Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for January 13, 2024

“Well, the mortician was busy . . . "

Maybe I slipped and hit my head this week and don’t recall it, but today’s concluding vignette isn’t that bad. It’s not a knee-slapper joke or clever quip, but a nice enough slice of life that really does feel in character and a quarter-inch from reality. I say a thumbs up with a C-plus grade.

So Cranky CAN be normal. Nice to know…

… I am still writing you out of my will Pam.

Next stop . . .

Next week Crankshaft has trouble ordering seeds from bean catalogue on his computer

So his head hurts, his neck hurts, his back hurts, but getting examined by a doctor relieved all that? Did he get a shot of morphine?

……his left brain is coming back!!!!!!

You’ll have to; Ed won’t.

well if he was gonna die nobody wanted his organs anyway

Ed’s improvement in his physical well being, is tempered by the hurt to his wallet.

Huh?? Who are YOU and what did you do with J.J. O’Malley? lol

And so begins the story arc of Ed dealing with CTE which will end with him, somehow, acquiring Bull Bushka’s old high school football helmet which he will wear as he drives his schoolbus filled with children over one of the many cliffs of Ohio.

Get yourself some YakTraks, folks! I keep a pair in every car!

In the spirit of today’s strip, I’m rounding my comment up to a smirk.

The humor is in Crankshaft’s (there he is) curmudgeonliness. He is a good old guy who is only guilty of malapropisms and an unfortunately proclivity for being a fire bug. The strip is clever, well drawn, and filled with running gags. A good diversion in this world of division and strife. If you can’t see how good this thing is then you need to try harder

Crankshaft has a hard time showing gratitude.

Haha! (＾▽＾)