- 12.15.2009 - Comics Book
As I noted in an earlier blog or two, I've been periodically doing tributes to some of my favorite comic books and by extension their creators in my Funky Sundays. I've been able to tip the Funky fedora (what's that?) to number of my heroes so far with a few more yet to come. I do this because I love the comic book medium and the pleasure it has brought me over the years, and I want to share that feeling with my good and gentle readers because I know there's a lot of others like me out there (I think maybe kind of).
So imagine my excitement when I came across Tony Isabella's new book "1000 Comic Books You Must Read" (actually I went over to Tony's house and picked it up, but that's sort of neither here nor there, except to say that you don't need to get me one for Christmas). It's the mother of all mother loads of info on comics all packed in to one handsome volume. If you love comic books, or know someone who does (I'm speaking mainly to the wives here) (and, yes, I understand that that's a broad generalization, no pun intended, but based on who I see in the Halo sewing bee at my local comics shop, generally a true one methinks) (and might I add as I approach the new world's record for consecutive parenthetical breaks, political correctness really stinks) anyway, as I was saying... someone who loves comic books will really geek out over this cool tomb.
And did I mention that I've posted the book in the "Books" section of this very site you're on? I didn't? Well, I did. So, if you're of a mind, please check it out. And happy... no.... merry Christmas.
- 10.29.2009 - The Walk
The inaugural Lisa's Legacy 5K Run and Walk took place on October 18th on a brisk and beautiful Fall day in Cleveland's University Circle area. Over four hundred participants ran, walked and ambled past the Natural History Museum, the Art Museum, Severance Hall and the site of University Hospitals' new Cancer Hospital where the Lisa's Legacy Fund will be supporting ongoing cancer research.
It was a great crowd and a terrific course to run. I got a chance before and after the race to meet with a lot of fans of Funky and Lisa, and even got to hand out the awards to the winners in each age category. Modesty, of course, precludes my mentioning that I finished third in my age group... which isn't too bad considering that as recently as this past January I was still barely able to run a lap following my close encounter of the automotive kind. We even enjoyed pizza supplied by Luigi's, the pizzeria in Akron that I've stolen down to the nails in the floor to create Montoni's in Funky. In short, it was a perfect morning and a perfect race. The only problem I could see is that it set a pretty high bar for next year's run.
If you'd like to see a bit of what went on, check out the slide show under the Lisa's Legacy Fund section of this site. As for me, it's time to get started on next year's run both in the strip and in real life as Lisa's legacy continues.
- 08.31.2009 - Lisa's Legacy 5K Run and Walk
I'd promised you more information regarding the Lisa's Legacy 5K Run and Walk and, by golly, it turns out I wasn't kidding, was I? The event will take place on Sunday, October 18, 2009 in Cleveland's University Circle area. Part of the race will take you past University Hospitals' new Cancer Hospital which is now under construction. The University Circle area should be beautiful in the Fall and the weather for running should be much better than the sweltering conditions I'm running in now as I get ready for it.
Along with running, I'll also be there to meet many of Lisa's friends who've contacted me here at the web-site, and to sign any books, tees or scraps of paper. We can talk about Lisa or blisters or whatever you'd like. If you'd like to check it out and or sign up, there's a link at the Lisa's Legacy section of this site. I hope to see you there.
- 06.21.2009 - Lisa's Legacy Continues
A few weeks back, I got to take part in an event that will remain for a long time as a very special moment in my career. University Hospitals in Cleveland held a topping out ceremony for their new Cancer Hospital, and, as a part of that event, I got to draw a picture of Lisa on the final girder put into place. This wasn't as hard for me as it might be for some other cartoonists since I work on steel sheets at home and all of my work is sent in that way. The mailing costs are back-breaking, but it left me well suited to the task.
I won't go into all of the details here, but, if you want to read about it, it's posted along with cool pics under the Lisa's Legacy Fund section of this site. So Lisa will not only be a physical presence in this new structure, but, more importantly, it's in this building where Lisa will help to fund the cancer research and education that will be taking place there in the future.
Work with the Lisa's Legacy Fund is ongoing with a 5K Lisa's Legacy Race scheduled to take place in Clevelands's University Circle in the Fall. Part of my ongoing rehab from my accident is targeted at making sure that I'll be one of the runner's taking part. As it draws closer I'll be filling you in on all of the details, and, with a little luck, I hope to see a lot of you there.
- 04.15.2009 - Crankshaft
A number of people have been contacting this site with questions about Crankshaft, the strip that I do with Chuck Ayers. That makes perfect sense and it's as if they already knew that I one day plan to have a Crankshaft site neatly tucked into this one. Crankshaft doesn't have its own site because the domain name was taken by a company that makes, if you can believe this... crankshafts. I figure they probably need the domain name more than I do in this economy, so, for the moment, I'll use these blogs to answer some Crankshaft questions and pass on a little Cranky info.
First, to all of the readers who wanted to know if the story that recently ran regarding Lucy and Lillian McKenzie would be collected into a book along with the previous Alzheimers work that ran in Crankshaft, the answer is that there are no plans for that at the present. If I hear from enough readers looking for something like that, I'll certainly consider pursuing it, but, for the nonce, the only book available is the previous Alzheimer collection Safe Return Home... and it's not really all that available except to the very determined reader with fairly deep pockets. Second, for those readers who were interested in purchasing original art from that story... they are availableÊand inquiries can be made by e-mailing this site.
Finally, in a bit of Crankshaft news, the Crankshaft story dealing with the black baseball player Jefferson Jacks has been nominated for a Glyph Award in the Best Comic Strip catagory by the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention which takes place on May 16th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Philadelphia. Just a bit of backstory here... a good friend, Tony Isabella, had suggested I write a story about a black minor league ballplayer who would have played with Ed Crankshaft on the Toledo Mud Hens. I was out of pocket on the Lisa's Story book tour around that time, so I suggested to Tony, a fine comics writer in his own "write", that he do it... and he did. Later, when Tony's scripts came in, I wrote the Sunday strips to wrap around the story and they were then beautifully illustrated by Chuck Ayers. If I say so myself, it's a fine story and I'm very pleased that it was nominated by the judges.
Finally, part two... the current Jefferson Jacks story was written by me as I recuperated after my accident last year, but Tony and I had such a good time with J.J., that we're working on some new stuff for down the road. Thus endith this update on all things Crankshaft.
- 03.01.2009 - Woodshedding
A number of my good and gentle readers have expressed concern of late that things might not be well in Funkyland since I haven't been posting any blogs here on the site. While I'd never intended this to be Twitter exactly, I did plan to be a tad more consistent than I've been. So, not to worry, things are going well. I'd sort of pared things back to catching up on the strips and doing my rehab from the car accident, and found that I kind of liked the quieter pace. So this winter has consisted of the aforementioned along with sitting by the fire reading books. The best of which has been The Complete Scorchy Smith by Noel Sickles. It's truly some of the most amazing work that's ever been done in the comic strip medium. I'm also working my way through all twenty-four Tarzan books plus a book of correspondence between Edgar Rice Burroughs and Herbert T. Weston. So, hey, I've been pleasantly occupied... but thanks for the kind concern.
I've also gotten a number of requests from readers wanting me to archive all of my past strips on the site. This I can say with some certainty won't be happening. While I appreciate the interest, if I took the time to archive every Funky, John Darling and Crankshaft strip in the site, I wouldn't have time to do the strips let alone finish all twenty-four Tarzan books.
I will be out and doing some speaking appearances starting next month, and that along with some other interesting bits of news will be posted here as the time draws closer. In the meantime, I'm going to quietly enjoy my remaing weeks of firewood and hibernation.
- 10.21.2008 - Old School is in Session
So last summer I sold my comic book collection. I guess I was finally ready to do it. Except that the morning before they were due to be shipped, my wife found me going through the twenty plus long boxes pulling out certain issues. "This is very difficult for you, isn't it?" she said. An understatement for the ages.
