Really wounded
Now this is a cavalcade of classic characters, right? Have fun spotting them all.
If you want to revisit, Bad Machinery is now hosted at GoComics (and just coming to the end of its 2nd and we assume final run there) but still all available to read for free online. The links to the individual cases are below:
1 – The Case of the Team Spirit
2 – The Case of the Good Boy
3 – The Case of the Simple Soul
4 – The Case of the Lonely One
5 – The Case of the Fire Inside
6 – The Case of the Unwelcome Visitor
7 – The Case of the Forked Road
8 – The Case of the Modern Men
SPACE IS THE PLACE
9 – The Case of the Missing Piece
10 – The Case of the Severed Alliance
Re- that last panel: It’s funny that Lottie should bring that up. A while back I was wondering whether the Night Creeper entity might be after Lottie specifically because its former host is her step-dad now (also, she played a particularly large role in defeating it, because it couldn’t reduce her to a state of despair- and Skelottie’s goal seems to be to reduce Lottie to a state of despair). I’m not saying it’s likely, but most of the pieces do seem to fit pretty well- at least, if you kind of squint a little.
I think I missed when the mystery kids went up against Super Derek.
What a beautiful page of memories! Skelottie probably is someone to whom Lottie has done something that seems not important to everyone, but to her is unforgivable. Or someone jealous of her. It’s admirable that Lottie has never used her stepfather’s dark past against him.
Skelelottie is the evolved form of ChibiLottie, tired of being ignored
According to WOG, “The chibus is benign!!!”
THE SCOOTER DUNNIT!!!
Vespa Vespa!
Lem’s onion eyes were buried. Could Lem have grown back in the form of Lottie? Charlemmie?
I’d think Lem would be more likely to want revenge on Shauna, though.
I don’t think the hypno-eyes were actually part of Lem, as such. I suspect they were cybernetic implants. That they survived when all the rest of him burned to ash suggests that they were made of sterner stuff than onion.
I think it’s unfair suspect Lem. He was such a right Good laugh.
Once you got to know him.
I hope Skelottie will turn out to be a character we actually met at some point. So we’ll have only ourselves to blame when we guess wrong.
Wolf boy!
Robert Cop!
Gibbous Moon!
Are you forcing me to go back and re-read Bad Machinery? You ARE.
Oh no. Don’t throw me in that briar patch.
Hmm. Sasha was a shapeshifter, but her seal cloak was destroyed. Maybe she’s spent the last seven years collecting Lottie’s shed hair to weave herself a Lottie cloak that allows her to transform into Lottie. It was established back in the Autumn Special that Lottie leaves long black hairs everywhere. Clearly foreshadowing!
Sasha was evil enough and I can see her doing that. But why try to destroy Lottie when the one responsable of her capture was Mildred?
Maybe she couldn’t get enough Mildred hair?
It was Lotie who picked up Ellen’s sealskin and put it in Sonny’s bag and that started the whole mess, so I suppose, in a way, she was responsible for setting the whole thing in motion. But Sasha wouldn’t have known that, presumably. It was Mildred, she wanted to destroy.
Shorter hair, better personal hygiene.
This is brilliant.
It could also be a lot of different Bad Machinery villains working together.
The question isn’t simply who would have it in for Lottie. The question is who would be willing to kill to get at her.
Considering all of the past foes the Bad Machinery kids have faced, this is going to be hard to narrow down, at least as far as the humans go. Not only is motive key, but definitely looks, and I can’t for the life of me think of anyone who matches Lottie to a near T. This might be a bit of a cop-out, but my theory is Skelottie might be an alternate timeline Lottie.
Or a future Lottie who “borrowed” Scout Jones’s time machine after the latter was busted, who wants Lottie to get her arse in gear, and who is prepared to use any means necessary to get her out of her current unproductive loop.
I have trouble imagining John turning Lottie into an actual murderer. Even future Lottie.
The Valelyottie, the personification of Lottie’s last remaining regenerations
Please, no. You can’t make me sit through weeks of terrible set design just for the catharsis of spurious morality. I won’t let you!
Also, her “current unproductive loop” was caused by SkeleLottie in the first place, as she seems to be the one responsible for framing Lottie for murder during Wicked Things, before any of the Solver-related stories, which was what sent Lottie on her downward spiral.
Ha! You’ve run rings ’round him logically!
Future Scout’s time machine was already damaged so it could only go forward in time, even before she returned to her proper time.
If there’s temporal funny business going on, Skelottie obviously would be a chile of Jack. He’s in the nineties right now, after all, so the one with the most plausible means (tho I have nothing for motive).
This is all so delightful. The Fire Inside was my favorite arc, so I was pleased to see our vengeful Selkie return for a cameo.
I guess I have to Reread all of Bad Machinery at work tomorrow because I remember none of these villians.
Also, until proven other wise, I am assuming the villain is none other then Sonny Craven, whos name is the most villainous of the missing Mystery Kids, seeking revenge for that one time Lottie absent mindedly destroyed his life.
