Classic Funky – Page 5 – Son of Stuck Funky

A Day in the Life of a Geezer

Inside Danforth’s Drugstore, newly-blonde Summer, and Cory, wearing Maddie’s stolen cap, peruse the latest copy of Inked…what? We’re still in the past? Oh, yeah, then that must be Funky’s young self with his ace pal “Crazy” Harry, checking out the comics rack like the red-blooded high school boys of their day (yeah, right). Seeing his cue, Funky the Old Geezer winks at the boys, wags a crooked finger, and suggests that his younger self invest in Starbuck Jones #1.

So: we’ve earned an ending of sorts. Took a while, but TB has actually tied up a loose end. I like Teen Funky’s face in panel 3; almost a throwback to when he was drawn with his eyes about a half-inch apart.

Meanwhile, Back in 2010…

Guess that’s it for the ol’ PT Cruiser!

Looks like budget cuts have hit Westview hard. No cops, no firefighters, just two EMTs and a gurney to take our “buddy” over yon grassy knoll. Hopefully the cellphone talker who caused this crackup doesn’t need medical attention; our rescuers have their hands full.

B “Pee” H

Batiuk continues to deliver the gags; today’s is not quite as chuckleworthy as yesterday’s (and not everyone found yesterday’s to be chuckleworthy), but we’ll let it go. Very edifying to hear Funky refer to himself as an “old man” (BPH notwithstanding). By my reckoning he still hasn’t hit 50 (he was about 46 years old at beginning of Act III in 2007).

Aaaaaaand:

Merry Pookster
July 7, 2010 at 4:05 pm

Who is the girl in the burnt orange shirt?

Water, Boy

I’m always willing to give TB props when he makes a funny. Today’s riff is pretty good. Buying bottled water, at least in quantities less than a gallon, would indeed be an alien concept in 1977.

As far as the artistry in today’s strip, though…granted, the drawing style has changed over three decades. It wouldn’t do to depict teenage Funky the way he looked to us back then. But his profile in the first panel is bizarre; his nose is upturned rather than down; again, rather Owen-like. Additionally, Crazy’s lid appears to have been retconned from an Fidel Castro-style olive fatigue hat into a Confederate rebel cap.

My Name is Funky

You would think that fortyfiftysomething Funky, having already been through two abrupt time warps, would finally be at ease with being “unstuck in time“. Instead, plewds fly from his befuddled brow. Teenage Funky should be hurling droplets of sweat too: he’s sporting a flannel shirt on this Fourth of July.

As this comic evolved over three decades from a lighthearted gag-a-day feature into Heart of Dork-ness, the visual style morphed as well. I’ve come across a couple strips from FW Act I, circa 1976:

(Note that Crazy Harry’s eyes are visible; like Merry Pookster, I recalled they were always obscured by his cap)

Admit it, folks: the punchlines back then were groaners, too. But TB was at least trying to be whimsical.