Previous >>151655831This time will cover 1999.Last time, there was lots of change surrouding the graduation of Wally's class. Sadie took Susan to get a makeover which got her the attention of Matt Miller, the new star QB. But Matt turned out to be controlling and physically abusive and Les, Lisa and Funky had to step in to stop him from hitting her after she finally broke up with him. Wally and Becky's relationship had gotten more serious. But trying to drink and drive after Matt's graduation party caused them to crash and though they both lived they were also irreversibly changed. Becky lost her left arm and with it her music career but seemed to keep in good spirits, including getting a job at Montoni's. Wally, however, was so racked with guilt that he couldn't bear to face Becky and deciding he needed a fresh start, enlisted in the Army and left Westview.Meanwhile, Funky and Cindy got married in the summer but challenges were already beginning to show themselves as Cindy's job was keeping her away more than Funky would like. A new class also started at Westview which included the returning Matt as well as second generation students such as Jessica Darling and Darin Fairgood, the adopted son of Fred and Ann Fairgood and biological son of Lisa.
I have no idea why Chien is dressed like Morpheus and Ally is dressed like a Victorian street urchin.
That's right, we're starting the year with the gift that everybody wants...
...cancer!
>>151671815>>151671841didn't think it would happen so soon
>fifth stripThat will start a trend that will become more and more prominent as things go. When faced with problems and other bad things, a lot of times characters will just throw their hands up and take a defeatist attitude. This will get especially bad in the time before the second timeskip.
The grinning bimbo Holly is gone. Also, they're talking as if Lisa wasn't a social outcast loser but again, part of the retconning related to Her Holiness.
Once again, another nice gesture from Bull that Les will conveniently forget.
The start of the whole John and Becky thing that nobody ever wanted and will lead to some of the shittiest stories in the comic.
This will go ito a vegetative state for a few years before coming back with a vegeance.
>>151671767good old crazy
>>151671815hot>>151671841not so hot
I think this is the first time we see Harriette in what's basically her finalized design.
>>151671927holly just looks like, uh, cindy?
I think this might be the last time we see Superintendent Shoentell but I'm not sure. Also, as I said before Batiuk will really like doing these cutesy allusions to Darin being Lisa's kid without them knowing.
>>151672018that's not very funky of you, funky.
>>151672065I'm still miffed we didn't get to see becky and wally breaking up or the aftermath of their accident. I actually cared about those two unlike lisa.
>>151672250Yeah, trying to tell the Batiuk Blondes apart will get to be a chore.
>>151672311That's the thing, they're not necessarily broken up as much as they are on break.Becky basically goes running back to Wally without a second thought too.
>>151672249>dinle finally appears>even he is depressedthese truly are dark times...
First appearance of science teacher Jim Kablichnick who will stick around until the end of the series. Initially I found him kind of amusing as a high strung schizo but eventually he's mostly going to be used as a mouthpiece for Batiuk to rant about anti-science stuff, especially opposition to dealing with climate change.
Darin gets a job at Montoni's which he'll have off and on up into the first few years of Act III.Also I kind of wonder if Batiuk had issues with his mother. There's this, a much later strip implying Les had problems with his mother, John's mother is a useless drunken leech, Funky's mother never comes up despite his dad eventually being a major Act III character (I guess the implication is that she died during the timeskip?). It's just weird and occurs way too many times for it to just be lazy writing IMO.
The debut of Rachel who will mostly be a minor supporting character until Act III when she gets a lot more important.
The first time, I believe, that it's been said that Nate was in Vietnam. This will come up a few more times.
The tulpa returns
This is another one of those stories where you'd see the same events play out from a different POV whether you were reading Funky or Crankshaft.
>>151671940Awwwww...Bro I'm gonna hate the ending...
>>151672969This is merely the precursor cancer story. The big one isn't for another few years.
The one bit of story relevance that Ally will actually have.Also, Mopey, you're supposed to imagine girls in sexy schoolgirl uniforms not goofy ones. Especially the goths. What kind of a nerd are you?