The books I was saving were key issues. Not first issues or important issues... but first issues and important ones to me. Books that carried for me something far and above the stories contained within. The first issue of Mystery in Space that I ever bought. The comic I bought as a freshman at college, and which had beckoned to me from the newsstand like an old friend. All were issues to which I had some kind of key emotional attachment. I was saving them (note the terminology) because I wanted to use them in Funky as an homage to the writers and artists who made my world spin around as a kid, and as a look at the books that helped to shape my thinking about comics.
Issue 115 if The Flash was the first one I ever purchased and it introduced me to the thoughtful editing of Julie Schwartz, the character driven writing of John Broom, and the extraordinarily beautiful artwork of Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. This coming Sunday, October 26th, I pay my tribute and debt to the cover of that particular book as Funky "pre-pears" for his class reunion. I did a similar Sunday earlier this year as a tribute to the Tales of Suspense book that had befriended me while at college. I hope to do others from time to time, because every time I do, it makes the twelve-year-old in me extremely happy.
- 09.04.2008 - Susan Smith Westbrook
A number of readers with sharp eyes and long memories have been asking about Susan Westbrook the new English teacher at Westview High. Susan is indeed the the former student who had a crush on Les when she was a student, as well as the teenager who attempted suicide when she was in high school and who was rescued by Les.
Susan has done well, well... sort of well, in the interim, and is now rejoining the cast as an ongoing staff member at the high school. Her backstory can be found in the book Funky Winkerbean: Could be a Book Deal Here, which can be found here and there on the net, but not necessarily in bookstores, go figure. The book also serves as a prequel of sorts to Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe which is still quite available.
As to where things are going to go from here, well... let's just say that I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Endings have to be earned.
- 08.21.2008 - Siegel Addendum
Just a quick postscript to my blog about going to Jerry Siegel's old house. For those of you for whom that just wasn't enough, check out the NPR interview under Bio/Interviews for insights into my warped childhood.
- 08.04.2008 - Jerry Siegel's House
Back in January BCC (before car crash) I was fortunate to be able to visit the Glenville neighborhood in Cleveland and the actual house where Jerry Siegel was living when he created Superman. Thanks to a knowledgeable guide and a generous owner, I actually was able to stand in the bedroom where Jerry, on a hot and sleepless summer night in 1933, created not only an icon for the ages, but an entire genre as well.
Out of that visit came a story involving Pete Roberts, the resident comic book writer in the Funky and the current resident in the apartment above Montoni's. In the story, Pete visit's the former Siegel residence and we find that the house still has some magic to share. I took a ton of reference photo's the day I was there, so when you see the house in the strip, it's the real deal. In fact, along with this blog, I'll also post some pictures of the house in the archive section. Although DC Comics is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Superman this summer, my story celebrates Superman's actual birth five years earlier.
The story kicks off August 11th and runs consecutively through the dailies and Sundays. I even got to create my own supervillan, and we get to visit him in the lair of the Lord of Late (gee, for a moment there, I felt like Stan Lee) in the August 17th Sunday.
- 03.19.2008 - Walks Around Akron
As many of you may be aware, I also collaborate on another comic, Crankshaft, with my partner in crime Chuck Ayers. In fact, in recent years, Chuck has also been working with me on Funky. In both strips, the milieu centers on the north shore of Ohio, with a lot of local sites ending up in the strips from Crankshaft's trips to Cleveland to see the Indian's play to Luigi's in Akron, the pizza restaurant that I've totally appropriated (with the owner's kind permission) to create the fictional Montoni's.
I find that using familiar locales places the characters in an environment that helps to ground the work and keep it centered. The gazebo in the Westview town square, Les and Summer's house, and the school where Les teaches are all based on real places. This makes the stages where the action takes place in Funky very comfortable settings in which to work.
The reason I'm telling you all of this is because Chuck, in collaboration with writer Russ Musarra, has recently published a book, Walks around Akron, which features various locales in and around the Akron area. This book expands on the locales that in many cases exist just off the page in both Funky and Crankshaft. All of the places that Russ writes about are illustrated by Chuck in a truly gorgeous series of paintings. The book stands totally on its own as collection of fine writing and art, but it also is fascinating if you're interested in seeing the larger world in which both Funky and Crankshaft exist. If you want to take a look, "Walks" can be found in the book section of this site.
- 05.13.2008 - Jim Mooney
As many of you already know, I was in a car accident recently and the recovery process has hampered my ability to stay on top of some things... these blogs being one of them. One of the things I had wanted to mention was the April 13th Sunday which showed Les and Summer as Superman and Supergirl in a reprise of the cover for Action Comics 252. When the strip was about to be penciled, I had called Jim Mooney who had been the Supergirl artist supreme for most of the early run and asked him if he would like to recreate that cover for me. Even though he hadn't actually done that original cover, Jim agreed to step in and reprise his old characters. The result speaks for itself and if you'd like to see it, it's up in the archive section.
Sadly, Jim passed away a few weeks before the Sunday appeared in the paper. I had only known him from our phone conversations, but I had been a fan of his work when I was growing up, and had found him to be a true gentleman and a genuine pleasure to work with. It was a thrill to work with one of the legends from my youth, and to know that, quite possibly, that Funky Sunday was his last published work.
When I sold my comic collection last summer, I kept a half dozen books that had, for one reason or another, a special meaning for me. I plan to do some homages of those covers with my characters from time to time with the next one appearing on June 15th.
Finally, thanks to everyone who e-mailed about the strip being a Pulitzer finalist this year. Again, the above mentioned accident kept me from responding in a timely fashion, but I did appreciate your good wishes. You can check it out in the interview section along with a cool interview from Rambler Magazine.
And now it's back to catching up on the strips.
- 03.19.2008 - Walks Around Akron
As many of you may be aware, I also collaborate on another comic, Crankshaft, with my partner in crime Chuck Ayers. In fact, in recent years, Chuck has also been working with me on Funky. In both strips, the milieu centers on the north shore of Ohio, with a lot of local sites ending up in the strips from Crankshaft's trips to Cleveland to see the Indian's play to Luigi's in Akron, the pizza restaurant that I've totally appropriated (with the owner's kind permission) to create the fictional Montoni's.
I find that using familiar locales places the characters in an environment that helps to ground the work and keep it centered. The gazebo in the Westview town square, Les and Summer's house, and the school where Les teaches are all based on real places. This makes the stages where the action takes place in Funky very comfortable settings in which to work.
The reason I'm telling you all of this is because Chuck, in collaboration with writer Russ Musarra, has recently published a book, Walks around Akron, which features various locales in and around the Akron area. This book expands on the locales that in many cases exist just off the page in both Funky and Crankshaft. All of the places that Russ writes about are illustrated by Chuck in a truly gorgeous series of paintings. The book stands totally on its own as collection of fine writing and art, but it also is fascinating if you're interested in seeing the larger world in which both Funky and Crankshaft exist. If you want to take a look, "Walks" can be found in the book section of this site.
- 02.27.2008 - FAQ
There seem to be numerous questions coming into the e-mail section of this wondrous website that keep appearing over and over and over again if you get my drift. In order to help me keep my nose to the drawing board, there's now an FAQ section on the site so that curious readers can quickly find the answers to their most burning questions.
Also, if you click on the asterisk, there's something kind of cool lurking there. Last Fall, King Features created a new sales kit for Funky to coincide with the time jump. To make the art on the kit really pop, I asked Greg Horn to do digital paintings of my characters over some drawings that John Byrne had originally done. Greg is not only one of the very best digital painters in the business, but a real pro and nice guy to work with as well. The result was incredibly cool. Unfortunately, except for features editors around the country, not a lot of other people would get to see the amazing job that Greg did... until now. I hope you dig it as much as I did.
