John Darling
Encyclopedia
John Darling was a comic strip
, created by Tom Batiuk
, about a talk show
host. It appeared from March 25, 1979 to August 4, 1991.
John Darling was originally a supporting character in Batiuk's strip Funky Winkerbean
. Popular with readers, he was spun off into his own strip. The original artist was Tom Armstrong, who left the strip in 1985 for his own creation, Marvin
, though he did return to draw the final three weeks of the strip. His replacement was Gerry Shamway. Stan Lynde
also contributed to the strip in its first year.
Much of the strip's humor came from Darling's quirks and occasional displays of ignorance; in one strip, he interviews musician Prince
, asking him "Exactly which country are you a prince of?"
Batiuk had a contractual conflict with his syndicate over ownership of the character, so he stunned readers by killing off Darling, leaving the syndicate with a largely unusable property. Darling was shot by an unknown assailant in the second to last strip. The murder stayed unsolved until a 1997 Funky Winkerbean storyline celebrating the strips 25th anniversy. Over the course of the storyline, Les Moore wrote a book on Darling's murder and solved the case. The murderer was revealed to be Peter Mossman, alias Plantman.
While Darling is rarely mentioned in Funky Winkerbean, Darling's daughter Jessica used to appear as a regular in the Funky Winkerbean strip until the 2007 timeskip. The book about Darling's murder was referenced again during a 2010 strip, and Jessica reappeared in 2011.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
, created by Tom Batiuk
Tom Batiuk
Tom Batiuk is an American comic strip creator. His best-known comic strip is Funky Winkerbean.Batiuk attended Kent State University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting. He went on to teach art in junior high school...
, about a talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
host. It appeared from March 25, 1979 to August 4, 1991.
John Darling was originally a supporting character in Batiuk's strip Funky Winkerbean
Funky Winkerbean
Funky Winkerbean is a comic strip created by high school teacher Tom Batiuk , which debuted on March 27, 1972.The strip is centered on Westview High School and initially focused on several of its students: the title character, Funky Winkerbean, Crazy Harry Klinghorn, Barry Balderman, Bull Bushka,...
. Popular with readers, he was spun off into his own strip. The original artist was Tom Armstrong, who left the strip in 1985 for his own creation, Marvin
Marvin (comic)
Marvin is a daily newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Tom Armstrong and distributed in the U.S. by Hearst's King Features Syndicate. It debuted in 1982. It revolves around the life and times of a young baby boy named Marvin, his father and mother Jeff and Jenny Miller, and their dog Bitsy...
, though he did return to draw the final three weeks of the strip. His replacement was Gerry Shamway. Stan Lynde
Stan Lynde
Stan Lynde is an American comic artist, painter and novelist. Born in Billings, Montana, he was raised on a sheep ranch near Lodge Grass. He attended the University of Montana in Missoula and now lives in Helena....
also contributed to the strip in its first year.
Much of the strip's humor came from Darling's quirks and occasional displays of ignorance; in one strip, he interviews musician Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, asking him "Exactly which country are you a prince of?"
Batiuk had a contractual conflict with his syndicate over ownership of the character, so he stunned readers by killing off Darling, leaving the syndicate with a largely unusable property. Darling was shot by an unknown assailant in the second to last strip. The murder stayed unsolved until a 1997 Funky Winkerbean storyline celebrating the strips 25th anniversy. Over the course of the storyline, Les Moore wrote a book on Darling's murder and solved the case. The murderer was revealed to be Peter Mossman, alias Plantman.
While Darling is rarely mentioned in Funky Winkerbean, Darling's daughter Jessica used to appear as a regular in the Funky Winkerbean strip until the 2007 timeskip. The book about Darling's murder was referenced again during a 2010 strip, and Jessica reappeared in 2011.