Still used, I wonder? (CHRISTMAS SPECIAL CONCLUDES)
We have reached the end of Solver volume 2. At the time of writing (late April), everything is up in the air. I am at the start of a break from making comics and when I come back, I will inevitably be rusty, and I don’t know what I’ll a. want to do or b. be able to do. I have a strong sense that it’s time for a change of approach.
By the time this page goes up, hopefully I will be back in business, but it will take a while for the website to catch up. So for the next eight weeks, there are re-runs of Murder She Writes. I tidied it up for a reprint earlier in the year, and it came off the website back in 2015, so hopefully it will bear up to a re-read. Pages run Monday to Thursday.
An intriguing note on which to end.
Merry Christmas John!
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Seconded!
Finally, Blossom can get caught up on Lottie’s incredible seagull story
Is Blosom’s injury the result of a foray into Tackleford’s seamy rollerblading underside? Jack’s 90s expertise must surely be an asset in any probe into this throwback subculture.
These may be the roller blades Blossom will no longer be using themself.
I’m sure their rollerblades are far too big for diminutive Lottie.
Stuffed dragon on the bed. Blossom’s still blossom.
Dragon? Looks like an aardvark with a forked tail.
Yes, at first I was thinking “demonic aardvark” too, but then I remembered that Blossom used to be heavily into dragons, and I though about what some stuffed dragons I’ve seen have looked like.
I am old, so my first thought was that it was a Dunlop Groundhog ( https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dunlop-groundhog-early-1970s-167074704 ) but it doesn’t have tyres for legs…
I love that John/Blossom makes a Christmas present of roller blades seem threatening.
And Fizz implied she may have broken some other people’s bones in roller derby. Hmmm… wherever could this be going?
So, the theory that Blossom was injured by Fizz during a roller derby may be true. Now Blossom wants Lottie to take her place… can’t wait for the Fizz VS Lottie massac… hem… game.
I have a feeling Fizz would be deeply traumatized if she wound up giving Lottie any sort of significant injury. Which probably makes it more likely, from a narrative standpoint.
I’m mostly wondering why Lottie would do that. She seems neither the roller derby nor hurting Fizz type. What does Blossom have on our hero?
Maybe it’s not so much something Blossom has on Lottie as something Blossom knows that Lottie doesn’t (yet)?
Correct me if I’m wrong (as if I need to state that) but I don’t believe we have any evidence yet to say Fizz and Blossom aren’t on the same team…
We don’t, just spitballing the most dramatic possibilities. I think that might be it though because I can’t see why else the very competitive Blossom would seek out a very short, unathletic (proper last in gym class if I remember right) person she hasn’t seen since high school and who sort of hates her as her replacement. The only thing we know Lottie brings to the table is that Fizz won’t hurt her.
Unless Blossom is specifically in need of Lottie’s detective skills. Or Solving skills, perhaps.
If Blossom’s plan is for Lottie to take her place in some Roller Derby fiasco while she is laid up, then roller derbiests generally use normal roller skates instead of roller blades.
derbiests? derbyians? Derby-enthusiasts. Derbs?
It’s Tackleford, a roller derby variant with blades instead of skates wouldn’t even crack the top 100 weirdest things to happen there.
Seeing blades used for roller derby instead of normal skates is honestly pretty mild on the weirdness scale compared to the other things we’ve seen in this universe. I mean, people unironically use “Bing” as a verb there. Freaky bizarro!
“Derbyshires,” after the Radiophonic Workshop director who wrote the BBC Roller Derby theme song in the 1960s
How many roller derbiestes does it take to order a hamper?
Derbers, I think
hey yeah! I can’t believe I didn’t clock that myself, being somewhat of a roller derby fan.
Derbyites, I think.
Looking up the word I just made up, I see it actually already existed. There’s a “derbyite theory of Shakespeare authorship” that claims that “William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby (1561–1642), was the true author of the works of William Shakespeare”.
