Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for January 29, 2025

Dying only happens once, Battin Zero, and you want to get it right the first time, too. And I’ll admit, today’s strip lay down and died like a pro!

Ye gods and little fishes, I haven’t seen this much self-congratulatory backslapping since the WWF gave Barry Horowitz a push in the mid-1990s!

You should have asked Skip for a clever title, Thomas. He would have come up with “Filthy Teens in Muddy Jeans” or “Dippy Hippies Don’t Wow Skippy” at a moment’s notice.

D*mn hard to turn my computer screen sideways and my bad neck will not let me turn my head at an angle to read this. Epic fail.

Just when you think this cartoon is getting back on track, here we go again. Cranky better look out, he’s being gradually left out. Perhaps he’s going to meet the maker soon…….guess we will have to keep reading just to see what happens ☹️

Should have called it “Epic Pain In The Neck”…. Otherwise, is there more pizza on the pan than there was yesterday?

YEOWWW! Mine neck! This time it sure may needing surgery.

“And hey, Skip, you know, darndest thing, I forgot my wallet…”

Luckily, I have my Ronco Computer Monitor Rotator. Set it, and forget it!

If your browser will rotate an image you use:

assets.Amuniversal.Com/15496210b4d9013d8959005056a9545d

I don’t remember Livinia’s hair being that long. Or was this a first first?

Even skip fell asleep listening to this bloviating gas bag

I would love to see what that pencil sketch, with all its subtle halftones, looked like after being reduced to black and white and printed on cheap newsprint.

The original original title for FW was Counter Culture Chronicles? That only fits if it’s about old guys sipping coffee at the Dale Evans and kvetching about those filthy hippies.

Skippy’s pretty much finished his half of the “pizza” while Batteringram’s remains untouched. I guess we know who’s paying…

Proving that Batiuk was counterculture clueless as a young man.

For those who managed to read the comic without breaking your neck, the joke is that they are neither getting away from everybody nor just being themselves.

August 27, 1972, Veneta Oregon…will he draw the guy on the pole?

there’s no reason this couldn’t be the regular way…

batton thomas has a a hissy fit when he finds montoni s doesnt sell diet cherry cola and will leave a bad yelp review

Jules Feiffer passed away a couple weeks ago,for those who didn’t know

Add me to the list of opponents of sideways comic strips!!!!!

Well…something had to break the monotony.

actually nice artwork…was the joke in the second panel?

Ah, yes. The strong countercultural message of peace, harmony, and positive vibes.

‘Peace and Love and j̸o̸y̸ ̸ Batton Thomas.’

Stop with the vertical comics. Almost no one is reading this in a an actual newspaper.

Ageed, Epic fail. Where’s Crankshaft.

Not only is the sideways orientation annoying, but gocomicsDOTcom/funky-winkerbean/2023/04/09 shows that it was originally normal and he deliberately turned it sideways just for this re-use.

Good grief this is an insufferable ego trip.

Amen. This is a stupid presentation method, I just skip past them.

This comic strip needs to stop doing these irritating senseless tricks !!!!

There’s absolutely no reason for this to be sideways. The same content could easily be displayed horizontally. What other reason for it could there be other than to purposely annoy?

What percentage of comic strips in the early 1970s were vertical panels anyway? Family Circus? Was Ziggy around yet?

I guess the Batton’s comic had to be vertical because the “local newspaper” had to wedge Rapping Around between more prominent features such as Dear Abby and the Bridge card game column.

Readers could use Rapping Around to wrap around garbage.

Generally, today’s effort was interesting to me to hear some of the author’s backstory. I like this more than the “book burning” series. The book burning series, while a valuable topic, was IMO too long and a little “underwhelming”.

I would, however, ask to not have sideways comics in the future. They are too d@mn hard to read on a monitor.

Please make the comics rotatable.

I went to Arcamax and copied the image, then loaded it into Word and rotated it 90 degrees.

Was that Batiuk or Davis?? or Batiuk and Davis????

Why can’t Batiuk publish a memoir for me to ignore, like a normal egomaniac?

Batyuk, if you’re looking for more validation about your career, you could always purchase an award for yourself. Any trophy and engraving shop would be more than happy to assist you. You might even have them create one that reads, “World’s Greatest Cartoonist!” Feel free to fill your entire trophy case if that’s what you want. You can take a photo of your collection and post it on your blog with a caption like, “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!”

Just cease this Batton Thomas nonsense. Nobody ever squeals with delight and says “Oh, goody” when the Schleprock-like Batton Thomas makes an appearance. Batton Thomas is a harbinger of the sucky comic strips to come.

Forget what I wrote yesterday. The presence of Mopey Pete would be an improvement. It would break up the tedium of this story arc, even if he’s presented sideways (preferably strung up by his heels).

Tomorrow: The ‘Monotony at Montoni’s’ continues. Batton Thomas regales us with a tale of how he created ‘3 O’clock High’. Please have a pillow handy for snoozing, punching, or screaming into.

Not this again my neck can’t take it.

Not worth turning the computer sideways for.

I REFUSE TO READ THEM WHEN THEY DO THIS! I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH I LIKE THE STRIP AS A WHOLE!

This is Tom, telling us what he’s proud of the most. “I robbed candy stores to inflate my numbers! And then LIED! You think a hack like me got here by TALENT?!” Followed by a staring contest between Skip the Blobfish vs Batton the Goblin Shark.

Here is the original comic from Funky Winker Bean.

www.gocomics.Com/funky-winkerbean/1972/04/09