Gag award certificate

Hotline -- Creator praised for dead-on portrayal of bus driver

Q: I would like to know more about Tom Batiuk, who writes "Crankshaft" for the comics.

I drove a school bus for 42 years. The strip is so real to life he has to have driven a bus. He has made my day so often. I would love to know more about him: how old he is, where he grew up, how he got started and his life in general. I also would like his address. Can you provide this information?

A: Sure. He was born in 1947, which makes him 56 unless he has already celebrated his birthday this year.

He was born in Akron, Ohio, according to King Features' Web site (go to www.kingfeatures.com, then select "features," then "comics," then "Crankshaft"). His first cartoons were published in his elementary-school newspaper in Elyria.

King Features is a syndicated service that has carried the comic since its inception in 1987. The site said "Crankshaft" was Batiuk's third strip.

Batiuk won a national scholastic art award in high school, and after graduating from Kent State University with a bachelor of fine arts degree and a certificate in education, Batiuk became a high school art teacher.

His teaching experiences inspired him to create his first strip, "Funky Winkerbean," in 1972.

The site said, "What began as a gag-a-day comic strip about high school life evolved as Batiuk himself matured. Through the years, he has stretched the creative boundaries of comic strip narrative humor, introducing real-life issues such as dyslexia, teen suicide, guns in the classroom, racial discrimination, teen-dating abuse, breast cancer and alcoholism in 'Funky Winkerbean.'

"Batiuk has won accolades and awards from his peers as well as from educators and professional and civic organizations across the country for his outstanding treatment of serious social issues," the site said.

In 1979, Batiuk launched into syndication "John Darling," the adventures of a fictional talk-show host featuring celebrity caricatures.

Batiuk was never a bus driver, but his "Crankshaft" cartoon is based on the irascible school-bus driver in "Funky Winkerbean."

Chuck Ayers, who also was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1947 and graduated from Kent State University with a degree in graphic design, draws "Crankshaft."

Ayers began his cartooning career as a staff artist and later editorial cartoonist for the Akron Beacon Journal. He taught cartooning at Kent State University and is now a part-time instructor for cartooning classes at the University of Akron.

He received a first place award for editorial cartoons from the Ohio Associated Press in 1986. His work has been reprinted in The New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes Magazine and school textbooks.

If you would like more information about Batiuk, Ayers or want to read "Crankshaft," "Funky Winkerbean" or a variety of other cartoons, check out the World Wide Web. There is a ton of information. Just choose a search engine such as Yahoo or Google and type in either the name of the cartoon or the artist in the search space and hit enter. You'll be on your way.

- If you have a question, write to Brenda Story, Hotline, 1 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643. Or send e-mail to bstory@pjstar.com. Include your name, address and phone number for verification, but the Journal Star will keep this confidential. Questions of general reader interest will be published regularly.