We’ve got Mrs Biscuits from “The Case of the Team Spirit”, the cheroonear from “Good Boy”, the troll from “Simple Soul”, Lem from “Lonely One”, Sasha from “Fire Inside”, the Night Creeper from “Unwelcome Visitor”, a temporally discombobulated Oliver Spain from “Forked Road”, the cursed Vespa from “Modern Men”, and Miflin from “Severed Alliance”. Super Derek is presumably here representing “The Case of the Missing Piece” — possibly Lottie thought Blossom was too fraught a topic to bring up at this fragile stage of mystery team reunion — and the dark sky behind them is of course the titular Space, from “Space is the Place”.
Not all of them were villains, and several of them are dead or otherwise destroyed.
What if Blossom IS Super Derek?????
There is one additional figure not on your list, John C. It’s a hooded, bearded individual, situated between Super Derek and Oliver. However I do not recognize the person in question (maybe it resembles someone from the Big Hiatus?).
Oh, so there is. I’d mistaken him for Super Derek’s shoulder. I think it’s the Selkie Daddy with the hood/head of his seal cloak up.
I love that the evil Mod scooter is in the running as a possibility.
It’s more likely to be the mod scooter than anybody/thing that anyone has guessed anywhere else in these comments!!!
Oh. OH! Hint taken, Professor.
Well if something has gone wrong in bobbinsverse I’m just claiming Tim Jones as a safe measure
I’ve been thinking it’s Tim who is financing Shauna.
If it ends up being Shauna, I’m going to be right sad.
I highly doubt it. It’s just not in Shauna’s character to go over to the dark side. All love to Lottie, but between them, Shauna’s always had the stronger moral compass.
Shauna DID go over to her dark side, though, in some ways, in The Case of the Missing Piece. She was still a basically good person, of course, but I don’t think she’s like Sonny, who I don’t think has any dark side at all.
New Theory: Skeleton Lottie is a Scout Jones using a disguise like when she pretended to be her own grandfather
Entertaining idea, but… her first time offense was personal, so why would Scout violate the time laws again to go after Lottie? Really not seeing a motive–certainly not one that outweighs the risks.
I agree. Scout’s declared nemesis is Shelley, why would she go faster Lottie.
*after Lottie?
Well, Lottie was Shelley’s intern/writing protege for a time, speaking of which, do you think Lottie has considered the obviously vengeance-capable mystery writers she sent away for murders? Or off-brand deep one cultists from the wreck of Tredregyn?
If it wasn’t still a mystery then it would be over, but at least SOMEONE knows who, why, what and where. Lottie needs to lure that person out, not hide from them.
John – if it’s not too rude to ask, how does it work out for you with the GoComics reruns? (Obviously not asking about actual hamper-buying finances, and this may be a more of question for one of your Pateron Q&A roundups). I’ve recently been rereading a couple of the old cases on there and I wondered about this – is it akin in a digital way to newspaper syndication? Do they give you a chunk in order to run the whole series, or does it depend on readership? What, for you, would be the pros and cons on each side of having the whole series run on GoComics as opposed to hosting the archive on your own site – and is it even a possibility to do both, or do they demand exclusivity?
I guess for many years I’ve just thought of webcomics as a big amorphous archive hosted on a creator’s site that were just – THERE – but various factors including your recent hacking woes, the increasing creep of link rot, having more frequently to check out past strips on GoComics as opposed to your own site(s) have made this question more prominent. Thanks!
It’s not rude to ask – yes it is syndication, I am paid a licensing fee.
This is a good question and I will answer it in full on the Patreon as you suggest when I get chance.
I’m VERY glad that you’re compensated by GoComics, and if they have any sense they will keep Bad Machinery going.
If Bad Machinery reruns stop, where will Whatever Happened to Common Sense channel, I presume, his pent up rage against the moral turpitude of fictional characters with tattoos?
Thank you, John, for putting Bad Machinery reruns on GoComics! That’s where I first read any of your work. I have since bought the reprint books, Wicked Things, Murder She Writes, The Great British Bumpoff, and Steeple. And will, as budget allows, continue with more purchases, containing Mystery Kids or not. So you putting such good samples of your work on a fairly well visited site has netted you new fans. Thanks again!
Thank you Robert!
Oh, and sorry Lottie, you are NOT always nice to people.
Soul Sucking Walnut should be the name of your new band.
I kind of wonder…maybe Lottie didn’t actually win the Space Trip contest, and instead, the other Charlotte was supposed to? A mix-up in the replies from the contest organizers.
Well, the facts are
1. It is somebody who was willing and able to commit a murder to frame Lottie
2. Somebody who (frequently) appears and resembles Lottie quite a bit
3. Somebody who is stepping it up – the appearance in the coffee shop was bould to reveal to Lottie that there is an evil doppelgänger/foe/entity out to get her
All those villans from the past don´t fit the bill.
