As 1983 comes to a close, change is in the air. Field Newspaper Syndicate, the owner and syndicator of Funky and John Darling, is in the process of being sold as potential buyers are courted. And as the year winds down in the strip, Ann and Fred become engaged and the stage is being set for what is to come. I’m striving for something a bit out of my range as I set about the deliberate process of dismantling my reputation as a polished punster. Frozen pizzas, living in lockers, and thinking scapegoats along with other elements of the surreal are about to give way to an exploration of no less adventurous earthbound concerns: love, hope, loss, and the onset of age. I was about to pull off the freeway and begin the search for my adult voice.
From The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume Four