Sport derbies are named after the Epsom Derby and the Lord Derby Cup, which are also named for various Lords Stanley, Earls of Derby throughout history. (Also the Stanley Cup.)
Some, same Derby origin, that vindicates me for proposing Derbyite as a word for a Derby contestant.
Linssom Blosston must be Blossom’s roller derby team name.
Wait, is it officially Friday now? But that’s when we are going to see The Church in concert! Aaaaah all my batteries need charging
As if I hadn’t already had enough roller derby drama in my life.
And the tbc footnote is, of course, in the referenced font. Well done.
I clicked the space under your comment where the upvote button used to be.
Same.
Same.
Thank you for this splendid early Christmas treat John! You truly delivered on all fronts! Have a great restful time off!
Also, I happen to be a Denvrite and have never heard of “Denver Boot” used for a leg cast before. Does anyone know how it got that name? Is it strictly a UK slang term or has it crossed the pond too?
Strictly a Mildredism. As a UK-dweller, I only know the term (as a wheel clamp) from US film and TV. It would probably be too confusing for the British to use the word ‘boot’ in the context of wheel clamps when it has its own automotive meaning.
I remembered hearing the term “Denver boot” on an episode of MST3K (#806: “The Undead”) and checked the relevant fandom page:
“”Denver boot” is a colloquial term for a type of wheel clamp that can be attached to motor vehicles to prevent them from moving.”
Mildred is using the term to metaphorically refer to the leg brace or whatever it is that is making Blossom “hobble.”
Given Lottie’s demonstrated expertise in the ASA wrestling league (being brought low by a seagull doesn’t count) and low centre of gravity I feel Blossom may be underestimating her capacity for roller carnage. Mind Panda FTW.
Mind Panda 2: Wheels of Feels!
I admit that roller derby is only slightly less opaque to me than cricket, but I’m pretty sure that both choking the other players out and dropping to the ground to trip them are illegal, which takes out basically Lottie’s entire repertoire.
Everything about this page is chef’s kiss.
I’ve have enjoyed this story SOO SOO much, I would love to see the answer to this mystery. I’m really happy the see the mystery kids going through the young adult growing up process and I look forward to more stories about their dotage. I’m sure Lottie would make an entertaining elder. And also Jack, what the heck happened to him? Rest up and thanks for the comics in the meanwhile!
This was an excellent story all round John! With lots to anticipate when Solver returns.
Any chance Blossom is related to DB Cooper? Perhaps the Cooper fortune comes from an airplane hijacking in the 1970s?
I would so much love this to be true… (in the Tackleverse of course)
Lottie referring to a font makes me think it’s Oswald Bruce Cooper, of the “Cooper Black” typeface. Although that’s from the 20’s, not the 60’s.
I do appreciate the dedication to and slow development of Mx. Cooper’s character.
Blossom is definitely one of the most interesting non-central characters in the whole BM series. Wondered what happened to her after Shauna tossed Blossom’s book of “secrets” into a fire.
I have a feeling that Cooper’s ask has something to do with these. First thought is roller derby?
Does Blossom’s sudden donning of dark glasses in the last panel bode something… dark?
Yay, Juneteenth, Dragon Boat festival and Open Comments Day – the trifecta of joy!
I had my wires completely crossed back in the bar. My assumption was that Blossom was secretly Super Derek and hurt her leg when she jack-knifed her truck racing Sonny. This makes sooooo much more sense (or does it?)
Your earlier theory could still work with some tweaking. Maybe Sonny didn’t really become a truck driver- maybe that story’s just a cover for his secret roller derby career.
Enjoy your well-earned time off!
I’m sticking with the Super Derek theory until it’s explicitly disproved, and probably a bit beyond that. Maybe they walked away from jackknifing their truck without a scratch, but then hurt their foot roller-derbying with Fizz, and need Lottie to investigate how Fizz could hurt them despite their Undershave of Invulnerability.
Or maybe Sonny was able to drive Super Derek off the road because they were already injured?
Hmm. Hit the brakes instead of the clutch because of their Denver boot, maybe.