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The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
So I'll probably get banned for posting something this big, but here goes:

I've been posting the current webcomics of John Allison, who is best known for Scary-Go-Round and Bad Machinery, which are also posted in this thread, as well as the print comic series Giant Days, which won two Eisner awards. Allison currently has two websites where he posts his comics:



Steeple.church is where, appropriately enough, Allison posts his comic Steeple. Originally released in in 2019 as a 5 issue print comic, Allison would continue the series as a webcomic, initially just collecting them by story/chapter (a la Scary-Go-Round), before settling on releasing the comic in a series of 22 pages "issues". The initial five issue run was published by Dark Horse, who also published two collections of the webcomic. Unfortunately Dark Horse decided to pass on a fourth collection and Allison stated that this next issue will be the last Steeple story.

Steeple is set in the Cornish town of Tredregyn ("Bad Mischief Town") it focuses on best friends Billie Baker and Maggie Warren, who work for rival churches, as they deal with the various supernatural forces that sometimes threaten the town. Allison also has a guide to the characters here.

Here is a list of the stories, with links to the ones on the Steeple website

Issue 1 - "Arrival" - Billie Baker arrives in Tredregyn as the new curate. She befriends Maggie, meets Rev. Penrose & Mrs. Clovis at the old rectory, and finds out about the various monsters that threaten the town at night.

Issue 2 - "GODSPLANN" - Billie takes up the parish work that Rev. Penrose had been neglecting by organizing a group of local teens to clean up garbage by the shore. A series of encounters leads to Billie seeming to end the conflict between Penrose and the "mermen" he fights at night.

Issue 3 - "NIMBY" - With no monsters to fight, Penrose and Billie investigate the new wind farm in Tredregyn. When they discover that the farm's owners, a pair of Charismatic Christians, have ulterior motives, they must ally with the members of the Church of Satan in order to put a stop to the plans.

Issue 4 - "Witchfest" - The annual Witches festival comes to Tredregyn and Billie agrees to help Maggie host. Meanwhile Warlock Brian and Magus Tom look for a place to drink while Mrs. Clovis gets her vacuum repaired at a questionable repair shop.

Issue 5 - "Influences" - Due to Billie's saintly influence, Maggie leaves the Church of Satan and seeks sanctuary at the old rectory. At the same time Billie, due to the influence of a hexed vacuum cleaner, joins the Church of Satan.

Epilogue / Prologue - A short four page comic, in which Billie and Maggie settle into their new roles and re-affirm their friendship.

Issues 6 & 7 - The Silvery Moon - Maggie deals with a "mystery shopper" at the church, while Billie plans a sing-a-long with the members of the Satanic Church. They both have to put their plans on hold when the moon interferes with Brian's psyche.

Issues 8 & 9 - Secret Sentai - Maggie, Clovis, and Penrose have to deal with a strange arrival at the rectory and Magus Tom leaves a Christmas "present" for Penrose to discover. What are the odds that's it something nice.

Issue 10 - Christmas with Clovis - Maggie and Billie spend Christmas Day with Mrs. Clovis at her house, but have to shake an uninvited visitor.

Special - Author Unknown Part 1 - Shelley Winters, the famous children's author, has come to Tredregyn for a book signing. When she goes missing it's up to her intern, Charlotte Grote, to track her down. This issue also counts as Solver issue 3.

Special - Author Unknown Part 2 - Lottie continues her investigations with help from Reverend Penrose. This issue also counts as Solver issue 4.

Issue 11 - Clotted Crime Part 1 Brassic - Needing money, Billie turns to Baphomet for financial help. However her desire not to be selfish results in a freak hailstorm striking Cornwall, forcing the detective TV show Clotted Crime to film in the only town spared, Tredregyn.

Issue 12 - Clotted Crime Part 2 Two Backs - Billie, as well the rest of Tredregyn, has gotten a job as an extra on Clotted Crime. She also gets the attention of young male actor, Rupert. Meanwhile Rev. Penrose tries to deal with a nest of sea devil eggs, but is stopped by Maggie.

