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Since its debut in 1987, Crankshaft has engendered reader loyalty
and affection with its wry wit, engaging storylines, and
identifiable characters. Created by Tom Batiuk and drawn by Chuck
Ayers, the strip offers plenty of humour but also tackles serious
issues like adult literacy, school violence, and the challenges of
aging. Roses in December is a touching collection of two Crankshaft
storylines of characters who find themselves dealing with the
incurable condition of Alzheimer's disease. First, Ed Crankshaft's
best friend Ralph is confronted with the trauma of his wife Helen's
worsening Alzheimer's. He never knows if the love of his life will
recognize him on those days that he visits her at Sunny Days
Nursing Home. Ralph and Helen's love story unfolds with humour and
heartbreak. In the second story arc, Crankshaft's neighbour Lucy
McKenzie also exhibits symptoms of Alzheimer's and eventually is
moved to Sunny Days Nursing Home by her sister Lillian. The
fourteen year struggles of Lucy, Helen, and their loved ones are
elegantly told, preserving their dignity and reminding us that
sometimes a sense of humour can be our greatest possession during
life's trials. Through the deceptively simple medium of the daily
comic strip, Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers address the profound
effects of Alzheimer's disease in a thoughtful and occasionally
humorous way. Roses in December includes a resource guide for
caregivers, patients, and practitioners.
Since its newspaper debut in 1972, the comic strip Funky Winkerbean
has chronicled the journey through life of a group of students from
the fictitious West View High School. This twelfth volume presents
strips from 2005, 2006, and 2007. Mixing humor with serious,
real-life issues, this volume of The Complete Funky Winkerbean
demonstrates that comics that entertain us can also help us
comprehend and navigate life's most difficult challenges. This
volume includes the story arc dealing with Lisa Moore's
heartbreaking battle with breast cancer, which became a finalist in
the cartooning category of the 2008 Pulitzer Prizes. Other stories
include Lisa defending comic shop owner John Howard in an obscenity
lawsuit, Wally's struggles with PTSD upon returning from the war in
Afghanistan, and his return to Afghanistan with his wife Becky as
part of a project to clear landmines. Marriages, graduations,
births, and even the building of a new school all weave around and
through Lisa's story.
In this seventh volume, we see the changes in tone that now
characterize Funky Winkerbean. Funky becomes more of a
reality-based comic strip that depicts contemporary issues in a
thought-provokingand sensitive manner. In 1992 Tom Batiuk did
something even more radical: he rebooted and restructured the
strip, establishing that the characters had graduated from high
school. From then on the series progresses in real time. Funky
Winkerbean placed Batiuk at the forefront of a new genre in comic
art history. His bold characterizations and dramatic plots are
engaging for his readers-teens, parents, and educators
alike-because they are universal stories that people can identify
with. Realizing there are many comic strips for readers interested
in a fantasy world, Batiuk provides an alternative by creating
stories that are powerful, real, and inspiring. "My job is to
present stories that will interest and engage readers," he says.
"In doing so, I try to make the humor authentic and natural so that
my characters are reacting just as the reader might. I think that
mixing humor with serious and real themes heightens the readers'
interest." Following his own muse has roused a fervent following
for Batiuk. Funky has "become an untouchable comic strip," even if
its creator "does do work that's different from the other comics on
the comics page," said Brendan Burford, general manager,
syndication, at King Features.
Since its debut in 1987, Crankshaft has engendered reader loyalty
and affection with its wry wit, engaging storylines, and
identifiable characters. Created by Tom Batiuk and drawn by Chuck
Ayers, the strip offers plenty of humour but also tackles serious
issues like adult literacy, school violence, and the challenges of
aging. Roses in December is a touching collection of two Crankshaft
storylines of characters who find themselves dealing with the
incurable condition of Alzheimer's disease. First, Ed Crankshaft's
best friend Ralph is confronted with the trauma of his wife Helen's
worsening Alzheimer's. He never knows if the love of his life will
recognize him on those days that he visits her at Sunny Days
Nursing Home. Ralph and Helen's love story unfolds with humour and
heartbreak. In the second story arc, Crankshaft's neighbour Lucy
McKenzie also exhibits symptoms of Alzheimer's and eventually is
moved to Sunny Days Nursing Home by her sister Lillian. The
fourteen year struggles of Lucy, Helen, and their loved ones are
elegantly told, preserving their dignity and reminding us that
sometimes a sense of humour can be our greatest possession during
life's trials. Through the deceptively simple medium of the daily
comic strip, Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers address the profound
effects of Alzheimer's disease in a thoughtful and occasionally
humorous way. Roses in December includes a resource guide for
caregivers, patients, and practitioners.
