Tag: BatiukButt

So Funkin' Old

We can’t believe it either, especially those of us who ostensibly would be close in age to you. I’m starting to think that Tom Batiuk (born 1947) has decided to skew the ages of his main characters closer to his own, and realizes that even his most loyal fans aren’t going to let him get away with a third “time jump”. So he goes about it subtly: playing up Funky’s health woes, framing Crazy Harry’s termination as “retirement“, and just generally accelerating the aging process for the original cast (except Les, of course, who’s holding up relatively well), and most recently, tacking about a decade onto Funky’s sobriety streak. Still, the Funkman’s hip enough to quote John Mayer in panel 2!

(skip to 2:25)

Clown Car

We know it’s a new car because it’s giving off little “sparkle” lines. What isn’t new is the gag here: Funky’s so pleased with himself for having remembered to bring the necessary documentation with him to the dealer, but in the midst of crowing about it, he is reminded of his own fallibility.

Whatever else can be said about Tom Batiuk, I happen to think he’s got some pretty good musical tastes. Along with today’s Steve Earle reference, in the past he’s had Funky and Holly dancing to a Rodney Crowell tune, and he’s name-dropped Mink DeVille in an interview.

But he still can’t draw cars for shit. How’s Funky even gonna fit in that thing?

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's Forty

Still with me after yesterday’s post? Thank you, reader.

Let the celebration begin. By some remarkable coincidence, both Funky Winkerbean and Montoni’s Pizzeria celebrate their fortieth anniversaries this week!

Jimmy
March 23, 2012 at 2:05 pm
So, 40th anniversary strips coming up? If Bathack brings us in the wayback machine, I get the feeling they’re going to be a reminder that Funky Winkerbean wasn’t all that good in the 1970s either.

Into the Wayback Machine we go: looks like TB’s going with a “now and then” theme, and if every day is like today’s strip, snarker Jimmy may be on to something. If panel 2 is indeed an original, and not a “reimagining” a la Lynn Johnston, there was probably an original first panel that set this up as an actual joke (Funky dashes into Fred’s office: “Mr. Fairgood! I need to use your phone! It’s an emergency!”). The absence of humor here leaves us to contemplate the young, likeable, slender Funky, whose cargo pants conceal the merest suggestion of a butt that forty years later would threaten to burst right through Montoni’s window.

Half Step

Why must Summer refer to Darin as “my half-brother” to her soon-to-be stepsister? Wouldn’t Keisha know who Summer was talking about? I was sure TB was engaging in more retconning regarding Darin’s “adoptive mom”, but according to the Unofficial Funky Winkerbean Fan Page, in addition to being one of Les’s teachers, Ann Fairgood in fact also coached the girls’ basketball team.

Longtime snarker and Ohio resident Redbird was kind enough to scan and send the Tom Batiuk article from this month’s Ohio Magazine. If you’ve read any of the TB interviews I’ve referenced before, well, it’s pretty standard stuff, but it also contains a Tom Batiuk self-portrait, and, from March of 1972, the very first Funky Winkerbean strip (pardon the quality; I lifted it from a PDF):

Wonder whatever happened to “Roland” and “Livinia”…You can download the complete article here:
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3406272/ohiomag-batiuk-interview-pdf-january-3-2012-8-53-pm-1-2-meg