Issue 13 - Clotted Crime Part 3 Daddy - Billie and Maggie attend Maggie's father's birthday party, while Penrose relocates the sea devil nest with the help of Brian. When events at the birthday party go south, Billie calls Penrose for assistance.

Issue 14 - Clotted Crime Part 4 Jason - Filming of Clotted Crime concludes. Billie turns down a relationship with Rupert and negotiates her job position with Tom. Penrose has a vigil for the prior curate, Jason, and receives an unexpected visitor that night.

Steeple Light - Brian's Insides - A short series of short comics. When Brian breaks the toilet after one of his morning "visits", Billie becomes concerned for his health.

Issue 15 - Steeple Summer Special: Reverend in Love! - A Gumroad exclusive with art by Max Sarin. Shelley Winters returns to Tredregyn and goes on a date with Reverend Penrose.

Issue 16 - Hell on Wheels Part 1 - Penrose goes shopping for a new car, but he may have bought more than he bargined for.

Issue 17 - Hell on Wheels Part 2 - Penrose and Billie try to send Penrose's new car back to it's home planet.

Issue 18 - Maggie's Party Part 1 - While Mrs. Clovis goes on a holiday, Maggie house sits for her. She hosts a small party / seance to stave off boredom but has to deal with several unexpected guests.

Issue 19 - Maggie's Party Part 2 - After the revelations from Maggie's seance Billie has deal with her newfound knowledge. Meanwhile Penrose has to deal with the attentions of two witches.



Allison's other site is badmachinery.com which is the home for his side comics. Most of the comics are part of the Solver series, which follows Charlotte "Lottie" Grote from Bad Machinery and the short-lived Wicked Things comics. Allison also posted a comic were his Giant Days characters meet Batman (which he has since taken down), and a Marvel "doujinshi" starring Wolverine and Kitty Pride.

Solver series

Issue 1 - Circus Windows Part 1 - Depressed after the events of Wicked Things, Lottie is visited by Mildred who gets her interested in the workings of a traveling circus in order to life her spirits.

Issue 2 - Circus Windows Part 2 - Lottie and Mildred continue to investigate the mystery of the circus that has come to Tackleford

Issue 3 & 4 - Author Unknown Parts 1 & 2 - See above.

Issue 5 - Spring Special 2022 - Feeling that Lottie has been lacking direction, her mother has her consult with freelance careers advisor Glenn Durgan. This helps Lottie when she visits her friend Claire, who is unhappy as a student at the London School of Economics.

Issue 6 - Autumn Special 2022 - Claire has transfrered to the Univeristy of Sheffeld and Lottie has been living with her. Lottie still feels that she lacks direction however and after encountering Glenn again she embarks on a new venture.

Issue 7 - Green Door - At their new living quarters, Lottie and Glenn have been wondering about the identity of one of their flatmates. Meanwhile Claire keeps having to deal with a talkative woman each time she takes the bus.

Issue 8 - The Urn - Lottie and Glenn advise a pair of bickering siblings about what to do with the ashes of their father.

Holiday Suprise 2022/ - A short comic in which Lottie reunites with Shauna while waiting for their trains from Tackleford.

Issue 9 - Boys Like Fun Part 1 - Lottie has been neglecting her solving business for her new boyfriend, Nero.

Issue 10 - Boys Like Fun Part 2 - Lottie has decided to work as manager for her boyfriend's British K-Pop band.

John Allison Doujinshi Theatre

Kit + The Wolf - It's 1985ish and Kitty Pride has gotten tickets to see Brick Sprigstern and his 10th Avenue Band for her birthday. Inviting Logan along the two of them have to save Springstern from the machinations of Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers.