The Toledo Mud Hens - a farm team for the Detroit Tigers - once had
a budding pitcher named Ed Crankshaft. At least that’s how
partners in cartooning, writer Tom Batiuk and artist Chuck Ayers,
scripted the main character in Crankshaft. This enjoyable volume
collects all of Crankshaft’s baseball-themed exploits. Fans will
enjoy revisiting Crankshaft’s reminisces about his minor league
pitching career and his comic attempts to recapture his youthful
successes on the diamond. Strike Four! portrays Crankshaft’s
greatest triumph when, on a sultry summer night in 1940, the Tigers
came to town for an exhibition game against the Mud Hens. Pitching
for the Mud Hens, Ed faced the top of the Tigers lineup—Hank
Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, and Rudy York—and struck out all
three. The next year, the Tigers called Ed up to the major leagues,
but unfortunately, so did Uncle Sam. After his service, Crankshaft
returned home, but not to play baseball. He married and had two
daughters. His grandson Max was his last chance to reprise his
baseball career, but it was not meant to be. Strike Four! The
Crankshaft Baseball Book allows Batiuk and Ayers to explore a
man’s life and humorously and touchingly to examine how only
barely touching the brass ring shaped it—and left him a little
cranky.
In this sixth volume, we see the changes in tone that now
characterize Funky Winkerbean. The story arcs increasingly
intertwine to mark the shift from the simple sitcom mode to a more
complex narrative with subplots. At this point in its evolution,
Funky Winkerbean is resonating with readers and its popularity is
growing. Ed Crankshaft, the irascible and curmudgeonly school bus
driver, has become a fan favorite-so much so that cartoonist Tom
Batiuk spins off Crankshaft into his own comic strip. Westview High
School band director Harry L. Dinkle, the World's Greatest Band
Director, takes the band to New York City for a gig at Carnegie
Hall, and drum majorette Holly Budd performs her acclaimed flaming
baton trick with catastrophic results for the hallowed hall. New
characters continue to appear. Cindy Summers, the most popular girl
in school, and Bodean, Westview High's resident hood, join the cast
as the polar opposites of the high school continuum. Big hair was
beginning to come in, and Cindy's hair was the biggest of the big.
Crossovers between Funky and John Darling continue, and with the
introduction of Crankshaft, new crossover opportunities emerge.
Change is becoming a palpable part of Funky, and some big changes
unfold in this volume.
He blusters and grumbles. He rants and raves. He tries to outgun
the school kids chasing after the bus on his route. But in his
heart, Ed Crankshaft has a decent streak a mile wide. Patiently
explaining death to his grandson Max. Comforting his friend Ralph
as Ralph's wife descends into Alzheimer's. Thrusting flowers and
candy at his son-in-law on a nearly forgotten wedding anniversary.
The star of the hit comic strip "Crankshaft" is a gentle soul stuck
in a cantankerous mood. With a supporting cast that includes Ed's
two daughters, Chris and Pam; Pam's husband, Jeff; and their kids,
Max and Mindy, "Crankshaft" appeals to families everywhere who
steadfastly deal with intergenerational cares and conflicts. As one
critic said: ""Crankshaft" is a witty, thoughtful commentary on the
trials and tribulations of today's senior citizens." But, of
course, "Crankshaft" is so much more. The strip's approach to
Alzheimer's generated countless letters and e-mails, as did
Crankshaft's near-death illness. Hilarious and clever, honest and
moving, "Crankshaft" both keeps readers laughing at the
curmudgeon's pranks and pondering life's real meaning in this
collection, "Your Favorite...Crab Cakes!" It's a balancing act
that's rarely attempted in the comics--and with "Crankshaft," it
works admirably.