These Sophmoric Sightings comics will be an Act II fixture and basically exist as an excuse to do Act I style gags that otherwise can't be done anymore.
>>151671750>I have no idea why a goth is dressed like a gothWut?
>>151673123Dream would have been more appropriate than Morpheus though.
>>151673136I meant Death of course.
The start of the arsonist story.
>>151672065>Nerd gets the girlHey that's ni-wait whaddya mean "shittiest stories in the comic?"
When I said Act I style gags I meant... THE FUCKING STAR WARS PUNS..
I wonder if there are a lot of people today who'd actually get this reference?
>>151673171You'll just have to find out.
>>151672163That 4th strip is the equivalent of Loss>April Fools! You're NOT fine!
The Scapegoats have actually won a championship! For real this time! And of course it comes with a side of Les glazing and boy oh boy will Les getting unduly rewarded for things others did get worse.
Yep, it turns out it was Mooch the whole time. Now you'd think being arrested for arson for trying to burn down the school for attention is the kind of thing that would get you expelled from said school but at least in Westview you'd be wrong and in the new year he'll be back in school and it'll almost be like nothing happened.
>>151672485>How is USA doing with chemo?Not so well, I'm afraid.
Rachel becomes seemingly permanently attached to Montoni's now.Also, it's Grant Gaiman.
>>151673167>BRAAAPkek
She was almost John Darling'd.Anyway, that does it for this time. Next time will cover the year 2000. Chien's article in the school paper causes controversy and Lisa decides to get some reconstructive surgery. But the new millennium isn't kind to Funky as his marriage begins to fall apart while Cindy's career takes off.That's right, it's time for one of the most infamous story arcs as Funky Winkerbean becomes Drunky Drinkerbean.
>>151672622His mom got rid of his comics and he has been against her ever since. He could have been super rich if only she let him keep those
>>151673598Honestly it would be funny to imagine that the budget was so bad Westview High School that they had to rely on a novelty fart alarm as their school alarm for a while
>>151673341God Les is so smug and punchable At least he can't get worse
>>151673533And he talks like Alan Moore. Pretty funny.
>>151673572>This is "Sabrina the Teenage Witch">it ought to be lighter, don't you think?If only John knew...
>>151673422But wait the fire was already going when he was in class I don't understand? did time mop do this?
>>151673775He was setting the fires and Les kicking him out of class gave him the chance to play hero and get attention that way so he took it.
>>151673818But how did he set it while in class
>>151673533>>151673572I kinda wonder how this came about. It definitely feels like a pointed jab at a British Comic Writer but it feels a bit too generalized to be a specific target. Like you can sort of see Gaiman and Morrison in him but this guy is also artist/coloristThis is 1999 so I know Morrison was writing JLA at the time but I can't remember what Gaiman was doing. For all I know it could also be someone else getting parodied
>>151673850He likely set it beforehand on the way to class or something. So it was going to cause an alarm on its own eventually and potentially be a lot worse.
>>151673850I think the idea is that he started it (he set the fire behind the locker) and then it grew while he was in classBut yeah I'll believe time traveler Janny Norm Scully did it to ensure Mooch gets in trouble to get him on the correct path
>>151673962>It definitely feels like a pointed jab at a British Comic Writer but it feels a bit too generalized to be a specific target.I think it is intended to be an amalgamation and that itself is the joke, like>what if all British Invasion creators were a single person
>>151674045Oh I know but like, usually these things come up because of something he read about (Li and Lin's backstory came up because he was reading an article at a restaurant) or something that happened to himself (Funky's crash in 2010)It made me wonder what prompted this, like was it him reacting to the popularity/arrogance of the British writers or if he or someone he knew had a not-so-great or humorous experience with one of them. Or maybe he just listened to John Byrne seething about Alan Moore and Garth Ennis writing Etrigan "wrong" or something
>>151674208I would imagine that Batiuk isn't, or wasn't, a fan of those guys. What they did with comics, especially Silver Age comics, basically seems antithetical to what he enjoys.
