The Complete Funky Winkerbean

Before moving on to The Last Leaf, I thought I'd move all of my previous "Funky" post over here so they're all together.

DECEMBER 30: I recently found out that the collections of Tom Batiuk's The Complete Funky Winkerbean have progressed beyond volume four. I decided to reread the first volume to kill time until the fifth volume arrived from Amazon, but have found I don't remember much of v1 from my first time through and am really enjoying it, so I plan to read them all in sequence. I was surprised to (re)discover that the strips original three characters were Funky, Les, Roland and Livinia.

JANUARY 9: Currently I'm just about to finish v2. (Two to go before I start ordering new ones.) I'm up tot he point I would have been reading the strip in the daily newspaper, but I'm not remembering specific gags, just recurring motifs. There are three strips I group as follows...

PEANUTS - elementary school
FUNKY WINKERBEAN - high school
DOONESBURY - college

(Of course, by the end, the latter two went far beyond where they started out.)

FEBRUARY 1: I moved from v3 to v4, still in its shrinkwrap for eight years. Now that I know the series is up to v12, I plan to continue.

MAY 21: I whizzed though volumes one through four, but I became stuck between 1985 and 1986 in volume five. I'm back on track now and have just ordered v6. 1986 is when Lisa got pregnant. I didn't have clear memories of that happening, and I realize now it occurred during a time when I didn't have ready access to a daily newspaper, so I am in effect reading it for the first time.

JUNE 20: I have moved from 1988 into 1989.

JUNE 23: In the sequence I am reading now, Cindy Summers, the most popular girl in school, has failed to earn an A in one of her classes. This in turn kept her from getting straight A's so she didn't get the car her father promised her if she did. Now Cindy is suing the teacher who didn't give her an A for violating her "inalienable right to wheels." In the March 17, 1989 strip, the teacher is meeting with Cindy's parents and says, "I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Summers, but there's no way that I can justify giving Cindy an 'A'! She can't even identify the President of the United States... she said the President was Donald Trump!"

JULY 6 (v7, 1990-1992): I took a little (unintentional) break between volumes waiting for this one to ship from Australia (for some reason). I was without a daily newspaper for much of this time, so many of these strips will be new to me. The four-year time-jump happens in June 1992.

JULY 18: I have passed from 1990 to 1991 and have now read through April of that year.

JULY 26: I did not take a paper for a while in the early '90s. Consequently, I missed the four year time jump (June 1992). But I must have started taking a paper shortly after that because I remember thinking that Batiuk would never stop running the "1992 - A New Beginning... Four Years After Graduation" blurb at the top of every strip. [Actually, he ran it from June 22 through October 3.) the transition itself is very cinematic, if you haven't seen it (or don't remember it). Les Moore is sitting at the student council graduation party (he's the only one there because everyone else is at the party Cindy Summers is hosting at the mall) flippping throught eh yearbook. That segues into the subday, June 21 stip which is a montage. The following day, the montage segues into "1991... A New Beginning." Very well done.

JULY 31: Amazon.com has spoiled me by shipping most orders to arrive on my doorstep one or two days after placing the order. I was forced to undergo an involuntary temporary hiatus between volumes six and seven while waiting for seven to ship from Australia. Now, again, I am forced to wait four to six weeks while volume eight ships from the U.K.

AUGUST 4: I ordered v8 on July 27. It was shipping from the U.K. and said to allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. As of today, it has not yet shipped and the new estimated delivery date is February 11, 2024! I cancelled that order and bought a used copy from a bookstore in Indiana. It should be here between August 9 and 14.

AUGUST 8: Still awaiting v8.

AUGUST 15: I finally received v8 and am currently reading 1993. In addition to continuing characters Funky, Les and Bull, the class's five year reunion reintroduces Crazy Harry, Cindy Summers and Lisa Crawford. Of there are also new students, such as Wally Winkerbean, susan Smith and Mickey Lopez. Mickey's mother, Linda, is a teacher at Westview, too. I have already ordered v9 so I won't have to experience anpther "gap" between volumes.

AUGUST 25: I was definitely not reading a daily newspaper throughout the '90s. That decade is when I lost the narrative thread of Funky Winkerbean. A memorable sequence from 1994 (which I have no memory of) is when a student brings a gun to school. Westview High's principal, Fred Fairgood said: "We were all victims of that gun that was brought into school today! The school board has been thinking about installing cameras and hiring security personnel, and now those things will probably become reality... and future generations of Westview students won't remember a time when it felt safe to be in school without them!"

Another memorable sequence from 1994: instead of selling Thanksgiving turkeys, the band sells plots of land in Bill & Hillary Clinton's Whitewater development.

In 1995, Wally and Monroe become th new Funky and Les, and the comic book shop Komix Korner is introduced on Sunday, April 2. The high school literary magazine sponsored by Les Moore comes under attack, he and Lisa take steps toward becoming a couple, and, most memorably, Susan Smith attempts suicide. This plot development I do remember, from the wordless single-panel strip which ran Sunday, June 25, and from the coverage in my local paper. I still have the article about it, the angry letters and the strip itself clipped from the St.Louis Post-Dispatch, but I experienced it completely out of context. For example, I didn't learn until today that [SPOILER] Susan survived [END SPOILER]. The introduction to The Complete Funky Winkerbean (v8) also includes copious coverage and reprinted newspaper articles.

These "The Funnies Aren't Funny Anymore" lamentations always amuse me (in a sad way), because they've been around (at least!) since [SPOILER] "The Death of Mary Gold" in The Gumps (1929) [END SPOILER].

SEPTEMBER 3: The most immediately noticeable thing about v10 of The Complete Funky Winkerbean is that the Sundays are now in color. (They have been black and white up to this point.) In 1996, West view High gets a new security guard, many of the cast get new haircuts, Funky begins dating Cindy Summers, Starbuck Jones appears for the first time, Wally tries cigaretttes, the local post office is bombed, Les and Lisa get married on Hallowe'en dressed as Batman and Robin, the head coach is fired and replaced by asst. coach Bull Bushka, Tony Montoni's old violin is a Stradivarius, he semi-retires and takes on Funky as a managing partner. I was following the comics only on Sundays at this point and didn't realize how much I was missing. (I do remember the wedding, however.)

SEPTEMBER 12: 1997 saw Les concentrate on researching and writing his book about the murder of John Darling, which led to the fire (arson) in Montoni's Pizza in order to stop Les (who lives in the apartment above) from writing it. The setting of the strip (that is, the physical location of the shops and buildings) has become as important to the storytelling as it was in Dave Sim's "Jaka's Story" in Cerebus, as a new restaurant opens next to Montioni's and the comic shop moves upstairs. A story about racial prejudice led to another flight of "the comics aren't funny anymore" letters in newspapers nationwide. The year ends with Funky proposing to Cindy Summers, the most popular girl in school when they were in high school, now a local newscaster.

SEPTEMBER 15: 1997 begins with Funky and cindy planning their wedding and Wes's book being published. A new student, Matt Miller. a star football player, transfers to Westview and sets his sights on Susan, but he ends up giving her a black eye. This leads to the revelation that he himself is being abused by his father, and so, too, was Coach Bull Bushka, the achool bully during Les's high school days.

The high school class we've been following for the last several years (Wally, Monroe, Becky, Susan, etc.) are going to graduate this year. Becky Blackburn has earned a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music. She and Wally go to a graduation party at Matt Miller's house, have too much to drink and are involved in a drunk driving accident on the way home.

The grandmother of the woman who co-owns the Jade Dragon resaurant next door to Montini's comes to the United States from Hong Kong. Liu Lin explains how, "during World War II, she smuggled munitions to help fight the Japanese invaders, led a guerrilla force, and escaped after being held as a prisoner of war!" Then she arrives, in silhouette, carrying a long cigarette holder. Waitaminute... I know her! My suspicions were confirmed when Liu Lin introduces her grandmother as (wait for it)... La Choi San! Folks, This is The Dragon Lady from Milton Caniff's Terry & the Pirates! I totally missed this in 1998 (if I even read this strip 25 years ago), and didn't figure it out until last night. She ends up managing Montoni's little league team.

