Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for October 02, 2024

Umm, that’s not a school, it’s a bookstore over a garage.

Umm, it’s not a banned book, it’s a not-approved book.

Lillian: “YOU PEOPLE BETTER WATCH IT! I’VE GOT A BOOK! IT’S LOADED AND I KNOW HOW TO USE IT!!!”

(Mob gasps and backs away)

“DO NOT ADVANCE THE PLOT! WE NEED INERTIA! SO CHANT WE, THE PED XING SIGN PEOPLE!”

The only positive about this is that Cranky is back…

Careful, Or Ed will get his Bus, and Back over you.

The Booksmith is a store, not a school.

You folks who were panning TB for this arc may owe him an apology soon…depending on which way he takes this arc, and I think I know.

Ban grumpy commentors not books!

In panel #1, Bucket of Paint Guy got really ballsy and painted “KEEP OUR KIDS SAFE!” right outside the door of Lillian’s bookstore.

Seriously, Batyuk, why leave out the massive word zeppelin now? What are you afraid of covering up? A blank side of the garage where not even the siding is illustrated?

“Ohhh, we’ll draw you a comic that’s long and immense. Way hey, slow the plot down! Just give us a script that makes no frikkin’ sense. We’ll drag it out, to slow the plot doooown!”

They still defaced Lil’s sign

This is very excite. Much enthuse.

No banned books in school? Whaaaat?

1. That book ain’t banned anywhere. That book just not part of syllabus in a little school. That’s all.

2. This ain’t no steenkin school. This a steenkin bookstore.

3. The particular school in question here is not even in this town in the first place.

4. So did parents of kids of a school in another town travelled all the way here together?

5. If they does so much pre-planning and comes together so far to another town then why on earth there a placards protest in middle of the night? What is point if placard of everyone else is sleeping? They can not wait till it morning?

6. And what was the point of burning two bottom stairs before this then? Where was this mob hiding when fire brigade was comes? If not these clowns then who was that? The sad old guy on a rickety old boat in the lake?

7. How they knows them books is here in this bookstore in another town?

8. Why they should care about this books in this particular bookstore anyways because point no. 1. So why take trouble for all this anyways?

9. Also what was necessity of sneaking not banned books to some obscure little bookstore in another town?

10. And where is the cops? They sleeping? There was arson attempt right here just a while ago and fire brigade was there too. Nobody called them cops?

11. Where’s all them neighbours who was just here a while ago when fire brigade was comes? They is not wakes up with all this commotion now?

Geez. This so absoluterribly awfuludicrous, such a irrefutabombastically ridiculousy and so pompoustupendously preposteroutrageous that this has gots to be such a genius hilarious parody of it all.

Yeah it has gots to be a genius parody, for after all Crankyshaft is known for muddled aphorisms, fires and grilling burnings gags, post boxes vandalisms gags, and puns and all, so what elses but a genius hilarious parody could this be eh, so, “LOL!” It’s called LOLing!

This town needs an enema! (apologies to Jack Nicholson)

Where in the country are people banning books like Fahrenheit? And who are these fools anyway?

OMG – I was joking yesterday, but she is really going to read the book to the mob and the ridiculous moral of the story is going to be “durr read the book and you’ll see that it shouldn’t be banned.” As if that’s actually at the root of the “real world issue” he’s pretending to write about.

That’s it! Time to call the cops!

NO BANNED books! But guns are cool?

Confusing??

If you don’t want banned books in school, don’t ban books.

This whole business about “book banning” is just unconstitutionally wrong giving a citizen no choice about what they want to read.

“Keep our kids safe”? They are FAR from safe with the Republicans calling the shots. Biden may be POTUS, but the Republicans defeat EVERY bill the Democrats propose…. even if the bill benefits Americans. They defeat every bill … no matter what it is.

The mob sounds like it needs a lesson on the English language. “No banned books in schools” sounds like that no books should be banned from the curriculum.

So, who’s at home keeping their kids safe while they’re all out J6-ing?

This town must be a great place to live if this is all that they have to get excited about.

mary worth looks into her crystal ball i better head there with my apple muffins these two idiots dont know what to do

Keep kids safe by banning books!? How about eliminating television, iPads, cell phones, computers, gaming, and all social and legacy media from any source? That would go a much longer way in keeping kids safe. The garbage on the above media is much more damaging to kids—and adults—than books.

Wait,………WHAT!……..Is this comic story line about the banning of books? Gosh that sure must come as a surprise to some people.

It’s showtime! The moment we’ve all been waiting for. What will Lillian say? How will she turn the protest on its head?

Lillian: Book banning is bad. Book burning is bad. Bookstore banning is bad. Bookstore burning is worse. Reading books is good. Writing books is good. After I killed my sister Lucy, I was in the throes of despair, but I was saved by writing a book on how I killed her. Books can save you too. I’ve read books all my life. I remember reading Mother Goose rhymes as a child…

Protester: You, your mysteries, and your bookstore suck! I’d rather read ‘Funky Winkerbean!’

It’s time, Mr. Batiuk. Will you dazzle me, or will you disappoint me? My money is on the latter. Surprise me. Please.

Yeah,keep the kids safe…from t he protesters

If this mob is furious about Les’s teaching a book that isn’t on the approved list, then shouldn’t they be protesting about it at Westview High, or better still, in front of Les’s house, not Lillian’s (which isn’t even in Westview)?

Don’t worry Lillian, you got the # 1 fire starter right behind you to back you up.

It’s probably the students themselves protesting.

@eromlig – Hold on…folks like me complained about the lack of visibility of Crankshaft in the ‘toon named after him. Now TB have brought hi in this story! Great!

Those same “concerned” parents gave their kids smartphones with an internet connection. They’ve seen and done much worse than anything in the book.

I’m quite enjoying the story line but scratching my head as to where it’s headed and how the arc will wrap up.

No mob has even once had the sense of a radish or the class of a rabid polecat.

More like “Keep our kids oppressed “

I applaud Tom for this arc. The right to read what one wants is fundamental.

1. you only ban books when you fear knowledge. 2. you only ban books when the words do not align with the group think. 3. you only ban books when indoctrination displaces education.

When the big reveal happens about who the book burners are there needs to be a lot of red hats.

I’m not liking this storyline much: it makes no sense. If parents or their representatives don’t want their kids to read certain books in school, they have that right. If parents don’t want their kids to read the books at all, they can see that their kids don’t read them. If the kids want to sneak around and read them, they can go right ahead—-it’s hard enough to get kids to read anything these days. (I read a lot of things when I was young, but came to realize in later years I was punching above my weight and did not understand what I was reading until years later.)

It’s sad to think that people in that angry crowd have children.

What idiotic nonsense from a dishonest troll!