An old soldier
It’s been a long time since Lottie and Jack shared a smoke.
Jack has clearly been through the wringer! But at least he’s not stuck in the 90s any more. Or is he? That question is probably too complicated to ever answer in comic form, sorry. Some pilots are always just going to be pilots.
My capacity is also infinite. And after NEMS Part 2, I cannot believe “never” means “never”.
The options are it’ll happen when John’s got something killer planned or it will remain a tantalizing source of hints, joy and head canon. There is no downside.
I imagine Jack is going “TANG BING WAH HOO” in a similar manner to Mario
You cannot pique a legendary sleuth’s interest without that sleuth eventually looking into the mystery!
Everybody have fun tonight ♪
Everybody ting bing bang teng tang bing wah hoo tonight ♫
AAARGH! So… what can we surmise from all this? Well, Jack apparently made it back to the present, although who knows if it’s temporary or not. He’s clearly still under some sort of hypnotic mind-control where he can’t speak about it – although Shelly now seems to know the details. There’s definitely a story here that needs telling. And I’ll bet the ol’ Time Institute has something to do with it.
Trying to figure out if he looks 30 yrs older than everyone else… Not quite, but stress can age a person
Nah, he’s just got a really crap haircut…
A very early 90s haircut. The weedwhacker mullet, about six weeks old.
Which, incidentally, is currently in fashion again, for some incomprehensible reason, but I’ve only seen it on people who weren’t yet born when it first was fashionable
It’s the cycle of history.
Maybe she should ask Shelley ..
Shelley would probably answer “ting bang woo waaaa”. Not because she is afflicted by the same condition as Jack, but because she is Shelley.
Ironically, it turns out that is the real reason
Shelley is fluent in Witch Doctor.
Sad to see that Jack and Lottie are courting the dreaded ‘popcorn lung’.
I’m just really happy because this page solidly establishes that Jack’s time travel adventures are definitely part of the main canon, which greatly increases the chances we will see more of that at some point.
Love seeing Jack, my favorite of the mystery kids
It appears that Jack’s stranding in the 90s was only rectified by him becoming a Witch Doctor. Hence, ooo eee ooh ahh ahh, ting tang walla walla bing bang. QED.
Poor Jack, it’s no longer the 90s, and he has not, in fact, gotten used to it.
Can’t blame him really. He got to witness the beginnings of Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, etc.
It is most amusing to me that so many commenters appear to be Bobby Problems going “Aaargh!”
Aaargh!
I totally forgot about Lottie and Jack’s first ill-fated smoke. Although I don’t smoke? They really do look great sharing nicotine together in this strip. I’m sure though their relationship remains purely platonic.
More like nicotinic.
“That question is probably too complicated to ever answer in comic form”
I look forward to watching your feature film directorial debut, then!
Or maybe an interpretive dance?
Sculpture, obviously
Free-verse jazz odyssey
Considering it is (about) the Nineties, a multi-screen video wall would be the thing.
Ol’ Jack is looking a bit harrowed. He must have taken a bit of damage from NEMSing around.
Shelley seems to get tougher with each adventure,
Jack is maybe too young to be stuck in the 90s.
I was a teenager in the 90s, can confirm.
Blame it on the vape! Nobody likes a vape-head.
Are you sure you didn’t mean “wringer” rather than “ringer”?
Ding ding! You are correct!
At the risk of (re)stating the obvious, Jack’s imitation of a man tumbling down a stairway with a tray of cutlery is a verbal, involuntary method of keeping him from discussing Temporally Sensitive information.
`”Some pilots are always just going to be pilots.”
Sometimes it’s just like Mordawwa.
Others retire to a nice little cottage on the downs, grow apples and keep bees.
I miss Mordawwa.
I sent hundreds of copies to be recycled so who knows, maybe one of them is part of another book you own.
If Jack can intrigue Lottie more than that, she may find herself having to choose between him and Bobby in the future. And that’s probably exactly what Shelley was planning when she told her to say hi to Jack.
I can’t be the only one seeing where John is going with Jack’s story, right? I don’t know if it’ll ever be drawn, but clearly what he had in mind is ting wha bang too woo waaaa, and then boing che che blop chichi flap poot whaa bang. Amiright, John? Brilliant, actually, as usual, ! Hope you get to tell it at some point.
With that haircut, coat, and intimations of mysterious travel across space and time, I’m wondering…Jack Constantine? Hellvaper?
Captain Jack Tackleness?
Argh, the desaturated palette for a dreary December night, but also super vivid vape cloud is such a great colouring choice. As the kids don’t say, “common Allison W”
I just reread I.J.A.P.G.U.T.I.* Something existential hits a bit differently, knowing how the pilot ended. Very sam framging fomo wagyu persnicktup, if you know what I mean.
*”It’s Just A Pilot — Get Used To It”
Welp. That didn’t work out how I thought it would…
Well I guess I was wrong, this is post time travel Jack, and he still looks young because he is. Blessed he is to be back in the land of Jang Dang Den.
We really need to see that adventure, Paolo had potential as an addition to the cast of characters.
I will never not want more It’s the 90’s until ther is more It’s the 90’s.
In the interim, whatever John comes up with is a more than adequate stop-gap.
I could get AI to generate it, then it would be a SLOP GAP lolle
Never even in jest…
We all like comics generated by Allison Ingenuity.
Great. Like I’m not having enough trouble dealing with the fact that I’m not in the 90s any more. I’m really excited about this upcoming ‘Bad Machinery’ idea.
“My capacity is infinite.”
Like a Longines Symphonette.
I picked the wrong week to listen to TMBG
There is no wrong week for “Birdhouse in Your Soul”.
Never a wrong week for that!
(says a person who is currently wearing a “Mesopotamians” shirt, and who saw 2 TMBG concerts earlier this month)
I fully agree as someone who owns five TMBG shirts and saw them for the first time last October.