- 01.30.2008 - Notes from the woodshed
A number of readers have wanted to know when new book signings for Lisa's Story will be scheduled. As I stated elsewhere on the site, I'm pretty much spending January and February woodshedding it so that I can get caught up to where I'm supposed to be with both Funky and Crankshaft. And while I've been making some progress, I've still got a ways to go. That being said, new signings are now being booked and as soon as they're solid, I'll be adding them to the events calendar.
Speaking of Lisa's Story, I was very pleased to see that the first royalties from the book have made their way to The Lisa's Legacy Fund. I'd just like to once again thank King Features for agreeing to contribute their share of the royalties as well, and all those readers who contributed by buying copies of the book. The fund is doing very well, and at some later date I'll try to provide an update on the fund and surrounding events.
Once last thing regarding books. When I'm totally fried and can't face another evening in the studio, I've been enjoying the long Ohio winter evenings reading the new Walt & Skeezix collections from Drawn & Quarterly books. The work is amazing and a reminder of the kind of heights that this cartoon medium can reach. The collection of Sunday strips is a particular joy and worth every pretty penny. Check 'em out.
T.B.
- 11.09.2007 - Where's Wally?
The November 9th strip showing Becky married to John the comics shop owner seems to have raised a lot of concern among Funky's readers. A lot of you are jumping (actually, running screaming and leaping) to the conclusion that Becky's first husband, Wally, died in Iraq. In fact many visitors to the Funky web site have been jumping to that conclusion for a couple of weeks now when Wally didn't show up in the cast picture that fronts the site. (A quick aside here to note that they were also concerned that Wally Jr. was missing as well. Wally Jr.'s omission can be explained with a term of art known as a big dumb mistake. I simply forgot to include him in the cast picture.) The explanation for Wally Sr.'s not being there is due to something else... it's called writing.
As things move forward, I plan to reveal many of the backstories regarding what happened to the various characters in the strip during the ten years that were just jumped. All of this material will be presented, in good time, as the stories unfold. If a mystery writer revealed who did it on the first page, there wouldn't be much reason to finish the rest of the book, now would there? Specifically regarding Becky and Wally, I'm not saying he died, that they were divorced or that he's missing out there somewhere. For the moment, I'm not saying anything at all... almost. I wasn't going to bring this up, and was going to leave it for those who really scrutinize every line of the strip to find on their own as a reward for their faithful and eternal vigilance, but your excitement is forcing me to be a bit of a spoiler here. There was a clue. A tiny clue, but a clue none the less. In the October 11 strip as a matter of fact. So, if you simply really have to know something, anything, right now, check it out online or at the library. Please don't ask me to post it on the web site... I mean, you've got to do a little work here. Otherwise, you can simply kick back, relax, and let the saga unfold tomorrow, and tomorrow and the tomorrow after that. It's called writing.
- 10.20.2007 - Back to the Future
Okay, gang, buckle your seat belts and return your seat backs and tray tables to their full and upright positions, because we're about to take off and head back to the future. At the completion of Lisa's Story, the entire Funky cast will time- frog ten years ahead and that's where we're going to stay. For the first time, there are going to be parents in the strip because my core characters are going to be the parents of the freshman class entering the brand spanking new Westview High School. If you've been following the strip, you've seen the last toddler put into place with Bull and Linda's adoption of young Jinx.
Why jump the strip ahead ten years? Well for one thing, I wanted to avoid an extended period of mourning with Les and Summer, and at the same time I didn't want to gloss over it and treat it with a lack of respect. I also wanted to bring some light into the work and show that while Les and Summer have moved on with their lives, they haven't forgotten Lisa. I also wanted to bring the characters ages more in line with the ages of my long time readers so that the lives they're now leading will once again be reflected in the strip.
Before we take off, I have just a little tidying up to do. First, a lot of readers have been asking about the bust of the author in Central Park where Les scattered Lisa's ashes. It's by an area of the park called the Pond, and the bust is of Sir Thomas Moore. Also it was a poem written by Moore under a nom de plume that Les read at Lisa's funeral. Regarding Wally in Iraq, following the time-frog all I can say is that what you think happened may not be what you think happened. Just relax, enjoy the view and let the story unfold in its' own good time. After all, it only took me twenty years to get Darin and Lisa together.
After the time-frog takes place, the front page of this site will show the new look of the cast. There's been a little hair loss and weight gain, but you should be able to tell who's who. In case you can't, however, just roll your curser over the character, click your mouse, and you'll get a brief bio of that character. For a more detailed look at the characters, got to Meet the Cast where you'll find the original style sheets that were used to create the new looks.
For long time readers, you'll be coming home. For new readers, it's the perfect jumping on place. So welcome on board and enjoy the ride.
Stay well.
- 10.04.2007
When I finished Lisa's Story last summer, my hopes for the work were rather modest. Maybe it would serve as a cautionary tale about the importance of early detection, or perhaps as a cathartic or inspirational tale. If I really let my imagination run, I'd think that some small community somewhere might actually inaugurate a Lisa's Legacy Walk to help raise money for cancer research. That would've been cool.
Nowhere on the radar screen was a national fund to raise money to help find a cure and increase knowledge in the fight against cancer. So when University Hospitals of Cleveland and home of the Ireland Cancer Center came forward with the idea of incorporating Lisa in a fund to raise money for cancer research and education.. well, let's just say that I haven't stopped smiling for days. To know that even once she was gone from the comics pages that Lisa would continue to live on in the real world fight against cancer was more than this story teller could imagine. From this point forward, Lisa will be telling the story, and I'll be looking forward to following it with interest.
So I'd like to take a moment to thank University Hospitals for creating the Lisa's Legacy Fund for Cancer Research and education, and also King Features for joining me in contributing the royalties from Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe to the fund so that her story can continue to help others.
And while I'm thanking people, this week has brought another outpouring of response from you readers that has outstripped my ability to keep up. Rest assured that I am reading them all, and I appreciate the kindness and courage of everyone who has taken the time to share their story and to let me know what Lisa's story has meant to them. For those of you missing Lisa today and wanting to do something, in lieu of flowers...
Stay well.
- 07.26.2007
Okay, I realize that I'm about to totally contradict myself here, but there's a good reason for it. All of the people who wrote in telling me about Funky being dropped from the L.A. Daily News are now writing to tell me that the paper is bringing Funky back. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've missed out on the last week or so. Now the last thing I want is for someone to be culturally deprived, so here's what I'm going to do.
Even though I said I couldn't archive strips from the Lisa's Story arc because of the forthcoming book, I kind of meant all of the strips. I don't see why I can't post the last couple of weeks so we can all be on the same page so to speak. So all of you L.A. readers who want to see what you missed can go to the archive section where the weeks are already posted. No need to thank me, it's all part of the job.
- 07.20.2007
I've gotten numerous requests for me to make the Lisa's Story arc available by e-mail or to archive the material here on the site.
I've been very gratified by this response, but I'm afraid that, by contract, I'm unable to do that. The material has been licensed by The Kent State Universty Press who will be publishing the entire story arc including the work from 1999 in a book entitled "Lisa's Story - The Other Shoe". The book will be published the first week of October.
While I can't provide the material at this point in time, you can go to the books section of this site where a link to Amazon has been provided for pre-orders. Again, I'd like to thank all of you, well almost all of you, for the kind and thoughtful e-mails that this story has generated.
- 07.16.2007
Thanks for all of your e-mails about the Daily News dropping Funky. While I wish I had as much power as many of you think, I unfortunately don't. But you the readers have more power than you think. Papers will respond if they hear from readers in numbers and will reinstate strips that have been dropped... but, again, only if they hear from a lot of readers.
So e-mail, call or write the editor and features editor and let them know how you feel about Funky and why. It's your best chance to change their minds. And thanks in advance for your effort and making your voice heard.
- 07.11.2007
Any chance I had of keeping up with your e-mails was buried under the tsunami of comments that I've received in the past week. The range and depth of your feelings has been both heartening and daunting. Sadly, given the other constraints on my time, I can't personally answer them all. However, what I can do is this... thanks to the kind permission of James Renner of The Cleveland Free Times, I've posted his recent interview from that publication in the Bio section of this site. It's a fine interview and gives a pretty nice snapshot of things in the Funkyverse at the moment as well as addressing most of the questions many of you have. No links, no muss, no fuss, so check it out.
