Crankshaft is an eponymous comic strip about an elderly, curmudgeonly school bus driver which debuted on June 8, 1987. Written by Tom Batiuk and drawn by Chuck Ayers, Crankshaft is a spinoff from Batiuk’s comic strip Funky Winkerbean. This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... A new 1973 Wayne Lifeguard school bus won in national contest for safety ideas is presented to winning driver, Mrs. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Tom Batiuk (born 1947 in Akron, Ohio) is an American comic strip creator. ... A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a new company formed from a university research group. ... Funky Winkerbean is a comic strip created by high school teacher Tom Batiuk (pronounced BAT-ick), which debuted on March 26, 1972. ...

Ed Crankshaft is a widower with two daughters, Pam and Chris (he had a son who died as an infant), and is a World War II veteran. In his youth, he was an aspiring baseball player who never made it to the major leagues. Pam, who is a major fixture, is married to Jeff and has two children, son Max and daughter Mindy. Chris (who according to the storyline lives in New York City) occasionally appears in the strips. Crankshaft drives a school bus for a living and is part of the company bowling team (though he is not a great bowler). Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII or World War Two), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the... Baseball is a team sport in which a player on one team (the pitcher) attempts to throw a hard, fist-sized ball past a player on the other team (the batter), who attempts to hit the baseball with a tapered, smooth cylinder called a bat. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ... A new 1973 Wayne Lifeguard school bus won in national contest for safety ideas is presented to winning driver, Mrs. ... Bowling ball and two pins Ten-pin bowling lane Bowling is a game in which players attempt to score points by rolling a ball along a surface to knock down objects called pins. ...

Crankshaft is known for recurring running gags, such as: This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

• insulting the cooking efforts (especially the brownies) of Lena, a co-worker,
• constantly trying to outrun kids (and their mothers) who miss the bus,
• pouring too much lighter fluid on the grill, causing it to explode whenever he lights it, and
• destroying the mailbox of a neighbor (identified as Keesterman) every day he drives the bus.

Batiuk has tackled many serious issues in the strip, including: A propane gas grill with a custom-built aluminium stand partly submerged in snow in Akureyri, Iceland. ...

• Adult literacy: When Crankshaft revealed to his family that he could not read, the strip followed his efforts to learn.
• Alzheimer disease and dementia: One of Crankshaft's friends, Charlie, has a spouse who no longer recognizes him. A neighbor, Lucy, also exhibits symptoms and has moved to a care facility.
• Access to higher education among the poor: Crankshaft recognized that the students on his bus route would never better themselves if they didn't attend college, yet they were too poor to do so. Therefore, Crankshaft sold an extensive collection of movie posters to set up a fund so they could attend college after graduation
• Recent history: The anniversary of the May 4, 1970, shooting and killing of Kent State University students by Ohio National Guard troops was commemorated through flashbacks of Pam and Jeff's involvement.

Crankshaft often features flashback scenes involving Ed (or one of his friends) as a younger individual. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2005, flashback scenes were used extensively in a storyline that had Ed and several of his war buddies visiting the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. Literacy is the ability to read and write. ... For other senses of this word, see dementia (disambiguation). ... Mary Ann Vecchio kneels over the body of Jeffrey Miller The Kent State shootings, also known as May 4 or the Kent State Massacre, occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of students by the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4... Look up flashback in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Thanksgiving is an annual holiday observed in the United States and Canada to celebrate being thankful for the things one has. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Jesus Christ) is a traditional holiday observed on 25 December. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Panorama of the Memorial, seen from the east. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

Trivia

The road to the Duncanville Independent School District bus barn in Duncanville, Texas is named Crankshaft Drive, after the comic strip. Duncanville is a city located in Dallas County, Texas in the United States of America. ...

External links

• Crankshaft at King Features
• Toonopedia entry