Happy 15th Anniversary SOSF!!!

What can you say about 15 years?

15 years ago, Elizabeth Taylor was still alive.

15 years ago, Fidel Castro was still alive.

15 years ago, A Dance with Dragons was a year from coming out.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was still in development.

The weekend after TFH put up his first post, Kick-Ass was in theatres.

A child born the day of TFH’s first post could be in high school, have a learner’s permit, acne, hair in funny places, a nose ring, a crippling addiction to TikTok and ennui.

A dog born the day of TFH’s first post is probably dead.

In 2025 we are further from the first post of Son of Stuck Funky, than the first post of Son of Stuck Funky was from the premiere of Titanic.

Snarkers, posters, commenters, comics, artists, characters…they have come and gone since 2010. But this place has remained.

Thank you to all those people that made this place what it was over the last decade and a half.

Thank you to all you wonderful people who make this place what it is now.

Most of all, thank you to TFHackett for starting this blog. Thank you to his partner in crime Epicus Doomus for orchestrating things behind the scenes for years.

And thank you Tom, for a lifetime of baffling and snarkable comic strips.

Stay Funky!

Coming up…

49 thoughts on “Happy 15th Anniversary SOSF!!!”

  2. Happy Anniversary to SOSF!
    We love you, TF Hackett and Epicus Doomus.

    15 years ago:
    Be Ware of Eve Hill, Anonymous Sparrow, and I
    were all teenagers. Well, I know that’s true for Anonymous Sparrow and me.

    1. 15 years ago, I still lived in Missouri. About a dozen miles away from Sorial Promise. I could have easily driven over to his house and slapped him silly for that remark.

      Happy Anniversary SoSF! A special thanks to the hosts, the guest bloggers, and to everyone who made this place fun. I just wish I found you sooner.

      1. Beware of Eve Hill,
        My cheek hurts but I am laughing out loud. So that’s where the silly comes from. 🤪😜🤩
        (Yes. Yes. Yes. I gave you a 👍)

  3. 15 years ago, Shirley Temple was still alive.

    15 years ago, two Americans born during the presidency of Grover Cleveland were still alive.

    15 years ago, three verified veterans of the first World War were still alive.

    15 years ago, non-captive Christmas Island blue-tailed skinks were still alive.

    15 years ago, Jenny Slate was a featured player on Saturday Night Live.

    15 years ago, Lisa was… well…

    Thanks to TFH, Epicus, BJ6K, CBH, and everyone who has continued to make this site the great place it is. Next year we get to drive!

  4. Today’s Crankshaft

    Day 4 of Rocky’s Villain Arc

    I’m wishing that Rocky shows up in this storyline and breaks into a dance and sings on how good it feels to be in the Big Walnut Tech bus district

          2. Gotta be Bulk, right? Unless that strip represents the bulk of his appearances in the FW…

    2. Whatever happened to Ed Crankshaft’s rival bus driver, Max Axelrod. Has Max been replaced by the traitorous Rocky Rhodes?

      Tom Batiuk: Who?

  5. Still Gabby says–Happy Anniversary SOSF, and thanks to everyone for keeping things fun, and of course to CBH and BJ6K! Looking forward to the next 15!

  6. Thanks everyone! I really miss it sometimes…but not enough to start reading “Crankshaft” regularly. That’s just preposterous. Some lines you just can’t cross.

  7. It should be noted that Son of Stuck Funky grew from an earlier effort, Stuck Funky, which goes back to May 10, 2007! We’re going to be legal age in a month! In the Funkyverse, we’re old enough for pointless dismemberment or mental breakdown! Yay!

    1. Yes. SoSF is, in fact, a sequel. The original Stuck Funky guest-posted here a while back, which was pretty cool. First, TFH created SoSF to keep FW snark alive, then I stepped in to keep it going, then, when all hope was lost, you and CBH took hold of the flame. People just really enjoy goofing on Tom Batiuk, and this has remained a constant.

  8. Happy Anniversary to all! I can’t quite recall how I wandered into this group (probably via Comics Curmudgeon), but I’m certainly glad I did!

