Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for September 20, 2024

Au contraire, Lizard Lil, you are clearly stir-crazy.

I always order my martinis stirred, not shaken.

With Cranky in the neighborhood, Lillian was prepared to repel any incendiary assault.

Crankshaft can guard her. Zzzzzzz….

Why, yes, Lillian. Now that you mention it, your face does resemble something one would find preserved in alcohol.

I really do enjoy Cranky and am disappointed that he will so rarely appear. Since I didn’t read this years ago, I don’t know the backstory that everyone else shares about Lillian, but I sure hope all the haters here find out how much fun it is to be old and hated someday. I’m sure you all think you’re the greatest things on this earth. Just like that orange man who wants to be king…

“How long do you think you’ll be closed”? For a couple of slightly torched staircase steps and a singed garage door? Why, Alf and Ralph Monroe would have that place ready to shill “band books” in a day or two, tops.

Yeah but a rational person would take a day or two or maybe even a week before opening up again. Something like that can leave you pretty shaken, even if it only gets a few steps and a garage door.

There isn’t even any real damage besides a little bit of singeing. This is so stupid.

“I’m shaken but not stirred.”

But is she Bonded?

Close? Just because someone is trying to gets rid of a couple of stairs? It’s called closing?

Shaken but not staired eh.

There isn’t even any damage. Look for an arsonist who doesn’t ’know the first thing about burning down buildings.

So who is the arsonist? Is it dead Lucy? Or dead Saint Lisa? Or Eugene, who by now is at least 110 years old?

It’d be nice, but not likely, but perhaps an exterior elevator to the landing. Make the shop handicapped accessible as well.

Pam is SO STONED

Good for you, Lillian!

It’s Lillian McKenzie, Agent 000—License to ̶K̶i̶l̶l̶ Bore.

She will probably spend the next two or three weeks jabbering about how book banning/burning is bad, won’t she? She might even hijack a session of Congress in Washington D.C. Here we go.

Lillian: (at microphone) “Don’t ban books. It’s bad. Don’t burn books. It’s bad.”

Person in the Crowd: “Oh, she’s so brave! They burned the steps near her garage, you know!”

she’s not getting stirred up by that mess. :D

I beg to differ with panel #2. Lillian was shaken by the fire and stirred into waking up. The word undeterred would be a better fit for her attitude.

Batyuk just had to pound that square phrase into a round hole. Regardless if it made any sense. He’s a “storyteller,” as I’m sure he’d be glad to tell you.

Good attitude and Crank is in “deeep thought”!!!!!

Hoohoohooooooo……smirk!

For those keeping score… two weeks (at least) of talking about what happened off camera and what might happen, two days of something happening, three days (so far) of talking about what happened. Prime Batty…

Ed makes an appearance three days in a row. We haven’t seen this much of him in months. Of course he’s not allowed to talk, it might just be a wax figure they’re lugging around with them.

Hardly a singe. Close? Who would notice?

Shaken and not deterred!

“I’m down but not out.”“I’m bent but not broken.”“I’m lost but not forgotten.”“Two wrongs don’t make a right, but three lefts do.”

T and D are putting Cranky’s figure in the ‘toon to keep readers from writing where is Crankshaft. BUT we are not stupid, guys!!

“Of course I’m not going to close! This is the opportunity for me to have a fire sale!”

(I’m surprised no one else thought of that before now!)

What is ridiculous is the fact that if you were to shoot the arsonist in the act of setting fire, you would be up on charges.