>>151674208Batiuk's obviously a big comics fan, he'd be aware of Gaiman, Moore, Morrison, Millar and Ennis and I think it's just a light-hearted jab at the foibles of the then current crop of British comic creators. I'm a bong and it doesn't come across as particularly seething to me. It's just banter.
>>151674427>>151674486I agree, I think he would definitely be aware of a lot of the stuff going on at the time. One thing that I had forgotten until googling was that around the 2010s there's a jab at Superman: GroundedAnd yeah, I wondered because I know he was really big on the DC stuff back in the Silver Age. I agree that this really isn't that savage a take especially since the Grounded one is him taking a jab at how JMS just straight-up bailed on the book.
>>151672994>my actual birthday strip is a boring flashback booo I wanted a dinkle.
>>151674888To be fair, everyone should take jabs at grounded at JMS over the way he handled that.
>>151672163Lmao, that’s some april fools joke
>>151676016The doctors will play an even funnier one on her when her cancer returns.
>>151672738>>151672754This would've been very hip and relevant a year earlier
>>151675468Oh I know but I mean that, if Batiuk was taking a shot at a specific thing, you'd usually know it in his comic
Wally’s story is basically saying >You should never EVER drink underage. Even having a beer or two will lead to someone getting hurt or killed, and ruining your life>But joining the military and going off to be a soldier in a foreign war at the age of 18 is really good actually! It’s a great way to clean up your life and nothing can go wrong there!
>>151676433Yeah but his life gets WAY more fucked up from here on out. I could believe that would the message to take away if you just stopped here and pretended everything else that happened, never happened
>>151672468He could have just used Twitch for this.
>>151676433>joining the military and going off to be a soldier in a foreign war at the age of 18 is really good actually! It’s a great way to clean up your life and nothing can go wrong there!I don't think that's what Batiuk was trying to say at all. Wally's clearly feeling pretty despondent and not in his right mind when he joins up, he's just using it as a way to run away and not have to face Becky and the community who he thinks are going to blame and judge him forever as much as he blames himself. It's not depicted as a positive thing.
>>151676433It's not portrayed as a good thing thougheverbeit
>>151673167>You might want to just try opening the door!Why the hell would it be unlocked? This is a high school.
>>151673454Firing the hot chick that actually gets people to come into the shop while keeping the mopey nerd that does the bookkeeping? For an alleged comics nerd, John really doesn't understand the business at all.
>>151677603To be fair though, there have been stories of comics retailers who really don't understand they're in a business and as we've seen so far John kept making mistake after mistake
>>151677813In fact, most really don't.
>>151677834Yeah so John is basically keeping in that tradition
Bumpy Winkerbean
>>151677847I'd also assume that being a cheapskate, the pay may have been shit. Pete, a geeky high school freshman, might be fine with getting shit pay for a summer job but I imagine that Rachel, a hot and confident college student, will be less cool with it. So anything higher than the bare minimum wage would be too high for John.Also I find it kind of weird he's putting moves on a barely legal girl that just graduated high school. I think John's intended to be only slightly younger than Funky and the others. Like mid-20s compared to their late 20s.
>>151678335I think in the redesign sketches the notes indicate John is supposed to be eight years younger than Funky's class and five years older than Wally's class. But then he's also ten years older than Darin's class so this is probably some vague time thing.
>>151678436Yeah, I take those ages as more a general range kind of thing. Not like it matters given all the timeline retcons.
>>151673100>you're supposed to imagine girls in sexy schoolgirl uniforms not goofy ones. What kind of a nerd are you?a sophisticated, patrician nerd. >>151673213yeah no clue.
>>151673572>Bottom stripI see wide shots like this in the strips and wonder why they don't do whole graphic novels.
>>151671718Bump
>>151671927wait a minute, how old are these characters supposed to be now?because if they're still early-mid 20s that's pretty young for them to get cancer
>>151671927>doesn't look like Holly>doesn't talk like Holly>doesn't act like HollyThat is not my Holly!
>>151671927All the adult women characters suffer from not only sameface, but also they all have the exact same personality. Why even have it be Holly that shows up here if she looks and acts nothing like her?
