ComicBookHarriet

Eliminating the Obstacles

Taking a break from Batiuk’s little nonsensical trip down memory lane in Crankshaft sounds nice, right?

So how about continuing our little nonsensical trip down memory lane in Act I Funky Winkerbean, following the Sweet Polly Oliver of the arcade consoles, The Eliminator.

After the one-off strip in June 1983 that just rehashed the already broken-in joke of the arcade cabinets in Montoni’s being afraid of The Eliminator’s skills, we next get the weeklong Return of the Jedi arc I covered this May. So I won’t reprint it all here. But from July 26th to July 30th, 1983, we were treated to the little brat using her stolen helmet to budge in line for tickets and snacks. Probably ruining the experience for everyone around her by blipping in and out of the theater during the movie itself, like a proto-zoomer doomscrolling DoorDash during Dune.

*Did I ever tell you guys that I went to the Transformers ’07 movie five times in theaters? And even I find this excessive.*

Process of Elimination.

Heya all my beautiful Nitters of the Beady-Eyed Variety!

After a week that saw me travelling deep into the blistering inferno of drenching sweat, blinding sunshine, and endless Cracker Barrels known as the American Southeast, I’m back and ready to continue the deep dive on our favorite gender-nonconforming computer whiz, The Eliminator.

After their two week introductory arc that started July 12, 1982 (Happy 42nd Birthday Eliminator!), they pop up again for a Sunday strip on September 12, where the focus was still completely centered on Vidya games and pop culture.

The part where the hero saves the mainframe universe’s concept of a higher power by throwing a frisbee at a giant spinning face? My idea. Got it after an amusing incident where a Scientologist wandered into the St. Spires pancake breakfast.

Back to the Back Issues!

Big News.

After all these years…

Finally, I have them all.

Mopping up the Past

What a week it has been.

So many interesting things we learned this week as we travelled through the fever dream that is current era Crankshaft.

This Week In Crankshaft: The Gutter

After a brutal fight in the virtual blog writer’s room, I’ve emerged to provide analysis for Crankshaft this week. So congratulations to Banana Jr. 6000 for his victory.

A few hours ago I was standing in the kitchen, freshly washed from a day on the tractor, trying to explain to my housemate just how uniquely terrible this week was. As a woman with cardboard long boxes in her closet, a Star Wars tattoo on her ass, and more action figures than socks, I’m ready to say it: I’m frikken sick of comic books. Superhero fatigue has hit SOSF big time. It’s part of why I stealth-ended the year long Dead Skunk Head Analysis this fall. I was just kinda done with the Funkyverse’s weird fetish for superheroes. Maybe I’ll revisit some of it someday. But ugh, not for a while.