One for the ages
It was nice to draw Shelley in this comic, though it’s always a little tricky to factor in a. how old she is and b. how slowly she ages. She’s not like normal people, after all. She’ll outlive all of us.
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Bad Machinery
New comics by John Allison
Shelley!!!
I’m sad that we’re apparently not going to see the Reverend, though. I mean, it does make sense- there’s only so long Shelley would have been able to keep him from knowing what’s going on in Tredregyn.
Or Tackleford, for that matter.
“And you say demon-worshipping old ladies blew up your friend’s ex-girlfriend?
Where do they live, by chance?”
To paraphrase the great Jake Thackray, The Tackleford Ladies Magical Circle.
But, sadly, a head shorter in the count since Krakkagar ate Mavis.
Was there any gag underlying calling the character Shelley Winters?
Strong Swimmer? Love Hate Knuckle tattoos?
For some Shelley+Bruno are the OTP.
This may be controversial, but Bruno deserved better than Shelley.
They both deserve someone better for them
I would agree, if Bruno hadn’t been a violent scum who beat Shelley every other week.
I think you may be thinking of a completely different comic series?
Actual Sexy Ghost Will Manifest
Link that without the payoff? Sacrilege!
https://scarygoround.com/bobbins/?pg=122#showComic
The fuchsia reindeer in panel 1 is probably just a decoration, an not an otherworldly abomination sniffing around for traces of the reverend. Probably.
I’m afraid to ask what the pink-ish things are on the mantelpiece
Entities on the Shelf?
They know when you are sleeping.
I assume they’re those Christmas rat decorations I’ve been seeing in shops the last few years, except these are hairless and naked… Something new to look forward to, or just a Tackleford tradition.
Maybe it’s just an abominable decoration. Maybe…
It would appear that this is an actual thing you can buy: https://www.clotheboutique.com/products/flocked-pink-deer?srsltid=AfmBOooX18xGoTZtLvzhVLUyn5NnQaz_41sf2tEDqtnWBkjABiJo7vqQ
I’m not sure how I feel about this.
If that’s what it is, Shelley must’ve gotten the XL version, as it looks to be somewhat more that 13″ tall in the panel where it appears.
Why do the mountains in that photo of Shelley and Amy(!) remind me of South Park’s skyline
Maybe they went on a holiday in Colorado?
It definitely does look a bit like the Rickies and it looks like Amy is enjoying some of our state’s fine craft beer. Though more likely it’s somewhere either in the Alps or Pyrenees and that might actually be wine.
*The Rockies
It could also be Belgian Abbey Ale, but Colorado’s New Belgium Brewery also makes excellent Belgian style beers.
Could be Alps. Or Pyrenees.
or Eryri or Bannau Brycheiniog
Or NZ’s Southern Alps…
<3
Shelly is the winter of our Des-content.
You magnificent bastard!
Now I’m wondering if we will also have the winner of a Des contest.
(Stop spinning in thy grave, William.)
Well, I think deep down we all knew this romance was likely not going to last.
For those of us in the States, what is the Ole Black Doge?
“The Black Dog” is a widely recognized idiom for depression, melancholy, or severe, persistent low mood. Coined by Dr. Samuel Johnson in the 18th century and famously used by Winston Churchill, it represents the oppressive, inescapable nature of mental illness
Shelley is appropriately attired for the season; clearly she has the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future on her sweater, plus some extra spirits just in case.
Wait, isn’t Shelley only like ten years older than Lottie? That’s not old enough to look dramatically different!
Woops, I didn’t mean for that to be a reply to your message XD
No wait, I guess she would be in her forties by now if she went to college in the 90’s and met Jack 🤔 But I had thought she was the same age as the Giant Days cast… Man. Continuity in a decades old comic universe IS confusing.
I now realize I was thinking of Erin.
There was a page in SGR that listed her birthday as the fifth of April 1980
And based on where the timeline is currently, she’s indeed pushing 40
You can only figure character ages relative to each other. If you start bringing actual calendar years into it, the wheels come off everything. The implied date in ITNGUTI is consistent with the date given in “Expecting to Fly”, but not with the current chronology, where Lottie is 19 in 2026 (and 2025, and 2024…) or the chronology at the beginning of Bobbins, where Shelley was already out of uni and working at City Limit in 1998. Shelley was, I think, the same age as her creator in 1998, but she’s lost nearly a decade to calendar slippage now — and that’s even before we get into how her subjective age relates to everyone else’s notions of time.
Anyways, Shelley was more than a decade older than Erin (see “Sex and the City Limit“, where Shelley is in her 20s and working at City Limit, and Erin steals some of her sex column material and gives a presentation on it (with Linton’s older brother Paul!) in primary school). Sarah is a decade older than Lottie (see “Unwelcome Visitor”, where a flashback has the Grote sisters at Euro-Mouse when Lottie was 7 and Sarah 17). Erin was a year behind Sarah, Esther, and The Boy in school, before being sucked into Hell (see “Bobbins Now”, where Erin has to reintroduce herself to The Boy after being forgotten by everyone).
So Shelley’s about 20, 21 years older than Lottie. Lottie’s 19 now, which makes Shelley 40ish, at least according to their calendars. Shelley’s subjective chronology and her biology (or possibly necromancy) may disagree.
…. I just realized that the dates work out such that it’s possible that Lottie’s conception was inspired by Shelley’s sex column.
Actually, I think I added the nine months the wrong direction. I think Lottie’s just a little too old for that to work out.
Incredible breakdown! Thank you!!
Sad about Rev. Primrose. Glad she wasn’t murdered by an explosives-wielding 1960s chanteuse as revenge for time travel shenanigans.
Given the nature of time travel, we have no idea whether this version of Shelley is from before or after that event.
I still think the bomb threat was just paranoia. The show was pre-recorded. If Cilla had blown it up, her triumphant comeback would never have aired.
Or maybe they did get blown up, but that’s covered by NDAs until the show airs a week from now. It’s not like it would be the first time Shelley’s been blown up.
A week from now, if and only if it is the same New Year.
REVEREND PRIMROSE
MAGUS TOM PENDULOUS
ALL THE CLASSIC “STAPLE” CHARACTERS WE KNOW AND LOVE
So maybe Tredregyn was saved from a horrible watery fate after all?
Is there hope for Steeple after all? Can it be?
I never lost hope!
Sorry to hear about the break-up. But it does leave Steeple intact.
Feel free to blame the slow aging on the dezombification process or a weird side effect of time travel. Or…por qué no los dos?
An actual tragedy, I loved Shelley & The Rev
The curse of aging more slowly than others: romances are fleeting.
“I don’t age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone you…”
“What, Doctor?”
“You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can’t spend the rest of mine with you. I have to live on, alone. That’s the curse of the Time Lords.”
There’s an interesting treatment of this in the Manhwa Immortal’s Way of Life. Outlasting everyone is quite a burden.
Amy and Shelley sure look happy together in that photo, though I’m sure Ames gripes everytime she notices Shelley’s pixie-ish lack of aging or lack of physical ware.
I don’t think Shelley has a lack of physical ware, how rude
Yeah, Amy is giving off real influencer vibes. Is she doing antiques-hunting Tiktoks for the masses now?
It’s an especially poor idea to get between a man and his calling when his calling is hitting things with axes.
Sadness. I was hoping to see the Rev. Billie and Maggie, too, though I wasn’t expecting them this story. Well, at least we got Shelley. It always makes me unreasonably happy when Shelley shows up.
I’m sure we’ll see them again when Rev. Penrose makes his way back to Tredregyn.
Interviewers introducing her as “the immortal Shelley Winters” have no idea how accurate that is.
Well, far better that than “the immoral Shelley Winters”.
Though hardly less accurate, some might argue (probably including one who has tried putting the immortality question to the test).
It all depends on how you define “morality”.
Shelley always has great (at least great sounding) life lessons!
Shelley is the QUEEN of “bouncing back”. And yes, she will outlive everyone. With the possible exception of her sister.
Erin’s already outlived Shelley like three times. It just never seems to stick…
And Erin doesn’t have any extra lease on life, so much as VIP reservations for the next leg of the journey.
Which calling is that? The monster killing or the believing in God stuff?
Why not both?
Indeed.
As I’ve said previously, I really appreciate the fact that John has never made the Reverend’s faith a source of comedy.
Being an Anglican, the Reverend is free to marry, so I don’t think it’s the religious calling so much as a matter of incompatible lifestyles. Shelley as preacher’s wife would be an awkward fit, even if that preacher did regular battle with cryptids and demonds.
There’s also the fact that Shelley is the epitome of whimsy, while the Reverend is pretty much dead serious.
Sad to hear they broke up, but after seeing Shelley try to hide from Penrose what was happening to Tredregyn, it’s not all that unexpected. I wonder how Peggy took it.
Have you ever considered penning your memoir, Mr J.A.? In either graphic novel or prose form (or any other medium, for that matter)?
I don’t think this would be a book worth reading, Rich, unless something very exciting happens soon.
Oh, let’s hope not.
May you not live in interesting times!
Too late. Unfortunately, we’re ALL living in interesting times.
I hate how poor my memory is. im sure Cornish preacher man is the guy from Steeple. but I cant remember what this has to do with Shelley (,:
They met after he (and Lottie) attempted to rescue her from deepdwellers. I say attempted to because Shelley rescued herself by writing a new Tibkins book that was accepted as the latest book of the deepdweller gospel.
IIRC it took a little while for them to get together, and while the good Rev. was visiting Shelley all hell broke loose in the final-for-now Steeple issue. I hope that they parted amicably.
I, for one, hope we get to see those mixed up, oversexed Cornwallisters again. Especially that noted heart of the community Mrs. Clovis.
I think the last panel here is the relevant moment. For more, see “The Reverend in Love” and the last page of Steeple.
(Also, in retrospect, maybe Shelley should ask herself exactly where these ideas that the wolf is bringing her in exchange for her sweet blood are coming from…)
Ooh, Shelley’s wearing the same outfit as when she met the Rev
Coincidence!?!
Yeah, probably just that…
I expect I’m getting timelines mixed up, but does Shelley have a baby now? Is she with/without Tim Jones?
Yes, Shelley has a child, and Tim’s the father. Tim apparently died (off-panel, but apparently spectacularly) sometime back. Shelley met Reverend David Penrose (one of the stars of Steeple) in Tredregyn, Cornwall (see Author Unknown) and they began a relationship (see The Reverend In Love)- he eventually moved in with her in Tackleford (see Steeple: Extreme Freaks). Apparently, that didn’t work out (the fact that Tredregyn, without Reverend Penrose there to protect it, was invaded by armies of sea monsters, mermen, and the like probably had something to do with this- the Reverend is quite dedicated to his role as protector).
TIM DIED?!
So John keeps claiming, anyway. I don’t think it’s been directly referenced in-story, unless I’ve forgotten something. In any case, Shelley and Tim are no longer together, and the (not always reliable about these things) author of the series keeps claiming Tim’s dead. My guess is that John likely wants to keep his options open, in case he’s struck by inspiration and needs to bring Tim back someday. But for now, he appears to be deceased, at least as far as us readers are concerned.
Tim is 100% dead and unless I revive Bobbins.horse, will struggle to manifest as anything other than an ash cloud
Who will Lottie call on next? Do we dare hope to see the delightful Beckwith-Chiltons again?
Amy and Ryan are, unfortunately, not on the cover (Shelley is), so I suspect it’s unlikely we’ll see much of them in this story. Looking at the cover, I’m going to guess that Lottie will next call on… uh… Super Derek. https://badmachinery.com/comic/2026-04-24/
I’m always of two minds about Amy and Ryan appearing. I love them both and it’s always great to see them, but, dammit, they earned their happily-ever-after, and I don’t want to see that disturbed. The girls literally altered the course of history to keep them together.
I consider their story done – I don’t want to spoil that either.
oh good call. I see all the mystery kids are represented there in various forms, and most importantly, Pepper! … And is that a condom packet hanging over the firetruck?