To those of you who still feel that I'm breaking some immutable rule of the cartooning profession by striving to do something of substance, I'd like to say that while trying to entertain is certainly a worthwhile goal, sometimes you have to go a little further and try to get at the heart of things. The expectations that some readers have for modern comic strips is rather limited. They feel that the artist owes them only a certain narrowly defined style of work. In actuality, what I owe them is the very best work I can do. I think that as an artist I owe it to my readers to challenge my expectations of myself and those of my readers as well, even at the risk of offending some. I don't believe anyone should harbor the expectation of going through life without being offended by something. On a really good day, I'm offended a half dozen time before breakfast. Expression, even when we disagree with what's being expressed, remains our best and sanest method of understanding one another.
For those of you who want a miracle, here's the real miracle in this story. At it's core, this is a love story. Grief is the price we pay for love, and this is a story about how you do that. We live in a Match.com world where most love stories focus on the initial burst of emotion, and not so much on how that emotion endures after time and fate have had their say. In a rather cold and indifferent universe, the triumph this sort of loving relationship is to me one of the great miracles of our existance. Lisa's Story is celebration of that miracle and how even death can't diminish it.
Once again, my thanks for all your personal good wishes and especially for the stories you've shared.
- 07.05.2007 -
I'm trying as much as possible to keep up with all of the e-mails that have been coming in, but for those that I may have missed, I wanted to try to acknowledge them in a blog.
First, for all of the heartfelt e-mails that have come in in regard to Lisa's story, I just wanted to thank all of you for your kind comments and thoughts. I truly appreciate your taking the time to share your stories. For all of you who wanted Darin to prove to be a bone marrow match for Lisa, I only wish I was as clever as you guys. As for Darin and Lisa getting together... keep reading.
Thanks too for all your comments, prayers and concern for my personal health. Just had a test this week and I'm doing well.
- 04.03.2007 -
Okay, gang... even I'll admit that it's been a little too long between blogs, so before I start answering any questions, a brief explanation. I had some surgery in January and between the recovery and catching up on both Funky and Crankshaft, I just wasn't able to get to this. Your e-mails have been wonderful and I really appreciate the thoughtful comments. Since there are way too many e-mails to deal with on an individual basis, and since many speak to the same point, I'm going to bundle them by subject matter and hopefully answer as many questions as I can that way. Wish me luck.
First out of the mailbox, I appreciate all of the kind comments regarding Harry setting his uniform aside and moving on in his career. Many of you are obviously in the same place in your careers, and I'm glad to can still relate to Harry's life changes. Those wanting copies of the recent (or not so recent) Mid-West Clinic strips are going to have to wait until the next band book collection and that may be just a little while yet.
Regarding the questions about Becky, Wally and the kids... with the Christmas holidays, apparently some of you missed the fact that Becky had her baby. Wally Jr. was born on Christmas Eve and he, Becky, Rana and Wally are all doing fine. Yeah, I had the baby sitting up a bit soon, but cartoonists make mistakes too, and besides, he's a very strong kid. Wally didn't get blown up in Iraq, it just seemed like he did for a couple of days. It's called writing.
The comments regarding Lisa's story have been especially gratifying to read as I recuperated. To all of you who asked about a book collection, the entire story arc will be collected in a book by The Kent State University Press that will be published in October. There will be much more information on the website as that time draws closer. For those of you wondering if there were posters and T-shirts available of the March 4th Sunday, thanks for asking and we're working on that. If something like that happens, it'll be posted here as well along with any other news.
Will Darin and Lisa finally find out about each other? Inquiring minds want to know. All I'm contractually permitted to say on that one is... keep reading.
For those of you who have unfortunately moved to a culturally deprived area and can't follow Funky in your daily paper anymore, check in at Dailyink.com where you can find both Funky and Crankshaft.
And finally, for those wanting prints of specific strips, go to Kingfeatures.com and nose around there a bit. They can help you get what you're looking for. It'll really help them if you know what you're looking for. That keeps them from calling your humble cartoonist and asking; "Did you do a strip about pizza back in '82 or '83?" Life is too short if you get my drift.
Well, I think that about covers things for now. Hope it helps a little. Until later.
- 01.15.2007 -
It was a warm July evening in 1973 and I was lying on the bed in our apartment doing some writing for Funky. As is my custom, I was grousing to myself about having to write when I could've been goofing off, with little inkling of what the Muse had in store for me that night. Now lying on a bed is pretty conducive to letting your mind drift off, and, since Funky and the gang were about to head back to school in the strip, my mind was drifting back to all the things you associate with the start of school... football games, homecoming preparations, the usual stuff.
However, when I was in school, I hadn't been on the football team or the homecoming committee. What I did do was play trombone in the band.
Now I know what you're thinking. You probably figure I'm going to say I jumped up off the bed at that point and ran around the room shouting "eureka!" Well not exactly. What I did do was begin to jot down memories of long cold bus rides with wet feet and itchy wool uniforms... of singing "A hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall" until the bus driver turned his hearing-aid off... of selling band candy to all of my relatives. I also jotted down the idea for a new character... a band director named Harry L. Dinkle. Harry L. Dinkle the World's Greatest Band Director. Even then the "eureka" didn't come.
The fact of the matter is, it really came later in a whole string of retroactive "eurekas". First, as the mail began to come in... followed by invitations to speak at band awards banquets... and then the honorary inductions of Harry (and sometimes myself) into various state band organizations... the penning of the Harry L. Dinkle March... watching Harry march in the Tournament of Roses Parade... a line of Harry L. Dinkle band shoes and so much more.
It's hard to believe that it's been more than thirty years since that summer evening. Frankly, it seems like only yesterday that Harry first marched onto the comics page and started selling band candy. And could the first band camp we attended together really have been that long ago?
Much has changed in the world since then. And now it's time for Harry to change too. Time to put aside the uniform that has served and identified him for so long and move on into administration as so many have before him. All the characters in Funky have grown over the years and Harry is no exception.
Does that mean that Harry and the band are going away? Not by a long shot. Harry has some new challenges ahead, as will Becky as the new band director. And someone has to be there to launch the new Harry L. Dinkle Performing Arts Center. As much as the arts and music belong in a school curriculum, so Harry, Becky and the band belong in Funky. Recently, at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, I drew my last public picture of Harry in his uniform. This week inaugurates the new look Harry, and I'm looking forward to drawing him in the strip for, hopefully, a long time to come.
- 11.27.2006 -
So why a Funky Winkerbean web site now, you might ask. Well, I was going to make some cute comment about wanting to make sure the internet was going to be around for awhile and stuff, but, who are we kidding? Let's be totally honest here... I was actually planning to do this twenty years ago, but I just got busy. I was spending more time in the Funkyverse than the real verse, and, well, that's just not healthy for a growing boy.
Plus, there are a lot of readers with a lot of questions. Will Lisa find out that Darin is her son? Will Darin find out that Lisa is his mom? What's happening with Wally in Iraq? Who's Wally? Is he Funky's brother? His cousin? His uncle? And there was no real forum to address all of these questions. Well, now there is. The primary function of this web site is to provide information. Hopefully, it will answer a lot of your questions. .. at least those that can be answered without spoiling things for everybody.
And that's also the function of this blog. Sometimes I will be presenting new and startling info, but for starters, I'll probably be using it to answer FAQs from the e-mail. While I truly appreciate and enjoy the thoughtful e-mails I get, there's no practical way to answer all of them, but perhaps I can touch on some of the big issues here.
At other times, I'll use it to pass along cool articles, interviews and such. At still other times, I'll be making it a visual blog... just depends. And finally this will be the storm front where the cool stuff breaks. You'll find out about it from me first because...well because I know.
