My Snarkers and Nitpickers, Dissectors and Shitposters, Haters, Apologists, Defenders, and those of you who just check to see if I post pictures of cows.
Welcome, one and all, to the long awaited 2024 Crankshaft Awards Show!
And WHAT a special Awards Show it is. For this year, for the first time (I think) since TFH promised HeyItsDave a signed copy of Lisa’s Story, we have an actual physical award to hand out!
Continue reading “The 2024 Crankshaft Awards! Day 1!”Don’t forget to vote in the 2024 Crankshaft awards! See a list of nominees here. Vote here.
Voting closes Friday!
In the meantime, longtime commenter and snarker hitorque popped back up and said something that once again got me musing on the metaphysics of the Funkyverse.
We’ve talked a lot about Batiuk’s beliefs and potential lack thereof. Normally he treats religious/metaphysical questions like a pseudoprayer given before a multicultural family reunion. Vague, big tent, feel good, theism with just enough winks and nods to agnostic toleration to make all but the most militant atheists feel mostly at ease.
Which is fine, IMO. I hate Batiuk the most when he’s thumbing his nose at traditionalists. I prefer him playing coy.
And for a guy notorious for having a world where everyone thinks the same, looks the same, and talks the same, there’s hints that he made an honest attempt to give his characters differing philosophical viewpoints without making any of them (except Roberta, of course) a strawman loser.
Some couples did get married in churches. Fred and Ann Fairgood, Pam and Jeff Murdoch, Crazy Harry and Donna Klinghorn, Bull and Linda Bushka (Until food poisoning from rotten ranch pizza interfered.)
Pam, Jeff, and Lillian seem to have the most hints of long term church involvement, with some arcs dedicated to them doing church activities outside of Christmas, but they’re not the only ones that have lined a pew or made an offhand reference to a higher power.
Funky himself was for a time, pretty solidly agnostic, and even had an arc in 2004 dedicated to philosophical musings with Wade.
And for those of you in the ‘Batty Pro Atheist’ camp, he did have Funky quietly pick up church attendance later in life. So make what of that you will.
Sorry for such a long gap between posts. I think the ‘Crankys’ this year would more aptly be called the “Slappies”. You would not believe how long I’ve been agonizing about the relative dickishness and awards-worthiness of an entire A-Team of Assholes.
Cs asked for it, so I thought I would give it to you. The plotline where Cranky almost died of the flu. What year was this? I’m not sure. The ‘Strike Four’ collection doesn’t have any dates on the strips, but Mindy and Max are still pretty young, so some time in the early to mid 90’s. Fairly early in the strip’s run, relatively speaking.
I post this as a reminder that Cranky was tackling soap-opera style pathos and long form arcs from the beginning. It was never purely a gag strip like early Funky Winkerbean was. I’m curious to know what you all think of it. Personally, I find a lot to like here, but I’ve always been a classic Crankshaft apologist.
Continue reading “That Time Cranky Almost Died”
Y. Knott had a great question on my last post,
For all of your information, Cranky was silent in 46 of his strip appearances in 2024. Though for many of those ‘silent’ strips he was still very much the center of attention.
Son of Stuck Funky 