Funky Winkerbean: Difference between revisions
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[[File:funkyw.png|frame|Smiling (and [[Smug Smiler|smirking]]) in spite of their impending [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|doom]].<ref>From left to right: [[Author Avatar|Les Moore]], Summer Moore, Donna Klinghorn, [[Put on a Bus|Maddie Klinghorn]], "Crazy" Harry Klinghorn, [[Parent with New Paramour|Becky Blackburn Winkerbean-Howard]], [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|Rana Winkerbean]], [[Alpha Bitch|Linda Lopez-Bushka]], [[Jaded Washout|Bull Bushka]], [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|Jinx Bushka]], [[Chew Toy|Funky Winkerbean]], [[Delinquents|Cory Winkerbean]], Holly Budd.</ref>]]
If [[Coleman Francis]] were to have drawn a comic strip, it would go something like this. [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer|No, really.]]
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Lead character [[Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?|Funky Winkerbean]] was a happy-go-lucky student, [[Butt Monkey|Les Moore]] was the lovable loser nerd, "Crazy" Harry was the [[Class Clown]], Holly Budd was the marching band majorette, and [[Jerkass|"Bull" Buska]] was the class bully. Other regulars were principal Fred Fairgood, football coach Jack Stropp, band director [[The Neidermeyer|Harold Dinkle]] and pizzeria owner Tony Montoni. Lisa Crawford also appeared as a nerd equally as socially awkward as Les. And there were [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|minor characters Roland and Candice Cane]].
Regular gags/stories during "'''Act I'''" involved, among other things, silly answers to test questions, Les Moore's incompetence at gym, [[AI Is a Crapshoot|a sentient school computer]] with [[Teleporters and Transporters|a transporter beam]], Holly Budd's ability to [[Doing the Impossible|burst into flames whenever she performed her routine]], the follies of the perpetually winless high school football team -- nicknamed the ''[[Failure Is the Only Option|Westview Scapegoats]]'' -- and Harold Dinkle's attempts to win the Battle of the Bands (which was generally rained out). As ''Funky'' primarily had the most appeal in the Cleveland area, cameos by celebrities from the region occasionally took place. Basically, it was light-hearted fare, even when Lisa became pregnant in [[Very Special Episode|a 1986 teen-pregnancy storyline]].
In 1992, Tom Batiuk, the creator of the strip, quite deliberately decided to initiate [[Cerebus Syndrome]] (not that it was called that then): he figured that 17 years in high school was long enough. He ran a graduation storyline, and to indicate - and hammer in - the change of tone, he had the class overachiever commit suicide in the yearbook room after hearing that the position of valedictorian would be chosen by popularity, and after a brief standoff. Then we got Les Moore's valedictorian speech (which is universally considered underwhelming), and then there was a [[Time Skip]]...
And then there was "'''Act II'''." And [[Deus Angst Machina|Angst]]: For every good thing that happened to the cast (Funky married to Cindy, [[Loser Gets the Girl|Les married to Lisa]]) there were [[Diabolus Ex Machina|two bad things]] (Funky is a divorced [[The Alcoholic|recovering alcoholic]], [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|Lisa died after a breast cancer relapse]]) and one thing that was [[Cerebus Retcon|revealed to be worse than we thought]] (Lisa's teen pregnancy retconned into date rape, Bull's [[Jerkass]] nature as a result of parental abuse). [[Wring Every Last Drop Out of Him|The nature of Lisa's death]] attracted a significant level of notoriety, as it was made known to the general public by Batiuk a full year in advance.
And then in 2008, immediately following the death of Lisa, [[Creator Breakdown|Batiuk decided]] there needed to be a second [[Time Skip]] to turn things over to the kids of the original cast. Even then, the majority of the storylines in "'''Act III'''" have focused more on the adults [[Chew Toy|experiencing even more traumatic events]] and [[Character Derailment|angsting about them]] and less on their children, though a handful of stories have focused on the lives of the teens.
The comic today is widely seen as [[Snark Bait]] for being [[Crapsack World|unrealistically and relentlessly depressing]] in some storylines (some of which [[No Ending|abruptly end]] with no [[denouement]] to speak of), and [[Dude, Not Funny|almost totally inappropriate]] in others with Batiuk's continued usage of [[Incredibly Lame Pun|incredibly lame puns]] and [[Smug Smiler|accompanying smirks]]. Regardless, it's a [[Long Runner]], and [[Take That, Critics!|shows no sign of slowing down]] any time soon.
