Webcomic / Crankrats

"Be more careful round here. Y’dunno WHAT’s gonna come crawlin’ out,"

— Jack

Crankrats is the title of a Steampunk webcomic begun in 2011 written and illustrated by Katherine Ellis.

Maddy and Jack were the best of friends, until the Altavian bombing of Banemberg forced them apart. Maddy’s left hand was shattered while flying with her family to the countryside. Jack was impaled in the bombing and was rescued by means of a generator surgically implanted into his body, turning him into a Crankrat.

Eventually, the Altavians and Bantarians signed a tenuous cease-fire. However, the treaty was conditional on the extermination of all the crankrats.

Now years later, a grown-up Madelene has returned to Banemberg to work as a bar singer and support her family, while in Banemberg, Jack has managed to escape the extermination of the rest of the crankrats to work at the very same bar. Maddy believes that Jack died in the bombing all those years ago. Jack on the other hand, believes that he has already found Maddy, living in the haze in the lower levels of Banemberg, now driven insane.

When Maddy’s airship comes under assault by an Altavian gunrunner, Jack drives the gunrunner away. However, the emergence of a crankrat after all these years threatens the already tenuous cease fire...

Crankrats is not updated on a regular schedule, but Kathy’s Tumblr has plenty of extra goodies to keep everyone satisfied. Crankrats also has an official Twitter to keep everyone up to date.

Crankrats can be read here or on DeviantArt, and also on Webtoon here. You can also support the artist on Patreon, or by purchasing the first three chapters in hardcover format from the Crankrats shop.

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Contains examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Lady Idonia Biffen has... impure intentions concerning Jack. Or she's just messing with him. In any case, Jack would rather stay as far away from her as possible.
• The Ace: Harley. He was the youngest gunner ever to serve, made his first kill when he was fifteen, and was invalidated out of service after only five years with a stellar reputation which he earned by slaughtering all the crankrats except Jack.
• The Alcoholic: Jack. A Functional Addict, but for all the silly moments it brings, Harley has serious worries about Jack's stability. He's self-medicating the understandable psychological problems, but still.
• Alpha Bitch: Myrtle Hennesy.
• Ambiguously Brown: Altavians have a Magical Native American shade to them.
• Anti-Villain: Hunter and Mayfax have been deeply scarred by the war, and are willing to do anything to protect their respective countries, and Colonel Ruxton is little more than a Punch-Clock Villain in that respect. On the other hand, Word of God utterly Averts this in the case of Silas.
• Armor-Piercing Question: "Do you miss your parents?"
• Art Evolution: Compare page 1 to page 132.
  • Also check out this doodle for a more specific example of how the design of the two main characters have evolved.
• Applied Phlebotinum: The mechanics behind the eponymous Crankrats.
• Badass Boast:

  Hunter: You know... only two men in this world are allowed to insult me. One of them is dead... the other is waiting for my call... which makes you neither.