"Crankshaft has touched on a raft of senior concerns with humor and
often poignancy, including illness, mortality, making out a will,
literacy, physical deterioration, vulnerability, security, and,
recently, muggings and Alzheimer's disease." -The Telegraph, Alton,
Illinois Cranky Ed Crankshaft is at it again, gunning his school
bus so he can outdistance the little Johnson girl, backing over the
Keestermans' mailbox, and holding up a record-breaking line of
cars. It's just another day for the sixty-something curmudgeon
who's earned a soft spot in the hearts of millions of readers.
Originally spun off from the popular Funky Winkerbean strip,
Crankshaft is an enormously popular character in his own right.
Writer Tom Batiuk and artist Chuck Ayers combine their talent and
insights into a strip that deals with aging in a heartfelt and
funny way. "After sixty, it's just patch, patch, patch," says
Crankshaft as he waits at the doctor's office. In this Crankshaft
book, I've Still Got It!, readers can follow their beloved
grandfather figure as he struggles with new challenges, from a
friend with Alzheimer's disease to another friend who's been
mugged. Along the way, Crankshaft continues his quest to finally
read all the Popular Mechanics magazines daughter Pam has given him
over the years. Although readers love Crankshaft because the strip
makes them laugh, they also cherish the panel's honesty about
issues faced by people of all ages, from literacy to illness to
crime. They also appreciate the real feelings that linger just
below the surface between Crankshaft and his housemates-daughter
Pam, son-in-law Jeff, and their kids Max and Mindy, his stray cat,
Pickles, and his girlfriend, Grace.
Balancing humor with sensitivity to tell stories we need to hear
.Funky Winkerbean, a newspaper staple since 1972, is one of the few
comic strips that allows its characters to grow and age. With this
ninth volume of the collected Funky Winkerbean, containing strips
from 1996-1998, time continues to pass and events take place that
will forever alter the lives of the core characters, even as new
characters take the stage with stories to tell. Tom Batiuk's
narrative humor style now grows to encompass such diverse events as
retirement, weddings, the treatment of immigrants, dating abuse,
and post office bombings. Some of the stories can be told over a
cup of coffee, while others require a full-on Roman feast. As the
stories become more universal, the humor in Funky continues to
become an integral part of the ongoing narrative.
Tom Batiuk was a junior high school art teacher in Elyria, Ohio,
when he created a comic panel aimed at teens for the Elyria
Chronicle-Telegram. That panel was the precursor to what became
Batiuk's award-winning comic strip Funky Winkerbean. Since its
debut on March 27, 1972, Funky Winkerbean has chronicled the lives
of a group of students from the fictitious Westview High School.
This volume, which presents the strip's first three years,
introduces the strip's title character, Funky, and his friends
Crazy Harry Klinghorn, Bull Bushka, Livinia Swenson, Les Moore,
Holly Budd, and Roland Mathews. Principal Burch, counselor Fred
Fairgood, and band director Harry L. Dinkle also make their first
appearances. Funky fans will relive Les's misadventures in gym
class and his unintentional attendance at the homecoming dance as
he remains stuck on a climbing rope high above the gymnasium floor.
They will remember Crazy Harry's ability to play pizzas like
records and his air guitar virtuosity, and majorette Holly who
never removed her uniform. They will recall the school's winless
football team, and Harry Dinkle's attempts to win the Battle of the
Bands despite the contest always coinciding with a natural
disaster. Volume 1 contains a charming autobiographical
introduction by Tom Batiuk that shares his early attempts at
cartooning, discusses his teaching career, and explains the genesis
of Funky. Subsequent volumes will each contain three years of Funky
comic strips and will be published annually. Batiuk has been
recognized for his humorous and entertaining portrayals of the
students and staff at Westview and acclaimed for his sensitive
treatment of social and educational issues.
