In my early writing days, I greatly overused the technique of writing something down, finding the flaw in it, and then turning that flaw into an in-dialogue joke rather than reworking it to eliminate the flaw entirely. You can only do so many “I can’t believe this is happening, it’s just so… unbelievable” or “Hey, why are you talking like something out of an OLD COMIC BOOK” jokes to excuse your own cliches before your readers get sick of your shit (something that Justice League International/Justice League 3000‘s J.M. DeMatteis, for all his many other virtues as a writer, never seemed to learn).

Every once in a while, though, the technique can still work. I think Braggadocio’s explanation for how he could be ignoring the events of panels 3 and 4 comes at just the right time to feel like an organic part of this jokey action scene instead of a desperate last-minute excuse.

I have a feeling Bert and Bragga declined the farmer’s invitation, but Bert still enjoys telling the story.