As I noted in an earlier blog or two, I've been periodically doing tributes to some of my favorite comic books and by extension their creators in my Funky Sundays. I've been able to tip the Funky fedora (what's that?) to number of my heroes so far with a few more yet to come. I do this because I love the comic book medium and the pleasure it has brought me over the years, and I want to share that feeling with my good and gentle readers because I know there's a lot of others like me out there (I think maybe kind of).
So imagine my excitement when I came across Tony Isabella's new book "1000 Comic Books You Must Read" (actually I went over to Tony's house and picked it up, but that's sort of neither here nor there, except to say that you don't need to get me one for Christmas). It's the mother of all mother loads of info on comics all packed in to one handsome volume. If you love comic books, or know someone who does (I'm speaking mainly to the wives here) (and, yes, I understand that that's a broad generalization, no pun intended, but based on who I see in the Halo sewing bee at my local comics shop, generally a true one methinks) (and might I add as I approach the new world's record for consecutive parenthetical breaks, political correctness really stinks) anyway, as I was saying... someone who loves comic books will really geek out over this cool tomb.
And did I mention that I've posted the book in the "Books" section of this very site you're on? I didn't? Well, I did. So, if you're of a mind, please check it out. And happy... no.... merry Christmas.
- 10.29.2009 - The Walk
The inaugural Lisa's Legacy 5K Run and Walk took place on October 18th on a brisk and beautiful Fall day in Cleveland's University Circle area. Over four hundred participants ran, walked and ambled past the Natural History Museum, the Art Museum, Severance Hall and the site of University Hospitals' new Cancer Hospital where the Lisa's Legacy Fund will be supporting ongoing cancer research.
It was a great crowd and a terrific course to run. I got a chance before and after the race to meet with a lot of fans of Funky and Lisa, and even got to hand out the awards to the winners in each age category. Modesty, of course, precludes my mentioning that I finished third in my age group... which isn't too bad considering that as recently as this past January I was still barely able to run a lap following my close encounter of the automotive kind. We even enjoyed pizza supplied by Luigi's, the pizzeria in Akron that I've stolen down to the nails in the floor to create Montoni's in Funky. In short, it was a perfect morning and a perfect race. The only problem I could see is that it set a pretty high bar for next year's run.
If you'd like to see a bit of what went on, check out the slide show under the Lisa's Legacy Fund section of this site. As for me, it's time to get started on next year's run both in the strip and in real life as Lisa's legacy continues.
- 08.31.2009 - Lisa's Legacy 5K Run and Walk
I'd promised you more information regarding the Lisa's Legacy 5K Run and Walk and, by golly, it turns out I wasn't kidding, was I? The event will take place on Sunday, October 18, 2009 in Cleveland's University Circle area. Part of the race will take you past University Hospitals' new Cancer Hospital which is now under construction. The University Circle area should be beautiful in the Fall and the weather for running should be much better than the sweltering conditions I'm running in now as I get ready for it.
Along with running, I'll also be there to meet many of Lisa's friends who've contacted me here at the web-site, and to sign any books, tees or scraps of paper. We can talk about Lisa or blisters or whatever you'd like. If you'd like to check it out and or sign up, there's a link at the Lisa's Legacy section of this site. I hope to see you there.
- 06.21.2009 - Lisa's Legacy Continues
A few weeks back, I got to take part in an event that will remain for a long time as a very special moment in my career. University Hospitals in Cleveland held a topping out ceremony for their new Cancer Hospital, and, as a part of that event, I got to draw a picture of Lisa on the final girder put into place. This wasn't as hard for me as it might be for some other cartoonists since I work on steel sheets at home and all of my work is sent in that way. The mailing costs are back-breaking, but it left me well suited to the task.
I won't go into all of the details here, but, if you want to read about it, it's posted along with cool pics under the Lisa's Legacy Fund section of this site. So Lisa will not only be a physical presence in this new structure, but, more importantly, it's in this building where Lisa will help to fund the cancer research and education that will be taking place there in the future.
Work with the Lisa's Legacy Fund is ongoing with a 5K Lisa's Legacy Race scheduled to take place in Clevelands's University Circle in the Fall. Part of my ongoing rehab from my accident is targeted at making sure that I'll be one of the runner's taking part. As it draws closer I'll be filling you in on all of the details, and, with a little luck, I hope to see a lot of you there.
- 04.15.2009 - Crankshaft
A number of people have been contacting this site with questions about Crankshaft, the strip that I do with Chuck Ayers. That makes perfect sense and it's as if they already knew that I one day plan to have a Crankshaft site neatly tucked into this one. Crankshaft doesn't have its own site because the domain name was taken by a company that makes, if you can believe this... crankshafts. I figure they probably need the domain name more than I do in this economy, so, for the moment, I'll use these blogs to answer some Crankshaft questions and pass on a little Cranky info.
First, to all of the readers who wanted to know if the story that recently ran regarding Lucy and Lillian McKenzie would be collected into a book along with the previous Alzheimers work that ran in Crankshaft, the answer is that there are no plans for that at the present. If I hear from enough readers looking for something like that, I'll certainly consider pursuing it, but, for the nonce, the only book available is the previous Alzheimer collection Safe Return Home... and it's not really all that available except to the very determined reader with fairly deep pockets. Second, for those readers who were interested in purchasing original art from that story... they are availableÊand inquiries can be made by e-mailing this site.
Finally, in a bit of Crankshaft news, the Crankshaft story dealing with the black baseball player Jefferson Jacks has been nominated for a Glyph Award in the Best Comic Strip catagory by the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention which takes place on May 16th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Philadelphia. Just a bit of backstory here... a good friend, Tony Isabella, had suggested I write a story about a black minor league ballplayer who would have played with Ed Crankshaft on the Toledo Mud Hens. I was out of pocket on the Lisa's Story book tour around that time, so I suggested to Tony, a fine comics writer in his own "write", that he do it... and he did. Later, when Tony's scripts came in, I wrote the Sunday strips to wrap around the story and they were then beautifully illustrated by Chuck Ayers. If I say so myself, it's a fine story and I'm very pleased that it was nominated by the judges.
Finally, part two... the current Jefferson Jacks story was written by me as I recuperated after my accident last year, but Tony and I had such a good time with J.J., that we're working on some new stuff for down the road. Thus endith this update on all things Crankshaft.
- 03.01.2009 - Woodshedding
A number of my good and gentle readers have expressed concern of late that things might not be well in Funkyland since I haven't been posting any blogs here on the site. While I'd never intended this to be Twitter exactly, I did plan to be a tad more consistent than I've been. So, not to worry, things are going well. I'd sort of pared things back to catching up on the strips and doing my rehab from the car accident, and found that I kind of liked the quieter pace. So this winter has consisted of the aforementioned along with sitting by the fire reading books. The best of which has been The Complete Scorchy Smith by Noel Sickles. It's truly some of the most amazing work that's ever been done in the comic strip medium. I'm also working my way through all twenty-four Tarzan books plus a book of correspondence between Edgar Rice Burroughs and Herbert T. Weston. So, hey, I've been pleasantly occupied... but thanks for the kind concern.
I've also gotten a number of requests from readers wanting me to archive all of my past strips on the site. This I can say with some certainty won't be happening. While I appreciate the interest, if I took the time to archive every Funky, John Darling and Crankshaft strip in the site, I wouldn't have time to do the strips let alone finish all twenty-four Tarzan books.
I will be out and doing some speaking appearances starting next month, and that along with some other interesting bits of news will be posted here as the time draws closer. In the meantime, I'm going to quietly enjoy my remaing weeks of firewood and hibernation.
- 10.21.2008 - Old School is in Session
So last summer I sold my comic book collection. I guess I was finally ready to do it. Except that the morning before they were due to be shipped, my wife found me going through the twenty plus long boxes pulling out certain issues. "This is very difficult for you, isn't it?" she said. An understatement for the ages.
