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Cleveland R&B vocalist to make Akron debut
Actor Bernsen enjoying ride of derby movie project
End of an era: Oprah ending show after 25 years
Ohio native takes second place on 'Project Runway'
'New Moon' casts spell on fans
'The Blind Side' scores as feel-good crowd-pleaser
'Planet 51' is sci-fi animation lite
Barrymore's 1945 film co-stars Garson, Peck
Most Read Stories
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Poor machine maintenance blamed for fire at Akron business
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Indians add 7 players to 40-man roster
Body with gunshot wounds found in Canton Township creek
Blogs:
Pets:
Sick Pets Get High-tech Health Care
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
The proposed new LeBron mural doesn't do it for me
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Hey, somebody's gotta stick up for the Browns
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
All Da King's Men:
Attention Haters, Palin And Hannity Together
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Muslim McCarthyism & Death Prayers
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Norma asks if Barkitecture is still at Stan Hywet.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
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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