The characters of the Funky cartoon universe deal with the
challenges of middle age This latest installment of The Complete
Funky Winkerbean presents the comic strips from 2008, 2009, and
2010 and ushers the original Funky characters into middle age. In
true Funky fashion, the characters have to grapple with very
serious issues: nearly fatal car crashes, a war abroad, and a
tanking economy at home. These years also mark the first appearance
of Cayla, and her arrival on the scene is where cartoonist Tom
Batiuk's new time-jump era begins to coalesce and take on its
unique identity.
Follow award-winning cartoonist Tom Batiuk as he chronicles Funky's
evolution from gags to situational humor to behavioral humor In
this eighth volume, Funky Winkerbean continues to move forward in
real time, tackling issues of relevance and substance with
characters whose lives are increasingly fateful and destined. Funky
has placed Batiuk at the forefront of a new genre in comic art
history as the strip pursues stories ahead of their time: guns in
schools and teen suicide. The humor in Funky continues to grow as
it evolves from sitcom gags to a deeper and more engaging
behavioral style of humor.
Funky, Les, and the gang pun their way through Westview High Since
its debut on March 27, 1972, Funky Winkerbean has chronicled the
lives of a group of students from the fictitious Westview High
School. This second volume, which presents strips from 1975, 1976,
and 1977, sees the comic strip rounding into the form that will
carry it into its middle years. With gentle humor and not-so-gentle
puns, Les, Funky, Crazy Harry, and the gang comment on life's
little absurdities. Funky begins to ponder why there are cloakrooms
in elementary schools when no one wears cloaks. Crazy Harry, firmly
ensconced in his locker-as-living-quarters, moves out because his
row of lockers has gone condo. Les Moore blossoms as a character
and replaces Funky as the leader of the school's out crowd when he
is seen alone on his bicycle at the local drive-in movie. The
computer at Westview High becomes sentient and subjects the
students to its obsession with Star Trek, including holding Star
Trek conventions at the school. Westview's principal and teachers
cope with it all with irony or Zen-like detachment. In Volume 1, we
met Harry L. Dinkle, the band director at West-view High. The
self-proclaimed "World's Greatest Band Director," Dinkle is based
on a retired band director from Avon Lake, Ohio, who was also the
band director at the junior high school that Tom Batiuk attended.
Band camps, the Fall Battle of the Bands, and the annual torrential
downpours become fixtures in the strip. Other familiar themes are
the turkeys and fruitcakes that show up through the years as band
fund-raisers. The Westview Scapegoats go national and march off to
the 1976 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Harry L. Dinkle marches
into real life, lending his name to a line of Dinkles band shoes,
actual band candy, and the "Harry L. Dinkle March" composed by Andy
Clark. He even shows up on scoreboards at college football games.
Volume 2 includes an introduction in which Tom Batiuk shares the
creative and evolutionary processes in his development of these
characters. Subsequent volumes will each contain three years of
Funky strips and will be published annually. Batiuk has been
recognized for his humorous and entertaining portrayals of the
students and staff at Westview and acclaimed for his sensitive
treatment of social and educational issues.
Long-running character Funky Winkerbean reminds us that we all have
to grow upRelationships move to the front of the stage in this
eleventh volume of The Complete Funky Winkerbean as the
lighthearted dalliances of the past segue to the more mature
partnerships of the adult world. Marriages are tested as Funky and
Cindy's relationship begins to break apart, and Becky and Wally are
separated by the war in Afghanistan. At the same time, Lisa and Les
begin a family and go house hunting, while Crazy Harry meets an
unlikely soulmate from his high school video gaming days. In Tom
Batiuk's introduction to this volume, the curtain is pulled back on
the art of Funky to show what was happening behind the scenes
artistically as the work over these years was being created.