The books I was saving were key issues. Not first issues or important issues... but first issues and important ones to me. Books that carried for me something far and above the stories contained within. The first issue of Mystery in Space that I ever bought. The comic I bought as a freshman at college, and which had beckoned to me from the newsstand like an old friend. All were issues to which I had some kind of key emotional attachment. I was saving them (note the terminology) because I wanted to use them in Funky as an homage to the writers and artists who made my world spin around as a kid, and as a look at the books that helped to shape my thinking about comics.
Issue 115 if The Flash was the first one I ever purchased and it introduced me to the thoughtful editing of Julie Schwartz, the character driven writing of John Broom, and the extraordinarily beautiful artwork of Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson. This coming Sunday, October 26th, I pay my tribute and debt to the cover of that particular book as Funky "pre-pears" for his class reunion. I did a similar Sunday earlier this year as a tribute to the Tales of Suspense book that had befriended me while at college. I hope to do others from time to time, because every time I do, it makes the twelve-year-old in me extremely happy.
- 09.04.2008 - Susan Smith Westbrook
A number of readers with sharp eyes and long memories have been asking about Susan Westbrook the new English teacher at Westview High. Susan is indeed the the former student who had a crush on Les when she was a student, as well as the teenager who attempted suicide when she was in high school and who was rescued by Les.
Susan has done well, well... sort of well, in the interim, and is now rejoining the cast as an ongoing staff member at the high school. Her backstory can be found in the book Funky Winkerbean: Could be a Book Deal Here, which can be found here and there on the net, but not necessarily in bookstores, go figure. The book also serves as a prequel of sorts to Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe which is still quite available.
As to where things are going to go from here, well... let's just say that I'm not at liberty to discuss it. Endings have to be earned.
- 08.21.2008 - Siegel Addendum
Just a quick postscript to my blog about going to Jerry Siegel's old house. For those of you for whom that just wasn't enough, check out the NPR interview under Bio/Interviews for insights into my warped childhood.
- 08.04.2008 - Jerry Siegel's House
Back in January BCC (before car crash) I was fortunate to be able to visit the Glenville neighborhood in Cleveland and the actual house where Jerry Siegel was living when he created Superman. Thanks to a knowledgeable guide and a generous owner, I actually was able to stand in the bedroom where Jerry, on a hot and sleepless summer night in 1933, created not only an icon for the ages, but an entire genre as well.
Out of that visit came a story involving Pete Roberts, the resident comic book writer in the Funky and the current resident in the apartment above Montoni's. In the story, Pete visit's the former Siegel residence and we find that the house still has some magic to share. I took a ton of reference photo's the day I was there, so when you see the house in the strip, it's the real deal. In fact, along with this blog, I'll also post some pictures of the house in the archive section. Although DC Comics is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Superman this summer, my story celebrates Superman's actual birth five years earlier.
The story kicks off August 11th and runs consecutively through the dailies and Sundays. I even got to create my own supervillan, and we get to visit him in the lair of the Lord of Late (gee, for a moment there, I felt like Stan Lee) in the August 17th Sunday.
- 03.19.2008 - Walks Around Akron
As many of you may be aware, I also collaborate on another comic, Crankshaft, with my partner in crime Chuck Ayers. In fact, in recent years, Chuck has also been working with me on Funky. In both strips, the milieu centers on the north shore of Ohio, with a lot of local sites ending up in the strips from Crankshaft's trips to Cleveland to see the Indian's play to Luigi's in Akron, the pizza restaurant that I've totally appropriated (with the owner's kind permission) to create the fictional Montoni's.
I find that using familiar locales places the characters in an environment that helps to ground the work and keep it centered. The gazebo in the Westview town square, Les and Summer's house, and the school where Les teaches are all based on real places. This makes the stages where the action takes place in Funky very comfortable settings in which to work.
The reason I'm telling you all of this is because Chuck, in collaboration with writer Russ Musarra, has recently published a book, Walks around Akron, which features various locales in and around the Akron area. This book expands on the locales that in many cases exist just off the page in both Funky and Crankshaft. All of the places that Russ writes about are illustrated by Chuck in a truly gorgeous series of paintings. The book stands totally on its own as collection of fine writing and art, but it also is fascinating if you're interested in seeing the larger world in which both Funky and Crankshaft exist. If you want to take a look, "Walks" can be found in the book section of this site.
- 05.13.2008 - Jim Mooney
As many of you already know, I was in a car accident recently and the recovery process has hampered my ability to stay on top of some things... these blogs being one of them. One of the things I had wanted to mention was the April 13th Sunday which showed Les and Summer as Superman and Supergirl in a reprise of the cover for Action Comics 252. When the strip was about to be penciled, I had called Jim Mooney who had been the Supergirl artist supreme for most of the early run and asked him if he would like to recreate that cover for me. Even though he hadn't actually done that original cover, Jim agreed to step in and reprise his old characters. The result speaks for itself and if you'd like to see it, it's up in the archive section.
Sadly, Jim passed away a few weeks before the Sunday appeared in the paper. I had only known him from our phone conversations, but I had been a fan of his work when I was growing up, and had found him to be a true gentleman and a genuine pleasure to work with. It was a thrill to work with one of the legends from my youth, and to know that, quite possibly, that Funky Sunday was his last published work.
When I sold my comic collection last summer, I kept a half dozen books that had, for one reason or another, a special meaning for me. I plan to do some homages of those covers with my characters from time to time with the next one appearing on June 15th.
Finally, thanks to everyone who e-mailed about the strip being a Pulitzer finalist this year. Again, the above mentioned accident kept me from responding in a timely fashion, but I did appreciate your good wishes. You can check it out in the interview section along with a cool interview from Rambler Magazine.
And now it's back to catching up on the strips.
- 03.19.2008 - Walks Around Akron
As many of you may be aware, I also collaborate on another comic, Crankshaft, with my partner in crime Chuck Ayers. In fact, in recent years, Chuck has also been working with me on Funky. In both strips, the milieu centers on the north shore of Ohio, with a lot of local sites ending up in the strips from Crankshaft's trips to Cleveland to see the Indian's play to Luigi's in Akron, the pizza restaurant that I've totally appropriated (with the owner's kind permission) to create the fictional Montoni's.
I find that using familiar locales places the characters in an environment that helps to ground the work and keep it centered. The gazebo in the Westview town square, Les and Summer's house, and the school where Les teaches are all based on real places. This makes the stages where the action takes place in Funky very comfortable settings in which to work.
The reason I'm telling you all of this is because Chuck, in collaboration with writer Russ Musarra, has recently published a book, Walks around Akron, which features various locales in and around the Akron area. This book expands on the locales that in many cases exist just off the page in both Funky and Crankshaft. All of the places that Russ writes about are illustrated by Chuck in a truly gorgeous series of paintings. The book stands totally on its own as collection of fine writing and art, but it also is fascinating if you're interested in seeing the larger world in which both Funky and Crankshaft exist. If you want to take a look, "Walks" can be found in the book section of this site.
- 02.27.2008 - FAQ
There seem to be numerous questions coming into the e-mail section of this wondrous website that keep appearing over and over and over again if you get my drift. In order to help me keep my nose to the drawing board, there's now an FAQ section on the site so that curious readers can quickly find the answers to their most burning questions.
Also, if you click on the asterisk, there's something kind of cool lurking there. Last Fall, King Features created a new sales kit for Funky to coincide with the time jump. To make the art on the kit really pop, I asked Greg Horn to do digital paintings of my characters over some drawings that John Byrne had originally done. Greg is not only one of the very best digital painters in the business, but a real pro and nice guy to work with as well. The result was incredibly cool. Unfortunately, except for features editors around the country, not a lot of other people would get to see the amazing job that Greg did... until now. I hope you dig it as much as I did.
- 01.30.2008 - Notes from the woodshed
A number of readers have wanted to know when new book signings for Lisa's Story will be scheduled. As I stated elsewhere on the site, I'm pretty much spending January and February woodshedding it so that I can get caught up to where I'm supposed to be with both Funky and Crankshaft. And while I've been making some progress, I've still got a ways to go. That being said, new signings are now being booked and as soon as they're solid, I'll be adding them to the events calendar.
