Like Husband, Like Wife: Laverne's Vicious Cycle
Elwood High Issue 190 is out this morning.
After a torturous series of rapid-fire tragedies, Laverne has finally hit the brink. When we last saw her, in Issue 188, her spoke to her long-lost daughter, Catherine, for the first time in nine years—Only to learn that her husband, Chip, had committed suicide. Fast forward three hours later, and Laverne is chugging a Clorox bottle, hunched over the dining table like a Bat Mitzvah gone wrong. The youngest members of the Read-Frensky jumble are the first to find her, unconscious and on the fence of death.
Although Laverne eventually recovers enough to talk, she first suffers a scathing condemnation from the only lucid person in the room: Francine. Eye liner cascading, Francine opens fire on her mother's shameless attempt at escape, even commanding Jane to "back off." It is refreshing to see Francine, who is too often used as a volleyball on Sue Ellen's court, taking a stand against the dumpster fire she is constantly surrounded by.
The issue reaches its climax when Laverne suddenly reveals Chip's death to the others in the room, just as Millicent and Muffy waltz through the doorway. At this point, Chip's suicide (which happened a full 10 issues ago) is like a game of telephone, passed from character to character, receiving greater shock with every revelation.
The issue handles suicide gracefully, a contrast to the blunt and often mocking depictions in prior cases. The word "suicide" is never said once, and Laverne is initially met with cautious and sincere kindness. After all, it was a pretty big cry for help. However, the issue is not afraid to highlight the selfish motives behind Laverne's little "episode," and subverts some of the blame back onto her shoulders.
Even before High started, Laverne has been one of the most tormented characters in the series. Let's take a hike through Laverne's nightmarish personal Hanukkah.
Day One:
After a torturous series of rapid-fire tragedies, Laverne has finally hit the brink. When we last saw her, in Issue 188, her spoke to her long-lost daughter, Catherine, for the first time in nine years—Only to learn that her husband, Chip, had committed suicide. Fast forward three hours later, and Laverne is chugging a Clorox bottle, hunched over the dining table like a Bat Mitzvah gone wrong. The youngest members of the Read-Frensky jumble are the first to find her, unconscious and on the fence of death.
Although Laverne eventually recovers enough to talk, she first suffers a scathing condemnation from the only lucid person in the room: Francine. Eye liner cascading, Francine opens fire on her mother's shameless attempt at escape, even commanding Jane to "back off." It is refreshing to see Francine, who is too often used as a volleyball on Sue Ellen's court, taking a stand against the dumpster fire she is constantly surrounded by.
The issue reaches its climax when Laverne suddenly reveals Chip's death to the others in the room, just as Millicent and Muffy waltz through the doorway. At this point, Chip's suicide (which happened a full 10 issues ago) is like a game of telephone, passed from character to character, receiving greater shock with every revelation.
The issue handles suicide gracefully, a contrast to the blunt and often mocking depictions in prior cases. The word "suicide" is never said once, and Laverne is initially met with cautious and sincere kindness. After all, it was a pretty big cry for help. However, the issue is not afraid to highlight the selfish motives behind Laverne's little "episode," and subverts some of the blame back onto her shoulders.
Even before High started, Laverne has been one of the most tormented characters in the series. Let's take a hike through Laverne's nightmarish personal Hanukkah.
Day One:
Early in the game (Issue 004), Laverne's long-time husband, Oliver, makes the hasty decision to jump out of his apartment building window—A four story, easily fatal drop—after losing his job. Laverne, without a job to support her family, is instantly helpless, going so far as to serve the family cat for dinner. Being freshly widowed this suddenly must sting.
Trag-o-meter:
10/10 guttural sobs. Ouch!
Day Two:
Living a zero-income life can't be easy. Laverne, now a single mother of two difficult daughters, learns that the hard way. Despite being in the lower bracket of the lower class before Oliver's death, the loss of that sanitation engineer wage catapults the surviving Frenskys into full-blown poverty. When Francine decimates both arms, breaks her left leg, and shatters her skull in a shocking horse-riding accident, Laverne laments over the hospital bill that she can pay none of.
