The main character of "Crankshaft" was born when readers suggested Tom Batiuk add a school bus driver to the "Funky Winkerbean" comic strip. His school bus driver from way back when became the model for Ed Crankshaft, although Batiuk had to tone him down some to make him believable.
They say that the specific reveals the universal, and it was never truer than with Ed Crankshaft. Batiuk heard from readers regaling him with similar stories of how much Crankshaft reminded them of their bus experiences. All of this began to snowball to the point where Crankshaft dominated and threatened to take over “Funky.” Batiuk was faced with either dialing him back or spinning him off into his own strip. The rest, as they say, is history.
Crankshaft’s world expanded to include his bus garage cohorts, his friends the “back booth boys” who meet for conversation and bottomless coffee mornings at the local Dale Evans restaurant, and his neighbors Lillian and Lucy McKenzie.
Chuck Ayers came on board as the artist, "Crankshaft" was picked up for syndication, and they hit the gas as hard as Batiuk's former bus driver used to.
Today, along with the help of artist Dan Davis, the story of Crankshaft’s struggle with the universe continues, and whether it’s a backyard grill, a leaf-filled gutter, a squirrel-infested bird feeder, or one of Lena’s inedible brownies in the bus garage, he continues to soldier on in his own inimitable and cranky fashion.
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About Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis
Through "Crankshaft," creator Tom Batiuk works through the repressed horrors and trauma of his own childhood school bus experiences.
"It all started in Akron, Ohio, when I was in third grade," Batiuk recalls, when he was “suddenly faced with the existential crisis of having to ride a school bus every day.” So began Batiuk's traumatizing travails as a recovering school bus rider. "What followed were seemingly endless days of running down the driveway with my school books, my trombone case, and my papier-mâché volcano on a plywood board trying to catch the bus. The thought of facing this each morning would keep me up nights."
Flash forward to a book tour for one of Batiuk's "Funky Winkerbean" books, when a reader suggested Batiuk add a school bus driver. "I jotted down a couple of possible school bus driver names: Max Axelrod and the name that I would eventually go with, Ed Crankshaft. My school bus driver from way back when became the model for Crankshaft."
Ed Crankshaft's popularity outgrew "Funky," so the new strip "Crankshaft" was born. Crankshaft's baseball story arcs have been collected and published as the Independent Publishers Award-winning book "Strike Four" by the Kent State University Press. The story of Crankshaft's neighbor Lucy’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis became the Eisner-nominated book "Roses in December."
First artist Chuck Ayers and now artist Dan Davis have helped tell the Crankshaft story.
Cast
Ed Crankshaft
You never know which Ed Crankshaft you're going to get—the irritable one, the angry one, the upset one, or the plain old garden-variety grumpy one. Regardless, they're all an act designed to cover up his soft, sweet side. Obviously, he's got an Oscar coming.
Pam
Crankshaft’s daughter who loves her dad in spite of his flaws.
Jeff
Crankshaft’s son-in-law who loves Pam in spite of Crankshaft’s flaws.
Lillian
Crankshaft’s long-suffering neighbor who also runs the Village Booksmith bookstore.
