Back on November 21, 2022, I wrote about Tom Batiuk ending his 50 year run of the comic strip, Funky Winkerbean, on December 31, 2022. I pointed out that I was sad to see the strip go, even though I was not a fan of the way, Mr. Batiuk handled/ tortured or abused his characters. Make no mistake about it, he did abuse them. But I always acknowledged that they were his characters to do with as he pleased.
I am happy that the 50 year run of the comic is now available at GoComics. Sadly, Mr. Batiuk did not resolve many (most) of his unfinished storylines before the strip ended in December 2022. He just hand-waved them away. He closed out the strip by having the final week of strips take place in the very distant future where he was able to say through future grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) of current characters that all is well.
Look, I get how hard it is to produce new content every day and I’m envious of those who do that for a living. This website is 20 years old and I’ve failed to produce content twice a month, let alone every day. Yet, it was frustrating to read this strip everyday and in the back of your mind know that the story you’re following this week probably won’t have a rational ending, if it has one at all. Or worse, the characters you’re invested in suffer life altering injuries or death. Want an example? Here’s one:
– Wally feeling guilty over the way he destroyed Becky’s life joins the Army. When he comes home from the Army, he marries Becky; only to find out the Army discharged him one day too soon. So he is recalled to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq. There he goes missing in action and is presumed dead. Becky, now with child, remarried. Wally is found and comes back home – to nothing. Wally now suffering from PTSD, threatens suicide. He has a therapy dog, but retains guilt over destroying his former wife’s life and not mastering his own.
What is really sad, is that Wally and Becky aren’t even main characters of the strip. Neither was Bull Bushka, the high school football coach. He’s another example. Bull played high school and college football and a couple of plays in the Pros. He suddenly developed Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) and during an arc that ran from September 9 to October 13, 2019, we watched his mental state decline rapidly and dramatically. Finally, on September 29, 2019, we watched him commit suicide by driving his car off a cliff. But, he wore a football helmet to protect his brain from further damage so it could be studied. Oh, by the way, the highway patrol gives the widow the helmet when they notify her of Bull’s death. *deep sigh*
As I said earlier, I’m glad the entire 50 year collection of Funky Winkerbean is now available on-line. However, I do feel sorry for those who are just starting to follow the strip. Frankly, those people are in for a world of pain and abuse if they get too invested in the characters. Funky Winkerbean is on Gocomics.
