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Funky Winkerbean
Cartoons take a humorous look at high school life including sports, band practice, homecoming, tests, and classes
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
3 people want to read
About the author
Tom Batiuk
43 books24 followersTom Batiuk is an American comic strip creator. His best-known comic strip is Funky Winkerbean.
Batiuk attended Kent State University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting. He went on to teach art in junior high school. He put his experiences to use in his gag-a-day Funky Winkerbean, which first appeared in print in 1972. With the success of the strip, he abandoned his teaching career, occasionally returning to the classroom to refresh his sources. He authored two spinoff strips, John Darling, which ran from 1979 through 1990, and Crankshaft, which began syndication in 1987. These strips sometimes experience crossovers.
Over the years, Batiuk's strips have taken on an increasing narrative continuity. Starting in 1986, Funky, and to a lesser extent Crankshaft, sometimes abandoned humor to explore serious, even tragic subject matter.
His stories often involve strong drama elements combined with generally rosy outcomes. They also show a strong belief in God, as well as sympathies for the American military. On the other hand, Funky Winkerbean dealt very critically with Intelligent Design, and two students in the strip even did a pro-evolution take-off on Johnny Hart's BC.
Batiuk attended Kent State University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting. He went on to teach art in junior high school. He put his experiences to use in his gag-a-day Funky Winkerbean, which first appeared in print in 1972. With the success of the strip, he abandoned his teaching career, occasionally returning to the classroom to refresh his sources. He authored two spinoff strips, John Darling, which ran from 1979 through 1990, and Crankshaft, which began syndication in 1987. These strips sometimes experience crossovers.
Over the years, Batiuk's strips have taken on an increasing narrative continuity. Starting in 1986, Funky, and to a lesser extent Crankshaft, sometimes abandoned humor to explore serious, even tragic subject matter.
His stories often involve strong drama elements combined with generally rosy outcomes. They also show a strong belief in God, as well as sympathies for the American military. On the other hand, Funky Winkerbean dealt very critically with Intelligent Design, and two students in the strip even did a pro-evolution take-off on Johnny Hart's BC.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 30, 2023
I have only read Funky Winkerbean bow in then in the papers which never really gave me a full appreciation for the strip. Now that I have read a full book of strips I see what a great and funny strip this is and I want to read more!
April 14, 2019
I love this strip!!!!!
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July 29, 2011Interesting to remember how this strip was when it debuted.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews