Nero was indeed mentioned in Solver 7 – here, in fact – but no more was revealed. Perhaps we will find out more next time. Once Claire is done screaming.
The Urn
Nero seems like a slick operator. I am sorry to tell you that his whims, ways and motivations will take some time to come to light. Lottie’s may be easier to guess at.
There is a very niche visual joke in today’s comic related to “repercussion”, once again I look forward to meeting the one person who gets it.
Lottie has been a proud puffer exponent since the very start of Bad Machinery and that is not going to change. Her sister Sarah’s career in fashion has, I think, been tangentially mentioned a number of times, but don’t ask me where because I don’t remember. I do recall that “in fashion” was a euphemism for “in prison” in one of the later Bad Machinery stories… but Sarah is definitely not in prison.
The first appearance in any comic since the 1980s of legendary UK TV host, Michael Parkinson. Parkinson’s career as a chat show host began when he was elevated from regional journalism due to the abject failure of a Peter Cook chat show vehicle. Parkinson was put in the chair instead and what followed was a multi-decade carnival of bonhomie with the great and good.
I really wanted to draw a classic Land Rover. It felt to me like the only car Hetty Mapplethorpe would drive. Not a modern fancy one, one with the bench seats in the back and an un-removable patina of barnyard filth going back decades.
Stanage Plantation car park is a real thing that you can find on a map. In fact, with a little work, you can plot the journey from the edge of Ranmoor to Stanage on Google Streetview and add minutes to your enjoyment of this comic. Or ruin it entirely.
I once put my whole leg in a peat bog, this is autobiographical comics. All day I lived with my wet leg, a trauma that is triggered every time I hear mention of the “Chaise Longue” hitmakers on BBC Radio’s 6th Programme
A misty stag emerges. I wonder if this means I am going to have to draw a lot of stags over the next few pages. This wondering is rhetorical. Stag-fest is imminent.
I know that a lot of situations in Solver are resolved by objects or people being bodily flung into the distance. Let me be clear: this is a feature of the series, not a bug.