Two strips [[Spin-Off|were spun off]] from ''Funky Winkerbean'': ''[[Crankshaft]]'', about [[Grumpy Old Man|a perpetually grumpy 80-year-old high school bus driver]] whose punchlines are almost always [[Malaproper|a ridiculous mangling of the English language]], and ''John Darling'', about [[Kent Brockman News|a pompous talk show host]] who was [[Go Out With a Bang|murdered]] in [[Fully-Absorbed Finale|the penultimate strip]].
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* [[The Alcoholic]]: Funky is a recovering one.
* [[Always Someone Better]]: Keisha, Summer's basketball rival whose great talent overshadows her and thus deprives her of her love for athletics. And now Keisha and Summer are step-sisters.
* [[Author Avatar]]: Without a doubt: Les, especially post-[[Time Skip]]. This became blindingly obvious in October 2010 as Les embarked on his book tour (which takes place mainly at Montoni's) and is surrounded by adoring hordes of middle-aged women who worship the ground he walks on - and who are all clearly inferior in some way or another to him.
* [[Business as Unusual]]: Funky took over the town pizzeria from founder Tony Montoni. For unexplained reasons, during the second time skip, Funky was able to build a chain of Montoni's pizzerias, and even launched one in New York City. After Funky instituted cost-cutting measures that cut down on the quality of the pizzas made, the franchise collapsed with all the locations - excluding the one in Westview - closed in early 2010. Les and Funky's dialog following the failure of Montoni's - in which they blame "greedy, amoral morons" - could be considered as a [[Take That, Critics!|thinly veiled attack at the comics' critics by Batiuk]].
* [[Call Back]]: Funky's time traveling is real since he's the "old geezer" who told his younger self to save the comic book.
* [[Can You Hear Me Now]]: For unknown reasons, Les never bothers to use a cellphone (or ''any'' phone, for that matter) to call home and check and see how his teenage daughter is doing. Nor do people at home call him. This results in bizarre situations like the February 6th, 2011 strip, where for for some reason he's completely shocked that his daughter got injured.
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** Even the past appearances of characters haven't been immune, as Lisa's teenage self was redrawn into a less mousy appearance in the most recent retelling of her teenage pregnancy. Most recently, a high school yearbook shot of the cast now featured Mary Summers without the distinctive spike in her hair, and Funky's modest nose was redrawn into the bulbous nose his current incarnation has.
* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: possibly the biggest example, short of the [[Trope Namer]] (and that's debatable).
* [[Chew Toy]]: Several of these have existed throughout the years.
** Lisa never could catch a break. A teenage pregnancy (later [[Cerebus Retcon|retold as having being a date-rape victim]]), being injured in a post office bombing, and two long cancer storylines, the second of which resulted in her suffering a long and agonizing death. Even Batiuk admitted in an interview during the second cancer storyline that he didn't quite understand why she was always getting so much drama.
** Les ''used'' to go through through this, but these days seems to be getting the opposite treatment to the point of becoming an obvious [[Creator's Pet]]. Possibly to make up for years of torture, and possibly because Batiuk has started to identify with him more, the latter of which is more distressing when you consider how much of an unlikable [[Jerkass]] Les has become.
** In recent years, Funky has become subjected to facing his own deteriorating health, a dying father, a cancer scare, a car accident that led into a near-death experience, the failure of the Montoni's franchise, and his own stepson - a juvenile delinquent in high school - serving for the military in Afghanistan.
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Remember Rana Winkerbean, Jinx Bushka or Maddie Klinghorn - all members of the "younger cast" that the strip was supposedly going to focus on after the second time skip? [[All According to Plan|Exactly.]]
* [[Comic Book Time]]: started off this way, then went to real-time progression (or maybe slowed-down time progression) after the first [[Time Skip]], then... well, it's hard to tell now. Both time skips seemed to take the strip from the present day to... still the present day but with everyone being older:
** In the original timeline, the characters were ca. 15 years old in 1972, which presupposes a birth year of roughly 1957.
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* [[Jerkass]]: It depends on the era of the strip:
** The gag-a-day incarnation had Bull Buska in the role. Originally [[Played for Laughs]] until [[Cerebus Retcon|revealed much later on]] that [[Dude, Not Funny|Bull had abusive parents]]. He's still a jerkass, though, as he openly hates his dual role as athletic director and head football coach, openly thinking little of his players and interviewing for a college coaching role in his office during the school day.
