Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for October 24, 2024

Tomorrow’s strip today!

Panel 1: "Okay . . . uh, how do we write a story?

Panels 2 & 3: Crickets.

Are you kidding? This crew collectively couldn’t come up with the idea for “I Was a Teenage Frankenstein.”

Why is it there’s never an angry mob of protesters around when you need one?

Ghost stories of past characters demise.

It was a dark and stormy night, suddenly everything was dark, the storm had knocked the power out, But it as the birth of the Half-baked Pizza Monster, the cheese and topping falling off the pie, like rotting flesh of a zombie. The grease from the pepperoni dripping everywhere, Pooling near here a black cat shadow as cast through the room with the lightning strike

3rd panel, the pizza makes me growl/roar once in a while.

Ghost stories? Oh greats. Here comes the Ghost of the dead St. Lisa once again to haunts funkyville as usual. It’s called haunting.

Or maybe it gonna be the Ghost of undead Phil Holt. Did he really dies? Or is it his undead ghost in all flesh and blood? Will undead ghost draws more komix? Will he takes credit for it or just does it for someone else? It’s called ghostdrawing.

It could be the Ghost of Bill Bushka too. Suddenly a apparition appears outta nowhere at the dead man’s curve. It’s called appearing.

Or… It could be the most recent ghost of dead Eugene. Back for his revenge against the wicket witch who was ruins his and his gal pal’s life and make em lives a cursed miserable life only to dies a cursed miserable deaths. A corpsey form appears from the depths of the lake riding rickety old boat hovering in the air and it moves towards The Village BooksWitch, the corpsey form rowing the rickety hovering boat slowly through the air…It the ghost of dead Eugene, his rotting corpse driven by his undead soul and he back for vicious vengeance and raging revenge against the wicked witch and avenge the terrible trickey and inglorious injustice done to his beloved and himself. It’s called avenging!

Cues the ominous music which is grows louder and louder!

Wouldn’t it be great if all the characters in Crankerbean were ghosts? Hanging around a dusty, long-abandoned Montoni’s, sharing smirks and unfunny one liners…

Because no one‘s ever sat in their house with the power out and flickering candles while a thunderstorm storm raged outside…

Oh goody, a Frankenstory, story line.

Don’t forget that Doctor Who, Graham, Ryan, and Yasmin were there, too! :-)

Hey, watch it generic blonde lady! I am the new star of this strip, so you better get used to it!

Yes, the night was dark and scary, very much like the one when Mary Shelley first conceived of Frankenstein. But while her monster was born of imagination, crafted in flickering candlelight, what lurked outside Montoni’s Pizza was real—far more dangerous than any creature of fiction. The storm raged on, howling and roaring as though the sky itself were trying to tear the town apart, its fury mirroring the malice in the heart of the figure lurking in the shadows.

The evil politician stood just beyond the light’s reach, his features obscured by the night but his hatred palpable. Unlike Shelley’s creature, this monster wasn’t the product of a creative mind—it was a man twisted by ego, burning for revenge against those who had thwarted his sinister plan. His mind, once filled with political schemes, was now consumed with thoughts of retribution. They had stopped him from burning down Lillian’s bookstore, had stood in his way when he tried to silence the voice of free thought, and now they would pay. He didn’t have a clear plan, but as we all know, a concept of a plan is almost as dangerous.

Inside, Darwin, Summer, and Cody huddled together in the dim glow of the candle, their minds drifting toward harmless ghost stories. Cody, attempting to lighten the tension, joked about the Pizza Monster. But none of them could shake the feeling that something was wrong. Cody’s gaze wandered to the window, and for just a moment, in a flash of lightning, he saw it—a figure, standing motionless, watching them.

His breath caught in his throat as he whispered, “Did you see that?”

“What?” Summer asked, turning to look. But there was nothing there—only darkness.

But the evil politician knew they had seen him, felt their fear crackle through the air. He smiled in the rain, knowing fear was all he needed to spark the chaos that would soon follow. Tonight, the storm was only the beginning.

…….just read about the “headless horseman”………

ghost of pop clutch drives his ghost bus into montonis killing everyone but pizza box monster who he drives to new york to experience real pizza

When the power goes out, telling spooky stories works for about 90 minutes—then you get really worried

So, they own and operate Montoni’s Pizza, and some person covered in Montoni’s Pizza boxes keeps showing up out of nowhere, and they’re not a bit curious who it is? Maybe they should find out before we get to the bloody climax coming up in the Halloween strip.

Plus, you shouldn’t get too close to the open flame!

If this strip is really ending at the end of the year, will we find out who the Pizza Monster is?

Please, just let the strip end.

There is no such thing as a “silent partner”. Trust me. They’re always sticking their nose into how the business is run, and does more talking than their business partner.

John Darling?

Pizza Monster’s boxes are all white (with a bit of black lettering) so his story won’t be Silent Green.

He is just a “box” seat.

It’d be funny if that pizza guy/gal had a mouth.

He’s an IDIOT partner!