Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for November 25, 2024

Crispy, eh? That’s right, Ed, retraumatize her by hinting at the Quiet Riot arson incident! This is your best “return to your own strip” ever!

Biggest mystery here is why cat is not knock down them candles off the shelf yet.

And why would anyone puts candles over book shelf inside book store anyways? (Especially when there be cat in there). To increases chances of fire hazard? Not tells me this is what actually gonna cause them book burnings.

Yeah, it’s just the folks from the Winkerverse who need Ed translated.

Mr. Malaprop is here.

I love Ed’s malapropisms!

Well, on the plus side, Ed’s back with his “muddled aphorisms,” and the FW infestation is non-existent.

“What, you don’t know Agatha Crispy? She writes food-themed mysteries like ‘Murder on the Panda Express,’ ‘The KFC Murders,’ and ‘And Then There Was Naan’!”

Is he still driving bus and leaving kids stranded…???

the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one?

Back to “burnin’ down the bookstore”, eh?

Cranky is back! Let’s hope it’s for good…

Agatha Crispy: Wrote a murder mystery involving Lena’s brownies.

Pam?

I thought Pam was Cranky’s daughter. Are there now two of them, or is this the Batiuk time machine in operation again?

She’s the cooking detective. Right?

must be a cookbook

He wants the Harlan Sanders biography.

You would think Lil would have better sense not to have lit candles by paper

Yeah you know, the new Agatha Crispy novel titled “The Case of The Mispronounced Name”. In it Hercule Parrot and Miss Marble team up along with the help of Inspector Yap to solve the case.

Sorry Ed, a Norm Crosby you’re not.

Lil knows Ed and his malapropisms well

So, I guess the indistinguishable blonde Emily “Reynolds” is a recurring character now? It sure would be nice if Batty gave them name badges so we could tell them apart.

Me: Mr. Batiuk, who is this blonde woman? Which one is she?

Batty: It really doesn’t matter. She’s a blonde. Her identity is irrelevant to the story. She’s just there to be a blonde.

My guess? Since this story takes place in the Village Booksmith, I assume the blonde character is one of the Mathews twins, specifically Emily. After experiencing yet another TimeMop time flux, Emily earned a Bachelor’s in Library Science from Kent State University. Her friendship with Lillian motivated her to pursue this degree. Emily is now part owner of the Village Booksmith. She is happily married and has taken her spouse’s last name, “Reynolds”. They have two children, a son Cuthbert and a daughter Prudence. They also have a cockerpoo named “Cocker Doodle Doo”.

Meanwhile, her twin sister Amelia, who still plays electric guitar, dyed her hair black, and is now heavily tattooed. She is playing lead guitar and is touring with her death metal band ‘Skullslinger’ somewhere in Germany. Also spurred on by her friendship with the witch Lillian, Amelia now goes by the name Lillith ‘Axelina’ Von Hellstrom, the solo slayer.

(shrug emoji)

Different generations…….different response.

ed was sick last week and rex morgan told him to take a walk then one of the blondes made him homemade chicken soup now hes fit as a FADDLE

who’s the new guy?

Once again, Batiuk is on the bleeding edge of the comic strip format. A lesser artist would follow the conventional “setup, then punchline” format and save the throw-away panel for Sunday, but not our Tom. He’s an innovator!

Every body gets Crankshaft…….when he is around!!

Get him THE MOVING FINGER——he’ll go crazy trying o figure out what the title means

At long last Cranky is back! I will celebrate!

There is something disturbing about the way Lil flashes those Hi & Lois Bedroom Eyes™ as she says she knows what Ed wants. Let’s all be grateful there’s no third panel today…

Is that Freddie’s wife?

Who is the old guy in the red coat?

No, Cranky, it’s not…ehh, it’s close enough.

Of course she knows what Ed wants … Who wouldn’t? … ;)

Interesting. This past weekend PBS ran a documentary on Dame Agatha. Narrated by Bond, Samantha Bond. And about 4 – 6 weeks ago one narrated/curated by Lucy Worsley.