Sunday Funnies

Congratulations to Tom Batiuk on the fortieth anniversary of his strip Funky Winkerbean. Funky has grown into one of the strongest comics on the funny pages, combining strong narrative with soulful comedy and beautifully detailed artwork (all in short supply as strips have shrunk over the years). In fact, I think it should be acknowledged as the obvious inheritor of the qualities that made Gasoline Alley such a classic-- and by extension, be recognized as a classic in its own right.  Batiuk is also partly responsible for Crankshaft, along with artist Chuck Ayers, which is nearly as good as Funky.  It had a particularly strong strip today (or maybe it just resonated with me because I've spent most of the past three months immersed in the world of 1940s music). Take a look at today's funny papers and let me know if anything else comes close in terms of lovingly detailed artwork. [click on the images to get a slightly larger, more readable version]