One last time (MAGGIE’S PARTY CONCLUDES)
It’s the end of Steeple issue 19, Maggie’s Party, and the last comic of 2023. I will be taking next week off, but Steeple will be back for the final chapter on Monday January 1st. Thank you for reading this year.
I see a few Cthulhus hiding in the bushes. Well, I assume they are Cthulhus. I see squiggly lines that could be tentacles, and discs that could be eyes.
Good eye! I totally missed those. Perhaps they are on the way to rescue Jason?
There does seem to be an unusually large amount of the local night-time wildlife around. You’d think David would notice, since fighting such creatures is his calling.
How much monster-slaying has Reverend Penrose actually been doing lately? I always assumed that he fought seabeasts between chapters and it just wasn’t mentioned as it was daily routine and not relevant to the chapter plot, but has the last few months been a quiet time for merman attacks in general?
Maybe the last chapter will have another big battle scene where Tom and Penrose will be forced to join forces again… cool!
Maybe the eggs that Maggie wouldn’t let the Rev smash have hatched?
Might that not be heroic statuary of some of Tom’s favorite infernal sponsors? Seems to me that Tom would not stint on the ostentatious decorating budget.
The statue is clearly visible, but there are also inhuman faces in the bushes.
Ah. I *utterly* missed them. Not anymore, though.
The merpeople of Tredregyn – the Rev’s oldest, bitterest foes, far more so than Tom Pendennis or even Bob Warren. I’m so glad I bought Steeple Volume 1 and so know the lore.
One thing I’ve learned from reading/viewing John A’s creations is to pay attention to all the details, seeming-scribbles and all. And still I miss things, which is why I also check out the comments and go back to see what I missed.
One more story. I’ll miss this series so much.
Me too!!!!!
I may try to do some Steeple fan comics one day, if John doesn’t put the kibosh on it or end the story in a way that breaks the setting, and if the Daffodil Haters don’t level Tredregyn next month. I have an entire story in mind that I’ve wanted to do for weeks, but it’s several pages and I am a slow, unwieldy illustrator. :'(
Thank you, John, for this great storytelling! Looking forward to issue 20 and whatever comes next!
Also, geothermal heat seems apropos for a place that honors Hell.
It seems that Billie, very conveniently, didn’t tell Penrose that the notorious contract had been written by her and that Tom was the one forced to accept it (and on her terms) under Billie’s threat of creating her own splinter sect. My hope for the final story is that Billie realizes her true calling is with the CoS and that she can’t go back to her old, fully clothed, life. She would miss her backless jumpsuit so much!
Yes, in these scenes with Billie and the Rev, it’s difficult to tell just how truthful Billie is being, and how much she’s telling David what she thinks he wants to hear… I get the feeling that she would cheerfully lie to his face rather than face his disappointment. But Billie, whichever side she’s working for, seems to be someone who is unrepentant.
That might be a virtue when it comes to leading high-spirited chapel sing-along sessions, but it could also be part of what made her feel at home in the COS … Satan means never having to say you’re sorry.
This puts her in contrast with Maggie, who seems to be constantly seeking atonement and approval from others, even when it gets her into trouble (even when it means inviting old ‘school friends’ over for a seance). Maggie even apologizes for calling on Billie in part 1: “I need help being good. Sorry”. It will be interesting to see how everyone ends up in the last chapter …
It’s a very interesting analysis. Probably the fact that Billie and Maggie have behaviours so completely opposite from what one might think at first glance is what makes me love the chemistry between them (and their great friendship) more.
Yeah this is interesting and makes me question the face value of what we’ve just seen from Billie recently… Billie appears anxious and uncertain but may underneath it all be very sure of herself and acting in self-interest. Maggie seems on the surface like a confident hedonist, but deep inside she’s the one who is anxious and uncertain. You could well be right!
It might be that Billie’s personality is one such that she always must feel like she is doing the right thing, and if she feels she is doing the right thing, she has nothing to be sorry for.
She can’t give up the CoS, Little Green Witch and her friends would be crushed. What other strong yet perky female role model hath they?
YES! Billie can’t do that. She would betray the little witches who look at her with eyes full of hopes and dreams!
Will we be getting a list of favorite albums this year?
Suscribers to the Patreon already got it.
Oops. My card had expired. Fixed it. Thank you!
Chekhov’s geothermal….!?
What about Chekhov’s Phaeton (or whatever Tom’s “car” is.) I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we first learn of Tom’s car in the same story that introduces the Rev’s Transformer knockoff.
This comic is like Jack Kirby’s work at Marvel in the sixties and at DC in the early seventies: so many good ideas and characters just thrown out there that could supply dozens of lesser creators with ample material for decades of comics. Thank you, Mr. Allison, for the wild ride!
I’m still hoping for Maggie and Billie on the road with Maggie’s resurrected cycle.
I’m not sorry to see her out from under Tom’s thumb. I am sorry that she hasn’t taken over the Satanic Church. She is exactly what it needs.
