Recent Comments

1. 1 day ago on Crankshaft

   Murder at the Book Burning? Pshaw! Oversell much? No one was killed in that nothingburger. No one even as in so much stubbed their toe. The only thing hurt that night was some people’s feelings.

2. 2 days ago on Crankshaft

   Oh. So, the “white shirt” is the twin Emily. Ed Crankshaft magically transforms into the “Black Shirt” Amelia.

   Have a nice rest of the week off, Ed. Maybe you could do a little snow shoveling for Pm and Jff the Emasculated.

   What we need in this strip is a little action, like in the classic Antonio Prohias’ Spy vs. Spy comics. Batty should insert a little Spy vs. Spy action between the twinsies every once in a while. In every other story arc, White-Shirt Emily concocts a scheme to kill Black-Shirt Amelia. In the following story arc featuring the twins, the roles are reversed.

   I LIKE IT!!! That sure would spice up the c̸o̸m̸i̸c̸ strip. Who else is up for that?

3. 3 days ago on Crankshaft

   So, I guess the indistinguishable blonde Emily “Reynolds” is a recurring character now? It sure would be nice if Batty gave them name badges so we could tell them apart.

   Me: Mr. Batiuk, who is this blonde woman? Which one is she?

   Batty: It really doesn’t matter. She’s a blonde. Her identity is irrelevant to the story. She’s just there to be a blonde.

   My guess? Since this story takes place in the Village Booksmith, I assume the blonde character is one of the Mathews twins, specifically Emily. After experiencing yet another TimeMop time flux, Emily earned a Bachelor’s in Library Science from Kent State University. Her friendship with Lillian motivated her to pursue this degree. Emily is now part owner of the Village Booksmith. She is happily married and has taken her spouse’s last name, “Reynolds”. They have two children, a son Cuthbert and a daughter Prudence. They also have a cockerpoo named “Cocker Doodle Doo”.

   Meanwhile, her twin sister Amelia, who still plays electric guitar, dyed her hair black, and is now heavily tattooed. She is playing lead guitar and is touring with her death metal band ‘Skullslinger’ somewhere in Germany. Also spurred on by her friendship with the witch Lillian, Amelia now goes by the name Lillith ‘Axelina’ Von Hellstrom, the solo slayer.

   (shrug emoji)

4. 3 days ago on Crankshaft

   The witch Lillian McKenzie has two cat familiars, Beelzebub and Mephistopheles.

5. 7 days ago on Crankshaft

   Schnikes! Death by impalement on a spike? How medieval. That is just about the last thing I ever expected to read in Crankshaft. I don’t know which is worse. That Skippity-Do-Dah brought it up, or that this Emily doesn’t even bat an eye upon hearing about it.

   Batty, did you miss a session with your therapist? Do you have some unresolved anger issues? Please, don’t skip your medications.

6. 8 days ago on Crankshaft

   Why is Emily there without Amelia ? Did she lose the coin flip?

   Or is twin sister Amelia the true loser who will have to shadow the mediocre cartoonist Batton Thomas in next week’s Crankshaft? (insert puke emoji)

7. 8 days ago on Crankshaft

   Stories we’d like to see, but the cartoonist lacks the skill:

   Best Actress Award Winner Les Moore sends Emily out on an alleged assignment to shadow Skip. He wants Emily to find out what Skip knows about the bookstore fires he set.

8. 9 days ago on Crankshaft

   I guess we’re supposed to feel some kind of sympathy for Skip. Is TB saying being a newspaper man is a thankless, lonely job? What happened to all the volunteers that were at the “Save the Sentinel” meeting a few years ago?

   TB scoffs at the idea of continuity.

9. 10 days ago on Crankshaft

   Where’s Amelia? I thought the double-mint twins had to do everything together.

10. 10 days ago on Crankshaft

    Let movie stars and male supermodels bridle at the sight of a true, desirable man. The noble comic book writer. /s