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Patrick McManamon:
Saturday entertainment, one more time …
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No. 1 UA hopes to be perfect on Senior Night
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Tribe makes roster moves
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Lewis doesn't like boycott
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Kent State falls to Akron, 20-28
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Knicks
Buckeye Blogging:
Weekly ‘B’ Deck Report – New Mexico St.
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Wrestling, bowling teams prepare for season
All Da King's Men:
Bigger And Better Boondoggles
Blog of Mass Destruction:
The Shooter
Akron Law Café:
NEW U.S. Supreme Court Database
See Jane Style:
Muffle Your Muffler
Car Chase:
Perfect Weather for an Autumn Drive
Let's Talk Real Estate:
RUMORS: Downtown Restaurant Explosion
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Jack is looking for a trip to Southern Ohio the week of November 16.
Sound Check:
The Black Keys to perform benefit concert at Musica on November 27
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – Why People Do Not Live in Northeast Ohio
Akron Gamer:
New 'Call of Duty' could set entertainment record
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
Published on Wednesday, Oct 08, 2008
Batiuk's Back. Cartoonist Tom Batiuk, the man behind Funky Winkerbean, will speak at the main Akron-Summit County Public Library main auditorium at 7 tonight. Admission is free.
The event helps mark National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Funky readers will recall that the character Lisa Moore died in the strip a year ago. Lisa's Story: The Other Shoe, a book collection of the cancer chronicle, will be available for purchase and signing by Batiuk.
While some comic-strip readers were unhappy with Lisa's dying — since they believed the ''funny papers'' should stay funny — Medina resident Batiuk said that the reaction overall was ''incredibly positive.'' He received more than 4,000 e-mails about the story.
Readers also accepted a leap ahead in time that Funky made after Lisa's death, bringing many of the characters into adulthood — and closer to Batiuk's own perspective.
Well, accepted most of it. With a laugh, Batiuk said there had been complaints that Funky is now ''a little too fat.''
But he has found the change invigorating. ''I've put my nose closer to the grindstone again,'' he said. He hinted at still more surprises in coming strips, including — he deliberately vaguely said — the return of a character people keep asking about.
And the stimulation helped him through a personal crisis.
•
A Shocking Accident. In March, Batiuk was driving back from a tennis game when another car hit his head-on. He ended up with broken ribs and whiplash to his neck and shoulders.
''I was flat on my back for two months,'' he said. He had to postpone a series of public appearances tied to the Lisa's Story book. But he didn't stop working.
''I kept writing right through the whole thing,'' he said, so the strip would not fall behind schedule. ''The toughest part was typing (the stories) out on my laptop.'' Since he wasn't up to drawing, Chuck Ayers, who does the Crankshaft strip with Batiuk, pitched in.
Now, Batiuk said, he is almost entirely back on his game, and sounding optimistic. But given the way his life has inspired his comic strips, will there be an auto-accident story in Funky sometime soon? ''Given the way I write, that's possible,'' he said. ''But nothing right now.''
But he laughed briefly at the idea. If it does happen, he said, ''I've got some great reference photos!''
•
More Newman. The tributes to Northeast Ohio's Paul Newman continue. AMC will air The Sting at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Monday, with ''limited breaks.'' Get the DVD and avoid any breaks.
My Sunday column about Newman movies worth re-seeing on DVD (which you can still find online at Ohio.com) inspired one reader to suggest an addition to the list.
Mark Schweitzer of Akron is a fan of The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, the 1972 movie directed by John Huston. ''Newman is hilarious,'' he wrote. ''And though it has its flaws, it's a very original and unique Western.''
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://www.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Batiuk's Back. Cartoonist Tom Batiuk, the man behind Funky Winkerbean, will speak at the main Akron-Summit County Public Library main auditorium at 7 tonight. Admission is free.
Get the full article here.
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