    1. Same! I thought I was the only one who didn’t care for Tom’s Pulitzer chasing misery arcs!

      Happy Anniversary SoSF!

  9. 15 years ago, I had never heard of or read a single word written by Tom Batiuk, and was only dimly aware that a thing called Funky Winkerbean even existed due to two brief, somewhat derisive one-off references to FW in Bloom County and The Simpsons.

    Good times.

  10. Just for laughs, here’s a sample of what was going on way, way back in the Funkyverse circa 2010.

    June 7-June 13, 2010
    Funky’s business continues to struggle, and his tenant Dead Skunk Head John is late with the rent on the Comix Corner. Funky goes into the safe and produces a “valuable” comic that he can sell to temporarily solve the crisis.

    June 14-June 20, 2010
    Funky checks his dad into a nursing home. Afterwards, he orders a “vodka and orange” at a bar, but changes his mind and leaves.

    June 21-June 27, 2010
    Driving home, Funky is run off the road by a driver talking on her cell phone, who leaves the scene. Apparently unharmed, and with his own phone disabled, Funky walks back to town to call a tow truck.

    June 28-July 4, 2010
    Funky reaches the town, but things are somehow different. Montoni’s is locked, and missing its awning and signage. The trees appear smaller than he remembers. Funky makes his way to the park as the Westview Band plays their July 4th concert: the conductor is a much younger Harry Dinkle.

    July 5-July 11, 2010
    Still seemingly back in his past, Funky encounters his teenaged self and a young Crazy Harry. Young Funky fetches his dazed and confused older self some water. Old Funky sits on the park bench and soliloquized about growing older.

    July 12-July 18, 2010
    Wandering through the Westview of his youth, Old Funky grouses about “killer shark issues”. He again meets his younger self, and advises him to purchase Starbuck Jones #1. Old Funky then steps into a phone booth to phone home; he awakens in a present-day hospital to realize it was all a dream.

    July 19-August 1, 2010
    Funky recovers from injuries suffered in the car crash. We never learn what became of the driver of the other car .

    August 2-8, 2010
    Rachel and Wally, co-workers at Montoni’s, bond over pizza and he asks her out.

    August 9-15, 2010
    Tony Montoni arrives in Florida earlier than usual, to help other “snowbirds” assist with cleaning up the aftermath of the BP oil disaster.

    August 16-22, 2010
    Rachel drags Wally to the county fair; the crowds and noise overstimulate him to a near panic attack. She calms him down with some fried pickles.

    August 23-28, 2010
    Funky persuades Les to have his “book launch” party at–where else?–Montoni’s.

    August 30 -Sept. 5, 2010
    Les summons Cayla and Susan to Montoni’s; not to resolve their ongoing love triangle, but to get their input on the launch party and cover art for Les’ book. The week ends with Batiuk preaching at us through his characters about the importance of “art”.

    Sept. 5-11, 2010
    Still recovering from his accident, Funky becomes bored with sitting around the house. He drives himself to the junkyard for a final farewell to his wrecked PT Cruiser.

    Sept. 12-18, 2010
    Cayla unveils her new look: “dreadlocks” intended to get her noticed by Les.

    I mean, wow. Funky’s dad, and his car crash, and Wally + Rachel (Cory’s chin-up challenge at that same fair led to him enlisting, BTW), the ongoing book-launch tour, AND a radical new Cayla hair style, all in like four months. BatYam was a real furnace of ambition back then.

  11. 15 years ago I was alive. I still am, but I was also alive back then.

    1. Today’s strip just confused me. Do they want to win the bus rodeo or lose it? And why? It’s a stupid forced-fun workplace event, with no greater stakes we’ve been told about. And most of their lives are a contest to be the worst bus driver imaginable. It’s not a Springtime For Hitler situation, because if it was, they would have been delighted to replace the skilled Rocky with the unskilled Lena. Also, Ed gets annoyed when Lena parks the bus in the middle of a puddle, something that would help them fail. The whole thing makes no goddamn sense.

      1. I think the “middle of the puddle” thing means that this rodeo is to showcase Crankshaft-like behavior. IE, the kids have to get their shoes wet to get on the bus, providing they can catch it.