Speaking of Lisa's Story, I was very pleased to see that the first royalties from the book have made their way to The Lisa's Legacy Fund. I'd just like to once again thank King Features for agreeing to contribute their share of the royalties as well, and all those readers who contributed by buying copies of the book. The fund is doing very well, and at some later date I'll try to provide an update on the fund and surrounding events.
Once last thing regarding books. When I'm totally fried and can't face another evening in the studio, I've been enjoying the long Ohio winter evenings reading the new Walt & Skeezix collections from Drawn & Quarterly books. The work is amazing and a reminder of the kind of heights that this cartoon medium can reach. The collection of Sunday strips is a particular joy and worth every pretty penny. Check 'em out.
T.B.
- 11.09.2007 - Where's Wally?
The November 9th strip showing Becky married to John the comics shop owner seems to have raised a lot of concern among Funky's readers. A lot of you are jumping (actually, running screaming and leaping) to the conclusion that Becky's first husband, Wally, died in Iraq. In fact many visitors to the Funky web site have been jumping to that conclusion for a couple of weeks now when Wally didn't show up in the cast picture that fronts the site. (A quick aside here to note that they were also concerned that Wally Jr. was missing as well. Wally Jr.'s omission can be explained with a term of art known as a big dumb mistake. I simply forgot to include him in the cast picture.) The explanation for Wally Sr.'s not being there is due to something else... it's called writing.
As things move forward, I plan to reveal many of the backstories regarding what happened to the various characters in the strip during the ten years that were just jumped. All of this material will be presented, in good time, as the stories unfold. If a mystery writer revealed who did it on the first page, there wouldn't be much reason to finish the rest of the book, now would there? Specifically regarding Becky and Wally, I'm not saying he died, that they were divorced or that he's missing out there somewhere. For the moment, I'm not saying anything at all... almost. I wasn't going to bring this up, and was going to leave it for those who really scrutinize every line of the strip to find on their own as a reward for their faithful and eternal vigilance, but your excitement is forcing me to be a bit of a spoiler here. There was a clue. A tiny clue, but a clue none the less. In the October 11 strip as a matter of fact. So, if you simply really have to know something, anything, right now, check it out online or at the library. Please don't ask me to post it on the web site... I mean, you've got to do a little work here. Otherwise, you can simply kick back, relax, and let the saga unfold tomorrow, and tomorrow and the tomorrow after that. It's called writing.
- 10.20.2007 - Back to the Future
Okay, gang, buckle your seat belts and return your seat backs and tray tables to their full and upright positions, because we're about to take off and head back to the future. At the completion of Lisa's Story, the entire Funky cast will time- frog ten years ahead and that's where we're going to stay. For the first time, there are going to be parents in the strip because my core characters are going to be the parents of the freshman class entering the brand spanking new Westview High School. If you've been following the strip, you've seen the last toddler put into place with Bull and Linda's adoption of young Jinx.
Why jump the strip ahead ten years? Well for one thing, I wanted to avoid an extended period of mourning with Les and Summer, and at the same time I didn't want to gloss over it and treat it with a lack of respect. I also wanted to bring some light into the work and show that while Les and Summer have moved on with their lives, they haven't forgotten Lisa. I also wanted to bring the characters ages more in line with the ages of my long time readers so that the lives they're now leading will once again be reflected in the strip.
Before we take off, I have just a little tidying up to do. First, a lot of readers have been asking about the bust of the author in Central Park where Les scattered Lisa's ashes. It's by an area of the park called the Pond, and the bust is of Sir Thomas Moore. Also it was a poem written by Moore under a nom de plume that Les read at Lisa's funeral. Regarding Wally in Iraq, following the time-frog all I can say is that what you think happened may not be what you think happened. Just relax, enjoy the view and let the story unfold in its' own good time. After all, it only took me twenty years to get Darin and Lisa together.
After the time-frog takes place, the front page of this site will show the new look of the cast. There's been a little hair loss and weight gain, but you should be able to tell who's who. In case you can't, however, just roll your curser over the character, click your mouse, and you'll get a brief bio of that character. For a more detailed look at the characters, got to Meet the Cast where you'll find the original style sheets that were used to create the new looks.
For long time readers, you'll be coming home. For new readers, it's the perfect jumping on place. So welcome on board and enjoy the ride.
Stay well.
- 10.04.2007
When I finished Lisa's Story last summer, my hopes for the work were rather modest. Maybe it would serve as a cautionary tale about the importance of early detection, or perhaps as a cathartic or inspirational tale. If I really let my imagination run, I'd think that some small community somewhere might actually inaugurate a Lisa's Legacy Walk to help raise money for cancer research. That would've been cool.
Nowhere on the radar screen was a national fund to raise money to help find a cure and increase knowledge in the fight against cancer. So when University Hospitals of Cleveland and home of the Ireland Cancer Center came forward with the idea of incorporating Lisa in a fund to raise money for cancer research and education.. well, let's just say that I haven't stopped smiling for days. To know that even once she was gone from the comics pages that Lisa would continue to live on in the real world fight against cancer was more than this story teller could imagine. From this point forward, Lisa will be telling the story, and I'll be looking forward to following it with interest.
So I'd like to take a moment to thank University Hospitals for creating the Lisa's Legacy Fund for Cancer Research and education, and also King Features for joining me in contributing the royalties from Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe to the fund so that her story can continue to help others.
And while I'm thanking people, this week has brought another outpouring of response from you readers that has outstripped my ability to keep up. Rest assured that I am reading them all, and I appreciate the kindness and courage of everyone who has taken the time to share their story and to let me know what Lisa's story has meant to them. For those of you missing Lisa today and wanting to do something, in lieu of flowers...
Stay well.
- 07.26.2007
Okay, I realize that I'm about to totally contradict myself here, but there's a good reason for it. All of the people who wrote in telling me about Funky being dropped from the L.A. Daily News are now writing to tell me that the paper is bringing Funky back. That's the good news. The bad news is that they've missed out on the last week or so. Now the last thing I want is for someone to be culturally deprived, so here's what I'm going to do.
Even though I said I couldn't archive strips from the Lisa's Story arc because of the forthcoming book, I kind of meant all of the strips. I don't see why I can't post the last couple of weeks so we can all be on the same page so to speak. So all of you L.A. readers who want to see what you missed can go to the archive section where the weeks are already posted. No need to thank me, it's all part of the job.
- 07.20.2007
I've gotten numerous requests for me to make the Lisa's Story arc available by e-mail or to archive the material here on the site.
I've been very gratified by this response, but I'm afraid that, by contract, I'm unable to do that. The material has been licensed by The Kent State Universty Press who will be publishing the entire story arc including the work from 1999 in a book entitled "Lisa's Story - The Other Shoe". The book will be published the first week of October.
While I can't provide the material at this point in time, you can go to the books section of this site where a link to Amazon has been provided for pre-orders. Again, I'd like to thank all of you, well almost all of you, for the kind and thoughtful e-mails that this story has generated.
- 07.16.2007
Thanks for all of your e-mails about the Daily News dropping Funky. While I wish I had as much power as many of you think, I unfortunately don't. But you the readers have more power than you think. Papers will respond if they hear from readers in numbers and will reinstate strips that have been dropped... but, again, only if they hear from a lot of readers.
So e-mail, call or write the editor and features editor and let them know how you feel about Funky and why. It's your best chance to change their minds. And thanks in advance for your effort and making your voice heard.
- 07.11.2007
Any chance I had of keeping up with your e-mails was buried under the tsunami of comments that I've received in the past week. The range and depth of your feelings has been both heartening and daunting. Sadly, given the other constraints on my time, I can't personally answer them all. However, what I can do is this... thanks to the kind permission of James Renner of The Cleveland Free Times, I've posted his recent interview from that publication in the Bio section of this site. It's a fine interview and gives a pretty nice snapshot of things in the Funkyverse at the moment as well as addressing most of the questions many of you have. No links, no muss, no fuss, so check it out.