My bet is on
a) a girl from school/Tackleford/Wenford she has mortally offended
b) Some unknown detective jealous on Lottie´s success (The assisstant of the murdered Miyamoto deliberately mistranslated to put Lottie in bad repute with him)
There is only one character that looks like Lottie. That is Lottie.
Possession?
Dissociative identity disorder?
Evil twin (stolen at birth)?
Lottie from another dimension?
Shape-shifter?
Hallucinogenic mushrooms?
Star Trek holodeck?
There are probably more possibilities that I haven’t thought of.
We saw the two of them in the same panel back here: https://badmachinery.com/comic/how-is-it-still-open/ so it’s probably not possession or dissociative identity disorder.
Hmmm. Lottie was the one of the three who first shouted ‘J’Accuese’ at Troll-Doll, and the two share hair and eye colours. Could an instance of Oliver Spain have continued on in the past, siring child and grandchild and laying long drawn out plans of Dynastic revenge?
I think we’re all missing a clue here with Lottie’s classic Aquaman jumper. What is that clue, you ask? Exactly.
Is it a Steeple witch (I’ve forgotten their names)?
Or is that sort of crossover verboten | interdit | forbidden…
I’m pretty sure John can use any of the steeple characters anywhere he wants to, but I don’t think those two ever met Lottie.
It’s Little Green Witch!
while we’re reminiscing, I think about “You ruined my summer knees!” a lot
Is there anywhere to purchase all of these in physical format? I see a few volumes linked up top, but not all of them.
Oni Press has published everything except for Space is the Place, and a search of your favorite bookstore should turn them up.
Is Bad Machinery going to be taken off of GoComics when the second run is complete, or will it simply not be updated further?
What if it’s The Child, Lottie’s original nemesis from the end of Scary Go Round, now grown up
Just throwing this out there since people are discussing the possibility of previous antagonists being related to this somehow
I’ve found the other Charlotte Grote! Around in the 18th century (when the artist was active)- no wonder she looks like a skeleton now… https://www.reproduction-gallery.com/oil-painting/1690359289/charlotte-grote-by-sir-joshua-reynolds/?srsltid=AfmBOoqMiqXvc2mXZGjAqoeNzpQTP7nCh7pl3eKUirlHaNG-bvUkRjeG
Why LottieGrote412? Were the first 411 taken or is that a clue? Unfortunately, I haven’t a clue.
It’s either the 4th day of December or the 12th day of April, depending on which date format you use.
January 4th, 2002? April 1st, 2002? The 41st of February? May 2nd, three years from now?
Hmm, actually… :shuffles through archives…:
The January 4th, 2002 Bobbins strip doesn’t seem relevant, though it does feature the line, “A horse dressed as Harold Wilson won’t keep you warm at night.” I believe Rich is wrong there, as usual.
The April 1st, 2002 strip was a mock-up cover for “Bobbins Ultimates”, featuring The Bullet. Clearly this is an indication that the Lottiegänger is in fact the darker, edgier, grittier Lottie from Earth-1610, here to supplant the original.
Absolutely living for the unhinged theories in these comments. As fellow English comic artist Tom Siddell once said after a big Gunnerkrigg Court reveal, “I am picturing a dartboard with every available space riddled with darts.”
Does Lottie even have any old case files that didn’t get burned in the course of a past adventure? (Some were in the mystery shack that got burned, and then she burned the rest of her old notes and artifacts in a fit of pique).
New Theory: One of the Wendlefield Mystery Kids, furious that Wen-Tack seems to have been declared non-canonical
Surely that would be Mr. Allison’s nemesis?
“You’ll rue the day you wished you’d never drawn Whatshisname The Lizard Boy!”
(I am aware I could look this up. I steadfastly refuse to do so. It doesn’t matter.)
Danny Plum. No, I didn’t have to look that up. I should probably seek help.
I know a few men of a certain age I could describe as giant soul-sucking walnuts.
There are eleven links but, counting “Space,” there seems to be twelve figures. I regret that I recognize very few of them. Sometimes I lie awake at night and worry that I’m not obsessive enough. 😐
Could one of you kind souls refresh my memory as to when and where the walnut thing happened? Because I have zero recollection of that.
The Case of the Unwelcome Visitor. That was the Night Creeper’s true form. Of course, that was before Mike became Lottie’s stepdad.
God, the case of the Fire Inside is kinda harrowing. Like, I haven’t read it for a few years, and maybe I didn’t totally remember that Sasha straight up murdered several children because she was unwittingly mind-controlled by Lee and then the grandma maybe kills herself at the end (or maybe somehow becomes a seal).
I think in the Go Comics version, which has a few extra panels, the grandma is shown to be swimming off under the sea. Sasha killed other kids, though, for sure.
This has probably already been covered but, okay, we saw Mildred not too so very long ago, Jack’s presumably still in the past (I mean, I guess)…but where’s Sonny?
“Most of our human foes just seemed relieved it was over.”
“Most”? As in “not each and every last one of”? Sounds like a place to start. 😉