Gil Thorp by Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill for June 28, 2016

The biggest Milford sports story in years and Moon’s nowhere to be seen? Nor Marjie Ducey come to think of it. That comment in P2 must be pretty painful for certain missing children.

Or maybe Carrie Hobson isn’t a very good pitcher.

If this is real life and not a movie, why did the second vehicle slam into Boo’s car and never get referred to again?

Well, they’ve scarcely referred to Grand Master Bader, after all.

But the showers are a movie, so let’s hit them (or is that only for the boys?)

This storyline could have taken weeks to cover all those involved. In comic strip world, you don’t have that luxury. A very difficult subject, but one that sadly takes place too often in real life.

So many loose ends—pickup truck mystery, accident investigation, young and old Baders, trial, missing Moon and Marjie, etc. Maybe this will be the summer storyline?

In all reality , meanwhile as Mimi speaks , the missing pickup truck is placed into the crusher at Max’s Milford Auto Graveyard , the Hardy Boys say goodbye to their grandmother and the girls are informed that Boo was cremated with her ashes scattered to the winds by her parents in private.

P1, Or maybe you should have tried Menzie.

P2, Be afraid girls, be very afraid. You all know what happened to Mimi’s girl, not to mention her son.

P3, I thought this was a comic strip?

Remember folks, Max’s Milford Auto Graveyard is your source for all your used auto parts and a proud sponsor of Mudlark softball!

P1- As Funky Winkerbean has aged, err, matured, he has kept that tight lipped expression of constipation. Fire up the blender Pedro for a Summer of daze and haze.

P3: Actually it’s reel life. On to Rio to watch Gil vs. zika.

Wait a minute. Gil Thorp – The Movie. It’s an idea whose time has come. If only Burt Lancaster were still alive to play the role of Gil.

P-1: Mimi admits her mind wasn’t on the game. Oh, Pedro…P-2: Mimi explains her order of preference (aka-any port in a storm)P-3: Episode 23, Rocky Jones and the Shadow PeoplePossible movies: The Thorp Identity, The Gill Ultimatum, The Thorp State Champion Supremacy, and finally the Gill Net.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to be with my girls. Let’s see – which one is my team again? None of these people look familiar. Maybe I should have gone to at least one practice.”

…and Mimi tells the handsome newscaster, "Excuse me, I need to be with my girls (in the showers.)

The double crash makes Del Bader responsible for the crash without being the person who actually killed boo. Sure, he’s responsible for her being dead, but perhaps the pickup driver was at least partly at fault too. This makes the Bader family, while not sympathetic characters, at least somewhat less villainous in this story. The cow judge will send Del to prison for a long time (since he was already out on parole), but he will at least get out in time to see a middle-aged Barry Bader win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his revolutionary invention that replaces all known industrial solvents. Bader Industries Inc.holds the patent on it, and the Boo Radley estate will win their law suit to get a share of the profits. So at least there’s that.

Suppose the pickup driver would have been able to stop short of Boo’s Jeep when it spun into his lane, except he was doing 45 mph in a 25 mph zone? Or maybe he wasn’t paying attention, because he was on his cell phone? Or what if his own blood alcohol level was even higher than Del’s???? Way too many important facts are being swept under the rug here!

Well you’ve got to give Mimi credit for at least giving the appearance of being a thorough and thoughtful coach. Of course had the TV camera not been there, would she be? And speaking of being there, today’s Mopped Up Thorp is being right there where it always is located.

Wait! What the…? Everyone’s talking about loose ends; how did Tru do on his AP English test? At least he got out of class for a day and had more time to cram for it. Somehow talking about loose ends and cramming seems wrong.

Marty Moon must have done a lot of soul searching and checked himself into rehab otherwise he would be spinning this whole thing as Gil’s fault.

Still nothing on the second driver?