"Crankshaft" Comic Strip, Thirtieth Anniversary Story Arc, 2000

May 4 Collection - Box 185

Finding Aid

Prepared by Robert E. Maisch, November 25, 2002
1 slim document case, .16 cubic foot, 12th floor
 

Biographical Note

Writer Tom Batiuk was born in 1947 in Akron, Ohio and had his first cartoons published in his elementary school newspaper. He won a national scholastic art award in high school and, after graduating from Kent State University with a B.A. in Fine Arts and a certificate in Education in 1969, Batiuk taught art a junior high school. During this time he created the popular comic strip "Funky Winkerbean" based on his teaching experiences. The debut of "Crankshaft," the hilarious depiction of an enduring, but irascible school bus driver only heightened the cartoonist's interest in classrooms and school cafeterias. Batiuk still occasionally sits in as a substitute teacher at his old high school for inspiration. Batiuk currently resides in Medina, Ohio with his wife Cathy, and their son Brian.

Like Batiuk, Chuck Ayers, who draws "Crankshaft" was also born in Akron, Ohio in 1947 and graduated from Kent State University in Graphic Design. Ayers launched his cartoon career working as a staff artist and later editorial cartoonist at the Akron Beacon Journal. He taught cartooning at Kent State University for a time, and is currently a part-time instructor for cartooning classes at the University of Akron. Ayers received a first place award for Editorial Cartoons from the Ohio Associated Press in 1986. His cartoons have been reprinted in The New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes Magazine and school textbooks.

Scope and Content

The 34 original art comic strips within this April 3 through May 6, 2000 collection stand as a thirty year rememberance of the events of May 4th, 1970 at Kent State University when National Guardsman fired upon and killed four students during an anti-Vietnam War protest. The strip revisits the campus and the individuals who populate the strip today, as well as portraying them as they were in May 1970. Representing the many points of view of the students, the protestors, National Guardsman and the strip's title character as a concerned father and grizzled veteran of the second World War, this story portrays the turbulance of that time in American history.

Restrictions on Usage

This material is protected by copyright. Duplications will not be provided without written permission of the copyright owners.

Box 185

Folder -- Contents

  1. Biographical sketch of Tom Batiuk (1), Chuck Ayers (2) and context statement of "Crankshaft" strip's May 4th story arc.
  2. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip.Published April 3, 2000 as the first installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  3. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 4, 2000 as the second installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  4. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 5, 2000 as the third installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  5. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 6, 2000 as the fourth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  6. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. published April 7, 2000 as the fifth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  7. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 8, 2000 as the sixth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  8. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" black & white original art on artboard for the Sunday "Crankshaft" comic strip. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" vellum overlay is affixed as color guide instruction for color printing reproduction. Published April 9, 2000 as the seventh installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  9. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 10, 2000 as the eighth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  10. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 11, 2000 as the ninth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  11. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 12, 2000 as the tenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  12. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 13, 2000 as the eleventh installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  13. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 14, 2000 as the twelfth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  14. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 15, 2000 as the thirteenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  15. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" black & white original art on artboard for the Sunday "Crankshaft" comic strip. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" vellum overlay is affixed as color guide instruction for color printing reproduction. Published April 16, 2000 as the fourteenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  16. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 17, 2000 as the fifteenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  17. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 18, 2000 as the sixteenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  18. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 19, 2000 as the seventeenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  19. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 20, 2000 as the eighteenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  20. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 21, 2000 as the ninteenth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  21. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 22, 2000 as the twentieth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  22. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" black & white original art on artboard for the Sunday "Crankshaft" comic strip. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" vellum overlay is affixed as color guide instruction for color printing reproduction. Published April 23, 2000 as the twenty-first installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  23. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 24, 2000 as the twenty-second installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  24. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 25, 2000 as the twenty-third installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  25. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 26, 2000 as the twenty-fourth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  26. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 27, 2000 as the twenty-fifth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  27. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 28, 2000 as the twenty-sixth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  28. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published April 29, 2000 as the twenty-seventh installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  29. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" black & white original art on artboard for the Sunday "Crankshaft" comic strip. 14 1/2" x 7 3/4" vellum overlay is affixed as color guide instruction for color printing reproduction. Published April 30, 2000 as the twenty-eighth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  30. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published May 1, 2000 as the twenty-ninth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  31. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published May 2, 2000 as the thirtieth installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  32. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published May 3, 2000 as the thirty-first installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  33. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published May 4, 2000 as the thirty-second installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  34. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published May 5, 2000 as the thirty-third installment of a 34 segment story arc.
  35. 10 1/2" x 5" black & white original art on artboard for the Daily "Crankshaft" comic strip. Published May 6, 2000 as the thirty-fourth and final installment of the story arc.