>>151680539I had a college friend who developed cancer in her 20s, and a high school friend who did around the same time. Cancer can happen any time.
>>151681001sameface blondes must be Batiuk's fetish. he really never should have gotten rid of Livinia; she was the og Batiuk blonde. but we're a long way from the days of Wicked Wanda
>>151672249Is this the first time Funky and Dinkle have ever interacted?
>>151680539my best friend died of brain cancer at 12.
>>151678436Unless he took over the shop from somebody else, that means John not has been running a business mostly singlehandedly but even started it himself right after graduation. Because it's definitely been there a few years even after moving upstairs.Plus making John a couple years out of high school makes Funky seem like a dick for pouring those pitchers of drinks on him. Seems like a clumsy way to retcon him dating a Becky that was just over half his age.>>151681094Livinia was a redhead though. At least she was in the one color Sunday strip I've seen.
>>151672769>Pete draws women like Oda
>>151681680>Unless he took over the shop from somebody else, that means John not has been running a business mostly singlehandedly but even started it himself right after graduation. Because it's definitely been there a few years even after moving upstairs.I can believe it.Bob Beerbohm started selling comics via mail order when he was 14 and was 15 when he first started selling at comics conventions. Mind you, this was during the 1960s.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_BeerbohmRobert Bell opened up a used book store at age 18 that also sold comics, and shifted to being a comic store/mail-order store. His ads used to be in a lot of Marvel comics during the 70s and 80s.https://dangearino.com/2017/09/16/682/And since the store had to be around at least 1994, it could be that John got in expecting the 90s gravy train would either last, or recover bigger than ever, or he got the store from someone who freaked out about the impending crash. Either way he weathered the post-crash 90s storm that took out a lot of shops so he probably knew enough to keep things afloat but not enough to grow the business.>Plus making John a couple years out of high school makes Funky seem like a dick for pouring those pitchers of drinks on him. I kind of agree but at the same time John's basically Comic Book Guy from Simpsons at this point. But yeah it's a clumsy way to retcon him being only five years older than Becky. On the other hand the timeline's pretty screwy to begin with and will get moreso that story where Crazy goes back in time to his high school days and sees Amazing Fantasy #15 on a comics rack? He accidentally leaves it behind and kid John finds itI wonder if Batiuk's operating on like Peanuts rule where Schroeder and Lucy were babies when first introduced in Peanuts but they get quietly retconned to be closer to Charlie Brown's age
>>151680539Lateish 20s. Funky has his 30th birthday in 2002 to coincide with the strip turning 30.
Bump
IN THE YEAR 2000
Again, you'd think trying to set the school on fire would be grounds for explusion but nah, just come back.Boys will be boys and what boy hasn't tried burning down their school?
>>151684030>IN THE YEAR 2000what is this, science fiction?
Carlo can be thrown into the pile of quickly failed characters along with Cliff, Jerome, the Jade Dragon couple and some others. He's going to keep hanging around as scene filler but never actually be important. Also might be the least funny character in the entire strip because his gimmick is a joke that was never all that funny to begin with.
He's here! He's cast a long shadow over the series and been alluded to multiple times but we now, finally, have the first appearance of Frankie Pierce. Lisa's ex-boyfriend/rapist, Darin's bio-dad, and number one arch-villain of the Funkyverse beating out even Roberta Blackburn and Plantman.
And as quickly as he appears, Frankie disappears back into the night like an asshole ninja. But consider this a mere taste of things to come because the Funky twerps have't seen the last of him.
I wonder if the other woman's supposed to be Minnie? It's never said but I guess it would make sense for it to be. But it could just be some random.
>>151684030Darin, you fool! Second issues are rarer than the first!
Drink up, Funky.
>>151684556
As I've said, if you're a young woman in Westview you WILL work at Montoni's eventually. Theres is no fighting it, it's your fate.
Vendos!
>>151684030>painting housesLike, The Irishman style?