Funky reminds us of the real challenges of being human Funky
Winkerbean, a newspaper staple since 1972, is one of the few comic
strips that allows its characters to grow and age. As time passes
and characters evolve, new and loyal readers alike are reminded
that not only does Funky have a future, but the strip has a rich
past. What remains a constant is Batiuk's signature
narrative-driven humor. This tenth volume, spanning from 1999
through 2001, embraces the strip's past while casting an eye to a
bright future.
Prelude is a collection of the early comic strips that bring Lisa
and Les together. Introduced to readers of Funky Winkerbean in late
1984 as she experiences SAT test anxiety, Lisa becomes Les Moore's
best friend and a pivotal character. Les and Lisa go to the prom,
begin steady dating, and then break up. Over the summer, Les
realizes how much he misses Lisa. When he gathers his courage and
goes to her house, he is stunned to discover Lisa is pregnant with
a child fathered by a jock from Walnut Tech. Lisa asks Les to be
her coach in childbirth classes, and their friendship explodes from
there. Prelude takes fans from the early days of their deep
friendship through the birth of Lisa's baby and the baby's
adoption.
Prelude is a collection of the early comic strips that bring Lisa
and Les together. Introduced to readers of Funky Winkerbean in late
1984 as she experiences SAT test anxiety, Lisa becomes Les Moore's
best friend and a pivotal character. Les and Lisa go to the prom,
begin steady dating, and then break up. Over the summer, Les
realizes how much he misses Lisa. When he gathers his courage and
goes to her house, he is stunned to discover Lisa is pregnant with
a child fathered by a jock from Walnut Tech. Lisa asks Les to be
her coach in childbirth classes, and their friendship explodes from
there. Prelude takes fans from the early days of their deep
friendship through the birth of Lisa's baby and the baby's
adoption. To be published simultaneously with Prelude, The Last
Leaf is the sequel after Lisa's death from breast cancer in Lisa's
Story: The Other Shoe. The Last Leaf recounts how Les and family
cope with Lisa's death and continue their lives. Creator Tom Batiuk
brings Lisa back in Les's imagination, and she helps him work out
difficulties and decisions in his life and in the life of their
daughter Summer. Fans will recognize Batiuk's gentle mix of humor
and more serious real- life themes that heighten the reader's
interest.
It was the best of times, it was the OK of times In this fourth
volume, award-winning cartoonist Tom Batiuk continues to chronicle
the lives of the students and teachers at the fictitious Westview
High School. By the 1980s Batiuk's talent for character- and
story-driven work comes into its own. Harry L. Dinkle, the World's
Greatest Band Director and Funky's first breakout character, is
still marching along happily. He makes the first of two visits to
the Tournament of Roses Parade, and his ego grows even larger.
Harry proves a good match for the sitcom style of writing into
which Batiuk's work on Funky is developing, and Crazy Harry thrives
as the repository for the more outre ideas and situations. Whether
it is living in his locker and playing frozen pizzas on his stereo,
battling the Eliminator at Space Invaders, announcing that he is an
air guitar player, or inviting Carl Sagan and ET to the Star Trek
Convention that he and the school computer would host, Crazy
becomes Funky Winkerbean's natural-born outlier. Meanwhile, Les
Moore continues his angst-filled journey as the leader of the
school's out crowd. He's still at his machine-gun-fortified hall
monitor's post, trying to avoid getting beaten up by Bull Bushka,
and generally dealing with school life as best he can. The
strip-within-a-strip about John Darling and his
bottom-of-the-ratings-barrel TV station, Channel One, which had
spun off into its own strip called Darling, remains popular. And
Batiuk introduces readers to a new character - the school mascot, a
vest-wearing scapegoat that can speak its thoughts directly to the
reader. In the 1980s we begin to see hints of the change in tone
that will come to characterize Funky Winkerbean's later years.
Starting with the coach's heart attack and his reflections on life
and relationships, then shifting to teacher Ann Randall and her job
loss, these story arcs intertwine with others to mark the shift
from a simpler sitcom mode to a more complex narrative with
subplots. Fans will enjoy each variety of comedy in Funky's subtle
evolution from gags to situational humor to behavioral humor.
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