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UnrepentantSinner · 13th October 2007, 03:41 AM

Interesting op-ed in the Dallas Morning News friday from the religion editor about the death of Lisa Moore in the comic strip Funky Winkerbean. I think strip creator Tom Batiuk made the right call by not including any overt religious references during her relapse, chemo, decline and death. He made an appearance in Dallas yesterday promoting his book "Lisa's Story: The Other Show" and I would have liked to have seen it.

Here's Jeffrey Weiss' editorial.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1.451f5cc.html

UnrepentantSinner · 13th October 2007, 09:01 AM

Anyone? Should I post a link to the Funky Winkerbean website?

Fnord · 13th October 2007, 09:10 AM

Please post the link! I used to read Funky Winkerbean, but lost track when the main character became a teacher. I'd love to see how someone else handles normal events without imposing religion and/or mysticism upon them.

"She's Gone" was all that needed to be said.

Tricky · 13th October 2007, 10:16 AM

I've been reading Funky Winkerbean for years and it has been interesting to see how it has changed. He has aged the characters (usually in big jumps) and had them deal with various tragedies. One lost an arm in a car wreck where it was suggested that underage drinking was involved. And no, I've never seen any overt reference to religion.

Back in the seventies, FW was a strictly "funny" strip. Then it made the leap to serious when Les befriended Lisa who was "a girl in trouble". He helped her through her ordeal of giving up her baby for adoption and then she disappeared for many years.

The whole cancer thread has been tremendously moving, especially for those of us who have dealt with a loved one dying slowly from cancer. In many ways, it was spot on. However, FW is not the first comic strip to deal with such issues. Years ago, Doonesbury had Andy Lippincott die of AIDS. They had a similar "wind down" series of strips. Frankly, I liked the Doonesbury version better. Trudeau always put something funny in even the most serious of situations. Also, For Better Or For Worse had Elly's mother die and her father has suffered a series of debilitating strokes (and frankly, I think he is about to cash it in too.) FBOFW is also a strip that ages its characters, but it does so gradually. It is the only strip I know that mimics real life, and it also deals with real-life issues (the daughter was nearly raped) in a way that usually includes humor.

It is odd because I usually don't like the "soap opera" strips like Mary Worth, but because I grew up with the characters and because they are often funny, I feel very much like Doonesbury, FBOFW and Funky Winkerbean are actual people. So I read them every day.

Another interesting strip is 9 Chickweed Lane, but our paper stopped carrying it after they started getting very very sexual, the last straw being when they introduced a handsome, well-adjusted extremely gay character. Now I have to go to Yahoo to read it. And oh yeah, their current thread has to do with a priest and a nun falling in love and leaving the order. Very interesting, and of course, brings this post back to the thread topic.

UnrepentantSinner · 13th October 2007, 09:39 PM

Fnord, here's the link to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Last night at work they weren't up to date, but tonight at home they seem to be.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/funky.asp
The FW homepage doesn't seem to have the strip.

Tricky, I agree with almost everything you've said (just disagree on a few specific comments). Doonesbury has been great about injecting humor into even the most morbid of moments. I remember when one character (memory, bandwidth, blah blah) was dying of cancer and Trudeau made a poignent yet humorous comment about pain drugs. Luann is another of my favorites though I missed the early years where topics like Luann's first period were addressed. Crankshaft is great at addressing change of life issues like Alzheimers - no surprise coming from Batiuk.

Lisa's death hit home for me because of my dad and because I'm up to 3 packs a day it's probaby my own fate. I thought it was a salient injection of real life into a humor strip which Batiuk has been doing for decades now. And yeah, as a pet lover, when I recently read the Wikipedia entry on For Better Or For Worse and got to Farley's death while saving April I teared up a bit.

Some comic strips just don't get the respect they deserve for their commentary on the human condition.

13th October 2007, 03:41 AM	#1
UnrepentantSinner A post by Alan Smithee Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: USAian is not a word Posts: 26,446	Death in the comics - but no religion Interesting op-ed in the Dallas Morning News friday from the religion editor about the death of Lisa Moore in the comic strip Funky Winkerbean. I think strip creator Tom Batiuk made the right call by not including any overt religious references during her relapse, chemo, decline and death. He made an appearance in Dallas yesterday promoting his book "Lisa's Story: The Other Show" and I would have liked to have seen it. Here's Jeffrey Weiss' editorial. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1.451f5cc.html
	__________________ I am an American citizen who is part of American society and briefly served in the American armed forces. I use American dollars and pay taxes that support the American government. And yes, despite the editorial decison to change American politics to the nonsensical "USA politics" subforum, I follow and comment on American politics.

