Looks Like We Made It

Link to today’s strip

What follows below is the text of an actual email that I’ve sent to “the real Dan” Messina, to find out how he feels about being portrayed as a boob in the newspaper funnies. As of this writing I have not yet received a reply, but will keep you posted!

I’ve enhanced this as best as I could from the
tiny original. Dan
(center) does not appear to be miserable.

Dear Dr. Messina,

I’m the author of SonofStuckFunky.com, a blog that offers daily commentary on the comic strip Funky Winkerbean. I’ve been following the Mt. Kilimanjaro story arc in the comic the last couple of weeks. It’s interesting to compare Tom Batiuk’s cartoon portrayal of you with the 2010 article and photo gallery from the Staten Island Advance. From your own account, it appears that you found the trip to be challenging but rewarding and fun, while in the comics, “Dan” is depicted as a miserable complainer.

My readers and I are curious to know your feelings about this portrayal of you. And also if the kitten thing really happened.

Congratulations to you on conquering Kilimanjaro, and best regards.

Very truly yours,

Tom Hackett, Son of Stuck Funky

 

Present Tents

Today TB shares another “looky what I drew” page from the Funky Moleskine. Compare the black and white sketch, ostensibly drawn from life during Batiuk’s Kili climb, with the screen toned “finished” strip, drawn in the comfort of the studio. There’s actually some visual interest and depth. Maybe Batiuk should ditch the graphics tablet and Photoshop and just draw everything on lined paper.

Speaking of Slips…

Sorry about the glitch with yesterday’s post. Just returned from a mini vacation to Atlantic City and had no access to internets. Just going to throw up a link to today’s thrilling installment (I’ve taken the liberty of rotating the image so you don’t have to turn your computer sideways to view it) and will let you all have at it! Apologies again, and have a nice day.

All Your Hot Water Bottles Are Belong To Us

Dan, you pathetic, cringing little milksop. Nobody thought it could be done: you have officially out-pussied Les. “I’ll take six” hot water bottles; in other words, “the other five of you sitting at this table can freeze tonight! Nobody told me it gets this cold in Africa!” If Dan is in fact based on a real person that TB met on Kilimanjaro, I hope he’s a good sport, because he really comes off as a complete douchebag here.