In July we find out that Wally got a 30-day sentence (suspended), lost his driver's license for a year and had to attend a mandatory driving intervention program after the drunk driving incident. He is also avoiding Becky. On July 6 we learn that she will be attending community college in the Fall (rather than Juliard), and on July 7 we learn that she lost her left arm in the accident. (I remember, verbatin, a converation I had with my mother at the time about the 7/7/98 strip.) Wally enlists in the Army and goes off to boot camp in November (all without seeing Becky), and Becky applies for and ears a job at Montoni's in December.

It is also revealed (to the readers) that the baby Fred and Ann Fairgood adopted (Darin, now in high school) is the same baby Lisa gave up for adoption, but none of the characters are aware of that fact. I'll have to go back and re-read those strips. I remember Fred (school counsellor at the time) and Ann (a teacher) getting married and having a baby, but I didn't think they adopted. (Fred is principal now.) Also, the timing isn't right for Lisa (class of '88?) to have had a son who is now in high school), but I'm willing to chalk that up t the vaguries of comic strip time.

Funky and Cindy get married on August 2. After that, their class has its 10 year high school reunion and readers get to catch up with a number of old familiar faces. That September, we are introduced to a new class of incoming freshmen. Now that Becky has graduated and her mom, Roberta Blackburn, has "retired" as president of the Band Boosters, a new antagonist, the school choir director, has been introduced for Harry Dinkle. I don't remember much about her. Sometime, new characters (such as the elderly security guard intoduced the previous year) don't catch on. Tony Isabella makes a cameo appearance at that years Cleveland ComiCon in the strip, as does Sergio Aragones and several others I don't recognize.

Other than the choir director, I remember all of these strips so well. I thought I had been following the dailies and the Sundays through out the '90s, but I've learned over the course of these past few weeks that I had not. What happened was, I think, my died died in 1998 (actually, that part I'm sure about), and I began stopping by my mom's house once a week or so. It must have been during this time that she began saving the "funnies" for me. (I thought that began musch earlier, but I guess it hadn't.) I would continue having access to the comics for the next three years until I moved to Texas.

I already have The Complete Funky Winkerbean v10 in my posession. Time to order v11!

SEPTEMBER 16: Regarding the whole Fred/Ann/Lisa/Darin thing, I went back and checked the relevant strips (from 1986). First of all, Fred and Ann did adopt and the baby was revealed to be Lisa's (to readers, anyway) at the time; I had simply forgotten. Second, being born in 1986 and factoring in the four-year "time jump," Darin would be 16 years old.

It occurs to me that the last conversation I ever had with my Dad, on July 27, 1998, was about Terry & the Pirates, which I was reading at the time. (That's why I don't think I read the Funky strips from June 29 through July 4, 1998 which introduced La Choi San or I certainly would have picked up on her being the Dragon Lady.) My Dad had been a fan of Milton Caniff's Terry & the Pirates in his youth. (I think his favorite character was Big Stoop.) I wonder if he picked up on Funky's "Dragon Lady"? I'll never know because he died the next day.

SEPTEMBER 20: Lots of highlights in the year 1999, the most important story being the discovery and treatment of Lisa's breast cancer (which sparked another flurry of "The comics aren't funny anymore!" letters, IIRC). Former majorette and current breast cancer survivor Holly Budd returns as Lisa's "Road to Recovery" volunteer.

SEPEMBER 30: Lisa decides to undego reconstructive surgery after her masectomy; Funky and Cindy hit a rough patch in the marriage; Le's goth student writes an article for the school paper which gets her suspended; Cindy's career takes off as Funky becomes an alcoholic. The year ends with Cindy in New York City and Funky lying drunk in the gutter.

OCTOBER 7: The year 2001 begins with Funky's friends staging an intervention. After that he joins AA and goes to a rehab clinic for detox. Accoding to the entry in my mother's datebook for July 22, 2001: "Jeff left for the Great (?) state of Texas!" whicheffectively brought to an end my comic strip reading on a daily basis. The first strips to reference the 9/11 attacks directly appeared the week of October 1. Comic strips are usually produced with at least a six-month lead time, but Tom Batiuk and his syndicate worked hard to send in a substitute set of strips to have them appear that seen after the attacks. The collection includes both the 9/11-themed strips as well as the week's worth of strips they replaced. In November, Lisa decides she wants to have a baby with Les, despite the risks. In December she gets a clue that Darin is the son she gave up for adoption. November and December were largely filled with flashbacks (but not reprints) to Lisa's first pregnancy; Batiuk redrew entire sequences.

That's the end of v10. I already have v11 onhand, and I just ordered v12.

OCTOBER 10 (2002): Here are the highlights: Jan: Lisa suspects she's pregnant (baby concieved 12/22/01); Cindy needs glasses; Wally deployed to Afghanistan; Sal Silverman (background character, sidewalk artist) revealed killed in 9/11 attacks; his painting go to Apple Annnie. Feb: Wally's helicopter shot down, Wally MIA; Mar: The "Eliminator" (helmeted video gamer, 10 years old when the main cast was 16) re-enters the storyline, revealed to be female, named Donna; Funky Winkerbean (both the strip and the character) turns 30. Apr: Donna and Crazy Harry date; Cindy extends her NYC contract without discussing it with Funky; Funky wants to start a family. May: Funky and Cindy separate; in a week-long sequence which brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye, Nate Green visits the Viet Nam Vetrans Memorial in Washington, DC. Jun: Monroe re-enters continuity to read Wally's last letter, which also mentions Rachel and Sadie (more lumps and tears); Lisa graduates law school; Crazy Harry proposes to Donna, who accidentally swallows the ring (which was hidden in a slice of Montini's pizza). Jul: Cindy files for divorce and becomes Funky's STOBEX (Soon To Be Ex); Lisa's baby shower; Harry Dinkle takes on 23-year-old Kara Milstrom (often mistaken for a high school student) as assistant band director. Aug: Crazy and Funky and Les go on a camping trip to commemorate the changes in their lives (marriage, divorce, fatherhood); Frankie (the dead-beat father of the child Lisa put up for adoption in high school) shows up to cause trouble; Lisa goes into premature labor and gives birth to prematurely; the baby is named "Summer" and must spend time in an RDS ventilator to survive. Sep: More heart-tugging all around. Oct: Lisa's estranged parent reconnect; Kara has her first "Battle of the Bands"; Harry and Donna announce their wedding plans at Les and Lisa's Halloween/anniversary party; Nov: Kara's first experience selling band turkeys. Dec: Les hosts Harry's bachelor party; Harry and Donna honeymoon in Hawaii.

I knew I missed a lot reading dailies only in the 2Ks; now I'm beginning to Learn just how much.

OCTOBER 12: In 2003, life goes on in Westview, Ohio. In reality, Tom Batiuk underwent a surgical procedure which necessitated him bringing aboard an assistant artist. That artist was none other than,,, John Byrne (yes, that John Byrne). I noticed the change (in the Sundays, which is all I was reading at the time), but I initially thought he was just developing his style... until I read a piece about it in that Comics Buyer's Guide, then Byrne's hand became obvious. Byrne was doing layouts and pencils, and Batiuk was inking them, which provided a mix of their respective styles. The change happened, not coincidentally, at a time when the storyline was moving into a more serious phase. Rachel and John begin to date, John falls in love and sells his Star Wars toys (to Tony Isabella) and vintage spinner rack to buy an engagement ring. Then Wally returns from Afghanistan, alive after all.

I, for one, approved of the new direction, but I didn't know (although I should have guessed) that it didn't go over well with fans until I read the introduction to The Complete Funky Winkerbean v11. I really should have guessed. Batiruk reprinted a sampling of readers' comments. What they objected to mostly was the more "realistic" art style. After Byrne left, Batiuk underwent a bout of depression (unrelated), during which his inking became flat an lifeless (he admits himself). After that, he took on an assistant to do the inking.

Storywise, Lisa takes a job as a lawyer for a women's shelter, but when it loses fuinding, her boss reccommends her to work in the capital appeals division. She ends up defending a man a death row, a friend of Nate Green's, in fact, who served as a "tunnel rat" in Viet Nam. Lisa had a strong case but it was doomed from the start. She argued it all the way to the Supreme Court, but it was tossed back and her client was executed. He requested that she be present at his execution, and she agreed. I was completely unaware of this storyline until I read it, but I'll betcha it spawned a slew of "The comics aren't funny anymore!" letters to editors across the country.

