbh the results look more like the work of another governmental agency. Bringing in a younger writer and artist to destroy what works in the name of modernization, all while drawing a paycheck? Barajas and Merrill are to Gil Thorp what DOGE is to the federal government.

Today’s post title is a shout-out to any of you Pennsylvanian TWIMers.

Comments (7)

May 16, 2026

If you sprinkle when you Trinkle, please do hunker and groom the bunker

Filed under: actual action, anatomically implausible, big arms, High Five Fail, Lantern Jaws, lazy artwork, metapost, Mimi Thorp, Pissy faced Gil, Valley Tech — teenchy @ 8:19 pm

Drought conditions have stricken Farmyard Golf Course. That, or the greenskeepers have spread manure over the greens. Not a problem for VT’s Alana Trinkle, she of the magical disappearing/reappearing/jumping from hand-to-hand golf glove, who places her shot from the bunker two feet from the pin. Then what? Time to turn to her coach and Wonder Twin Powers… Activate!

Shape of… a gender-ambiguous teen!

Form of… a bitter lesbian ex-golf pro!

Powers thus activated, Emily fawns over Alana publicly, showering her with the praise she never bestowed on her own children. Meanwhile, beady-eyed Gil stares at Dorothy, who looks like she’d rather be in France with Beldar and Prymaat.

What is it with these coaches constantly appearing at the side of players who just hit their shots? There are multiple foursomes on the course. Do Gil and Emily have residual Wonder Twin Powers of their own? Talk amongst yourselves. teenchy out.

meta: tdrew, will be glad to let you take Monday’s post. This cliffhanger is too suspenseful for my delicate constitution.

Comments (5)

May 15, 2026

Stereotype much?

Filed under: actual action, anatomically implausible, Brown Hair, Coach Tays, freak hands, Gil Thorp, golf, Lantern Jaws — teenchy @ 4:57 pm

Ahem. Calling a good young Black golfer “the next Tiger Woods” because he’s a good young Black golfer doesn’t make it any less stereotypical when you put those words in a Black character’s mouth. Has anyone called Henry Barajas “the next Gabriel Vargas“? Didn’t think so.

How far back does Gil’s memory go? Is he thinking of the Tiger Woods who dominated professional golf for the entirety of the 2000s, the one who was the youngest to win the Grand Slam? Or of the Tiger Woods who was hobbled by injuries in the 2010s, the one who can’t be trusted behind the wheel of a car? Either way, Lucas would have to be much better at golf to be mentioned in the same breath, not some poor kid who decided to try golf instead of playing baseball this year. What’s with calling him a “poor kid,” anyway? He beat Gerads’ ass, spent some time in juvie for it, then transferred to Milford basically so that Gil could use him to intimidate Gerads? Not enough backstory to jump to that conclusion.

Lucas Martin’s future as a golfer may be uncertain, but if he can continue to pull off that disappearing/reappearing dreads trick, he might have a future as a magician.

Comments (2)

May 4, 2026

Two 1-man teams

Filed under: What the hell is going on here?, actual action, golf, general nonsense, Our National Disgrace, Goshen, Miserable characters, sports Henry knows nothing about, Coach Gonads — robmize2013 @ 9:55 pm

They say beggars cant be choosers, so us golf snobs who know the rules of golf inside out cant be too displeased with 3 panels of golf (or what passes for it) in lieu of the Isis/missing dad story. But there’s plenty of bogeys in todays strip.

P1 – we already know the artist doesnt know a green from a fairway. I know its only early May but with the rain we’ve had out here, the grass is lush and green. Not so in Milfordland. All we see is a vast expanse of land with a small hole. The player is putting cross handed.

P2 – Coach Gonads celebrates Estradas par with an overreaction. Dude, there’s 2 teams out there all over the course, all playing simultaneously. How on earth he can see one player, making one putt, is nigh impossible. What vantage point does a golf coach have while a match is going on? He only has 2 eyes. And that hideous outfit only makes him look more ridiculous.

P3 – Milford 1-man team Martin hits a pitch shot on the green with a touch thats impossible for a beginner. We have another misspelled golf term (Saturday it was bogie instead of bogey) as the word should be ‘puts’ one to about 12 feet, not ‘putts’ which of course is a putt, not a pitch. Again Barajas trying to show how smart he is, winds up tripping over his own feet.

