by Tom Batiuk | Apr 22, 2026 | Komix Thoughts
Let me tackle the concept of closed endings vs open endings with a couple examples from my own work. For about eleven years, I did a strip called John Darling about a TV talk show host. When the strip ended, he was shot, murdered. Full stop. Nothing after that. No...
by Tom Batiuk | Apr 15, 2026 | Komix Thoughts
While I’m on the subject of rules, let me share a few other thoughts on the subject with the caveat that they will run contrary (there’s that word again) to the accepted wisdom on writing, and the keepers of accepted wisdom would have me pilloried in the square for...
by Tom Batiuk | Mar 27, 2026 | Komix Thoughts
I learned pretty early on to just trust my own instincts when it came to writing. As I mentioned back in Volume 1 of this series, I had purchased a book on writing gag cartoons, which I immediately abandoned and put aside as ineffectual for me. Part of that I’m sure...
by Tom Batiuk | Mar 20, 2026 | Komix Thoughts
Now, in previous introductions to these collections, I’ve discussed the writing in terms of how it changed from gags to sitcoms to a more cinematic storytelling approach, and how that opened the work up to approaching more complex subjects and edge work. However, I’ve...
by Tom Batiuk | Jan 14, 2026 | Komix Thoughts
So, returning to that lunch with the King Features executives, Funky Winkerbean had been around for forty-plus years, and we were gathered to celebrate the signing of a new contract extension as well as the successful promotion and protection of a recent “difficult”...
