Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for January 04, 2025

Could be a mountain bluebird or an indigo bunting. The former isn’t usually found in Ohio, but could have come over from the western U.S.

Look, today’s “joke” is so feeble I decided to take the high road, giving Lillian some actual ornithological advice, instead of further berating Batiuk over what he thinks passes for “muddled aphorisms” these days.

Cranky saw it in a taxidermy store over yonder.

Decided to epoxy it to Lillian’s birdhouse so it would appear one bird is interested in the neighborhood.

It’s a mild blue yawner.

TOM: “I’ve got to have a joke here SOMEWHERE!” (rifles through his decades-old collection of Bazooka Joe and Laffy Taffy wrappers)

That’s funny, because most bluebirds migrate south. At least, most of them in PA do…

What’s with these…punchline-adjacent comics lately?

SUNDAY: Huge panel one of a squirrel choking from eating too much of the corns on the cobs. It has nothing to do with the strip; Ayers drew it 20 years ago and Davis is still SO hungover.

Panel two: Ed, Pam and Jeff stare blankly into space. Three: Ed says “I went and poked monkeys with sticks! At the zoo, it’s not like ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do,’ so much as ’MONKEY THROW POO!” Panel four: They stare blankly into space. Panel five: They stare blankly into space, but smirk. The squirrel has choked to death on the corns.

TOM: “NAILED IT, PULITZER JERKS!”

She wore blue velvet….

Well me bets thems is taste just like cheeckens.

I like it, that Crankshaft is looking into the camera while giving the punchline.

One of Crankshaft’s better malaprops.

11-0-3

I don’t think that indigo buntings are generally pale. There are lots of bluebirds around my home and one day I saw a pretty bright blue colored bird that I didn’t recognize, so I did a google search and found that it was an indigo bunting. So you might want to brush up on your ornithological knowledge by checking out Audubon’s Field Guide.

Was it Tom Batiuk’s New Year’s resolution to make it all the way through 2025 without ever writing an actual punchline?

“I wouldn’t mind seeing a certain blue bush later! (heh heh heh)”

That Crank……..sure knows his birds!!!!!

Tomorrow they’ll see that southern bird, the Blue Bayou. Next day they’ll hear the Song Song Blue.

The colorist missed the bill on Crank’s corn seed cap in panel two.

todays rex morgan was more interesting and amusing

“a wild blue yonder”

If it’s eating from that feeder, it’s not entirely wild.

cute Ed

It is interesting to see the comments on this site. It attracts trolls. The advice “if you don’t like it, don’t read it” would be totally ineffective. My solution is to no longer read the comments about this strip. Not a solution for the issue, but one for me.

It’s good to see a storyline with Cranky because the strip is named for him

It’s the bluebeard of happiness!

Pale blue bird. Long Neck-ed White Bird. Short Neck-ed White Bird. Cute Little Spotted Brown Bird. I call em as I see em.

Not so sure but sounds good……

It may look pale, but it seems healthy.

That’s the Bluebird of Crabbiness