Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for October 05, 2024

  1. Wherescs
    wherescrankshaft  2 months ago

    What’s more unlikely than Lillian reading from Fahrenheit 451 to quell people protesting the sale of Fahrenheit 451?

    Why, calling a cadre of pudgy comic book nerds at midnight to help whisk her away from any potential harm. Not the police, no. Comic book nerds.

    Wasn’t the whole point of this storyline to discuss banned books at some point?

     •  Reply
  2. Mromalley
    J.J. O'Malley  2 months ago

    Avenjerks Assemble!!! (Yeah, I know, that’s Marvel, not DC)

    Holy Revenge of the Nerds!!! (There, happy?)

     •  Reply
  3. Mromalley
    J.J. O'Malley  2 months ago

    To once more borrow a line from Tom Servo on MST3K’s “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die” episode, “Boss, you’ve broken the Goofy Meter again!”

     •  Reply
  4. Missing large
    j_m_kuehl  2 months ago

    Hope the send in the “Pizza Box Monster” to calm everyone down with a slice

     •  Reply
  5. Photo
    top cat james  2 months ago

    WILLIAM DOZIER: “Meanwhile, at stately Murdoch Manor…”

     •  Reply
  6. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  2 months ago

    She sent Mopey Pete a video? What’s he gonna do, give her a “Like?”

     •  Reply
  7. Missing large
    Argythree  2 months ago

    So no one else (including police) notices what’s going on? Not even a noise complaint to bring the men in blue out? How realistic this isn’t…

     •  Reply
  8. Gentbear3b1a
    Gent  2 months ago

    Lets not calls the police but lets calls Mopey Pete and his Mopey pals. Because it’s called calling. Bat Calling that is.

     •  Reply
  9. Gentbear3b1a
    Gent  2 months ago

    BatsApp by Bat-Ah the company formerly knowns as BatFace owned by Mark ZuckerBat. Makes a call on BatsApp. Calls your Mopey Batty pals anywhere on this planet and sends em the Bat signal. Calls anyones anywheres, except the cops that is. Na na na na na na na na na BatsApp.

     •  Reply
  10. Gentbear3b1a
    Gent  2 months ago

    Ping Ping Ping Ping! One would theenks they woulda calls Sheriff Richoshet Rabbit. But no no no no no no no nooooo. They is callings the Bat Man.

     •  Reply
  11. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  2 months ago

    Hey, isn’t that Kyle Rittenhouse in the angry mob?

     •  Reply
  12. Josette   13 march 2016   c
    Bill Thompson  2 months ago

    That’s right, Mind-dulled, don’t call the police. Don’t call the people who have the legal authority and firepower to quell and disperse an angry mob. No, call in a group of anti-protesters! What can go wrong?

     •  Reply
  13. Poster 504x498 f8f8f8 pad 600x600 f8f8f8
    Surly Squirrel Premium Member 2 months ago

    Oh, wow. This is nuts. I bet nobody had superfriends on their Prestige arc bingo card.

    Superfriend powers, activate!

    I feel kind of bad now. Had no idea Batiuk was this far gone mentally. Best wishes to Tom Batiuk, his family, and his caretakers.

     •  Reply
  14. Blu
    Blu Bunny  2 months ago

    Police are staying back until the mob dies down.

     •  Reply
  15. Small bcn u 201703201232
    mysterysciencefreezer  2 months ago

    BAT-DORKS ASSEMBLE! (Yes, I know…)

     •  Reply
  16. Missing large
    Fetzee  2 months ago

    The town should be more in an uproar over Crankshaft destroying mailboxes and missing kids scheduled bus pick ups

     •  Reply
  17. Missing large
    sueb1863  2 months ago

    “It sounds like Lillian’s reading parts of ‘Fahrenheit 451’ to them!!”

    “Oh, well, don’t worry, they’ll be OK, that should bore them and they’ll all just pass out!”

     •  Reply
  18. Duder
    Forrest the dude Premium Member 2 months ago

    How the heck are they going to “Save Lilian and Gramps!” against an angry mob of protesters? This ain’t no game girly.

     •  Reply
  19. Monty python french1
    French Persons Premium Member 2 months ago

    The folks at Komix Korner can’t be bothered to leave their video game consoles…

     •  Reply
  20. Missing large
    puddleglum1066  2 months ago

    But will help arrive in a Flash?

     •  Reply
  21. Missing large
    Crandlemire  2 months ago

    The crowd swarmed outside the Bookseller, voices twisted in rage. Lillian stood firm, holding Fahrenheit 451 high, the words she’d read still hanging in the air. But the mob’s anger thickened—they didn’t want to hear. Fear flickered in their eyes, masked as righteousness.

    From a distance, Mindy watched, heart pounding. She grabbed her phone, panicked. “Pete, there’s an angry mob at the Bookseller. Lillian and Gramps could get hurt. I sent you a video.”

    Pete moved fast. The message went out through social media, each ping like a flare in the night. He sent Bradbury’s words: “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” It spread through town, a quiet plea.

    Lillian’s voice softened, but her resolve stayed. “You don’t have to like everything,” she called. “But burning ideas, silencing people—that’s how we lose who we are, how we lose freedom.”