>>151684451Poster on the right in panel 4 is using the Heroes Return-era Iron Man logo, makes me wonder if it's an existing poster or just a nod to the Heroes Return Iron Man era by Busiek and ChenJohn is reading an issue of Thunderbolts, possibly issue #20:https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Thunderbolts_Vol_1_20
>>151684212It feels like 2-17 and 2-18 were published in the wrong order, both with Tony's wild mood swings and the continuity with him eating the pizza.
It wouldn't be the first time. I guess when they're kind of filler strips oversight slackens.
Meant that in response to >>151684868Also, I don't think tae bo would teach you how to fight since it's an exercise thing. Even if it did, I don't think Becky and Rachel would be able to go Streets of Rage on a gang of bigger guys while also being outnumbered.
The start of the redlining story which will run for a few months and end up ultimately fizzling out and going nowhere.Also, redlining is explicitly a race thing directed against minorities. Considering the neighborhood looks to be dangerous and white trash, not black or hispanic or something, I don't think this constitutes redlining.
>>151684752Tony Isabella guest-appearanceAlso I don't think that issue of Batman exists. At this time the DCAU Batman comic was Batman: Gotham Adventures with Batman in the Year 1-inspired design from New Batman Adventures. Probably just a nod to the old Animated Series and/or Batman Adventures. I also don't think that issue of Spider-Girl exists either; I tried looking at the covers and couldn't find one that matched the specific elements shown
>>151685000>I'm not in the mood for sex, Funky>Just wank off over meInteresting Sunday comic material.
The start of the big Chien story and the most amount of attention she'll get in the strip.>>151684986Speaking of Spider-Girl, just given his influences I wouldn't at all be surprised if Batiuk took the idea of using second person narration here from it.
>>151685263>Jocks actually reading or caring about the school paperMost unbelievable part of this story so far.
>"You're locked up in here with me," she said.Actually, I wonder if that's intentional because it seems like Loughridge is going for a very John Higginsish style of coloring on this strip.
>>151685120it just hit me how much I'd hate this series as a kid.
That's the last of the redlining stuff. Like I said, it just fizzles out either because Batiuk got cold feet about having his characters/in-story most important business seem discriminatory or it was really just a way to seem relevant while actually being an excuse to continue putting strain on Funky's marriage.Actually, the thing that always sits wrong with me about this whole storyline with Funky's alcoholism and marriage is that it basically goes out of its way to put all the blame or like 90% of it on him. When it seems like he threw himself into his work to deal with the fact Cindy is never around which then leads into drinking as he's spiralling into depression out of loneliness and overwork. But everyone's just like "fuck you, stop being a dick you're just jealous anyway." It's very weird.
>>151685201You know, I never thought about that but yeah it does seem like it
Didn't I tell you that Derek would be memoryholed out of this story?>Derek? Who's Derek?
Bull saves Les's ass. Do you think Les will be appreciative of it or continue whining about high shcool and act like none of this ever happened?
Prescient last strip
>hit-skipI have only ever heard hit and run. Looking it up apparently this isn't a Batiukism but an Ohio thing. Still sounds stupid, like drink driving. You're not driving while drink.
And here we have one of the single most infamous strips in the entire series. One of the go to ones people point to when talking about how miserble and depressing it became; the title character stumbling around drunk and passing out in the street.Next time will be 2001. Funky gets help for his alcoholism, an innocent prank leads to someone having a mental breakdown and Lisa decides she'd like to have another kid.
>>151684402his missing a twirly mustache
>>151686053And it came out the same year as that Simpsons episode with the Funky floatI wonder if the Simpsons writers saw this
>>151684106New reaction image
>>151684534good old dinkle
>>151684981drunky drinkerbean!
>>151686053I can see why publishing this on New Year's Eve could be considered particularly depressing. But it could also be argued it's pretty fucking ballsy. The holidays aren't a celebration for everyone and for some people are the most miserable time of year when everyone else seems to be having fun. In his own way I think Batiuk was encouraging readers to remember that and for anyone with experience of alcoholism (either themselves or people they know) it would probably hit home. Thanks again OP.
>>151684047 Why is the door on backwards? Or is Dinkle staking his claim to everything outside of that room?
>>151686053huh. I was expecting things to be worse by then.