If you want to send Allison some money, he has a Patreon where for $3 a month you get early access to pdfs of his comics. He also has a Gumroad store where you can by his self-published comics, mainly his Scary Go Round and New Bobbins books, but also some one-shot comics he's done over the years.

Again, sorry for the long post.

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The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks That's not an ominous cover or anything...

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

UNHAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR READER! Steeple returns tomorrow for the final story, “EXTREME FREAKS”. My Patreon subscribers can read it in its entirety, right now.

Normally I end up reading the pdf before the comics finish on the website, but for this one I'm going to try to hold off so I don't get ahead of the thread.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

It’s 2024! Welcome back to Steeple, let’s visit Tredregyn one last time! Much has changed in the last three months, as you will discover… but clearly, not Bob Warren’s taste in trousers.

My Patreon subscribers ($3/mo tiers and up) can read this story in its entirety, right now.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Dame Elaine Stevens has been mentioned occasionally in Scary Go Round, Bad Machinery and Steeple. I think she has only ever been depicted, once, on a television screen, and do not ask me which strip contains this appearance. She’s a bit like Elaine Page, but with a bit of Montserrat Caballé, and a bit of Marje Proops. An all round entertainer, warm, witty and wise (of course).

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks Title Drop...

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Bonus points to anyone who knows the origin of “Funjys” without looking it up.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

Transmodiar posted:

Modesty Blaise: With Love From Rufus

I haven't thanked you yet for posting Modesty Blaise again! Always one of my favorite strips. I actually have the collection this story appears in and here is O'Donnell's introduction to it (mostly spoiler'd for potential plot details).

Peter O'Donnell posted:

I can't recall any particular trigger for this story, but reading it now, it feels as if I set out to have a light-hearted opening with Modesty being thoroughly disconcerted. It's hard to think of any situation that would throw her off-balance, but I hope the one I dreamed up for her back in 1972 fits the bill. It's certainly a new experience for her.

As always, the story couldn't stay light-hearted for long, and as always I needed to find an arena where the final mayhem could take place without the police or public getting in the way. Here I was lucky, for the site that occurred to me was ideal. It lay a couple of miles out to sea and was familiar to me because it was visible from the house my parents had on the Kent coast. I'd seen it many times and, in fact, there wasn't just one of them, but several. Landing on any of them was an offence and you could be fined for it, but I don't think that would scare Modesty, Willie, or the villains off.

I hired a boat and crew and spent half a day at sea taking long shots and close-ups for Romero. So what you see when you come to that part of the story is the real thing. Incidentally, the weather was great and the sea was calm, so it wasn't a bad way of getting through a hard morning's work.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks Billie :ohdear:

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Who ARE these extreme freaks? Tom’s little shorts are inspired by Glenn Hoddle’s ’80s attire. Glenn and Tom have both put far too much faith in niche spiritual figures.

Billie's quote is from 2 Peter 2:14

The_Other fucked around with this message at 00:39 on Jan 8, 2024

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

Some Guy TT posted:

Last thread or maybe the one before that Modesty's age was canonically stated in one of these as being twenty-five. I seem to recall that most of us agreed that seemed like an unrealistically lowball estimate for a woman we'd assumed had to be at least thirty. Moments like this where Modesty is acting like she'd be a cradle robber for hooking up with a twenty-year-old definitely do a lot to back up that headcanon.

Yeah, I don't think O'Donnell explicitly states Modesty's age, and I know in a some of the books it the character mentions that even she isn't sure how old she is. According to the wikipedia article Modesty is usually stated to be in her late 20's and Willie in his mid 30's.

quote:

In keeping with the "floating timeline" spirit of other long-running comic strip and literary characters, Modesty and Willie generally do not age over the decades, with Modesty always being depicted as being in her late 20s and Willie eight years older. The only exceptions to this rule occur in the comic strip origin story, "In the Beginning"; the 1996 short-story collection Cobra Trap, the final Modesty Blaise book, which contains five stories that take place where Modesty's age moves from 20 to 52 (approximately); and the 2003 film My Name Is Modesty, which is a prequel depicting Modesty in her late teens.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks with more from the Second Epistle of Peter

