It’s time to have some fun with the funny pages. You can pick up your print copy of Northeast Ohio Boomer magazine’s March/April 2023 issue on newsstands this week, where our cover features Medina County’s Tom Batiuk, the face behind the funnies.
Batiuk recently retired “Funky Winkerbean” but is still cranking out “Crankshaft,” as you’ll learn more about in our feature spread.
In order to celebrate this enduring cranky character, be sure to enter yourself or someone you know and love in our Crankshaft look-alike contest by submitting a photo file to [email protected] by April 20 with ‘Crankshaft’ as the subject line. You may win an autographed book, “Strike Four!” by Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers.
Ed Crankshaft, a grouchy school bus driver originally from the “Funky Winkerbean” series, spun off into his own comic strip in 1987 and was originally illustrated by Ayers. In “Crankshaft,” Batiuk has guided his characters through situations familiar to aging adults. Crankshaft’s coworkers, friends, neighbors and students provide fodder for the strip, interspersed with flashbacks, while dealing with Alzheimer’s, aging, family relationships and current events.
Batiuk is working out the next stage for Ed Crankshaft. “I would like to deal with him retiring from school bus driving; it does really help if you can draw from personal experience. My experiences are going to be more his experiences.”
Fans without a newspaper subscription can see “Crankshaft” daily, online.
Look for your FREE hard copy of our full-color glossy magazine at your neighborhood Marc’s, Discount Drug Mart, Giant Eagle, library, fitness center or over 700 other outlets throughout Northeast Ohio. You can always contact us at [email protected] to find the closest location near you. Or join our Boomer Insider Club to receive the magazine FREE at your home.