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Maddy and Jack. You love it. Don't deny it.
• Big Damn Heroes: Deconstructed. Jack’s rescue of Maddy's Valkyrie in chapter 4 ends up almost (or not-so-almost) destabilizing a fragile peace treaty.
• Blood Knight: The crankrats were created by the Bantarians for the express purpose of slaughtering Altavians. In hindsight, they may have been a bit too successful.
• Brick Joke: On page 195, Jack tells Maddy that a certain regular patron will forget that he made an order as soon as he made it. Sure enough, eleven pages later he has forgotten it.
• Chekhov's News: On page 135, a random newspaper blows across a panel with the headline: "Coronation of Prince Elliot. The End of General Mayfax's Reign?"
• Corrupt the Cutie: Turned into a Crankrat, Jack was essentially being molded into a Child Soldier before the government decided to kill him instead. Yup, just ruined pages 229-32 for you!
• Cunning Linguist: Maddy taught herself to speak Altavian. Unfortunately Jack can't speak it, since he grew up in the city.
• Dramatic Irony: Lots.
  • For a good couple of chapters, Maddie and Jack have no idea they're each other's childhood friend. When this is resolved, Jack has already yelled at Harley for arranging the whole situation, but Maddie still thinks this is an accident. Jack doesn't, however, know why Harley's done it...
  • The Altavians have no idea that the mysterious crankrat is (ethnically) Altavian. Or that he has no intention whatsoever of hurting anyone, least of all them.
  • Elliot doesn't know a good lot of things the reader does.
• Einstein Hair: Lettie's father, a somewhat Mad Scientist, has had Messy Hair that has to be seen (in flashbacks) to be disbelieved, even before going on the run to save lil' Jack from the authorities.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • The first thing we see of Lettie is her rushing towards Harley, all in a panic about forgetting to pick up The New Girl from the Valkyrie station ...until she is reminded that the arrival isn't until the next day.
  • Also, the first time we see Jack is when he rescues a small child.
  • The first thing we see Hunter doing is tracking a band of slavers against the orders of his superior.
• Facial Markings: Altavian Clan Markings.
• Fake-Out Make-Out: To keep Silas's attention away from Jack, Maddie pulls him behind the bar and kisses him, so Silas thinks it's just debauchery going on and turns away in disgust.
• Fantastic Racism: Bantarians regularly enslave Altavians, and generally think of them as little more than animals. There are exceptions, such as Eva (who taught herself the language), her brother Elliot (who's fascinated by them and also learned some altavian), Maddie (ditto, since her childhood best friend was Altavian), and Harley.
• Fate Worse than Death: You don't want to become a Hazer, driven to madness by the smog in the lower levels of Banemberg. Altavians seem to know a cure, or at least a preventive drug.
• Fatherly Scientist: Lettie's (biological) dad was the creator of crankrats, or at least Jack, whom he has pretty much adopted.
• Fear of Thunder: Maddy. As she explains, it reminds her of the air raids from her childhood.
• Fiery Redhead: Lettie, an unending bundle of energy.
• Foreign-Looking Font: The Altavian language is represented by a serifed font, while Bantarian's sans serif.
• Genki Girl: "Hurricane" Lettie.
• Glamorous Wartime Singer: Myrtle Hennesy. Desperately believing she's glamorous, anyway.
• The Glomp: Lettie has a bad habit of facegrabbing people.
• Gone Horribly Right: Creating a bunch of walking electrical storms in order to mercilessly slaughter your enemies? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
• Hangover Sensitivity: Jack. Frequently.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Jack and Harley, with shades of Vitriolic Best Buds.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Maddy is 5'5" and Jack is 6'6" (except when he's 6'7").
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The reason for Jack’s Emergency Transformation into a Crankrat.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jack. He might be an abrasive, chain-smoking drunk, but he cares deeply for Lettie and the Hazer girl that he thinks is Maddy.
• Lady of War: Lady Torren.
• Like Brother and Sister: Jack and Lettie consider themselves siblings. He has been pretty much adopted by her Fatherly Scientist dad.
• Loyal Animal Companion / Canine Companion: Dachi and Toogie; Altavian Wargs.
• Mechanical Horses: They're sort of hidden in the background, and they have yet to be relevant to the plot (and that's even assuming they will be relevant at all) but goddammit, they're just so awesome!
  • Since Eva got one of those for her escape and it carried her to a very plot-significant place, the Mechanical Horses are officially important! Yay!
• Mechanical Animals: Joey the mechanimal. He has a built in two-way radio! His tail is a screwdriver! He irritates Harley when he's working! He tastes like oil! Ain't he cute?