OCTOBER 14 (2004): After moving his store from the ground floor to the second storey, John is forced to close Komix Korner. Mr. Montoni, though, let's him move it the the basement of his pizza shop (which ends up being a boon to business). With the second floor space vacated, Lisa rents it to open her own law practice. Donna announces she is pregnant. With Funky divorced and Cindy out of the picture, Funky and Holly Budd begin to date. Holly was the baton-twirling majorette in high school and is Lisa's mentor in their breast cancer survivor group. She too is divorced and has a two-year-old son. Kara accepts a job as band director at Big Walnut Tech, Westview's rival, and Becky Blackburn becomes Harry Dinkle's new assistant director.

Holly performs with the alumni band at the commencement ceremony. Funky is her date, but Cindy has also been engaged to deliver the commencement address, which was awkward. Becky and Wally become engaged. Donna has her baby on Friday 13th (a week early), the same day Harry wins an air guitar contest. Les and Lisa buy a house, leaving Becky and Wally to rent their old apartment above Montoni's Pizza. Funky and Holly had a good date, but he ended up not calling her for four months. They reconcile for New Year's Eve.

That is the end of The Complate Funky Winkerbean v11. I already have v12 on hand and have just ordered v13. That's the good news. The bad news is that v13 will not be published until January 23, 2024. What am I going to read after I finish v12?

OCTOBER 16 (2005): The band performs at President George Bush's second inaugual paradein Washington, DC. Funky proposes to Holly. A double wedding is planned with Wally and Becky. Wally is suffering PTSD flashbacks due to his service in Afghanistan. Roberta Blackburn has John arrested for selling "pornographic" comic books. John hires Lisa to act as his attorney. Funky falls off the wagon. Montoni's sponsors a reunion for the first little league team Tony sponsored. Still on good terms with Funky, Cindy Summers returns for the wedding. After the double wedding, Funky and Holly got to Paris for their honeymoon; Wally and Becky go to Afghanistan to survey and clear minefields. La Choi San (the "Dragon Lady") gives Wally Terry Lee's flight jacket. Wally is reunited with Khan, his former kidnapper, now acting as a guide. Wally has a close call, but Khan saves his life. Instead of thanking him, Wally decks Khan for selling the missile which brought down his helicopter and killed his friends. Wally is reunited with Rana, the little girl whose family hid him months ago after he escaped from Khan. Unfortunately, her entire family is killed in a suicide bombing. Wally and Becky decide to adopt her. Back in Westfield, Bull Buska and Linda Lopez begin to date and soon become engaged. Les Moore gets a student teacher, and it's Susan Smith. John Byrne testifies at John's trial. John is found not guilty. Cindy covers the trial on TV. The former most popular girl in high school ends up spendsing New Year's Eve alone in a bar.

OCTOBER 17: Westview is re-doing Main Street. The construction cuts into Montoni's business and causes the Jade Dragon next door to go out of business. Khan arrives in the United States with the intention of opening a resaurant, but he doesn't have the money nor is he a U.S. citizen. Instead, Montoni's expands into the space and hires Khan as night manager. Now that the artist Jim Mateer has finally finished the mural he has been painting for years in the original space and the first expansion, Tony hires him to extend the mural into the new space as well. Westview is also building a new high school.

Wally Winkerbean served a tour in Afghanistan and returned home in June of 2003. In February 2006, he is notified by the Army that he was sent home two days short of his enlistment and is being recalled to active duty and has one week to report in. This time he is deployed to Iraq. Becky sees him off at the airport, but even she is unaware that she is pregnant at the time.

Lisa participates in a gene reseach study for breast cancer. She has been in remission for about six years but the study reveals her cancer has metastisized. Darin meets Jessica Darling (related to John Darling, I assume) at the mall during skip day. Les and Lisa take a trip to Arizona while she is still able. One of the places they vistit is Sedona, where Tracy and I were married, and they were there just three months prior to our fifth anniversary trip, but I didn't know it until today because I was reading only the Sundays at the time. (I actually clipped the Sunday of 10/15/06 at the time, a flashback to the day Crazy Harry bought his first comic book: Action Comics #242.) Tony and Funky participate in the Food Network's "Pizza Challenge" and temporarily take on Crazy as their pizza acrobat.

Darin and Jess have a memorable Hallowe'en. The band has a fund raiser (Becky is their assistant director, remember) to send Wally a better flak jacket. Becky stops by Komix Korner to buy some comic books to send to Wally, and John gives them to her gratis. He then takes Becky and Rana to a Three Stooges Festival. Becky has an exotic dancer dressed as Santa Claus at her baby shower. The day Lisa observes the birthday of the baby she gave up for adoption and Darin's birthday brush up against each other once again, but no one involved has put two and two together yet. Donna sannounces she is pregnant with their second child. Becky goes into labor in the Komix Korner. John gets her to the hospital in time and the baby is fine.

I knew Lisa had had cancer during my time reading Funky on a daily basis, and I eventually leared she succumbed to it. What I didn't realize was that she had been in remission for nearly seven years. I have been happy for the time Les and Lisa had together, but I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop for weeks. Now it finally has. Funky Winkerbean is getting quite complicated regarding the inter-relationship of its cast, almost Gasoline Alley or Doonesbury level complicated. I wish I had a "family tree" to keep it all straight. for example, toward the end of 2006, Mooch begins dating the Montini's waitress who took Lisa's place (and whose name I never did learn), and apparently she is Ed Crackshaft's granddaughter!

There is one year left to go in volume twelve.

OCTOBER 19 (2007): Harry Dinkle's hearing loss would have forced him to retire had not the school board created a position for him, Music Supervisor, and promoted Becky to band director. Harry also stopped wearing his iconic hat (not unlike when Doonesbury's B.D. stopped wearing his iconic helmet). Lisa's cancer went into remission in January (or did it?). Komix Korner flooded. Montoni's went smoke free. Bull and Linda plan to adopt. The senior class takes a trip to Washington, D.C. Jess pressures Darin to find out about his birth parents. (She also pressures him into having sex, but he refuses... for now.) Jess is the daughter of murdered TV personality John Darling, BTW.

In May, Lisa finds out the hospital sent her the wrong results by mistake; actually her cancer is spreading. Lisa closes her practice and begins a search for the son she gave up for adoption. Meanwhile, Darin opens a P.O. box in case his mother okays her identity to be released. (He doesn't want to parents to know he's looking.) Chien and Pete, the two outsiders, go to the prom together. Darin and Jess lose their virginity. Jess urges Darin to stop checking the P.O. box... just as Lisa's records arrive. The Post Office contacts Darin to pick up his unclaimed mail. He closes the box and finds the letter. He reveals first to Lisa, then to Fred and Ann, that L:isa is his mother.

Meanwhile, Lisa begins video taping messages for Summer to watch when she's older. (More tears and lumps.) In August, Lisa testifies before Congress about cuts made to the National Institutes of Health and Cancer Research. It is at this point that Tom Batiuk begins alternating between Lisa's story and other "slice of life" stories going on around her, for example, Becky's first band camp as director. Funky and Crazy break into the site of the old high school to steal the door of Crazy's locker before the building is demolished.

Lisa goes into hospice care. Linda and Bull's adoption is finalized. they adopt an Asian baby they nickname "Jinx" because of all the trouble they had to go through to get her. Lisa dies on October 4, 2007. The strip immediately makes a ten-year time jump, filling in some of the post-funeral details in flashback. This is the second major time jump the strip has made. At this point, the main action of the strip becomes known as "Act III." I remember these strips very well, but only the Sundays. Summer is now 15 years old. Montoni's has just opened a location in New York City. Becky is now married to John. (What is this? This Is Us?) As the town gets ready for the Veterans' Day parade, the implication is that Wally never made it back from Iraq.

The strip has now transitioned to the children of the original characters: Summer Moore, Cory Winkerbean, Rana and Wally, Jr., Jinx Bushka and Maddie, Tyler & Abby Kilinghorn. Pete Roberts now works for Marvel Comics. In town for a book-signing at Komix Corner, he stops by Montoni's and Khan is behind the counter. When the strip made its first time jump (four years in 1992), all of the previous story shifted back. At this, we're in the "future" (that is, 2017 in 2007). I don't know if it ever normalizes, but Funky and Les and Crazy's high school graduation is pretty furmly established as 1988. Whenever I would see Funky married in the Sunday strips, I always assumed his wife was Cindy Summers (because that's who he was married to when I stopped reading), but now I know it is Holly.

