Batiuk has attempted to tackle many serious issues in the strip, including: Crankshaft often features flashback scenes involving Ed (or one of his friends) as a younger individual.
Daily strips commencing July 20, 2009, appear to show Ed Crankshaft in a state of grave decline, his life flashing before his eyes as he attends a Little League baseball game.
This timeline eventually came back starting in late 2017, but in the sister strip Funky Winkerbean which, because of two time skips, takes place several decades later than the Crankshaft series.
On September 9, this included this first appearance of the older and sicker Crankshaft in 8 years, showing him living in a nursing home.
[11] This story line also featured other members of the cast visibly older as well and implies a possible relationship between his granddaughter Mindy Murdoch and Funky Winkerbean regular Pete Roberts-Reynolds.