#230 – Lane

I was on a bowling team back when I was 9 years old. I don’t remember much about it at this point. I do remember being disappointed when I found out that we played on Saturday mornings and I would be missing may favorite Saturday morning cartoons. I think my favorite part was when we were done bowling I would get to hang out in the arcade for awhile until going home. I usually didn’t have money to play any of the games but I always managed to find a token in the coin return of one of the machines and get to play a round or two. It was always a magical moment when I would find a free token and to this day I have an occasional dream of being in an arcade and finding a machine with a never ending supply of coins coming out of it.

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0 thoughts on “#230 – Lane”

  1. Twilight says:

    oh GOD that can only end in more brain damage, but as has been more or less verified in other comics so far, there’s nothing to really hurt I guess. I mean, he has taken a dart to the brain on a windy day.

  2. Twilight says:

    Clever idea nonetheless though!

  3. random person says:

    wouldnt those balls hit biff in the head?
    i wish those machines at video arcades had a never ending supply of coins, but then the arcade would be buryed in coins :O

  4. cyber95 says:

    random person: “wouldnt those balls hit biff in the head?”
    Thank you, Ted, that was the joke.

  5. Kuroiten says:

    You have to time the duck just right…you get an extra frame every time the bowling ball barely misses your head.

  6. FinalDragoon says:

    He has trouble thinking things through, doesn’t he? It’s like the train of thought starts, but then derails and doesn’t quite make it.

  7. Basarin says:

    Oof…that can only end poorly for Biff…

    And Chris, totally with you on your bowling experiences (though fortunately it wasn’t always Saturday mornings for me). Unfortunately, while I’d just stare at the arcades all day or watch someone else play with more than a little envy, I never could find a spare quarter lying around in the machines.

    Good times, good times.

  8. Robin says:

    BOOM-roll-roll-roll-roll-roll-roll-roll-roll-DUCK-*CLATTER!!*

    STEE-RIKE!!!

  9. Aiden! says:

    If he can roll the ball hard enough to get back to his head…well, the physisist in me would be amazed. I suppose we’ve seen greater feats from Biff, though.

  10. machine146 says:

    There was a grand opening of an aracde where I live (It went out of bussniess latter) but the first two days all the arcade games were free. The only things that cost money was the food and the games where you win tickets.

  11. Jokuki says:

    finding tokens were always easy at the bowling alley i used to go to. and this comic will prove to ANYONE that Biff is an idiot…(if he has enough space to put the pins, he has enough space to move the lane back for the pins)

  12. Konola says:

    Yha. Then I have enough room for my dance pad for ddr. Think about it, He sets up the game when he wants to play. Then when he’s done he puts everything back in place. So technically you could have enough space, but only when you want to play. Think about it this way, he has it set up the way you want it, then he want to eat, watch out that you don’t tear up the bowling ally while you sit down. (Not the best example right now but I don’t have enough time, web design keeps me busy) watch for my next post, I have a story about an arcade where I got a ****load of tokens for free, till they found out that is.

    p.s.
    Not trying to sound like an ass, just making a point.

  13. Gobbledegook says:

    Biff isn’t an idiot… he’s just creative past the point of common sense and/or rational thought. I think he could give Wile E. Coyote a run for his money.

    Great comic, Chris! Lol

  14. fruglemonkey says:

    Hmm…

    What about those machines that re-set the pins?

  15. Warcrime says:

    no, dont you see why he set the pins up behind him? He rolls the ball, smacks himself in the face and he falls on them. what ever stays up is what he goes after wit hthe next ball XD

  16. Toshmate! says:

    chris all your comics are of plenty and in such nice condition.. i am sure your house is fullllll of great mint comics!

  17. Glenn says:

    One time I called in sick on a Monday because I woke up with some bad congestion. It cleared up by the afternoon, so I went to the local arcade. I found out that you could, only on Mondays, buy an unlimited game card for $10. This was one of those cutting-edge places too, with the fancy plastic guns and vibrating racecar steering wheels and leaning motorcycles. That was a day off well spent.

  18. roy_vf1s says:

    In the arcade I used to frequent in high school, there was this machine that you rolled a quarter down a chute onto a rolling mat covered in sensors, and if it landed in certain marked lanes you would win X number of tickets for prizes. I used to be really good at it, until the day I discovered that if you whacked it on top of the coin chute hard enough, it would automatically dispense the top prize, every time. 😀

  19. Reikon Ame says:

    I’m actually pretty good with bowling and think I’ve tried something similar to this. It never works out unless the guy throwing the ball down the lane at the curve has the ball fly back and hit him in the nuts. Then it becomes a game to see who will get hit with it next.

  20. Jenna says:

    Thank goodness! Biff is back to make my Monday shine! Thank you Biff! Thank you Chris! *bows down*

  21. Nova Namina Riff says:

    Finaly bowling makes so much sense to me now!

  22. Synchro says:

    Heehee, I go to the arcade and token hunt. It’s sort of a game for me in itself, I’ve always loved hunting for things. I find that the most common place to find lost tokens is under things rather than the coin returns. I’ve found over $10 in coins on one trip before like that. The arcades at the local bowling alleys are only three or four units though, and maybe a pinball machine if you’re really lucky. Same as the pizza places I’ve been to. I wish there were more arcades out there. ._.

  23. Jenna says:

    there’s an awesome one in Richmond if you happen to find yourself in lower BC sometime, lol.

