A bit of a project
I can’t believe I bought the motorbike back. Drawing that thing is a journey into confusion, every time. Hopefully it will soon go off another cliff. — COLOURS BY SAMMY BORRAS
I can’t believe I bought the motorbike back. Drawing that thing is a journey into confusion, every time. Hopefully it will soon go off another cliff. — COLOURS BY SAMMY BORRAS
As long as it’s seaweed-draped and banged up, you can pass off any infelicities in the drawing as obvious and natural damage!
Not to mention the barnacles. (or are they zebra mussels?)
Barnacles, zebra mussels are freshwater only. Fortunately.
Did he bring the bike back just to toss it into the sea again?
Let’s hope not. Poor Hartley.
How much time has elapsed between the bike’s enaguation and disaguation? I have no sense of real-world time, much less in-comic time.
I just have to say that “enaguation” and “disaguation” are excellent words. I don’t know if they’re actual words, but they are great nonetheless.
I can state with 95% confidence that I made both words up.
You can track the course of the autumn and winter through the Steeple webcomics, but the trees seem to be back in leaf in panel 3, though Brian and Billie are wearing their coats, so we may be into spring? Clotted Crime has had a long filming block during the course of this story, too. So maybe six months have passed since the bike went in the drink…?
This is England. It can be below freezing in August here, and also balmy in February.
Normal weather rules do not apply, even before Global Warming.
Fair enough. And this is the Cornish coast, it’s quite an exposed location. I think most of that calculation still applies.
Neat angle in panel 2 – I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a between-the-knees shot like that before.
Praise Baphomet, indeed!
Its as if we, the reader, have hopped down behind Maggie and are peering through her legs, which I admit would be a socially awkward thing for us to do.
It’s (intended to be) a robin’s eye view.
And I thought it was Ozymandias
Enaguation: envelop in agua. Disenaguation: take out of the water.
The engine kickstarts on the first try. Don’t mess with success. The throaty engine roar is a bit phlegmy but don’t look Baphomet in the tailpipe.
…because you REALLY won’t like what you see.
Speaking as someone who has dealt with a myriad of 2 stroke engine rebuilds, water in the engine absolutely qualifies as a Bad Omen.
Also as a PSA; if your combustion powered vehicle has been mysteriously unearthed (unsead?), the proper next step is to dry, grease bomb, and fully check every last piece, and absolutely not to fire it up.
I’m in love with Billie throwing double-fisted horns in panel 2.
When Billie throws herself into a project, she REALLY throws herself in! No half-hearted handwaves for her!
Maggie really has two fantastic friends♡. Her bike is back, but it could be haunted. Actually, it’s very likely haunted! She needs a good mechanic.
And an exorcist. Fortunately, she knows the local vicar! Unfortunately, the vicar is also haunted.
Maybe they should bring in a specialist in haunted two-wheeled motor conveyances. They can probably find one in Tackleford.
The specialists they’d need would be Toby Hathaway and Marion Sark, but they’re on vacation right now.
“I’ll get you a sa-ta-nic mech-a-nic.”
Aw, man, now you’ve got me casting an entire Tredregyn Rocky production in my head.
Tom would have to be Frank, obviously. Brian on Maggie’s Harley as Eddie. Maggie and undead Jason as Magenta and Riffraff. Lottie as the Criminologist. Rupert and Billie as Brad and Janet. The Rev as Rocky. Shelley can be Columbia. Mrs Clovis as Dr Scott. And Goosey and co. as the Transylvanians.
Perfect! (Did you mean Eggsy, though? I suppose Goosey would wear a giant egg costume all the time?))
I knew I should have checked the spelling. Then I would have realized that I was trying to spell the wrong word.
Love it! I admit I didn’t think of it any further than the very obvious Tom as Frank, but you’ve put together an amazing cast.
And Bob Warren as Richard Nixon.
Rupert would be a better Rocky, but then I don’t know who I’d cast as Brad. Penrose doesn’t fit any better there. Maybe Desmond.
Reverend Penrose may not be that close to Rocky in personality, but he’s the only Steeple character with the muscles for the role, so I think he’s fine there. And Rupert’s got to be Brad.
Desmond as Rocky, Rupert as Brad, Rev Penrose as… the Criminologist? That leaves out Lottie, but hey, the cast can switch places between performances.
I had considered casting Lottie and Shelley, the outsiders, as Brad and Janet, but Criminologist!Lottie is too perfect and makes me crack up every time I imagine it.
Desmond would be a hilarious Rocky.
I’ve been making a man
With green scales and a fin
And he’s good for relieving…
Dramatic tension
As much as I love the idea of Mrs Clovis as Dr Scott, it suddenly hit me that if Tom’s Frank, then Reverend Penrose really should be Dr Scott.
It is so great that the bike was found by people who truly care about her
Maybe the bike (or who has taken it out of the sea) wanted to be found by them.
Should have chosen an easier bike to draw. Something vaguely Triumph like.
Maggie Warren, unicycle velocipede?
Only for Sunday go-to-meeting duties. At least it would be easier to draw.
In my headcanon now, Ultimate Maggie Warren rides a motorized unicycle with black spikes all over it, and if you honk the horn it summons MODOK.
It’s unfortunate that some of us lack the context to better appreciate the bike’s larger role in the extended narrative. Oh well.
The context that was provided two pages earlier?
Lots of things are unfortunate, Ronald, but I think you’ll be ok after this one. Find the time to go and read the old Steeple stories if it really bothers you.
Buy.
Steeple.
Vol 1.
It is impossible to regret this decision.
Surprised that there’s nary a rust stain on Maggie’s long submerged bike.
Just don’t show it John, make use of the tell don’t show. We understand. Not everybody wishes to be the Oh my Goddess mangaka and that is fine.
Lots of extreme close-ups, with a small bit of handlebar showing in the corners of the frame, maybe a bit of tailpipe
Brian is basically voluntering to help fix it… Maggie really has the bestest of friends.
Lovely Billie expression in the last panel c:
I love ALL the expressions on this page.
By the way, we never have had a resolution to the Rupert-Billie Situation, have we?
I mean, that situation literally just came up, in the context of the story. Why would it have been resolved already?
The title for the 1/17 entry might point to that issue.
Testing a bit of *italics*? Or is this not how it works?
(Please forgive me, everyone.)
I guess not. *cries*
Is it actually HTML?