That’s a good way to make CoS profitable. Drill down to Hades and tap in to everlasting flame power. It’ll last until hell freezes over. Maybe GEOthermal is Gallus Exeunt Omnes or similar misdirection.
Using the power of the heat of the earth’s deeper regions would be fitting for satanists. Be careful however, if you drill deep enough you might generate an impromptu volcano…
It kind of looks like last panel Penrose is reflecting on the single-bar electric heater and dodgy hot water at the rectory, and is trying to persuade himself that adversity builds character.
It’s probably just me, but the look she gives Penrose in Panel 2 doesn’t…quite seem to fit the mood.
Well, she’s just been told to blow off Tom, that’s may have set off a train of thought, possibly heading toward a different station…
Because Penrose can’t imagine that Billie was the one forcing Tom to sign her contract under the menace of a hex. She’s remembering ones of her victories.
No, even if she was the one who wrote out the contract she was still under the influence of the hex, is the point. It’s just a classic legal loophole of “I wasn’t in my right mind.”, something like an insanity defense. Never completely true (after all when people go crazy they often do what they really want to do, but normally know better not to try) but also not really false either. Contracts are not at all like relationships in that way.
You’re right, the fake vision was pushing her. But this don’t exclude the fact that Billie, right now, could enjoy the memory of her forcing Tom to make her stay in the CoS, accepting her condition.
We have fond memories of plenty of things we regret for other reasons…
Oh it fits quite well to me. The Rev is pushing very hard for her to come back to his side – and who doesn’t like being pursued? And we just saw the witches pointing out that there was more between them than what was obvious (buttoning up his shirt). As much as Maggie is hot for the Rev, I always felt he was quietly into Billie. And Billie knows it, but maybe not what to do with it.
It is my understanding that it is not so much the heat source as the insulation (in terms of the sensation of warmth with drafts etc.). But possibly that is a dirty word in the UK?
What, “warmth” ?
Thank you for another year of comics John!
The purple in this one is just gorgeous. Thank you so much for these! 💜
Yeah, the pattered shirt/dress look great in this lighting
I seem to recall the “not being raptured” bit also counted in Billie’s conversion. I think that happened in the printed comics?
It’s legit, there’s a book called ‘the great disappointment’ on how these rapture predictions in the 19th c. messed with a lot of people’s lives and faith…
This is art.
Thank you John for the wonderful story. May your holiday be merry and your new year fruitful.
I always these moments where you get just an inkling of Rev. Penrose’s more compassionate side. Contrary to what some might think, I think Billie is being pretty honest with him.
Thanks again for another great year of comics John! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Am I alone in hoping that Billie returns to the Church of England? She has been the most saintly Satanist ever, and she *clearly* missed the CoE. Remember the hymn singing?
I’m actually hoping Billie returns to the fold too. It just is more her.
This series has been a magnificent ride! Heart eyes forever!
Am I alone in wanting to see what John has in store for Billie, and hoping to be surprised in some way, rather than wanting her to conform to some preconceived idea I have about who she is and what would be good for her? If she stays with the Church of Satan, if she returns to the Church of England, if she goes in some completely different direction, I want to see how that happens and what the end result is, and I trust Billie to make her own life decisions, to have her own agency (now that she knows the truth), even if she is a fictional character. And I trust John to wrap things up in an interesting, entertaining, possibly thought-provoking, and probably not entirely predictable way.
Oh, I agree. While I’d personally like to see Billie back with the CoE, I know that John will wrap things up in fine fashion no matter what route he takes.
I keep saying – Billie and Maggie: On The Road!
Chekhov’s Motorcycle.
Nice for you, Billie, but we’ll miss:
https://steeple.church/comic/munus-hic-iuvat-insanire/
“Do as thou willst [i.e. what you want to do], one last time.”
So she’s supposed to spend the rest of her life doing what she *doesn’t* want to do? The heck?
“I can’t want what I want” – T.E.Lawrence
Man, I hate being the Early Modern English grammar nazi but it is “Do what thou wilt”, not “Do what thou willst”. Yes, it is “thou speakest harsh words at yuletide” with an “st” but “will” does not obey the regular Early Modern English standard declension.
OK, I don’t actually hate it. Sue me.
I think the Tredregyn Satanists have the same attitude toward grammar rules that they have toward other kinds of rules. And it wouldn’t surprise me if Tom came up with using “do what thou willst” as his church’s greeting/slogan/whatever just to annoy people who noticed the error.
It’s PENROSE who’s saying it. Maybe he’s saying it wrong on purpose, just to be petty, and Billie is too classy to call him on it.
Penrose is deliberately quoting the local Satanists, who say it that way all the time.
A merry (and restful!) Christmas to you and yours, John. Thanks for all you share with us over the year!
Merry Christmas, John (and all the readers, of course).
Cheers, John! Thank you always for your stories and enjoy your rest!
Final chapter 😢
I will miss this comic so much
Me too. 😢 😢
The Reverend is a good man when all’s said and done.