Tom Batiuk
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Tom Batiuk (born 1947 in Akron, Ohio) is an American comic strip creator. His best-known comic strip is Funky Winkerbean.
Batiuk attended Kent State University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting. He went on to teach art in junior high school. He put his experiences to use in his gag-a-day Funky Winkerbean, which first appeared in print in 1972. With the success of the strip, he abandoned his teaching career, occasionally returning to the classroom to refresh his sources. He authored two spinoff strips, John Darling, which ran from 1979 through 1990, and Crankshaft, which began syndication in 1987. These strips sometimes experience crossovers.
Over the years, Batiuk's strips have taken on an increasing narrative continuity. Starting in 1986, Funky, and to a lesser extent Crankshaft, sometimes abandoned humor to explore serious, even tragic subject matter.
His stories often involve strong drama elements combined with generally rosy outcomes. They also show a strong belief in God, as well as sympathies for the American military. On the other hand, "Funky Winkerbean" dealt very critically with Intelligent Design, [1] [2] and two students in the strip even did a pro-evolution take-off on Johnny Hart's BC. [3]
[edit] References
- Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.
- ^ Funky Winkerbean takes on ID, Richard B. Hoppe, 2004
- ^ Science and Religion in Funky Winkerbean 2004
- ^ Funky Winkerbean | Seattle Post-Intelligencer