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

From the wiki article on Balaam:

quote:

Balaam (/ˈbeɪlæm/;[1] Hebrew: בִּלְעָם, Standard Bīlʿam Tiberian Bīlʿām), son of Beor, was a biblical character, a non-Israelite prophet and diviner who lived in Pethor. According to chapters Numbers 22–24 of the Book of Numbers, he was hired by King Balak of Moab to curse Israel, but instead he blessed the Israelites, as dictated by God. Subsequently, the plan to entice the Israelites into idol worship and sexual immorality (Numbers 25:1–3) is attributed to him (Numbers 31:16).

Update, Allison's comments for this page:

John Allison posted:

I don’t think Billie has gone full blood and thunder preacher. She’s just giving everything a go. Given the reception she’s getting, my suspicion is that she won’t be giving this particular strand a go much longer.

The_Other fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Jan 10, 2024

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
In Breaking Cat News an old friend is remembered

Georgia Dunn posted:

It’s hard to believe that today marks two years since we lost this majestic weirdo. Nine years was not long enough. Lupin died far too young for a spirit as big and wild and free as his. Heart disease took him too early, breaking our hearts. I still feel like this happened only weeks ago. I miss Lupin like mad, and hope that if ghosts are real he finds a way to return to me and knock everything off the shelves until I’m old and gray and ready to join him. Clever, brave, bold, handsome, and hilarious, I imagine him chasing halos and batting the angels’ wings as I type. Come back to me, buddy. I’ll make any scary ‘Pet Sematary’ pact I need to make, just don’t drift too far from my side. ❤️ We all love you forever, my dude. The best of baddest boys, now and always.

More pics at the link.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

Allison's post hasn't displayed yet. Note that the "writing woman" Billie and Maggie are talking about is none other than Bobbins / Scary Go Round regular Shelley Winters. She first met Penrose at the end of Author Unknown and would return to go on a date with him in Steeple 15: Reverend in Love ( a Gumroad exclusive).

Update, Allison's post:

quote:

The instant-on boiling water tap (eg “Qooker”) is a real marker of middle class aspiration. I’ve never had one. I’ve used one once. It felt like too much power, to be honest. The kind of move Oppenheimer got himself so chewed-up about.

You can learn much, much more about Reverend Penrose’s relationship with “his writing woman” in the Steeple Summer Special (issue 15, “Reverend In Love”) – available on my Gumroad or to subscribers to my Patreon (direct link to the special) .

The_Other fucked around with this message at 14:41 on Jan 12, 2024

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

Mister Kingdom posted:

That's Big Boo-Tay! Tay! Tay! :mad:

"Where are we going?"

"Planet Ten!"

"When?"

"Real soon!"

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Maggie is experiencing deep turmoil here. To escape Cornwall by road or rail, there is no option but to go through Devon. And those guys could close the doors any time. Then it’d be Newquay Airport or nothing.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

riderchop posted:

Hey, what's the market like for new comic strip collections/treasuries?

afaik its just Garfield and Fantagraphics/D+Q coming out, even Zits hasn't had one in 4 years or so.

I ask because. I dearly want a Dan Schkade Flash Gordon treasury. lol.

LvK posted:

I think Wallace and Phoebe are still getting collections

Checking thought my library's hoopla subscription, in addition to Wallce and Phoebe; Crabgrass, Breaking Cat News, and Big Nate are being published by Andrews McMeel (among several other older newspaper comics and webcomics). They also did release a recent collection of Zits, Midnight Snack.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

riderchop posted:

^ wow hell yeah, little surprising not to see nancy though!

I forgot Nancy, McMeel's has a book of the Oliva James comics:



I'm getting the feeling that Dale doesn't want to go back to Earth.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks in which we see what's become of Brian

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Now here’s a sad schism. The old pals, rent in twain. But Brian always keeps a good thought for people and Tom is no exception. I’ve had “Brian goes straight” on my to-do list of Steeple stories right from the start.