Martin even said it wasnt his day already after missing a par putt. Goddammit Barajas, a beginner wouldnt have a par putt for at least 2 years in real life, and how many ‘days’ has Martin had if he just tried golf last month on this team? Which he somehow made without ever picking up a club? The nonsense just multiplies, like Martins scores would be if he was really a beginner.

Comments (4)

May 2, 2026

Forgetting about sports? Par for the course.

Filed under: actual action, Brown Hair, Coach Gonads, Gil Thorp, golf, Goshen, huge hats, Lantern Jaws, same story 2 days straight, sports Henry knows nothing about — teenchy @ 10:43 am

Today we have another strip worthy of the Mopped Up Thorp treatment.

Heilig-Meyers was a retail furniture store chain founded in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1913 by two Lithuanian immigrants, W. A. Heilig and J. M. Meyers. Its corporate headquarters was in Richmond, Virginia. The chain grew to become the largest furniture retailer in the United States in the 1990s, ultimately having over 1,000 stores nationwide (including Puerto Rico). Its over-expansion—by purchasing over 100 McMahan’s Furniture stores based in Carlsbad, California, in 1993, as well as other stores and chains in the West—contributed to its failure. The company also bought the L. Fish furniture chain in the Chicago area; those stores were closed in 1999. Heilig-Meyers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 17, 2000, and subsequently announced the liquidation of its inventory, with all of their stores closing by mid-2001. – Wikipedia

For the record, here’s a store display image of the Heilig-Meyers mascot.

And now today’s original strip.

Besides the implausibility of opposing golf coaches standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the course, I reckon there’s a bigger takeaway we’re supposed to get from yesterday’s and today’s strips. Gil is so distracted and shaken by his trip to the ICE detention center that he’s forgetting how to describe not only Gerads’ antics but also the actual game being played in front of him.

Then again, Gil might find golf as boring as everyone else involved, including the writer. He’s canonically bad at it, remember? Gil, that is. Canonically bad at golf. The writer is not canonically bad at golf. Or writing. At least not yet.

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April 27, 2026

More hilarious interviews. And propaganda.

Filed under: What the hell is going on here?, actual action, baseball, ?, anatomically implausible, general nonsense, lazy artwork, Volleyball, Coach Kevin, sports Henry knows nothing about — robmize2013 @ 10:37 am

Quite a smorgasbord of thoughts and outfits here.

P1- we found Gonads while he was dressing for his bagpipe practice and before he put his right sleeve in he said he’s currently working for free at Goshen. No wonder he’s always in ill humor. How the reporter can keep a straight face looking at him is beyond me. At least he’s on the periphery of events this time. He acts like every other day he’s being pestered by a reporter. Just say ‘no comment’ if you prefer not to answer anything.

P2 – wow its a VT baseball player. Unless thats the coach. Couldnt they interview him at the school with normal clothes on? Is that the same guy who was worried about his kids the other day? And uh, whats in the background? Looks like a pitcher and catcher, but what kind of flat mound is that? The pitcher has a green outfit on, the catcher is squatting on a big circle with nothing behind him/her or next to him/her. If thats a uniform, it looks nothing like the coaches; and has no number on the back. Dont tell me its practice. The coach doesnt dress like that for practice. And where is everyone else, again? All these public service announcements falling on deaf ears.

P3 – its good ol Mimi spouting more nonsense about some other school she shouldnt be worried about. Looks like a rather warm top for being indoors. And whats behind her? Ok— if thats volleyball, that net is way too low. Looks like 3 girls on 1 side and 1 on the other, and the ball is near the knee of the girl in the green outfit, which is of course different from the other 3 girls outfits. So what the hell theyre doing is beyond me, as usual. None of them is looking at the ball and their hands arent in appropriate positions. Mimi spouts more propaganda about the greatness of Milford as a place to go, even though she recently left.

So you can add baseball and volleyball to sports Rachel has no idea how to draw. Plus being dressed. Thats our main accomplishment today. Hoo boy.

That co-ed golf thing is rotting away like an old cucumber. Too busy telling us how great everything is.