Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for July 20, 2023

Well, we’ll need to increase the price by 50%

“You tell ’em! Everything is about ME! MEEEEEEE!”

In the world of Jff, every aspect of the universe is defined based on his own perceptions.

I’d give it a 50/50 chance that we’re going to see the fat dumpy Batman-shirt guy from the Funkyverse. But then again, this comic is rapidly turning into that anyway.

At 5.7, this is only a moderate rating – but probably the bulk of comics sold in the 60’s.

The golden age of anything is twelve.

At least he finally stopped saying, “I used to have this one.”

Been around Crank….way too long.

The blue zombie freaks in the background are annoying!

Crankshaft is taken a sabbatical!

I had the very first issue of She Hulk when I was a pre teen, maybe 12. My brother took it and all my other comics and as with every other violation of my boundaries our NM made excuses for him and let him keep it.

As Robert Nowall says above, the Golden Age of Anything (or Everything) is twelve. This dictum seems to have been originated (with respect to science fiction) by Peter Scott Graham:

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2020/10/14/golden-age/

In other words, enthusiasms that seize you at that age are very hard for later enthusiasms to eclipse.

Nice Ray Bradbury reference there (“The Golden Age of science fiction is twelve”).

Where is Crankshaft? I look at the picture and see this hubris and move on. Maybe leave a comment like this sometimes.

Does having comments you don’t like taken down really make you feel powerful?

In case anyone out there is interested, the slabbed comic Jff is holding appears to be 1967’s Fantastic Four No. 65 ("From Beyond This Planet Earth!), a Lee/Kirby goodie that was the first appearance of Ronan the Accuser.

Now, Jff’s claim that he was 12 when he bought the book doesn’t quite line up with him having been a Kent State student during the 1970 National Guard shootings, but in a comic strip universe populated by time-travelling high school janitors, what can you expect? It also puts his age at around 68; about time for those gray sideburns to reappear.

And, naturally, he has to conclude with a smug correction to the poor vendor who’s simply trying to move some merchandise and thought he was being helpful to a befuddled old man and his imaginary grade-school avatar, who may or may not still be wearing the same undies he arrived in.

Haha! XD