I immediately began hearing from readers who recognized that surly old curmudgeon. Apparently I’d come up with another comics character who was unique to the comics page yet familiar to my readers. Not since the introduction of my band director Harry L. Dinkle had I gotten such an enthusiastic response to a new character. And, not being a complete idiot, it made me want to use him all the more. My school secretary, Betty, would soldier on until I finally sent her off to the cartoon character’s retirement home, but Crankshaft was turning out to be a lot of fun. Who knew? I was beginning to see more dimensions to him than I had originally anticipated. Much like John Darling before him, Crankshaft was becoming a strip within a strip. Hmmmm.
From The Complete Funky Winkerbean Volume Five