Trag-o-meter:
5/10 guttural sobs. Cha-ching?
Day Three:
At least Laverne could cling to the warm embrace of her Jewish-ness, right? Wrong. After her daughter horks down a few slabs of meat, Laverne loses her final solace, being excommunicated from her local synagogue.
Trag-o-meter:
1/10 guttural sobs. Bubby!
Day Four:
This one may be Laverne's own doing, but another blow was when her daughter, Catherine, abandoned ship to follow her star-crossed boyfriend to college.
Trag-o-meter:
3/10 guttural sobs. Whoopsie!
Day Five:
In a gut-wrenching decision, Laverne disowned her daughter for running away with the boyfriend Laverne hated. Her family was destroyed, making for a poignant and hollow Hanukkah that year.
In a gut-wrenching decision, Laverne disowned her daughter for running away with the boyfriend Laverne hated. Her family was destroyed, making for a poignant and hollow Hanukkah that year.
Trag-o-meter:
2/10 guttural sobs. Sucks.
Day Six:
All Laverne really wanted was financial stability. After all, it would solve all her other problems. So when she and Jane Read devised a plan to infiltrate and rob a local bank, her life was on the brink of glory. In a sick twist, she and Jane got supposedly locked inside the vault from a good week or two (I think). The eventually got out, but Laverne had accidentally digested the money she had been hiding drug mule style. This so-close-she-could-taste-it tease was specifically horrible, as readers knew Laverne would be continuing her tenure in the stony clutches of poverty.
All Laverne really wanted was financial stability. After all, it would solve all her other problems. So when she and Jane Read devised a plan to infiltrate and rob a local bank, her life was on the brink of glory. In a sick twist, she and Jane got supposedly locked inside the vault from a good week or two (I think). The eventually got out, but Laverne had accidentally digested the money she had been hiding drug mule style. This so-close-she-could-taste-it tease was specifically horrible, as readers knew Laverne would be continuing her tenure in the stony clutches of poverty.
Trag-o-meter:
4/10 guttural sobs. Ooo, so close.
Day Seven
After marrying her daughter's ex-boyfriend (who she originally hated for being not Jewish), Laverne and Chip got in a grisly spat about (you guessed it) money. The family was low on cash, and was being evicted from their apartment. Chip only used Laverne as a maid, causing Laverne to give in. Taking her two remaining children (including her son with Chip), Laverne left Chip. Divorce was on the horizon, destroying the small chance Laverne had at wealth.
After marrying her daughter's ex-boyfriend (who she originally hated for being not Jewish), Laverne and Chip got in a grisly spat about (you guessed it) money. The family was low on cash, and was being evicted from their apartment. Chip only used Laverne as a maid, causing Laverne to give in. Taking her two remaining children (including her son with Chip), Laverne left Chip. Divorce was on the horizon, destroying the small chance Laverne had at wealth.
Trag-o-meter:
6/10 guttural sobs. Wuh-oh!
Day Eight
Shockingly, Laverne's second husband, Chip, took his own life by throwing himself off a Florida bluff. Laverne had to be told by Catherine, the daughter she disowned nine years ago. Although they had been separated at the the time of his death, Laverne was still devastated. Both of her marriages had been ended by suicide, and she reasoned that it was time for her to give it a whirl. Poor, essentially homeless, and double-widowed, Laverne attempted to kill herself by guzzling bleach. The saddest part is that she survived, doomed to grapple with the repercussions she inflicted on her family.
Shockingly, Laverne's second husband, Chip, took his own life by throwing himself off a Florida bluff. Laverne had to be told by Catherine, the daughter she disowned nine years ago. Although they had been separated at the the time of his death, Laverne was still devastated. Both of her marriages had been ended by suicide, and she reasoned that it was time for her to give it a whirl. Poor, essentially homeless, and double-widowed, Laverne attempted to kill herself by guzzling bleach. The saddest part is that she survived, doomed to grapple with the repercussions she inflicted on her family.
Trag-o-meter:
10/10 guttural sobs. Bottoms up!
What horrors will strike Laverne next?
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