Ayahuasca

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

Medenmath posted:

American football does kind of make more sense for an action hero, since it's practically simulated combat already. Or maybe he should have been a fencer, given that he fights with a sword a bunch.

This comic from back in October or last year did mention Flash's fencing skills:



Another thing I've been wonder is if Schkade is going to change Flash's time of origin. That is, did Flash & Co. arrive on Mongo during the 1930's or are they from the 21st century? I suppose it doesn't really matter though if the story stays on Mongo.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

It’s a simple matter to have your hub converted to Dark Web running. Just talk to your ISP. Ahhhh, who am I kidding? Openreach said they’d come back to clip the broadband cable to my house wall back in July, citing a “shortage of long ladders”. No sign. No sign.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Poor old Tom and the hell of his own making. Though, I suppose, a hell of your own making is the whole point of Satanism. When will WE get to meet the Extreme Freaks?

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

One of those wallets has a real life Japanese mascot on it. I wonder who’s it is? I can’t remember the name of the mascot. Perhaps someone will help me out here. Things move in front of my eyes very quickly and I grab what I can get.

Not looking good for Mrs. Clovis:ohdear:

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

The terrible truth comes to light. Oh dear oh dear. I hope we can resolve this in the few pages we have left, otherwise I’m going to be in a lot of trouble.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

JethroMcB posted:

NEXT: Meat-touching?!

Old enough to get this reference.



And this one as well.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Ladies, we can’t leave this plot thread dangling. Oh, if ONLY they knew anyone who could resolve such a situation.

Chibi-Lottie spotted in final panel! To be honest, I'm worried that Allison might not resolve the plot thread in this comic (or any of the other Steeple plot threads) and is just setting us up for another comic he might release later on.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

In case there is any confusion here — and there is always some confusion — St Piran’s is Reverend Penrose’s church.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

We can all just agree that whatever is happening in this comic page is what had to happen. In every regard.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

JethroMcB posted:

Cul de Sac


...you folks ever order a pizza with extra cheese?

I would sometimes order a pie with extra cheese and black olives,

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

Murdstone posted:

Mark Trail



So over on The Comics Curmudgeon Josh featured this Mark Trail comic, which lead to some interesting comments regarding whether horses are really an invasive species. Here is a link to article posted that points out horses did exist in North America about 10,000 years ago.

quote:

Rex Morgan MD


I've also been enjoying this Rex Morgan Rene / Jimmy misery parade. The contrast between his happy uncle and the expressions on Rene's face are what really sells it for me.

quote:

Mary Worth


If it turns out she's not his daughter I'm gonna scream.

The_Other fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Feb 4, 2024

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

JASON! I put him at the top of the page months ago and he never appeared. Well, he’s here now, as blue and lovely as ever. It’s Jason’s time to shine!!

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

A little shop for Bob? Lovely.

So some Bobbinverse lore might need explaining here. Robert "Bob" Crowley was an occultist that appeared in Scary-Go-Round. His first appearance was in the Time Teapot story-line (posted by Kazinsal in last years iteration of this thread), in which Shelley & Amy went back to the 19th century and Bob recruited them to work in his club and use them for some sort of prophecy. This was undone when Tim used his own time teapot to stop Shelley and Amy from going to the past to begin with.

Crowley later appeared in Scary-Go-Round when he was conjured to the 21st century. Though a series of convoluted events he was sent to Hell along with Erin Winters. A side comic Allison posted during the Bad Machinery era showed Crowley being devoured by a demon sometime after arriving in Hell.

Now Crowley has never shown up in any of the Steeple stories, so either a) Maggie encountered him "off-screen", perhaps during the three month time skip between the last story and this one, or b) the store is only named after Crowley and Maggie and Billie saw someone else inside, most likely the "hipster-witches" that featured in the last Steeple story or her father, Bob Warren.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks Now with corrections!