That's the end of volume 12. I have pre-ordered v13, but it's not schedule to ship until January 2024. Actually, this is a pretty good stopping point (or pausing point).

What am I going to read now?

To be continued...

See you back here in January.

Is it January already?

I was afraid of this. After reading so many volumes so close together I was concerned that getting back into the story after a two-month haitus would be difficult. I spoke above about wishing I had a "family tree" for the strip, especially for the youngest generation of Funky characters, so i eventually had to make one myself from my summaries above. It took me a liitle while to reacquaint myself with the characters, but it didn't take too long.

2008: Tom Batiuk does his first comic book cover homage on Sunday, April 13. 2008 also features Funky and the gang's 30 year class reunion. Mine was in 2012; with all the time-jumps and whatnot, I have already said that I feel like a contemporary of Funky's, even though Tom Batiuk is 17 years older than I am. During the annual Lisa's Legacy run, someone stole all of the donation money. Funky writes a check to cover the loss, but we later learn he was really covering for his son, Cory, who was the one who stole it. On October 25, Less begins writing Lisa's Story.

2009: After New Year's Eve, Les and Cayla finally admit, to each other and themselves, that they are dating. With multiple Montoni's franchises, Funky becomes overextended in the the day's economy. The Last Leaf (third volume in the "Lisa's Legacy" trilogy) covered much of this material, but mainly from the Moore family's POV; it's nice now to "fill in the gaps" of everything else happening in and around Westview. The week of July 6 left me confused. It culminated, on Sunday, July 12, with Wally Winkerbean returning home from Iraq. Not only was the storytelling itself somewhat confusing, but we readers had previously been led to believe that Wally had beem killed in action. Immediately after that, however, the action flashes back to "five weeks earlier" to explain how things got to that point.

In his introduction, Tom Batiuk says, "If you're thinking that this is the second time Wally has gone MIA and had to deal with trauma on his return, I'll give you a nickel not to." By this time, however, his wife Becky has buried him, married John and moved on with her life. At the very end of 2009, Les gets an literary agent, Ann Apple, who just so happens to be the same "Apple Annie" who once found the manuscript to his first book when she was homeless and living in the park.

2010: Ann Apple finally returns Les's manuscript which she has held onto all these years, and Les recognizes her as the "Apple Annie" he once knew, bringing closure. Real life doesn't work like that, but I'm glad fiction does. Due to an economic downturn, Funky is forced to close all of the Montini's franchises, last the one in New York City, the one he opened first. He is even forced to sell his prized first issue of Starbuck Jones #1 in order to make ends meet. He didn't really collect comics at the time, but 30 years ago, an old man came up to him and told him that it would be worth something someday. After that, Funky is forced to put his father in a nursing facility. On his way home, he is involved in a "near" collision. With his car stuck in a ditch, he walks back to town and finds everything as it was 30 years ago, even the people. It soon becomes clear, however, that he was in a car crash and is hallucinating. Before he comes out of it, though, he imagines that he himself was the old man who recommended that his younger self by Starbuck Jones #1.

Retired to Florida, Tony Montoni helps with the clean-up of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Meanwhile, Less launches his nationwide book tour with a signing at Montoni's. Rachel has begun dating Wally, with Becky full knowledge and approval. Becky even suggests the Rachel that Wally should get a therapy dog to help him with his PTSD. At the airport, on his way home from the last leg of the book tour, a woman crank calls Les, pretending to be Lisa, warning him not to get on the plane. He becomes angry and boards anyway, launching perhaps the second strangest Funky storyline since July's supposed "time travel" one. He arrives home late, explainig that the flight was cancelled and he ended up driving home. Readers then learn that the same woman (or possibly someone else) called in a bomb threat which is what cancelled the flight. While inspecting the plane, mechanics discover a problem which would have coused it to crash. Ooh! Spooky!

Susan Westbrook's divorce is final, and she takes back her maiden name, Smith. At midnight on New Year's Eve, neither Susan nor Cayla gets to kiss him; the stroke of midnight finds him alone, staring wistfully out a window. (Because of "The Last Leaf" I already know how this romantic triangle is going to resolve, but at this point, Susan and cayla are vying for Les's affection.)

That's the end of v13, and v14 hasn't even been solicited yet.

Replies

Jeff of Earth-J October 21, 2023 at 1:44pm
Before moving on to The Last Leaf, I thought I'd move all of my previous "Funky" post over here so they're all together.

DECEMBER 30: I recently found out that the collections of Tom Batiuk's The Complete Funky Winkerbean have progressed beyond volume four. I decided to reread the first volume to kill time until the fifth volume arrived from Amazon, but have found I don't remember much of v1 from my first time through and am really enjoying it, so I plan to read them all in sequence. I was surprised to (re)discover that the strips original three characters were Funky, Les, Roland and Livinia.
JANUARY 9: Currently I'm just about to finish v2. (Two to go before I start ordering new ones.) I'm up tot he point I would have been reading the strip in the daily newspaper, but I'm not remembering specific gags, just recurring motifs. There are three strips I group as follows...

PEANUTS - elementary school

FUNKY WINKERBEAN - high school

DOONESBURY - college

(Of course, by the end, the latter two went far beyond where they started out.)

FEBRUARY 1: I moved from v3 to v4, still in its shrinkwrap for eight years. Now that I know the series is up to v12, I plan to continue.

MAY 21: I whizzed though volumes one through four, but I became stuck between 1985 and 1986 in volume five. I'm back on track now and have just ordered v6. 1986 is when Lisa got pregnant. I didn't have clear memories of that happening, and I realize now it occurred during a time when I didn't have ready access to a daily newspaper, so I am in effect reading it for the first time.

JUNE 20: I have moved from 1988 into 1989.

JUNE 23: In the sequence I am reading now, Cindy Summers, the most popular girl in school, has failed to earn an A in one of her classes. This in turn kept her from getting straight A's so she didn't get the car her father promised her if she did. Now Cindy is suing the teacher who didn't give her an A for violating her "inalienable right to wheels." In the March 17, 1989 strip, the teacher is meeting with Cindy's parents and says, "I'm sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Summers, but there's no way that I can justify giving Cindy an 'A'! She can't even identify the President of the United States... she said the President was Donald Trump!"

JULY 6 (v7, 1990-1992): I took a little (unintentional) break between volumes waiting for this one to ship from Australia (for some reason). I was without a daily newspaper for much of this time, so many of these strips will be new to me. The four-year time-jump happens in June 1992.

JULY 18: I have passed from 1990 to 1991 and have now read through April of that year.

JULY 26: I did not take a paper for a while in the early '90s. Consequently, I missed the four year time jump (June 1992). But I must have started taking a paper shortly after that because I remember thinking that Batiuk would never stop running the "1992 - A New Beginning... Four Years After Graduation" blurb at the top of every strip. [Actually, he ran it from June 22 through October 3.) the transition itself is very cinematic, if you haven't seen it (or don't remember it). Les Moore is sitting at the student council graduation party (he's the only one there because everyone else is at the party Cindy Summers is hosting at the mall) flippping throught eh yearbook. That segues into the subday, June 21 stip which is a montage. The following day, the montage segues into "1991... A New Beginning." Very well done.

JULY 31: Amazon.com has spoiled me by shipping most orders to arrive on my doorstep one or two days after placing the order. I was forced to undergo an involuntary temporary hiatus between volumes six and seven while waiting for seven to ship from Australia. Now, again, I am forced to wait four to six weeks while volume eight ships from the U.K.

AUGUST 4: I ordered v8 on July 27. It was shipping from the U.K. and said to allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. As of today, it has not yet shipped and the new estimated delivery date is February 11, 2024! I cancelled that order and bought a used copy from a bookstore in Indiana. It should be here between August 9 and 14.

AUGUST 8: Still awaiting v8.

AUGUST 15: I finally received v8 and am currently reading 1993. In addition to continuing characters Funky, Les and Bull, the class's five year reunion reintroduces Crazy Harry, Cindy Summers and Lisa Crawford. Of there are also new students, such as Wally Winkerbean, susan Smith and Mickey Lopez. Mickey's mother, Linda, is a teacher at Westview, too. I have already ordered v9 so I won't have to experience anpther "gap" between volumes.

