Here’s the kicker
A lot of worrying signs in today’s comic. Air bass. Evil Amstrad boombox. Manifestation of hangover cloud. Weirdly Charles Burns-esque close up.
A lot of worrying signs in today’s comic. Air bass. Evil Amstrad boombox. Manifestation of hangover cloud. Weirdly Charles Burns-esque close up.
I can’t decide whether a world with contagious sesh gremlinry spread by 2007 Nick Cave or a world filled with copious Amstrad products is worse. One with both just seems unreasonably dystopian.
The Sesh Gremlin seems like a formidable foe, but looking closely, some cracks are appearing…
The all-important question is: WHEN, exactly, did the 24 hours start? It looks like he was sitting right next to them during the midnight mass. Does that count as the start? Or did it start when Mrs. Clovis invited him in?
My guess would be when he first talked to them, which would be as they were leaving the house that morning. Of course, I don’t make the rules in this universe, so I could be wrong.
Think about how drunk they were in church when contemplating zero hour of the “sesh”.
John, after reading your comment I just now got the meaning of “sesh gremlin.” I had actually been wondering where the name came from. Now it makes sense!
That would be really an unpleasant experience. AVOID! AVOID!!!!
I think maybe Maggie has confused Christmas with Halloween and is telling scary stories. Maybe the Sesh Gremlin is in on the gag.
You DO know there’s an old tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas, right?
I thought that was an Easter tradition?
Just… Google “Christmas ghost stories”.
I hope it isn’t an Easter tradition; if it is, I really mistimed this tale and all those Christmas ghost tales I read have been lying to me.
The Shesh Gremlin almost reminds me of the episode of Father Ted when Father Jack is replaced by Father Stack who plays jungle music on a boom box almost 24/7.
You made me laugh just remembering this.
Such a great show.
DRINK!
ARSE!
GURLS!
Pulling Maggie’s cracker would certainly perk me up.
Things I learned today:
1. There are more air instruments than just guitar and drums.
2. If you find a lonely drunk during the holidays who wants to spend time with you should automatically assume they are a mild supernatural monster and kick them to the curb.
3. Christmas celebrations in the UK involve fireworks/explosives.
a. Urban dictionary is blocked on my current computer so I was only able to look up the more pedestrian definition of “Pull my cracker.”
A “cracker”, in this case, is one of these (and, yes, you can get the in the U.S.): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker
We do them in Canada too! So we can all wear too-large paper crowns at dinner. And tell jokes. And throw useless plastic things in the garbage.
“Christmas Crackers” is definitely on the list of things that we Americans assume are an invention of the Harry Potter books until we discover they are actually a normal feature of English life. (Other such things: prefects, trains as public transportation)
Ah. As an American who is not well-versed on the Harry Potter canon, I had assumed prefects were an invention of Douglas Adams, to be found in association with fords. I am now immediately ashamed that I did not recognize (recognise?) the Harry Pottery definition and priority on claiming the term (through timey-wimey means, of course).
I kind of feel now that the Sesh Gremlin was once a normal human and should in some way be rescued.
I started thinking that way on the previous page, when Maggie referred to him as a “cursed soul”.
John, off-topic I know, but this was prompted by your latest instalment of the Vape Lads, which sparked a connection my brain was surprised I hadn’t made before – has anyone ever told you that you remind them of Alan Bennett? To remove all doubt, this is intended as a compliment – distinguished, eloquent… Northern.
When doing work experience at the Yorkshire Post in 1997, I was tasked with calling Alan Bennett, but never got further than his answering machine. I fear his intellect outstrips mine by a considerable distance but it is a flattering comparison nonetheless.
I would add further adjectival similarities: dry, reserved, with a talent for slice-of-life. Would have included them the first time around but didn’t want to ruin that precious writing ‘rule of three’.
Does anyone else think it’s remarkable that the purported Satanist is saying grace?
Not really. Satan (in the traditional rather than the Anton LaVey sense) is part of the overall Judao-Christian-Muslim worldview*, and many Satanists accept that Yahweh (or whatever other label one cares to use) is currently in charge, even if they seek a reversal of that position by supporting “the Opposition.”
Look at it this way, If you’re a Labour Party supporter living in a Conservative-run Urban District Council (to use a UK setting), and would like your rubbish bins to be emptied more often, right now you’re going to have to petition Conservative Council members for it to be done, even though you hope that your political campaigning will help to bring in a Labour-majority Council some time in the future.
That’s of course a very simplified take on the whole “God v. Satan” thing. Originally Satan was merely a servant of God with a particular Mundane brief, and I don’t at this point in John’s narrative know how Billie – or for that matter Tom, Brian and David – interpret the overall theological situation (perhaps because I haven’t read the earlier episodes). Myself, I suspect that Billie is secretly seeking to subvert the Satanists from within by, well, being nice, but I won’t be surprised if I’m completely wrong.
[*I don’t work within J-C-M theology, but adopt a broadly (Eclectic) Wiccan viewpoint, in which ideas of Yahweh, Satan, Heaven, Hell, and Good & Evil (in the sense of actual forces) are irrelevant and meaningless. If I was to apply my approach, I’d say that “Satan” was just another face of “God”, so Billie is being no more inconsistent than, say, a habitual follower of Vishnu praying to Ganesha to remove a particular obstacle.]