TITLE The Bastich By Hart: Summer "Vacation" Part 4
PANEL 1 (MTN. DEWD, BAPPER, AND BASTICH are greeted by their new BOSS, a woman with a bob cut.) CAPTION: "After passing through security, it was time to meet up with our manager..." BOSS: Hi there, Mtn. Dewd, Bapper, and Bastich... MTN. DEWD, BAPPER, AND BASTICH: Hiya Boss!
PANEL 2 (The gang react to the BOSS speaking.) BOSS: Since this is your first day on the job here at Mothership, you'll each need to attend a meeting with your project teams to brief you on your summer projects... MTN. DEWD AND BAPPER: D'oh! BOSS: Except Bastich, who doesn't have a project yet... BASTICH: Score!
PANEL 3 (BASTICH decorates his cubicle with toys.) CAPTION: "And so, I tracked down my designated cubicle and began to settle in..." BASTICH: Okay, Alf, you can guard the workstation. Spidey, you take the monitor!
PANEL 4 (MTN. DEWD and BAPPER walk down the hallway.) CAPTION: Countless hours later... BAPPER: Dewd, I'm glad those meetings are finally over... MTN. DEWD: Yeah. Those "briefings" were anything BUT! Hey, what's your cube number? BAPPER: Uh... 7G-6. Why?
PANEL 5 (BAPPER throws out his arms at the sight of BASTICH sitting in his cubicle.) MTN. DEWD: I dunno, that number sounds familiar. BAPPER: NO! It cannot BE!! BASTICH: Howdy, Cube-mate!
PANEL 6 (MTN. DEWD consoles BAPPER who has places his head in his hands in despair.) BAPPER: This is only a temporary situation, right? MTN. DEWD: Sure. Somebody's bound to quit and free up a cube sooner of later. BAPPER: What good is that if that person is ME!?
CREDITS Bastich (c) 1997 Joshua Adam Hart
Commentary
The gang now meets their new manager and gets their assignments.
Once again, Bapper is uncharacteristically uptight in this strip. The real Bapper wouldn't fall into despair - he would laugh it off and then plot some mischievous form of revenge when Bastich least expected it.
Cubicle 7G-6 is a reference to Homer Simpson's notoriously unsafe workstation at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant.
Bastich's desk toys include ALF, Spider-Man and Optimus Prime.