In the beginning, this was a gag-per-day strip set at a High School. Funky Winkerbean was a happy-go-lucky student. Other regulars were Les Moore, Candice Kane, band director Harold Dinkle and pizzeria owner Montoni. Regular gags/stories involved, among other things, silly answers to test questions, Les Moore's incompetence at gym, a sentient school computer with a transporter beam, and Harold Dinkle's attempts to win the Battle of the Bands (which was generally rained out).