13th October 2007, 09:01 AM	#2
UnrepentantSinner A post by Alan Smithee Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: USAian is not a word Posts: 26,446	Anyone? Should I post a link to the Funky Winkerbean website?
	__________________ I am an American citizen who is part of American society and briefly served in the American armed forces. I use American dollars and pay taxes that support the American government. And yes, despite the editorial decison to change American politics to the nonsensical "USA politics" subforum, I follow and comment on American politics.

13th October 2007, 09:10 AM	#3
Fnord Metasyntactic Variable Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 6,633	Please post the link! I used to read Funky Winkerbean, but lost track when the main character became a teacher. I'd love to see how someone else handles normal events without imposing religion and/or mysticism upon them. "She's Gone" was all that needed to be said.
	__________________ Belief is the subjective acceptance of a (valid or invalid) concept, opinion, or theory; Faith is the unreasoned belief in improvable things; *and Knowledge* is the reasoned belief in provable things. Belief itself proves nothing.**

13th October 2007, 10:16 AM	#4
Tricky Briefly immortal Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The Group W bench Posts: 42,405	I've been reading Funky Winkerbean for years and it has been interesting to see how it has changed. He has aged the characters (usually in big jumps) and had them deal with various tragedies. One lost an arm in a car wreck where it was suggested that underage drinking was involved. And no, I've never seen any overt reference to religion. Back in the seventies, FW was a strictly "funny" strip. Then it made the leap to serious when Les befriended Lisa who was "a girl in trouble". He helped her through her ordeal of giving up her baby for adoption and then she disappeared for many years. The whole cancer thread has been tremendously moving, especially for those of us who have dealt with a loved one dying slowly from cancer. In many ways, it was spot on. However, FW is not the first comic strip to deal with such issues. Years ago, Doonesbury had Andy Lippincott die of AIDS. They had a similar "wind down" series of strips. Frankly, I liked the Doonesbury version better. Trudeau always put something funny in even the most serious of situations. Also, For Better Or For Worse had Elly's mother die and her father has suffered a series of debilitating strokes (and frankly, I think he is about to cash it in too.) FBOFW is also a strip that ages its characters, but it does so gradually. It is the only strip I know that mimics real life, and it also deals with real-life issues (the daughter was nearly raped) in a way that usually includes humor. It is odd because I usually don't like the "soap opera" strips like Mary Worth, but because I grew up with the characters and because they are often funny, I feel very much like Doonesbury, FBOFW and Funky Winkerbean are actual people. So I read them every day. Another interesting strip is 9 Chickweed Lane, but our paper stopped carrying it after they started getting very very sexual, the last straw being when they introduced a handsome, well-adjusted extremely gay character. Now I have to go to Yahoo to read it. And oh yeah, their current thread has to do with a priest and a nun falling in love and leaving the order. Very interesting, and of course, brings this post back to the thread topic.
	Last edited by Tricky; 13th October 2007 at 10:26 AM.

13th October 2007, 09:39 PM	#5
UnrepentantSinner A post by Alan Smithee Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: USAian is not a word Posts: 26,446	Fnord, here's the link to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Last night at work they weren't up to date, but tonight at home they seem to be. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/funky.asp The FW homepage doesn't seem to have the strip. Tricky, I agree with almost everything you've said (just disagree on a few specific comments). Doonesbury has been great about injecting humor into even the most morbid of moments. I remember when one character (memory, bandwidth, blah blah) was dying of cancer and Trudeau made a poignent yet humorous comment about pain drugs. Luann is another of my favorites though I missed the early years where topics like Luann's first period were addressed. Crankshaft is great at addressing change of life issues like Alzheimers - no surprise coming from Batiuk. Lisa's death hit home for me because of my dad and because I'm up to 3 packs a day it's probaby my own fate. I thought it was a salient injection of real life into a humor strip which Batiuk has been doing for decades now. And yeah, as a pet lover, when I recently read the Wikipedia entry on For Better Or For Worse and got to Farley's death while saving April I teared up a bit. Some comic strips just don't get the respect they deserve for their commentary on the human condition.
	__________________ I am an American citizen who is part of American society and briefly served in the American armed forces. I use American dollars and pay taxes that support the American government. And yes, despite the editorial decison to change American politics to the nonsensical "USA politics" subforum, I follow and comment on American politics.