Perhaps Rivera is working on the assumption that if a story has no legs, then give it wings? Earlier I mentioned the statue-and-bees story (cf “Sunny and the Bees”) from 2021. There is, in fact, a similarity in story structure here: a) Violet and Cherry work on a garden project; b) the object of attention (statue, old hall) needs maintenance of some sort; c) when the object is uncovered/opened, the two are strafed by flying pests (bees, bats), resulting in d) Violet wanting to eradicate them. Is Violet going to call on Honest Ernest, like she did before?

Rivera’s gratuitous narration box in panel 3 not only fails to provide anything new or even humorous but makes no sense: Activities (“cleaning out the old hall”) do not go batty; people do. One wonders if today’s strip was designed primarily to make this “joke” or if Rivera felt the need to add a humorous comment because the story, alone, would not stand. Clearly, Cherry’s comment in panel 3 is a good enough ending on its own and even lightly humorous. It’s a more natural “in context” jest than the forced “humor” of the narration box. This kind of overemphasis of the punchline is not unique to Rivera. In fact, several joke-a-day strips often overstate their humor with gratuitous post-punchline comments. A good punchline does not need additional support.