To those of you who still feel that I'm breaking some immutable rule of the cartooning profession by striving to do something of substance, I'd like to say that while trying to entertain is certainly a worthwhile goal, sometimes you have to go a little further and try to get at the heart of things. The expectations that some readers have for modern comic strips is rather limited. They feel that the artist owes them only a certain narrowly defined style of work. In actuality, what I owe them is the very best work I can do. I think that as an artist I owe it to my readers to challenge my expectations of myself and those of my readers as well, even at the risk of offending some. I don't believe anyone should harbor the expectation of going through life without being offended by something. On a really good day, I'm offended a half dozen time before breakfast. Expression, even when we disagree with what's being expressed, remains our best and sanest method of understanding one another.
For those of you who want a miracle, here's the real miracle in this story. At it's core, this is a love story. Grief is the price we pay for love, and this is a story about how you do that. We live in a Match.com world where most love stories focus on the initial burst of emotion, and not so much on how that emotion endures after time and fate have had their say. In a rather cold and indifferent universe, the triumph this sort of loving relationship is to me one of the great miracles of our existance. Lisa's Story is celebration of that miracle and how even death can't diminish it.
Once again, my thanks for all your personal good wishes and especially for the stories you've shared.
- 07.05.2007 -
I'm trying as much as possible to keep up with all of the e-mails that have been coming in, but for those that I may have missed, I wanted to try to acknowledge them in a blog.
First, for all of the heartfelt e-mails that have come in in regard to Lisa's story, I just wanted to thank all of you for your kind comments and thoughts. I truly appreciate your taking the time to share your stories. For all of you who wanted Darin to prove to be a bone marrow match for Lisa, I only wish I was as clever as you guys. As for Darin and Lisa getting together... keep reading.
Thanks too for all your comments, prayers and concern for my personal health. Just had a test this week and I'm doing well.
- 04.03.2007 -
Okay, gang... even I'll admit that it's been a little too long between blogs, so before I start answering any questions, a brief explanation. I had some surgery in January and between the recovery and catching up on both Funky and Crankshaft, I just wasn't able to get to this. Your e-mails have been wonderful and I really appreciate the thoughtful comments. Since there are way too many e-mails to deal with on an individual basis, and since many speak to the same point, I'm going to bundle them by subject matter and hopefully answer as many questions as I can that way. Wish me luck.
First out of the mailbox, I appreciate all of the kind comments regarding Harry setting his uniform aside and moving on in his career. Many of you are obviously in the same place in your careers, and I'm glad to can still relate to Harry's life changes. Those wanting copies of the recent (or not so recent) Mid-West Clinic strips are going to have to wait until the next band book collection and that may be just a little while yet.
Regarding the questions about Becky, Wally and the kids... with the Christmas holidays, apparently some of you missed the fact that Becky had her baby. Wally Jr. was born on Christmas Eve and he, Becky, Rana and Wally are all doing fine. Yeah, I had the baby sitting up a bit soon, but cartoonists make mistakes too, and besides, he's a very strong kid. Wally didn't get blown up in Iraq, it just seemed like he did for a couple of days. It's called writing.
The comments regarding Lisa's story have been especially gratifying to read as I recuperated. To all of you who asked about a book collection, the entire story arc will be collected in a book by The Kent State University Press that will be published in October. There will be much more information on the website as that time draws closer. For those of you wondering if there were posters and T-shirts available of the March 4th Sunday, thanks for asking and we're working on that. If something like that happens, it'll be posted here as well along with any other news.
Will Darin and Lisa finally find out about each other? Inquiring minds want to know. All I'm contractually permitted to say on that one is... keep reading.
For those of you who have unfortunately moved to a culturally deprived area and can't follow Funky in your daily paper anymore, check in at Dailyink.com where you can find both Funky and Crankshaft.
And finally, for those wanting prints of specific strips, go to Kingfeatures.com and nose around there a bit. They can help you get what you're looking for. It'll really help them if you know what you're looking for. That keeps them from calling your humble cartoonist and asking; "Did you do a strip about pizza back in '82 or '83?" Life is too short if you get my drift.
Well, I think that about covers things for now. Hope it helps a little. Until later.
- 01.15.2007 -
It was a warm July evening in 1973 and I was lying on the bed in our apartment doing some writing for Funky. As is my custom, I was grousing to myself about having to write when I could've been goofing off, with little inkling of what the Muse had in store for me that night. Now lying on a bed is pretty conducive to letting your mind drift off, and, since Funky and the gang were about to head back to school in the strip, my mind was drifting back to all the things you associate with the start of school... football games, homecoming preparations, the usual stuff.
However, when I was in school, I hadn't been on the football team or the homecoming committee. What I did do was play trombone in the band.
Now I know what you're thinking. You probably figure I'm going to say I jumped up off the bed at that point and ran around the room shouting "eureka!" Well not exactly. What I did do was begin to jot down memories of long cold bus rides with wet feet and itchy wool uniforms... of singing "A hundred Bottles of Beer on the Wall" until the bus driver turned his hearing-aid off... of selling band candy to all of my relatives. I also jotted down the idea for a new character... a band director named Harry L. Dinkle. Harry L. Dinkle the World's Greatest Band Director. Even then the "eureka" didn't come.
The fact of the matter is, it really came later in a whole string of retroactive "eurekas". First, as the mail began to come in... followed by invitations to speak at band awards banquets... and then the honorary inductions of Harry (and sometimes myself) into various state band organizations... the penning of the Harry L. Dinkle March... watching Harry march in the Tournament of Roses Parade... a line of Harry L. Dinkle band shoes and so much more.
It's hard to believe that it's been more than thirty years since that summer evening. Frankly, it seems like only yesterday that Harry first marched onto the comics page and started selling band candy. And could the first band camp we attended together really have been that long ago?
Much has changed in the world since then. And now it's time for Harry to change too. Time to put aside the uniform that has served and identified him for so long and move on into administration as so many have before him. All the characters in Funky have grown over the years and Harry is no exception.
Does that mean that Harry and the band are going away? Not by a long shot. Harry has some new challenges ahead, as will Becky as the new band director. And someone has to be there to launch the new Harry L. Dinkle Performing Arts Center. As much as the arts and music belong in a school curriculum, so Harry, Becky and the band belong in Funky. Recently, at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, I drew my last public picture of Harry in his uniform. This week inaugurates the new look Harry, and I'm looking forward to drawing him in the strip for, hopefully, a long time to come.
- 11.27.2006 -
So why a Funky Winkerbean web site now, you might ask. Well, I was going to make some cute comment about wanting to make sure the internet was going to be around for awhile and stuff, but, who are we kidding? Let's be totally honest here... I was actually planning to do this twenty years ago, but I just got busy. I was spending more time in the Funkyverse than the real verse, and, well, that's just not healthy for a growing boy.
Plus, there are a lot of readers with a lot of questions. Will Lisa find out that Darin is her son? Will Darin find out that Lisa is his mom? What's happening with Wally in Iraq? Who's Wally? Is he Funky's brother? His cousin? His uncle? And there was no real forum to address all of these questions. Well, now there is. The primary function of this web site is to provide information. Hopefully, it will answer a lot of your questions. .. at least those that can be answered without spoiling things for everybody.
And that's also the function of this blog. Sometimes I will be presenting new and startling info, but for starters, I'll probably be using it to answer FAQs from the e-mail. While I truly appreciate and enjoy the thoughtful e-mails I get, there's no practical way to answer all of them, but perhaps I can touch on some of the big issues here.
At other times, I'll use it to pass along cool articles, interviews and such. At still other times, I'll be making it a visual blog... just depends. And finally this will be the storm front where the cool stuff breaks. You'll find out about it from me first because...well because I know.