        1. Then that should be the whole damn joke. If the goal is to set bad examples, that’s an easy W for this crew. “To win this contest, all we have to do is show up and do what we normally do! And we’ll be praised for it!” Having some kind of prize would help too.

  13. Happy anniversary to all! To the founders and the successors, and the newcomers and the oldheads. And the in-betweeners like me. Still the friendliest place on the web.

    And this is more celebration than FW’s 50th got from either TB or his syndicate. Well deserved, too! Remember: Tom gets paid for his dross. Everyone here does it just for the love of snarking and fellowship. That makes a 15-year run even more incredible.

    Meanwhile… I do hope we’ll take a closer look at Chien. She was one of the more interesting characters, which is presumably why she faded away in the Middle-Aged Kvetching Potato-Blob Years.

    1) Why would you “prefer to be called” dog? Maybe it’s because she wears a collar? Because she loves the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog”? It’s either a misogynist insult or bigtime S&M vibes. Weird either way. Enquiring minds want to know!

    2) Why not use the feminine form “chienne”? Someone who knows enough French to insult? compliment? by using the French word for dog presumably also knows that it’s a gendered language.

    1. “Chien” is actually the 6,345th most common forename in the world, most prevalent in Vietnam. And Chien does look a bit Asian, so it would make sense for her to have this ethnic background. But Batiuk got her name entirely backwards. If anything, her name should be Chien “Heather” Ngyuen, not Heather “Chien” Parks. (Unless she’s making a big show out of de-westernizing herself, but nothing about her behavior ever indicated that.)

      This would also explain why she would use the French word for dog as a name; it’s an inadvertent coincidence. I myself have a common first name, which happens to be a very rude word in Japanese. If I ever go there, I’ll probably find something else to call myself. I’m leaning towards バナナ.

      1. Is this canon? Is Chien actually Asian/Vietnamese? I’m only getting this era of FW second-hand, so I’ve missed any origin stories these characters had.

        If it’s canon, then yep, makes total sense. If it’s not canon, it’s certainly a great attempt at making sense of the senseless.

        1. not that i know of. The vietnamese nature of her name was just something i noticed.

          1. I’m sorry, but saying “it’s canon” with Batiuk is meaningless. Chien could be from Antarctica. Or from Earth-3764, slipped in because the Flash ran too fast.

        3. I was told by people on this board that Chien is white, and i never read the strip back then either to know to agree or not. The look is ambiguous enough to go either way, or perhaps hapa. What ethnic groups would be in late 90’s mid-Ohio? Japanese or Korean works as well as anywhere i suppose. Vietnamese might have been a little more clustered in particular regions/cities at the time.

          I have to say I always liked the look and tone of the character. You could hang a whole comic strip based on that retro goth style crossed with Mean Girls bon mots.

        4. Welp, happy anniversary indeed, fellow snarkers, fans and well-wishers (“I’m a ‘well-wisher’ in that i don’t wish you any… specific harm.”) Hard to believe that i must have been aware of this place for most of its existence!

          Sure, my comments never improved, but it’s the thought that counts.

      2. She says that the nickname came from the collar she always wears, so I have to assume she was named “dog” and it being a Vietnamese name is what’s coincidental. (Not sure about her being Asian, honestly; while “Park” is a common Korean surname, I don’t think “Parks” would be a common or even valid name in Korean or Vietnamese, though I’m not an expert.) (On the other hand, there’s definitely a non-zero chance that Batiuk simply Did Not Do The Research and got the name wrong for her intended ethnicity. Certainly, he appears to have messed up the French name, so…)

        (Also, Chien says that she doesn’t mind people mocking her for her style of dress, because “it shows I’m not like them”. Another case where Batiuk apparently thought the phrase was just so good he reused it later.)

        2. Odds on words that high school kids in suburban Ohio in the 90s would use to mock someone as a “dog” because they wear a collar:

          2:1 — Fido
          3:1 — Rex
          5:1 — Doggie
          8:1 — Collar girl
          250:1 — Chien

    2. Or perhaps out of love for Dylan Thomas’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog.

      There is no Welsh town called LLareggub, but it is interesting to spell its name backwards, both here and Under Milk Wood.