• Mood Whiplash: This page. In a single panel, the atmosphere switches from disgustingly cute to flat out terrifying.
• Officer and a Gentleman: Harley is a Reasonable Authority Figure for his employees and a retired officer (who may or may not have a hand in city politics).
• Official Couple: Maddy and Jack. Don't believe us? Just have a look through Kathy’s Tumblr. Plus, Word of God all but confirms it.
• One-Man Army: A single Crankrat is capable of taking on entire battleships or troop formations. It's outright stated that they were the only Bantarian weapon that the Altavian army feared.
• One-Steve Limit: In-universe, Jack believes it.
  Jack: NAME STEALIN’ BINT!
• Old Shame: invoked The crankrats are this to the Bantarian military In-Universe.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Named Hazers, they're people caught in the haze (smog that fills the lower levels) and driven insane by it.
• Proper Lady: Maddie’s mother. Mrs Crosham thinks that of herself, although she's mostly a judgemental old hag. They both want Madeline to be a Proper Lady, as well.
• Psycho Electro: The Crankrats. With particular emphasis on the "psycho" part.
• Rage Against the Heavens: Poor Jack has a moment after Maddie reminds him of the altavian belief that Stars Are Souls. The heavens remain unmoved.
• Raised by Natives: Inverted (hmm?) with Jack. He was raised by Bantarians, and therefore does not speak Altavian, or have traditional clan markings.
• Serial Escalation: When Jack gets into the new brandy shipment, we are treated to this little gem.
  Harley: I locked that cabinet.
  Lettie: He saw your lock and raised you a crowbar.
  Harley: He broke the lock?!
  Lettie: He broke the cabinet!
• Shipper on Deck: When Lettie learns that Jack and Maddie are long lost childhood friends, she goes positively catatonic with delight.
• Shock and Awe: The main manifestation of a crankrats ability.
• Slave Race: In the city, Altavians are this to the Bantarians. Maddy disapproves.
• Spirited Young Lady: Maddy. Young woman, Impoverished Patrician, very witty and confident (this sometimes comes back to bite her, though), a quick thinker, a talented singer, willing to wear trousers and fight for her life, frank and outspoken, she pretty much checks all the boxes. Maddy will not hesitate from stating her, rather unpopular, opinions on Altavians. She goes to the city in the first place to get a job and provide for her mother, and isn't very interested in marriage.
• Stars Are Souls: The Altavians believe this.
• Super-Soldier: The Crankrats were created as Bantarian super-soldiers, with their implanted generators giving them extreme strength and speed as well as spectacular Shock and Awe powers. Only six were made, but they were a terror in battle. However, eventually they either rebelled or went mad with power, and the war "ended" with a treaty requiring the Bantarians to execute all the Crankrats. The discovery that a seventh Crankrat was made and is still alive threatens to reignite the war.
• Symbol Swearing: Bolgrim, loudly and at lenght, after Hunter's hung up on him to disobey his orders in peace.
• Tainted Veins / Volcanic Veins: One of the effects that "cranking" has on a person's body.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Jack is definitely tall and good-looking. He also snarks like there's no tomorrow. Maddy, who can take it and dish it out, calls him "tall, dark and boozy".
• Third Line, Some Waiting: We have Plot A - Maddy's daily life, with working and snooping and Jack; Plot B - Hunter doing whatever he's doing; and Plot C - the politics. Plot C later forks into C1 - Mayfax's scheming and C2 - Eva's blundering.
• Through His Stomach: Maddy made a bacon sandwich to help with Jack's hangover. 18 pages later, Jack imparts some advice about how to deal with customers.
  Jack: Sandwich was good. So... we're even.
• Torture Technician: Silas, who is introduced complaining that he had to cut the torture short. The blood on the beak of his mechanical bird doesn’t exactly help either.
• Tragic Keepsake: The photo of young Maddy and Jack. Subverted as Jack is not actually dead (Not that she knows it just yet...)
• Turned Against Their Masters: The crankrats were supposed to Shock and Awe Altavians, but turned out uncontrollable, in addition to the more mundane problems doomsday weapon causes to its owner.
• Tyke-Bomb: Young Jack, post-upgrade.
• "Uh-Oh" Eyes: Another bodily symptom of "cranking". It ranges from subtle Supernatural Gold Eyes when warming up or cooling down to full-on Glowing Eyes of Doom when fully charged.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: It doesn't work.
• We Can Rebuild Him / Emergency Transformation: The Crankrats were originally soldiers (and one little boy) who had been fatally wounded.
• With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: The eponymous Crankrats. It turns out, having your internal organs scooped out and replaced by a bunch of infernal machines actually tends to drive you mad with power. Who’d have thunk it?
• World of Snark

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