>>151686053We're entering the depressing era of Funky, also just in time for 2000's emo to catch on.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ7oqmikZDQ
>>151686248and a goatee
>>151688988When I was a young boyIn high school I had no real directionAnd joined a marching bandI then marched under DinkleMaimed my girl, and then I joined the ArmyShipped to Afghanistan
>>151684687So is he a junior they paid to do that or did one Senior show up and swipe for the whole class?
>>151688549It appears he wants the door open but put a warning in case anyone goes in
>>151682143Some othersBuddy Saunders of Lone Star Comics/mycomicshop.com was like 14 when he sold comics through mail-order even though he didn't open a physical location till he was like 30https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Saunders_(writer)Chuck Rozanski of Mile High Comics started out selling by mail-order at age 13 and started selling at conventions at age 14, and was 19 when he first opened a physical Mile High Comics store.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Rozanski Steve Milo who had American Comics/American Entertainment/Entertainment This Month/Another Universe (90s comics fans may remember these) started up his mail order store in his second year of college in the 80sSo yeah, I could buy John being a young retailer. It might be harder in the early 90s compared to the 60s and 70s but it could be possible.
>>151684265>Second strip>2/29/2000"The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that built during the late 1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000."Wonder if Batuik managed to get out in time with his eerily prescient timing
>>151690132Perfect.
>>151685288So I take it he's still pissed about the ponytail.
>>151685651And you said the the strip was done with redlining.
>>151691706I like to think that. Would make sense he's subconsciously retaliating harder
>>151684377More like Cynical Winkerbean.
>>151684377Was this Carrie's last appearance in the comic?
>>151692073Her last real appearance, yeah. I think she shows up in the background of one of the time travel stories if you want to count that.
>>151692017I can't help but wonder if the mockery of the strip's tone shift wouldn't have been half as intense if the comic had simply been named something other than the goofy "Funky Winkerbean". Like an alcoholic collapsing drunk in the snow on new year after his wife has left him is about as far from "funky" as you can get.
>>151684573https://youtu.be/AKqA2-lskUg?t=19
>>151684833>>151685138>>151685992Did the colorist mess up and give Lisa Rachel's hair color?
>>151693233Looks like it. Unless Lisa just keeps switching wigs.
>>151685621Les, bro, you've lived next door to three businesses for years with owners that you seem to be on good terms with. Sure, Funky is representing Montoni's but Li and Lin are right there along with John. Hell, you could even have called Coach Stropp.
>>151693313Li, Lin, John, Becky, Rachel, Tony, Linda, Sadie... plenty of people he could have called on.
>>151684402Frankie here makes me think of Young Jack Napier in Batman 1989
>>151685938Is there a list of other Batiukisms?
>>151684611So did Sadie just show up for the two strips and not again the rest of the year?
>>151694208Yeah, the most she'll get is around when Wally ships off and then it's back to irrelevance basically being third on the Montoni's waitress totem pole after Becky and Rachel until Act II ends and she stops showing up completely.
>>151685288Fairgood seems to have become more hardened or jaded compared to the guy he was when he was getting more focus in act 1. I don’t think this evolution is out of character (in fact, it’s not surprising at all a development that comes with getting older) but it is neat how it happened off screen as if his story was still going even while he wasn’t getting our attention
>>151690132I can't believe I never thought of this back then
>>151685334Chien... Her exclusion from /co/'s goth girl pantheon feels like a historic wrong that needs to be righted.
>>151671927Well atleast she didn't end up like poor Livinia
>>151685440Yeah, I get the impression that the drinking at the very least was Funky coping about how Cindy is always putting her job first and ditching him.There were also a few strips (like the one where Cindy buys that book as a gift that everyone assumes she's buying for herself) that seem to show self-awareness at least. So if that is how that happens, then I guess Batiuk changed his mind or something?
>>151686053>>151686010Gosh darn it Funky.
>>151685883>>151685901>>151685938>Wally drove drunk>Funky drives drunkIs Winkerbean drunk driving going to be a generational tradition too?
>>151671912man cancer sucks. I hope I live to see the day it get's dealt with once and for all.