AUGUST 25: I was definitely not reading a daily newspaper throughout the '90s. That decade is when I lost the narrative thread of Funky Winkerbean. A memorable sequence from 1994 (which I have no memory of) is when a student brings a gun to school. Westview High's principal, Fred Fairgood said: "We were all victims of that gun that was brought into school today! The school board has been thinking about installing cameras and hiring security personnel, and now those things will probably become reality... and future generations of Westview students won't remember a time when it felt safe to be in school without them!"

Another memorable sequence from 1994: instead of selling Thanksgiving turkeys, the band sells plots of land in Bill & Hillary Clinton's Whitewater development.

In 1995, Wally and Monroe become th new Funky and Les, and the comic book shop Komix Korner is introduced on Sunday, April 2. The high school literary magazine sponsored by Les Moore comes under attack, he and Lisa take steps toward becoming a couple, and, most memorably, Susan Smith attempts suicide. This plot development I do remember, from the wordless single-panel strip which ran Sunday, June 25, and from the coverage in my local paper. I still have the article about it, the angry letters and the strip itself clipped from the St.Louis Post-Dispatch, but I experienced it completely out of context. For example, I didn't learn until today that [SPOILER] Susan survived [END SPOILER]. The introduction to The Complete Funky Winkerbean (v8) also includes copious coverage and reprinted newspaper articles.

These "The Funnies Aren't Funny Anymore" lamentations always amuse me (in a sad way), because they've been around (at least!) since [SPOILER] "The Death of Mary Gold" in The Gumps (1929) [END SPOILER].

SEPTEMBER 3: The most immediately noticeable thing about v10 of The Complete Funky Winkerbean is that the Sundays are now in color. (They have been black and white up to this point.) In 1996, West view High gets a new security guard, many of the cast get new haircuts, Funky begins dating Cindy Summers, Starbuck Jones appears for the first time, Wally tries cigaretttes, the local post office is bombed, Les and Lisa get married on Hallowe'en dressed as Batman and Robin, the head coach is fired and replaced by asst. coach Bull Bushka, Tony Montoni's old violin is a Stradivarius, he semi-retires and takes on Funky as a managing partner. I was following the comics only on Sundays at this point and didn't realize how much I was missing. (I do remember the wedding, however.)

SEPTEMBER 12: 1997 saw Les concentrate on researching and writing his book about the murder of John Darling, which led to the fire (arson) in Montoni's Pizza in order to stop Les (who lives in the apartment above) from writing it. The setting of the strip (that is, the physical location of the shops and buildings) has become as important to the storytelling as it was in Dave Sim's "Jaka's Story" in Cerebus, as a new restaurant opens next to Montioni's and the comic shop moves upstairs. A story about racial prejudice led to another flight of "the comics aren't funny anymore" letters in newspapers nationwide. The year ends with Funky proposing to Cindy Summers, the most popular girl in school when they were in high school, now a local newscaster.

SEPTEMBER 15: 1997 begins with Funky and cindy planning their wedding and Wes's book being published. A new student, Matt Miller. a star football player, transfers to Westview and sets his sights on Susan, but he ends up giving her a black eye. This leads to the revelation that he himself is being abused by his father, and so, too, was Coach Bull Bushka, the achool bully during Les's high school days.

The high school class we've been following for the last several years (Wally, Monroe, Becky, Susan, etc.) are going to graduate this year. Becky Blackburn has earned a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music. She and Wally go to a graduation party at Matt Miller's house, have too much to drink and are involved in a drunk driving accident on the way home.

The grandmother of the woman who co-owns the Jade Dragon resaurant next door to Montini's comes to the United States from Hong Kong. Liu Lin explains how, "during World War II, she smuggled munitions to help fight the Japanese invaders, led a guerrilla force, and escaped after being held as a prisoner of war!" Then she arrives, in silhouette, carrying a long cigarette holder. Waitaminute... I know her! My suspicions were confirmed when Liu Lin introduces her grandmother as (wait for it)... La Choi San! Folks, This is The Dragon Lady from Milton Caniff's Terry & the Pirates! I totally missed this in 1998 (if I even read this strip 25 years ago), and didn't figure it out until last night. She ends up managing Montoni's little league team.

In July we find out that Wally got a 30-day sentence (suspended), lost his driver's license for a year and had to attend a mandatory driving intervention program after the drunk driving incident. He is also avoiding Becky. On July 6 we learn that she will be attending community college in the Fall (rather than Juliard), and on July 7 we learn that she lost her left arm in the accident. (I remember, verbatin, a converation I had with my mother at the time about the 7/7/98 strip.) Wally enlists in the Army and goes off to boot camp in November (all without seeing Becky), and Becky applies for and ears a job at Montoni's in December.

It is also revealed (to the readers) that the baby Fred and Ann Fairgood adopted (Darin, now in high school) is the same baby Lisa gave up for adoption, but none of the characters are aware of that fact. I'll have to go back and re-read those strips. I remember Fred (school counsellor at the time) and Ann (a teacher) getting married and having a baby, but I didn't think they adopted. (Fred is principal now.) Also, the timing isn't right for Lisa (class of '88?) to have had a son who is now in high school), but I'm willing to chalk that up t the vaguries of comic strip time.

Funky and Cindy get married on August 2. After that, their class has its 10 year high school reunion and readers get to catch up with a number of old familiar faces. That September, we are introduced to a new class of incoming freshmen. Now that Becky has graduated and her mom, Roberta Blackburn, has "retired" as president of the Band Boosters, a new antagonist, the school choir director, has been introduced for Harry Dinkle. I don't remember much about her. Sometime, new characters (such as the elderly security guard intoduced the previous year) don't catch on. Tony Isabella makes a cameo appearance at that years Cleveland ComiCon in the strip, as does Sergio Aragones and several others I don't recognize.

Other than the choir director, I remember all of these strips so well. I thought I had been following the dailies and the Sundays through out the '90s, but I've learned over the course of these past few weeks that I had not. What happened was, I think, my died died in 1998 (actually, that part I'm sure about), and I began stopping by my mom's house once a week or so. It must have been during this time that she began saving the "funnies" for me. (I thought that began musch earlier, but I guess it hadn't.) I would continue having access to the comics for the next three years until I moved to Texas.

I already have The Complete Funky Winkerbean v10 in my posession. Time to order v11!

SEPTEMBER 16: Regarding the whole Fred/Ann/Lisa/Darin thing, I went back and checked the relevant strips (from 1986). First of all, Fred and Ann did adopt and the baby was revealed to be Lisa's (to readers, anyway) at the time; I had simply forgotten. Second, being born in 1986 and factoring in the four-year "time jump," Darin would be 16 years old.

It occurs to me that the last conversation I ever had with my Dad, on July 27, 1998, was about Terry & the Pirates, which I was reading at the time. (That's why I don't think I read the Funky strips from June 29 through July 4, 1998 which introduced La Choi San or I certainly would have picked up on her being the Dragon Lady.) My Dad had been a fan of Milton Caniff's Terry & the Pirates in his youth. (I think his favorite character was Big Stoop.) I wonder if he picked up on Funky's "Dragon Lady"? I'll never know because he died the next day.

SEPTEMBER 20: Lots of highlights in the year 1999, the most important story being the discovery and treatment of Lisa's breast cancer (which sparked another flurry of "The comics aren't funny anymore!" letters, IIRC). Former majorette and current breast cancer survivor Holly Budd returns as Lisa's "Road to Recovery" volunteer.

SEPEMBER 30: Lisa decides to undego reconstructive surgery after her masectomy; Funky and Cindy hit a rough patch in the marriage; Le's goth student writes an article for the school paper which gets her suspended; Cindy's career takes off as Funky becomes an alcoholic. The year ends with Cindy in New York City and Funky lying drunk in the gutter.