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

A little shop for Bob? Lovely.

EDIT: For some reason I wrote “CROWLEY” not “WARREN” on the shop. None of my friends who see the comic early, or indeed the Patreon readers, spotted this and pointed it out! Bob Crowley is an old character from Scary Go Round. What a prize I am. This has now been corrected.

So disregard my last post with it's small info dump on Bobbinsverse lore. Turns out Allison just got his names mixed up.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

Yvonmukluk posted:

Bad Machinery



This story is were Lottie starts to wear her hair in a bun, which led to my crazy "Lottie is the reincarnation of Modesty Blaise" crossover theory.

Murdstone posted:

Rex Morgan MD



I got a decent chuckle out of Rex's expression and reaction here.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.

don Jaime posted:

Wait, we don't like Britain declaring war on Germany last month?

This was about a month after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, so the Daily Worker was probably towing the CPUSA, and thus the Soviet, line.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

There’s no denying that the Extreme Freaks are extreme, but they seem a decent enough bunch. Sadly they do not appear on any of the remaining pages. You’ll just have to get to work on your “head canon”.

Four pages next week as Extreme Freaks wraps up.

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Are YOU a humidity princess? Meet humidity princesses in your area now!

What do think Tom is drinking here? Look's like absinthe which would make sense for him.

Four pages this week as Steeple concludes!

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Well, that comic has answered every question you ever had about Magus Tom Pendennis. There’s nothing left to ask, nowhere left to go.

Are YOU a potentate of piety? Or just piety-curious? Meet potentates of piety in your area NOW!

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple 20: Extreme Freaks :ohdear:

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

Whatever the witch influencers did to Brian in this comic just came home to roost. I’m sure everyone’s fine.

To recap, it was revealed back in The Silvery Moon that Brian used to be a werewolf, but was partially cured by the "hipster witches" / "witch influencers". At the end of the last story they did something to Brian, which apparently undid the cure and now he's full werewolf again.

Final Steeple page tomorrow!

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Steeple Concludes!


And from the PDF release:


John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Steeple website

John Allison posted:

So here we are. The final Steeple page. I wrote about “finishing” the story on my Patreon at the start of the year (the post should now be unlocked). As always, I am very grateful to you for reading.

While that Patreon piece is a nice bit of writing about endings I liked, I don’t think I wrote the mechanical truth of this final, rather abrupt Steeple story – that I simply took all the remaining Steeple stories I had notes for and showed you what they were in 22 pages. Every one is a plot thread that might have played out across a “proper storyline” – Billie’s return to her parents’ house, Brian on straight street, Bob’s bookshop, the Reverend having to choose between a cosy life and his duties in Tredregyn, Tom and the Extreme Freaks, Jason’s escape, Lumsford getting her hands on the parish, the Clovis crime arc (inevitably a second crossover with Solver). A couple of years of material! Rather than just stopping dead where I was, or describe these ideas to a handful of people at conventions, I thought it might be nice to show the unused stories to you in some sort of comic form.

From Monday, the action will return to badmachinery.com for a three-part story that I can only describe as unique among my works. I hope to see you there.

So that concludes Extreme Freaks, and Steeple as a whole it would seem. I've got to say, while I didn't hate this story, it did leave me kinda depressed and disappointed. I'll go into more detail on the John Allison thread itf but this ending squashes any hope that we might see these characters again, which is a real shame. Allison set up a lot of plot threads only to go at them with a chainsaw.

Next week I'll start posting Allison next story at badmachinery.com. Hint; it features a famous character whose work has recently gone into the public domain!