  14. Fifteen years ago, we were dealing with someone with a desperate hunger for a positive and worthy legacy……..and who was tricked out of seeing he already had one.

  15. RE: Sat. 4/12’s C’Shaft

    Well, there we go, the big “School Bus Rodeo” saga has concluded with our heroes triumphant! It was four days of exposition and “transfer portal” jokes and one day of a (fake) rodeo event, but now Ed, Andy, and Lena can hold their heads high and cele…Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop the clock! Rocky is celebrating with the bus crew? Rocky, who we were told three times this week used the “transfer portal” to sign on with Big Walnut Tech? Rocky, whose place was taken by Lena? Now he’s “transfer portaled” back and no one notices? Does Batiuk even read his scripts after he spews them out, or is he writing “stream of consciousness” style?

  17. Howdy, SoSFers.

    I don’t usually post a comment on both GoComics Crankshaft and Son of Stuck Funky, but something bizarre happened to a comment I posted on the 04/11/2025 Crankshaft yesterday. More on the bizarreness later.

    Here’s the Crankshaft strip o’ the day from yesterday, April 11th.

    Here’s the comment I posted yesterday. The moderator and/or other readers were offended by it. Some of you folks might like it.

    Below is the Crankshaft from April 17, 2012, referenced in my comment. A few details have been updated to fit the current story arc.

    The comic strip below from April 18, 2012, was the Crankshaft comic strip that greatly upset me. Ha ha, Ed Crankshaft accelerated so fast the crash test dummy flew to the back of the bus in a crumpled heap. Imagine if that was a child who hadn’t found his seat yet. Ha ha, take that slowpoke. Hilarious. /s

    This was my most disliked Crankshaft strip until it was dethroned by the strip when Ed decided to set a new bus garage record for holding up the most vehicles, instead of taking Pop Clutch, who was suffering a coronary event, to the hospital. Willful death trumps willful injury.

    Here’s the bizarre part. Call me vain if you wish, but I was surprised to see no reaction at all to my comment. No replies. No upvotes. I contacted a GoComics acquaintance to see if they could see my comment. They said no.

    I can see my comment from yesterday in the current April 11th comments, but no one else can. The comment is visible in my comment history. There is nothing anywhere indicating my comment is under review. So, the moderator didn’t delete the comment.

    So I assumed I had been banned. To test, I posted a comment on today’s Crankshaft. My Acquaintance said they can see it. They also said they can see my comments from earlier in the week. So I haven’t been banned.

    I haven’t posted many comments on OpenWeb. Is the state of my comment out of the ordinary? It seems to be in limbo. Is this how comments are moderated on OpenWeb? Or is it just another glitch from the recent GoComics modifications?

    It’s just odd to me. Weird. Thank you for reading.

    1. Just checked now and I can’t see it either.

      I’m glad you did that homework, though, as it shows that the strip copied from then into the present needed different dialogue to make any kind of sense. But, editing is for chumps.

      1. Thanks.

        I’m just curious. Did you see my comment at all yesterday? If so, that would mean it was removed by a moderator, not by an auto mod triggered by a banned word.

        In the old GoComics, the system wouldn’t allow you to post your comment until the offending term was removed. I have no idea how OpenWeb works.

        I don’t understand why anyone would get all worked up about the mention of a similar story arc from years ago. Heck, there are a number of “active” strips posting old strips. Scary Gary has been posting repeats since January. Many cartoonists take off for a week or two and post old strips. People can read the dates between panels. Why would it be such a big deal?

        As for possibly upsetting the moderator for mentioning the copy pasta, as Comic Book Harriet pointed out in a recent blog, even the best, most reputable strips have done it. Why would mentioning it be a big deal?

        Was it because I called him “Batty” instead of Batiuk? 🙄

        1. I did not see it at all, though I have been checking less frequently since the migration. The amount of ads to be loaded has somehow increased, and it was bad enough beforehand.

Comments are closed.