OCTOBER 7: The year 2001 begins with Funky's friends staging an intervention. After that he joins AA and goes to a rehab clinic for detox. Accoding to the entry in my mother's datebook for July 22, 2001: "Jeff left for the Great (?) state of Texas!" whicheffectively brought to an end my comic strip reading on a daily basis. The first strips to reference the 9/11 attacks directly appeared the week of October 1. Comic strips are usually produced with at least a six-month lead time, but Tom Batiuk and his syndicate worked hard to send in a substitute set of strips to have them appear that seen after the attacks. The collection includes both the 9/11-themed strips as well as the week's worth of strips they replaced. In November, Lisa decides she wants to have a baby with Les, despite the risks. In December she gets a clue that Darin is the son she gave up for adoption. November and December were largely filled with flashbacks (but not reprints) to Lisa's first pregnancy; Batiuk redrew entire sequences.

That's the end of v10. I already have v11 onhand, and I just ordered v12.

OCTOBER 10 (2002): Here are the highlights: Jan: Lisa suspects she's pregnant (baby concieved 12/22/01); Cindy needs glasses; Wally deployed to Afghanistan; Sal Silverman (background character, sidewalk artist) revealed killed in 9/11 attacks; his painting go to Apple Annnie. Feb: Wally's helicopter shot down, Wally MIA; Mar: The "Eliminator" (helmeted video gamer, 10 years old when the main cast was 16) re-enters the storyline, revealed to be female, named Donna; Funky Winkerbean (both the strip and the character) turns 30. Apr: Donna and Crazy Harry date; Cindy extends her NYC contract without discussing it with Funky; Funky wants to start a family. May: Funky and Cindy separate; in a week-long sequence which brought a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye, Nate Green visits the Viet Nam Vetrans Memorial in Washington, DC. Jun: Monroe re-enters continuity to read Wally's last letter, which also mentions Rachel and Sadie (more lumps and tears); Lisa graduates law school; Crazy Harry proposes to Donna, who accidentally swallows the ring (which was hidden in a slice of Montini's pizza). Jul: Cindy files for divorce and becomes Funky's STOBEX (Soon To Be Ex); Lisa's baby shower; Harry Dinkle takes on 23-year-old Kara Milstrom (often mistaken for a high school student) as assistant band director. Aug: Crazy and Funky and Les go on a camping trip to commemorate the changes in their lives (marriage, divorce, fatherhood); Frankie (the dead-beat father of the child Lisa put up for adoption in high school) shows up to cause trouble; Lisa goes into premature labor and gives birth to prematurely; the baby is named "Summer" and must spend time in an RDS ventilator to survive. Sep: More heart-tugging all around. Oct: Lisa's estranged parent reconnect; Kara has her first "Battle of the Bands"; Harry and Donna announce their wedding plans at Les and Lisa's Halloween/anniversary party; Nov: Kara's first experience selling band turkeys. Dec: Les hosts Harry's bachelor party; Harry and Donna honeymoon in Hawaii.

I knew I missed a lot reading dailies only in the 2Ks; now I'm beginning to Learn just how much.

OCTOBER 12: In 2003, life goes on in Westview, Ohio. In reality, Tom Batiuk underwent a surgical procedure which necessitated him bringing aboard an assistant artist. That artist was none other than,,, John Byrne (yes, that John Byrne). I noticed the change (in the Sundays, which is all I was reading at the time), but I initially thought he was just developing his style... until I read a piece about it in that Comics Buyer's Guide, then Byrne's hand became obvious. Byrne was doing layouts and pencils, and Batiuk was inking them, which provided a mix of their respective styles. The change happened, not coincidentally, at a time when the storyline was moving into a more serious phase. Rachel and John begin to date, John falls in love and sells his Star Wars toys (to Tony Isabella) and vintage spinner rack to buy an engagement ring. Then Wally returns from Afghanistan, alive after all.

I, for one, approved of the new direction, but I didn't know (although I should have guessed) that it didn't go over well with fans until I read the introduction to The Complete Funky Winkerbean v11. I really should have guessed. Batiruk reprinted a sampling of readers' comments. What they objected to mostly was the more "realistic" art style. After Byrne left, Batiuk underwent a bout of depression (unrelated), during which his inking became flat an lifeless (he admits himself). After that, he took on an assistant to do the inking.

Storywise, Lisa takes a job as a lawyer for a women's shelter, but when it loses fuinding, her boss reccommends her to work in the capital appeals division. She ends up defending a man a death row, a friend of Nate Green's, in fact, who served as a "tunnel rat" in Viet Nam. Lisa had a strong case but it was doomed from the start. She argued it all the way to the Supreme Court, but it was tossed back and her client was executed. He requested that she be present at his execution, and she agreed. I was completely unaware of this storyline until I read it, but I'll betcha it spawned a slew of "The comics aren't funny anymore!" letters to editors across the country.

OCTOBER 14 (2004): After moving his store from the ground floor to the second storey, John is forced to close Komix Korner. Mr. Montoni, though, let's him move it the the basement of his pizza shop (which ends up being a boon to business). With the second floor space vacated, Lisa rents it to open her own law practice. Donna announces she is pregnant. With Funky divorced and Cindy out of the picture, Funky and Holly Budd begin to date. Holly was the baton-twirling majorette in high school and is Lisa's mentor in their breast cancer survivor group. She too is divorced and has a two-year-old son. Kara accepts a job as band director at Big Walnut Tech, Westview's rival, and Becky Blackburn becomes Harry Dinkle's new assistant director.

Holly performs with the alumni band at the commencement ceremony. Funky is her date, but Cindy has also been engaged to deliver the commencement address, which was awkward. Becky and Wally become engaged. Donna has her baby on Friday 13th (a week early), the same day Harry wins an air guitar contest. Les and Lisa buy a house, leaving Becky and Wally to rent their old apartment above Montoni's Pizza. Funky and Holly had a good date, but he ended up not calling her for four months. They reconcile for New Year's Eve.

That is the end of The Complate Funky Winkerbean v11. I already have v12 on hand and have just ordered v13. That's the good news. The bad news is that v13 will not be published until January 23, 2024. What am I going to read after I finish v12?

OCTOBER 16 (2005): The band performs at President George Bush's second inaugual paradein Washington, DC. Funky proposes to Holly. A double wedding is planned with Wally and Becky. Wally is suffering PTSD flashbacks due to his service in Afghanistan. Roberta Blackburn has John arrested for selling "pornographic" comic books. John hires Lisa to act as his attorney. Funky falls off the wagon. Montoni's sponsors a reunion for the first little league team Tony sponsored. Still on good terms with Funky, Cindy Summers returns for the wedding. After the double wedding, Funky and Holly got to Paris for their honeymoon; Wally and Becky go to Afghanistan to survey and clear minefields. La Choi San (the "Dragon Lady") gives Wally Terry Lee's flight jacket. Wally is reunited with Khan, his former kidnapper, now acting as a guide. Wally has a close call, but Khan saves his life. Instead of thanking him, Wally decks Khan for selling the missile which brought down his helicopter and killed his friends. Wally is reunited with Rana, the little girl whose family hid him months ago after he escaped from Khan. Unfortunately, her entire family is killed in a suicide bombing. Wally and Becky decide to adopt her. Back in Westfield, Bull Buska and Linda Lopez begin to date and soon become engaged. Les Moore gets a student teacher, and it's Susan Smith. John Byrne testifies at John's trial. John is found not guilty. Cindy covers the trial on TV. The former most popular girl in high school ends up spendsing New Year's Eve alone in a bar.

OCTOBER 17: Westview is re-doing Main Street. The construction cuts into Montoni's business and causes the Jade Dragon next door to go out of business. Khan arrives in the United States with the intention of opening a resaurant, but he doesn't have the money nor is he a U.S. citizen. Instead, Montoni's expands into the space and hires Khan as night manager. Now that the artist Jim Mateer has finally finished the mural he has been painting for years in the original space and the first expansion, Tony hires him to extend the mural into the new space as well. Westview is also building a new high school.

Wally Winkerbean served a tour in Afghanistan and returned home in June of 2003. In February 2006, he is notified by the Army that he was sent home two days short of his enlistment and is being recalled to active duty and has one week to report in. This time he is deployed to Iraq. Becky sees him off at the airport, but even she is unaware that she is pregnant at the time.

Lisa participates in a gene reseach study for breast cancer. She has been in remission for about six years but the study reveals her cancer has metastisized. Darin meets Jessica Darling (related to John Darling, I assume) at the mall during skip day. Les and Lisa take a trip to Arizona while she is still able. One of the places they vistit is Sedona, where Tracy and I were married, and they were there just three months prior to our fifth anniversary trip, but I didn't know it until today because I was reading only the Sundays at the time. (I actually clipped the Sunday of 10/15/06 at the time, a flashback to the day Crazy Harry bought his first comic book: Action Comics #242.) Tony and Funky participate in the Food Network's "Pizza Challenge" and temporarily take on Crazy as their pizza acrobat.

