Crankshaft: Difference between revisions

''Crankshaft'' is a [[Spin-Off]] of Tom Batiuk's ''[[Funky Winkerbean]]'' that focuses on the day-to-day life of title character, curmurdgeonly eighty-five year old bus driver, Ed Crankshaft. Much like its parent, the strip combines character-based humor with story lines about issues that affect average Americans. It should also be noted that, since the title character and many others are over eighty years of age, much use is made of the same flashback device the parent strip does.

 

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* [[Character Title]]

* [[Flashback Effects]]: the same shading effects as used in ''[[Funky Winkerbean]]''.

* [[Never Learned to Read]]: One of the first issues-based story lines was the revelation that the title character was illiterate; this led to an examination of literacy classes for the elderly as well as a flashback that depicted the grandfather of Funky Winkerbean's Coach Bushka destroying Ed's dream of playing in the Majors by switching out the line-up card (which Crankshaft had someone else read for him) just long enough to trick Crankshaft into missing a scheduled start with big league scouts in attendance.

* [[Take That, Critics!]]: Batiuk once used a Sunday strip as a means to answer critics who objected to the storyline in ''Funky Winkerbean'' that revolved around Lisa's slow, agonizing death from cancer.

* [[Wring Every Last Drop Out of Him]]: The slow, agonizing death of Crankshaft's former neighbor from complications of Alzheimers.

 

[[Category:Newspaper Comics]]

[[Category:Crankshaft]]