Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for June 30, 2023

“I played Les Moore as though he were almost, in some vague way, not the most loathsome creature to infest the earth. How many actors have reached such a triumphant pinnacle of the acting art?”

Yes, Tom, we know.

Okay, okay! You guys win! The more I read this strip, the more I laugh! Look at that line: “Your thinking to be choosing,” who talks like that?! Was there a sale on “ings”? And in any other strip would your 1st thought in the last panel be “HE’S got cancer TOO?!”

My theater, my movies.

Must have been in love…..

Skip later won the Pulitzer Prize for this interview.

As good a reason as any.

I got the book a long time ago. Great Book!!!

Wow. Skip Rawlings, the ‘intrepid’ journalist, finally decided to ask a question. A softball question, to be sure, but at least he finally asked one. I was under the impression Skip was just going to hold out his phone with that insufferable smirk on his face the entire week.

How about tougher questions like:- Do you think you have a large enough fan base in Ohio to make this a successful venture?- Is your body of work extensive enough and good enough to retain the moviegoers’ interest?

To the author, it seems the role of a journalist is to fawn over the creatives.

Skippy, “So Masoonnee, what’s it like to be jerk?”

Ok, How about getting back to Crankshaft. This Lisa’s Story is getting old and boring.

I think Kranky Funkershaft is getting dangerously close to Peak Batiuk. This week has taken “tell, don’t show” to a whole new level. You could literally remove the drawings and just have the word balloons in blank white panels without losing anything (I’ll wait while you try it). Nothing happens. This is just expository statements followed by weak word-play, lather, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat.

I guess this is what happens when the guy producing the strip takes the self-description of “writer” too literally.

Batty’s been cancer-ing a lot lately.

Today’s Meditation Koan: What is the sound of one cartoonist patting himself on the back for a week?

Also, why did the movie posters lose the “The Other Shoe” tagline they had on Sunday?

Well it better be a blockbuster hit cause if it’s a dud you aren’t gonna be in business long!

Why do I hear the voice of Troy McClure ?