Darin and Jess have a memorable Hallowe'en. The band has a fund raiser (Becky is their assistant director, remember) to send Wally a better flak jacket. Becky stops by Komix Korner to buy some comic books to send to Wally, and John gives them to her gratis. He then takes Becky and Rana to a Three Stooges Festival. Becky has an exotic dancer dressed as Santa Claus at her baby shower. The day Lisa observes the birthday of the baby she gave up for adoption and Darin's birthday brush up against each other once again, but no one involved has put two and two together yet. Donna sannounces she is pregnant with their second child. Becky goes into labor in the Komix Korner. John gets her to the hospital in time and the baby is fine.

I knew Lisa had had cancer during my time reading Funky on a daily basis, and I eventually leared she succumbed to it. What I didn't realize was that she had been in remission for nearly seven years. I have been happy for the time Les and Lisa had together, but I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop for weeks. Now it finally has. Funky Winkerbean is getting quite complicated regarding the inter-relationship of its cast, almost Gasoline Alley or Doonesbury level complicated. I wish I had a "family tree" to keep it all straight. for example, toward the end of 2006, Mooch begins dating the Montini's waitress who took Lisa's place (and whose name I never did learn), and apparently she is Ed Crackshaft's granddaughter!

There is one year left to go in volume twelve.

OCTOBER 19 (2007): Harry Dinkle's hearing loss would have forced him to retire had not the school board created a position for him, Music Supervisor, and promoted Becky to band director. Harry also stopped wearing his iconic hat (not unlike when Doonesbury's B.D. stopped wearing his iconic helmet). Lisa's cancer went into remission in January (or did it?). Komix Korner flooded. Montoni's went smoke free. Bull and Linda plan to adopt. The senior class takes a trip to Washington, D.C. Jess pressures Darin to find out about his birth parents. (She also pressures him into having sex, but he refuses... for now.) Jess is the daughter of murdered TV personality John Darling, BTW.

In May, Lisa finds out the hospital sent her the wrong results by mistake; actually her cancer is spreading. Lisa closes her practice and begins a search for the son she gave up for adoption. Meanwhile, Darin opens a P.O. box in case his mother okays her identity to be released. (He doesn't want to parents to know he's looking.) Chien and Pete, the two outsiders, go to the prom together. Darin and Jess lose their virginity. Jess urges Darin to stop checking the P.O. box... just as Lisa's records arrive. The Post Office contacts Darin to pick up his unclaimed mail. He closes the box and finds the letter. He reveals first to Lisa, then to Fred and Ann, that L:isa is his mother.

Meanwhile, Lisa begins video taping messages for Summer to watch when she's older. (More tears and lumps.) In August, Lisa testifies before Congress about cuts made to the National Institutes of Health and Cancer Research. It is at this point that Tom Batiuk begins alternating between Lisa's story and other "slice of life" stories going on around her, for example, Becky's first band camp as director. Funky and Crazy break into the site of the old high school to steal the door of Crazy's locker before the building is demolished.

Lisa goes into hospice care. Linda and Bull's adoption is finalized. they adopt an Asian baby they nickname "Jinx" because of all the trouble they had to go through to get her. Lisa dies on October 4, 2007. The strip immediately makes a ten-year time jump, filling in some of the post-funeral details in flashback. This is the second major time jump the strip has made. At this point, the main action of the strip becomes known as "Act III." I remember these strips very well, but only the Sundays. Summer is now 15 years old. Montoni's has just opened a location in New York City. Becky is now married to John. (What is this? This Is Us?) As the town gets ready for the Veterans' Day parade, the implication is that Wally never made it back from Iraq.

The strip has now transitioned to the children of the original characters: Summer Moore, Cory Winkerbean, Rana and Wally, Jr., Jinx Bushka and Maddie, Tyler & Abby Kilinghorn. Pete Roberts now works for Marvel Comics. In town for a book-signing at Komix Corner, he stops by Montoni's and Khan is behind the counter. When the strip made its first time jump (four years in 1992), all of the previous story shifted back. At this, we're in the "future" (that is, 2017 in 2007). I don't know if it ever normalizes, but Funky and Les and Crazy's high school graduation is pretty furmly established as 1988. Whenever I would see Funky married in the Sunday strips, I always assumed his wife was Cindy Summers (because that's who he was married to when I stopped reading), but now I know it is Holly.

That's the end of volume 12. I have pre-ordered v13, but it's not schedule to ship until January 2024. Actually, this is a pretty good stopping point (or pausing point).

What am I going to read now?

To be continued...
Jeff of Earth-J October 22, 2023 at 3:20pm

The Last Leaf picks up almost exactly from where v12 leaves off: ten years in the future, or "2017."

Les takes a job as weekend manager at Montoni's to help pay for Summer's college. The NICU were Summer was born holds a "reunion" for all the babies born the year she was who will now be turning 16. Summer watches the video tape Lisa made for her 16th birthday. The school has a new secretary, Cayla Williams, and a new teacher, Susan Westbrook (the former Susan Smith, Les's student who attempted suicide and is now divorced). Nate Green is now principal. Les begins writing "Lisa's Story."

Readers are reintroduced to a number of old familiar facs at at Funky's 30th class reunion. Original character Livinia has died (no detials). Bull is now athletic director, but is pressed into becoming girls' basketball coach at the last minute when the regular coach suddenly moves away. Keisha Williams, a transfer student, becomes Summer's rival on the court. At one of their practices, Les sits next to Cayla, who is Keisha's mother. Rana and Summer are both members of the Winterfest Court. Cory (at Funky's behest, we later learn) is Summer's date. Darin retuns to town for a visit with his parents and little sister.

Summer and Keisha bond on the court. Les asks Susan to read his manuscript. Susan plans to ask Les out to Mr. Dinkle's show ("The Magic Flutophone"), but Cayla has already asked him. After seeing each other socially for some time, Les and Cayla finally admit they are dating. We see that the tapes Lisa has recorded for Summer include "college," "16th birthday," "first boyfriend," "high school," "wedding" and "prom." Lisa frequently appears as a "ghost" but it is clearly in Les's imagination, not in the creepy Family Circus way. The annual "Lisa's Legacy Walk" to benefit breast cancer is held.

Les and Summer celebrate Christmas with Cayla and Keisha. The Formerly homeless "Apple Annie" (who once found the manuscrupt of Les's first book in the park) is now his literary agent, Ann Apple. Les's book Lisa's Story is to be published by Kent State Press, which published Tom Batiuk's book Lisa's Story. (both the fictional Les and the real Tom attended Kent State.) A romantic triangle develops as both Cayla and Susan vie Les's attention. Les goes on tour promooting his book.

Darin and Jess relocate back to Westview and move in with Les and Summer. Jess is making a documentary film about Less and the writing of "Lisa's Story." Les and Cayla take their relationship to "the next level." Cayla tells Les she loves him, but he is unable to respond and they break up. This is when Susan makes her move. She kisses him spontaneaously in class, but neither of them realize someone has snapped a photo. Les and Cayla reconcile, and they both say "I love you" to each other. Then the photo of Susan kissing Les surfaces on the internet. Susan ends up resigning. Les proposes to Cayla.

Lisa has recorded a birthday message for Darin as well. Then it's time for another "Lisa's Legacy Run." Summer and Keisha graduate in the Spring and go to college in the Fall. Darin and Jess move out of Les's house and into the apartment above Montoni's. Les and Cayla decide to have their wedding in the house. Jess becomes pregnant. Fred Fairgood has a stroke. Then Frankie, Darin's father, returns to town to cause trouble and cash in on the success of "Lisa's Story," now optioned for a movie, to create a reality show based on him being reunited with Darin. When Darin refuses to cooperate, Frankie decides to make a different kind of reality show, which makes Darin the heel and Frankie the victim. But word spreads and everyone in town refuses to cooperate with Frankie. Finally, Cayla comes across Lisa's old journal from high school, and when shown a recording of Summer reading a particular passage, which they threaten to put on the internet the day Frankie's show debuts, Frankie leaves town in defeat.

