Look Back in Anger

It speaks to the drawn out pacing of this comic strip that today’s strip could seamlessly follow last week’s, completely doing away with Cindy’s fire escape escapade. I’m not an avid Mary Worth reader but I imagine the same thing must happen over there a lot.

A cursory search of Grandpa Google for the phrase “grandpa google” reveals that nobody except Pete and Tom Batiuk actually call Google that, so into the Batiuktionary it goes. A good gag would have had cranky old Cliff reply to Pete “Who are you callin’ Grandpa?” But clearly this is one internet savvy old man. He’s used the web to move enough SJ collectibles to create a trail that has led these strangers hundreds of miles to find him. What little inventory he has left fits in an old suitcase: a raygun, rocketship, some action figures (and were “action figures” even a thing back in the days of serials? Boys didn’t play with dolls until G.I. Joe), along with a rather intriguing “coloring book” whose cover will probably serve as next Sunday’s entire strip.

SoSF Guest Author for a Day Contest: Vote Here!

Click here to read Monday’s snark.

On behalf of myself and TeamSoSF: many thanks to everyone who took a turn posting this week! After six years in the snark biz I was happy to invite some intrepid readers into the wheelhouse, and the result was some epic critique. The rest of y’all are invited to cast your votes, with the winner to be announced Monday around 10PM EDT. Thanks again and happy voting!

First prize: a hardcover edition of Lisa’s Story: The Last Shoe autographed by Tom Batiuk!

Second prize: Two hardcover editions of…just kidding! It’s a “WILD About Reading!” button, designed by TB from a 1991 literacy campaign!

To refresh your memory: here are your guest authors…

Monday: HeyItsDave,Not By The Hair Of My Chinny Chin Chin…

Tuesday: paypahclip,Rear Window

Wednesday: rembrandt36,From Your Perspective (Point)

Thursday: spacemanspiff1985,Charming the Angry Cliff

Friday: HAnzMFG, “I…D…U…L…L!

Saturday: stuckfunky, “I prefer my wordplay with a pink center

SoSF’s 6th Anniversary “Guest Author for a Day” Contest

Yes, snarkers, April 9th marks six long years of Son of Stuck Funky, and I felt it was time to liven things up with a contest to win one of two incredibly lame, Funky Winkerbean themed “prizes.” Rather than do a random giveaway, I came up with a contest format which didn’t seem that complicated until I tried to spell out the rules, but here goes.

“Guest Author for a Day”

Five contest entrants (if we even get enough interested parties) will be selected to write one day’s post during the week*, giving his or her unique take on the given day’s Funky Winkerbean strip. Then over the following weekend, your fellow snarkers will vote to select whose post they liked the best. The winner will receive a copy of Lisa’s Story: The Other Shoe, personally autographed by Mr. Batiuk. The runner up gets the other piece of FW ephemera I have laying around: a 2 1/4″ “Wild About Reading” button, designed by TB for a 1991 literacy campaign.

*If I get at least one or two volunteers by this evening, the contest will run tomorrow thru Friday; if not, we’ll hold off ’til next week.

  • SoSF will make every effort to provide guest authors with a link to preview their day’s comic ahead of time.
  • Experience using WordPress is a plus, but lack thereof is not a barrier. You may submit your post via email, as a .txt or .doc, or will be given temporary Author permission to post directly in WordPress.
  • May lead to future Guest Authorship!

Sound like FUN? Please respond via the comments below! First come, first served! Thanks for being part of SoSF!

Cadet Collection

If you find reading Funky Winkerbean seven days a week to be an exercise in confusion and frustration, imagine what the reader experience must be like for those who only get the newspaper on Sundays. We daily readers at least have some sort of context, not that it helps much.

If Batiuk really cared about telling this story in a coherent manner, the extra real estate of the Sunday panels would afford him space to provide character and story development. Instead, he squanders precious ink and newsprint on another comic book cover. At least this one is an original (by DC and Marvel artist and fellow Ohioan Paul Galacy) and not some obscure title from a longbox under TB’s bed. So he’s able to work in some tangential connection to the “plot”: based on hair color, the “Lunar Cadets” appear to be stand-ins for Mason, Cindy, and Pete. Meanwhile, the real Mason, Cindy and Pete are relegated to a Family Circus-like bubble at the top, and most of that space is taken up by exposition and a reference to yet another comic franchise.

The artwork itself is fine; well, aside from the dull, muddy color pallette. But if the artist is going for a 50’s or 60’s feel, it would have been a nice touch to have the LUNAR CADETS banner hand-lettered, instead of using type that has clearly been digitally set and stretched.

Over a Cliff

HeyItsDave
March 29, 2016 at 11:15 pm
Gosh, if only there was a searchable database of movies available on the internet!

$$$WESTVIEW ONCOLOGIST$$$
March 31, 2016 at 1:07 pm
I know this has been said before, but a quick google search could probably confirm whether Cliff Anger is dead or not…

Partial credit is due, I guess: the gang has managed to use “that internet thing” to get a potential lead in their search for Cliff Anger. Not via IMDb, nor Wikipedia, nor the Google; any of which might provide fairly reliable info as to old Cliff’s status and whereabouts. But—hello, what’s this?— someone’s selling off a cache of SJ memorabilia on eBay or Craigslist. Perfectly logical, then, to assume that this mysterious seller would be the man himself, and reason enough for three people to fly to New York to go looking for the guy.