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
So here's the "cover" for the next John Allison story that starts Monday:

The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
Conan: The Blood Egg Part 1

John Allison's Patreon John Allison's Gumroad store
Forward Slash Scare website for Allison's side comics

John Allison posted:

Conan! Who is this musclebound Cimmerian warrior? And more importantly, why is the nation’s favourite doing a Conan story? The answer: because he had to. It is possible that he could not face drawing any more cars, domestic interiors, or city streets. But also, he had come up with the idea for this story at a comic convention in early 2022, known it to be good, and it had finally burned a hole in his sketchbook. O alas!

Rest assured, if you are not au fait with Conan, you are about as familiar with him as I was before I started writing this. I didn’t read any of the Marvel Comics – I’ve never read a Conan comic – and the short stories don’t feature any consistent characters. Even Conan himself seems to leap backwards and forwards through his life in the volume I read them in. I suspect that you will begin to find recognisable things in this story… very quickly. Just not cars, city streets, domestic interiors etc etc etc

The whole first part is available on Patreon to $3-and-up subscribers now!

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The_Other
Dec 28, 2012

Welcome Back, Galaxy Geek.
From the Breaking Cat News Instagram

Georgia Dunn posted:

Happy President’s Day! Recently I learned that Abraham Lincoln was over the moon for cats! Did you know? (I didn’t!) He’s even believed to be the first president to live with cats at the White House! 🎩🇺🇸

Lincoln loved cats so much that when Mary Todd was asked what her husband’s hobby was, she answered “cats.” He was gifted two lady cats from his Secretary of State, William Steward. Lincoln named them Tabby and Dixie and pampered them lovingly, even feeding Tabby at the table during a formal White House dinner! Legend has it that when Mary Todd suggested feeding his cat from the table at state dinners wasn’t the best idea, Lincoln replied, “If the gold fork was good enough for former President Buchanan, I think it is good enough for Tabby…” ❤️

Another story tells that Lincoln once remarked “Dixie is smarter than my whole cabinet! And furthermore she doesn’t talk back!” …Dixie sounds like Puck or Burt, lol!

Lincoln was known to sometimes take in stray cats or come to their aid. 🥹❤️ In the last days of the Civil War, as Lincoln visited General Grant on the battlefield, Colonel Porter wrote about the president taking in three motherless kittens he heard crying outside the tent. He wrote of Lincoln’s gentle kindness to the three kittens, sitting with them cradled in lap. A direct quote from his writings describes the scene with warm respect, “He would wipe their eyes tenderly with his handkerchief, stroke their smooth coats, and listen to them purring their gratitude to him. …at an army headquarters, upon the eve of a great military crisis in the nation’s history, to see the hand which had affixed the signature to the Emancipation Proclamation and had signed the commissions… from the general-in-chief to the lowest lieutenant, tenderly caressing three stray kittens.” [Abraham Lincoln: The War Years, Volume IV, p. 146.]

…Colonel Porter wrote that Lincoln quietly said to the orphaned trio, “Kitties, thank God you are cats, and can’t understand this terrible strife that is going on.” Where did that political quote go?? I’d love to hang that one on the wall!

Before he left the battlefield, President Lincoln told another colonel present, “I hope you will see that these poor little motherless waifs are given plenty of milk and treated kindly.”

I’ve been researching Lincoln and his cats for a few weeks, hoping to find any photographs, drawings, or even physical descriptions of Tabby and Dixie. While many Photoshops exist with cats edited into photos of Lincoln, I could find no credible images of the first feline ladies! I thought that surely there would at least be some illustrations or wood prints—nothing! And so, you may be looking at some of the only images of Tabby and Dixie. I guessed at their fur patterns, but imagined Tabby was likely a tabby-cat. I hope I’ve done them justice!

I hope you have a happy President’s Day! As you tend to your cats today, remember our gentle-eyed sixteenth president generously taking in three baby cats from the battlefield. The next time someone tells you not to feed your cats from the dinner table, just tell them you’re being presidential. And in hard times, tell your feline friends, “Kitties, thank God you are cats, and can’t understand this terrible strife that is going on…” ❤️🇺🇸

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