** Funky's personality had the most abrupt change after the second time skip into an unabashed selfish, greedy jerk.<ref>Then again, this is a [[Crapsack World]], it's enough to turn even the most idealistic heart to stone.</ref> In recent years, however,
*** His attempted expansion of Montoni's Pizza into New York City failing in spectacular fashion...
*** His mounting health and weight issues, notable as he is ''supposed'' to be in his late 40s, yet [[Younger Than They Look|looks 20 years older]].
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* [[Karma Houdini]]: In Crazy Harry's case, it's escaping the ''bad'' karma the rest of the original cast soaks up. But even '''he''' lost his job as a postman and had to sell off his comic book collection<ref>Which would have possibly been unnecessary, as being a former federal employee, Harry would have been entitled to a reasonable pension of some sort. [[YMMV]] here.</ref> to John Howard, owner of the comic book store in town, who later employs Harry on a part-time basis. And yet, Crazy Harry is both at peace and relatively happy with his life in comparison to everyone else.
* [[Love Triangle]]: Between the post-[[Time Skip]] II Les, his former suicidal student turned colleage Susan, and fellow post-[[Time Skip]] II teacher Cayla. The latter of whom seems to have been given the approval of Lisa's ghost.
** When she was in high school, Summer Moore (Les and Lisa's daughter) was liked by both Cody (a nerdy boy who looks suspiciously like Les) and Owen (his slacker best friend who's defined by his goofy hat<ref>Not to be confused with Maddie Klinghorn, who sported the same goofy green cap her father, Crazy Harry, wore when he in high school.</ref>). However, there was no proof she liked either, and critics were thankful that [[Generation Xerox]] was avoided... for now. Complicating matters was an unnamed blonde girl who liked Cody but he didn't know she existed... even after she texted him, thanks to a prank by Owen.
*** As most storyline arcs go in Funky Winkerbean, this storyline did not have any denouement or conclusion. Moreover, Owen and Cody somehow remain as sixth-year juniors at Westview, and the unnamed blonde has not been seen or heard from since.
* [[Motifs]]: Several exist:
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* [[Punny Name]]: The vast majority of the strip's original cast. Les Moore, Holly Budd, Crazy Harry, Tony Montoni, Candice Cane, Fred Fairgood, John Darling, Ed Crankshaft, "Bull" Buska, Harry Dinkle, Jack Stropp<ref>That would now be the late Jack Stropp, since he recently passed away from... wait for it... {{spoiler|prostate cancer}}.</ref>...
* [[Put on a Bus]]: Most of the high school students from the first time skip, despite the second time skip ostensibly being to pass the torch to the younger generation. That generation initially focused solely on Summer Moore, but is strictly limited now to occasional appearances by Cody, Owen and Alex.
* [[Reality Is Out to Lunch]]: For a comic-strip that ''claims'' on its' site description to be "[[I Reject Your Reality|a reality-based comic strip]] that depicts [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|contemporary issues]] affecting [[Sarcasm Mode|young adults]] in a [[Blatant Lies|thought-provoking]] and [[Crapsack World|sensitive manner]]..."
* [[Running Gag]]: Dating back to the gag-a-day era, the strip has featured annual fundraisers by the marching band. Regardless if the item is band candy, band turkeys, a novelty item, or a Harry Dinkle autobiography, they are all sold for the same goal: to raise money for new band uniforms.
* [[Samus Is a Girl]]: The Eliminator, a helmeted [[Bratty Half-Pint]] arcade gamer from the original strips, retconned late in the first time skip into Donna, a hot blond (and Crazy Harry's future wife).
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** Les in general, really. He clearly has an unhealthy obsession with his late wife's death and is using his writing career as a platform for talking about it. ''[[Author Avatar|Kind of like Tom Batiuk.]]''
* [[You Look Like You've Seen a Ghost|You Look Like You've Just Seen A Ghost]]: When Funky encounters his pre-[[Time Skip]] I self.
* [[Younger Than They Look]]: Excluding Les Moore, virtually everyone from the original cast have not aged well at all, with the same world-weary appearance. Funky aged the most, now looking almost exactly like his own father, and now sports a bulbous nose just like [[Crankshaft|Ed Crankshaft]]. Holly Budd and Donna Klinghorn also aged badly, and Crazy Harry's beard now is almost completely snow-white. Remember, these are all characters that are all supposed to be in their early 50s.
** From internal evidence (the day his birthday party ran in the papers), Funky was born on March 29, 1964 and is therefore the same age to the day as Elle MacPherson
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