The Complete Funky Winkerbean, Vol. 1, 1972–1974

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Funky Winkerbean, Batiuk’s alma mater published the first of a planned 13 annual volumes. It’s a hoot to return to the roots of the comic, which now is best known for tackling such serious topics as cancer survival and armed forces troops returning to daily life, since it began as a high school strip created when Batiuk was teaching junior high art. A foreword by historian R.C. Harvey provides a brief history of Funky’s place in the context of teens in newspaper comics, while a lengthy, insightful introduction by Batiuk explains how he came to draw comics and develop his particular sense of humor. Although based on a gag-a-day structure, Funky Winkerbean is relatively realistic in capturing real teen worries and the concerns of the day. The strip is early work, obviously, but that’s charming and well-meshed with the early ’70s era. The content is universal, as the boys worry about dating and studying and keeping up with the culture. It feels honest and, somehow, fresh. The line art is direct, so the missing color from the Sunday strips doesn’t matter, but publication date labels would have helped in navigating the book. (Mar.)