    The mob paused as phones lit up. Some read Pete’s message, others stood, unsure. Ed stepped forward beside Lillian. “You don’t have to agree,” he said. “But if you close off every idea that doesn’t fit your mold, you’re no better than the ones you’re fighting. We fought for freedom, not to lock it away.”

    The crowd’s anger flickered, then dimmed. Some lowered their signs, the weight of their own actions sinking in.

    Lillian and Ed stood strong as the mob’s fury ebbed. Not everyone was convinced, but tonight, the message had cut through.

     •  Reply
  22. Large first sunday of advent
    Dkram  2 months ago

    To the Batpoles!

    \\//_

     •  Reply
  23. Dr who weeping angel  1
    Blaidd Drwg Premium Member 2 months ago

    Crank shows up in his school bus, runs over all the protesters, then proceeds into the wall, the building collapses on the bus, and the only thing left standing is the staircase, which then catches on fire. Next comic, everyone is at the restaurant having pizza, and all is forgiven and forgotten.

     •  Reply
  24. Missing large
    lemonbaskt  2 months ago

    nothing to see here people as the police cheif from south park arrives

     •  Reply
  25. Missing large
    Out of the Past  2 months ago

    Readers are at least relieved to know Les Moore has been kept safely out of harm’s way. He can come in at the conclusion and sum things up for us with a wise smirk. Otherwise, how would you know what to think?

     •  Reply
  26. Ted4th
    seismic-2 Premium Member 2 months ago

    Isn’t this exciting? Isn’t this deeply moving? And isn’t this totally believable?

    NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA

    NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA

     •  Reply
  27. Missing large
    tcayer  2 months ago

    The whole town will come together to hear Lillian read to them!

     •  Reply
  28. Missing large
    Cabbage Jack  2 months ago

    This arc has really opened my eyes…to what an absolute hack Batty is. OF COURSE comix boox had to appear. He can’t stop himself.

     •  Reply
  29. Missing large
    zendog13la  2 months ago

    Comic nerds vs. MAGA terrorists.

    This should be fun.

     •  Reply
  30. Jock
    Godfreydaniel  2 months ago

    So far at least, no spot of the ol’ ultra-violence…..

     •  Reply
  31. 1
    ncorgbl  2 months ago

    More likely the protesters will get hurt.

     •  Reply
  32. Cat spy
    C wolfe  2 months ago

    They are more than protesters, they are vandals. The cops should get a search warrant for the leaders house to look for arson evidence.

     •  Reply
  33. Img 6018
    csroberto2854  2 months ago

    This storyline is just the “I-wanna-throw-myself-onto-a-oncoming-train-rather-than-read-this” type of garbage

     •  Reply
  34. Missing large
    sueb1863  2 months ago

    Or you could just, y’know…call the cops.

     •  Reply
  35. Th 3942895048 gocomics2
    be ware of eve hill  2 months ago

    This is one of those strips where I’d love to see peoples’ reaction after they read it.

    I think Batty has really blown it here. He had many unironic readers enthusiastically waiting to see how Lillian would talk down the mob. One commenter even suggested readers panning the story would soon owe Batty an apology. Almost everyone thought the story was about the freedom to read, book banning/burning is bad, or something. Lillian talking down the crowd by reading something from the book could have been a resolution with some merit. Instead, he introduced a new element, which appears to be unnecessary silliness. It really detracts from the serious nature of what appeared to be a really weighty subject for a comic strip like Crankshaft.

    Are Windy Mindy and the Komix Krew going to show the protesters the error of their ways by utilizing some plot device Batty read in a silver-age comic book? How can anybody ever take Batty seriously ever again, if he does? Maybe he just can’t help himself. The man has comic books on his brain. A real one-track mind.

    I don’t know why I’m surprised. I’ll still be curious to see where this goes, but I think Batty needs to bring in Timemop for a do-over.

     •  Reply
  36. Th 3942895048 gocomics2
    be ware of eve hill  2 months ago

    Mopey Pete lives in Westview, as do probably most of the Bat Friends. In reality, Lillian probably wouldn’t remain unscathed in the half-hour it would take them to arrive at her home.

    What a well-behaved mob. No one thought to bring some eggs or tomatoes? Seriously?

    C’mon, paint brush guy. Throw the bucket of paint on Lillian. Do SOMETHING!

     •  Reply
  37. Missing large
    barrettcc  2 months ago

    What would be funny is that the police show up and they’re the Keystone Cops. Not entirely unbelievable considering everything to this point.

     •  Reply
  38. Missing large
    billsplut  2 months ago

    Tom not only hasn’t read the book, he couldn’t even bother to Google “F451 quotes.” Tell us again how this is an Important Look at a Serious Subject.

     •  Reply
  39. Img 5203
    rockyridge1977  2 months ago

    Crank man!!!!!!!!

     •  Reply
  40. Images 3
    Strawberry King  2 months ago

    So are five Batmobiles coming?

     •  Reply
  41. Missing large
    billsplut  2 months ago

    A minute of Google and reading: "There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” Ray Bradbury TOO MUCH WORK FOR TOM! Now, it’s-COMICAL BOOKS!

     •  Reply
  42. Missing large
    ckeller  2 months ago

    The “Old Bat” signal!

     •  Reply
  43. Missing large
    [Unnamed Reader - 14b4ce]  2 months ago

    I seriously don’t think Batman will show up.

    They’ll have to settle for Booster Gold

     •  Reply
Sign in to comment