  24. Jetman123 says:

    I think the idea is not that it’s going to fly off the ramp and hit him in the head (though that will probably happen regardless, because it’s biff) but rather that the ball will roll up the slope, stop, then roll back down the other way under gravity, and hit the pins as Biff steps out of the way. It’s still a very bad idea though. xD

    Knowing biff, at least a broken ankle will result.

  25. Knowing Biff the ball is probably filled with helium or something which when it goes to the curve will float to the ceiling and punish him for eating Biff earlier

  26. Lord Nuke says:

    Well, I found your site via some ads that you ran on my forums. Quite an enjoyable read, I went through your archives in an afternoon. Very farside-esque, and I love farside.
    Your artwork is great, your humor even better.

  27. dragonbrad says:

    i though tbiff would use a catapult or cannon to bowl,ohh,has any one slid when rolling the ball and you slid down thge lane

  28. Awkward As Usual says:

    I love finding tokens…it is definitely a magical moment when you find that free token…almost like discovering this comic…

    As for Biff, I can only hope he got the curve just right, otherwise he might be in for a painful surprise….

    thanks for the continuous dose of art and humor…

  29. Konola says:

    Sorry this took to long I was busy yesterday. Anyway, one day I was at this ice rink, it used to be called JP igloo, but now someone bought it and named it something else, anyway, a kid was ther and he showed me that there was a way to get tokens for fee, any one see any of those genaric token machines where it is kind of brown in the fron and meatle black all over? Well this model had a triagular shape prism on the top that says TOKENS. Aperently the nimrods forgot to lock the thing, just lift the top and all the tokens youed ever want, and then some. I beaten alot of games this way. Sadly a litle tateltale girl told on us, that token machine which was a god to us in now locked 🙁

  30. Konola says:

    AHHH typos!

  31. Nova Namina Riff says:

    Just for the record ‘Tatletail’ actualy means small talk in latin. So I’m guessing you mean ‘Tell tail’ girl.

  32. Hyshinara says:

    DUCK AND COVER!!!

  33. Malachite Dragon says:

    Alas, poor Biff, we knew him well…

  34. Konola says:

    Weel It was always pronounced Tatle Tail, So if thats how you spell the word then sorry, I spell it by how it sounds.

  35. Konola says:

    By the time I post, I find typos, then it’s to late. I ment Well.

  36. kenshin620 says:

    I thought up a new title for it:

    “Biff finds a flaw in using his snowsled as a bowling lane.”

  37. Konola says:

    Must be a long snowsled then. Of course this is Biff.

  38. Kaos says:

    Konola, please ignore Nova Nomina Riff, whose ignorance in latin is clear by his/her name.

    you were pronouncing it correctly, you call someone a “tattle tale” when they go and ‘tattle’ (tell) a ‘tale’ (story) about you

    “tell tail”, Riff? that is ‘tell tale’ which is used when evidence (an inanimate object) clearly gives away an event

    on the subject of this comic: Biff is a genius! It’s like a compressed bowling alley!

  39. Adam M says:

    This is a particularly funny one I think. I looked at it, and my eyes followed the bowling lane, hesitated at the curve for a moment and then followed the trajectory back to biff and only then did i spot the pins behind him.
    I think I woke somebody up, laughing.
    Good stuff Chris.

  40. Frank says:

    Funny story about that strip actually. We’ve got a place ’round here called nickle world. All the games cost a nickle.
    Well, somebody had a kind heart, and put about a million nickles into the Galaga machine. I was able to play like 500 rounds of Galaga, and that was after another guy had been at it for a while.

  41. Rachel says:

    I hope that doesnt hit him in the head.

  42. Darkpheonix XIII says:

    It’d be fun to own an arcade/bowling alley. It has enough stuff that you could just live there.
    I’ve been wondering… What is it about bowling that makes it so desireable to do?

  43. Peter says:

    One time i went to the observation deck of the Hancock Tower in Boston, and they had telescopes up there that were coin operated. A quarter for a few minutes. Well, there was one telescope, and the coin tray was broken off, and in it was one quarter. So I put the quarter in the telescope, turned the crank, and the telescope turned on, and the quarter fell out the bottom into my waiting hand. It was awesome! Unfortunately telescopes at night, in Boston, only facing East aren’t all that interesting, so a few minutes was all I cared for. But I got a free quarter!

  44. Grexxor says:

    automatic ball return, just has to get better at catching.

  45. Sarah says:

    I was lame enough as a child to not even need any tokens to have a terrific time at the arcade…I would just work the joystick or track ball or whatever and “play” the preview game that would play automatically.

  46. the walrus says:

    At my friend’s ice rink, there was on of those candy machines with the claw, that said “play until you win”. Only, what actually happened was you won, then you won again, then you won again…

  47. random person says:

    Oh I can’t wait to see how this turns out!

  48. Allie says:

    At least once the bowling ball smashes a hole or two in the floorboards, then he’ll have a mean game of Skee-Bowl! I want one in my rec room right now!

  49. Waladil says:

    One time, I was at an arcade… And one of my friends put a 20 into the machine, and got all his coins (I’m not sure if that’s related or not), and I was passing by it a minute or so later… And it randomly disgorged about 20$ worth more coins! That was a good day for me. ^_^

  50. Sarge says:

    Biff was wondering why the bowling ball was getting bigger…then it hit him.

  51. Toxic12 says:

    Automatic ball return machines are overrated.

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