EPILOGUE: Darin and Jess have a boy they name Skyler. While transferring the VHS tapes Lisa recorded for Summer to digital, Crazy Harry finds previously unknown messages to Les and to Les's possible future wife. He gives the to Summer, but she listens to only enough of them to decide they're very personal. She gives them both to Cayla, and readers to to hear Lisa's massage to her. Then the volume ends with Cayla giving the second disc to Les then going for a walk as he pops it in the player. More tears and lumps.
Jeff of Earth-J October 23, 2023 at 10:47am

THAT "FUNKY" TIMELINE: Tom Batiuk is 17 years older than I am. His main set of characters were in high school when I was in elementary school; they were in high school when I was in junior high; they were in high school when I was in high school; they were in high school when I was in college; and they were in high school when I was a teacher myself. Then, after the first time jump, Funky's graduation became a "fixed point in time" (so to speak) and he and his his cohorts became six years younger than I am. Because of all these factors, I consider Funky and friends to be my contemporaries.

Then, in 2007, the strip jumped forward in time again, ten years this time, to "2017." Now they are back to being two years older, but I still consider them my contemporaries. The illusion of being set in "2017" (and beyond) is easy to maintain in the transition from The Complete Funky Winkerbean v12 (2005-2007) to The Last Leaf ("2017") is easy to maintain because the Lisa's family-centric strips have the dates removed. (That, plus they are now set comfortably "six years in the past.") But time is necessarilt compressed in this volume, as annual events (Christmas, graduation, Lisa's Legacy Run) come at a steady-but-ever-increasing clip.

The strips first 20 years of the strip (1972-1992) are compressed into only four (1985-1988) on the timeline. This tracks (AFAIAC) because my own high school years seemed to drag on forever. I have no problem whatsoever similarly condesning the years 2007-2022 into six years on the timeline: 2017-2022. the only problem I have encountered with that (so far) is that Les and Cayla's wedding invitations read "Monday, October 15, 2012, which seems to indicate that the years 1972-2007 and all been moved back prior to 1997. That doesn't really work for me, so I'm just gong to consider the wedding invitations a printing error.

The Comlplete Funky Winkerbean v12 was released in late 2022, and v13 has been solicited for January 2024. With 15 more years left to reprint, that would be five more volumes, so... 2028?
Jeff of Earth-J October 24, 2023 at 10:39am

Here is a discussion from 2010 which, although I participated in it, I didn't recall until I just rediscoverd it: Funky Winkerbean - Dead or Alive?

Honestly, having recently read the entire strip from 1972-2007, I'm surprised at the vitriol displayed toward Funky Winkerbean in general and Tom Batiuk in specific in that discussion. Granted, the story under discussion is from 2010, which should be in the next volume of The Complete Funky Winkerbean, but now I'm more eager to read it than ever. I have found Funky, since the first time jump in 1992, to be one of the best continuity strips, ranking up there with Gasoline Alley, Doonesbury and For Better or for Worse. The word that crops up most frequently in the 2010 discussion is "depressing," but I don't find it depressing at all. Sad sometimes, yes, but there is a difference between being sad and being depressed. As a matter of record, one of the reasons Batiuk gave for the second time jump was to avoid the depression of multiple characters mourining for Lisa in the wake of her death. Batiuk has been brutally honest about the high and low periods of Funky in his introductions to the collected series, and I look forward not only to reading those stories, in their entirety, for myself for the first time, but also reading what Batiuk himself has to say about this period of his work.

See you back here in January.

Funky Winkerbean - dead or alive?

If you're following the stip currently... I think he's dead...if it was any other strip, I'd say it was a dream sequence...
Jeff of Earth-J December 29, 2023 at 4:08pm

The Comlplete Funky Winkerbean v12 was released in late 2022, and v13 has been solicited for January 2024...

IIRC, this was solicited to ship on January 23, specifically. Earlier this week I received notification from Amazon that it would be delivered on Saturday, but it happened to arrive today. Fortuitously, it arrives just as I am wrapping up all my discussions (except Adam Strange). The current Crankshaft has been very Funky-esque lately, with the grand re-opening of Montoni's Pizza really putting me in the mood for more Funky. Unfortunately, I only have access to Crankshaft three days a week, so I hope v13 will scratch that itch.
Jeff of Earth-J January 5, 2024 at 11:06am

See you back here in January.

Is it January already?

I was afraid of this. After reading so many volumes so close together I was concerned that getting back into the story after a two-month haitus would be difficult. I spoke above about wishing I had a "family tree" for the strip, especially for the youngest generation of Funky characters, so i eventually had to make one myself from my summaries above. It took me a liitle while to reacquaint myself with the characters, but it didn't take too long.

2008: Tom Batiuk does his first comic book cover homage on Sunday, April 13. 2008 also features Funky and the gang's 30 year class reunion. Mine was in 2012; with all the time-jumps and whatnot, I have already said that I feel like a contemporary of Funky's, even though Tom Batiuk is 17 years older than I am. During the annual Lisa's Legacy run, someone stole all of the donation money. Funky writes a check to cover the loss, but we later learn he was really covering for his son, Cory, who was the one who stole it. On October 25, Less begins writing Lisa's Story.

2009: After New Year's Eve, Les and Cayla finally admit, to each other and themselves, that they are dating. With multiple Montoni's franchises, Funky becomes overextended in the the day's economy. The Last Leaf (third volume in the "Lisa's Legacy" trilogy) covered much of this material, but mainly from the Moore family's POV; it's nice now to "fill in the gaps" of everything else happening in and around Westview. The week of July 6 left me confused. It culminated, on Sunday, July 12, with Wally Winkerbean returning home from Iraq. Not only was the storytelling itself somewhat confusing, but we readers had previously been led to believe that Wally had beem killed in action. Immediately after that, however, the action flashes back to "five weeks earlier" to explain how things got to that point.

In his introduction, Tom Batiuk says, "If you're thinking that this is the second time Wally has gone MIA and had to deal with trauma on his return, I'll give you a nickel not to." By this time, however, his wife Becky has buried him, married John and moved on with her life. At the very end of 2009, Les gets an literary agent, Ann Apple, who just so happens to be the same "Apple Annie" who once found the manuscript to his first book when she was homeless and living in the park.

2010: Ann Apple finally returns Les's manuscript which she has held onto all these years, and Les recognizes her as the "Apple Annie" he once knew, bringing closure. Real life doesn't work like that, but I'm glad fiction does. Due to an economic downturn, Funky is forced to close all of the Montini's franchises, last the one in New York City, the one he opened first. He is even forced to sell his prized first issue of Starbuck Jones #1 in order to make ends meet. He didn't really collect comics at the time, but 30 years ago, an old man came up to him and told him that it would be worth something someday. After that, Funky is forced to put his father in a nursing facility. On his way home, he is involved in a "near" collision. With his car stuck in a ditch, he walks back to town and finds everything as it was 30 years ago, even the people. It soon becomes clear, however, that he was in a car crash and is hallucinating. Before he comes out of it, though, he imagines that he himself was the old man who recommended that his younger self by Starbuck Jones #1.

Retired to Florida, Tony Montoni helps with the clean-up of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Meanwhile, Less launches his nationwide book tour with a signing at Montoni's. Rachel has begun dating Wally, with Becky full knowledge and approval. Becky even suggests the Rachel that Wally should get a therapy dog to help him with his PTSD. At the airport, on his way home from the last leg of the book tour, a woman crank calls Les, pretending to be Lisa, warning him not to get on the plane. He becomes angry and boards anyway, launching perhaps the second strangest Funky storyline since July's supposed "time travel" one. He arrives home late, explainig that the flight was cancelled and he ended up driving home. Readers then learn that the same woman (or possibly someone else) called in a bomb threat which is what cancelled the flight. While inspecting the plane, mechanics discover a problem which would have coused it to crash. Ooh! Spooky!

Susan Westbrook's divorce is final, and she takes back her maiden name, Smith. At midnight on New Year's Eve, neither Susan nor Cayla gets to kiss him; the stroke of midnight finds him alone, staring wistfully out a window. (Because of "The Last Leaf" I already know how this romantic triangle is going to resolve, but at this point, Susan and cayla are vying for Les's affection.)

That's the end of v13, and v14 hasn't even been solicited yet.

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