I’m just trying to figure out whether it’s an artistic flourish, or if they really do have an intercom shaped like Tom’s head with light-up eyes. I could honestly see it going either way.
So… um… isn’t your symbol on the wall… the Sigil of Baphomet should be upside-down, yes? As it stands it is a NeoPagan Pentacle suggesting that the apothecary of the Tredregyn church of Satan holds spiritual values above the material world.
I’m like a quantum computer, I make lots of mistakes but I’m going so fast that you’re still getting very advanced results compared to, say, Marmaduke, a comic which uses absolutely no superposition.
Thorpe you are wrong. Wrong just as a quantum computer is simultaneously wrong and right as it sends a quark to its super-chilled “strangeness and charm” drive to solve another complex protein folding problem.
The pentangle isn’t specifically neopagan symbol, it’s literally a traditional anglo version of the seal of solomon and was employed by Christians. afaik Gawain’s shield had one. Most people think nowadays that it was a six-pointed star, but in those days they believed it to be five.
And it first became associated with demonology because, as a holy symbol, it was supposed to protect the summoner from the demon he was summoning- either because the summoner would stand in the pentagram, or the demon would be trapped in it. The whole “inverted pentagram” thing came in much later.
It is enterely possible that Brian painted it upside-down while being hangover. Or that he painted it correctly while being hangover and hung upside-down.
Hullo I would like some validation for how clever I am at spotting details. Um… the … ok, the top of the shelves looks like a squashed jack o’lantern a bit. Is that an intentional flourish, Mr Allison? Hmmm?
Yeah, there was a film called Legend which had Tom Cruise as a kind of fairy but the excellent Tim Curry played the Devil in the form of a goat like creature with massive horns. He was definitely Ungulant.
For those who are a-wondering; Tom’s comment in panel three is referencing people who turn up at your door, flash a (usually terrible) form of ID at you for half a second and then offer to sell you a variety of cleaning products out of a sports bag as part of a prisoner rehabilitation/earning scheme.
Alas there is no such scheme of selling deluxe bog brushes and microfibre pads as these are in fact scouts for their mates in the van down the road, looking for easy marks for burglary.
I feel like, “Ha ha, you failed to retain the biggest do-gooder in England (so she moved to my church and now constantly ruins my evilness by continuing to do good)” is less a burn and more of a self-own than Tom realizes.
Gonna sit down and write a blues song called “Stop Your Seething In the Apothecary”.
Full marks for intertom.
I’m just trying to figure out whether it’s an artistic flourish, or if they really do have an intercom shaped like Tom’s head with light-up eyes. I could honestly see it going either way.
I could fully see Tom’s extra as hell ass just having the idea out of nowhere and immediately making it happen
Equally likely is that one of the InterTom stations is shaped like his arse instead of his face.
First known instance of someone talking INTO his arse
Maybe it’s been reused from some other of Tom’s projects.
The “FleshTom” was not the hit he anticipated.
I absolutely assumed the latter, that it is in fact shaped like his face because he IS that extra and a megalomaniac to boot.
Hi, Tom! Hi, Jason!
𝕯𝕴𝕹𝕲 𝕯𝕺𝕹𝕲
Always nice to see Tom and hear some of his great jokes. And look how happy Billie is to know that her good friend Penrose wants to see her!
Billie’s tube top cleric collar is styling.
Maybe Satan likes wasting of resources?
Hmm, is there more than one sinister skull in the apothecary, or did it move between panel 1 and panel 5?
A satanic apothecary can never have too many sinister skulls.
I should also note, however, that the two possibilities you list are not mutually exclusive.
This question is definitively answered in this story, but not for several weeks
Tom and Brian insist on getting new a sinister skull when there’s already one on the shelf.
Maybe the skull’s Mick, the skull Tom was getting advice from in the last chapter of Clotted Crime. Maybe Mick’s spying on Billie.
not “or” but “and”
I see Tom’s his usual loathsome self. Billie’s expression in the last panel is adorable.
So… um… isn’t your symbol on the wall… the Sigil of Baphomet should be upside-down, yes? As it stands it is a NeoPagan Pentacle suggesting that the apothecary of the Tredregyn church of Satan holds spiritual values above the material world.
Or maybe that is intentional?
Just another classic Allison high speed error
It’s a feature not a bug.
I’m like a quantum computer, I make lots of mistakes but I’m going so fast that you’re still getting very advanced results compared to, say, Marmaduke, a comic which uses absolutely no superposition.
Umm…
Not how quantum computers work.
Lololol, please don’t ban me and keep up the good work!
Thorpe you are wrong. Wrong just as a quantum computer is simultaneously wrong and right as it sends a quark to its super-chilled “strangeness and charm” drive to solve another complex protein folding problem.
DO NOT TEST ME I AM THE EXPERT ON THIS
WHOA DIRECT SHOT AT MARMADUKE.
Marmaduke can’t use quantum technologies, because they only work at very small scales, and the dog is big.
Is Marmaduke Schrodinger’s dog?
The pentangle isn’t specifically neopagan symbol, it’s literally a traditional anglo version of the seal of solomon and was employed by Christians. afaik Gawain’s shield had one. Most people think nowadays that it was a six-pointed star, but in those days they believed it to be five.
And it first became associated with demonology because, as a holy symbol, it was supposed to protect the summoner from the demon he was summoning- either because the summoner would stand in the pentagram, or the demon would be trapped in it. The whole “inverted pentagram” thing came in much later.
It is enterely possible that Brian painted it upside-down while being hangover. Or that he painted it correctly while being hangover and hung upside-down.
Apothecarycels sure are seething at Unguentchads
I think where Tom would INTENTIONALLY waste ungent, Brian probably just forgot there was already an open bottle.
Erm, unguent, that is.
No, that’s what Brian calls it.
Ah, well. It’s clearly not an unguent matter.
…as he goes out into that unguental night!
The reference to The Office had me chuckling. Maybe the Rev’s new jalopy needs a trip down the Freelove Freeway?
…and I hate to keep dwelling on my love of things Supermarionation*, but the InterTom looks awfully like Jeff Tracy’s communication panel.
* This is a lie.
Tom’s panel 3 bulge is hypnotic.
Love panel 4. Tom should put that on a headshot.
Absolutely riveting panel. Captures both Tom’s sneering jibe and the distinct impression that he’d jump the good reverend’s bones in a heartbeat.
I’m glad we both appreciate the Steeple deep lore cuts!
Hullo I would like some validation for how clever I am at spotting details. Um… the … ok, the top of the shelves looks like a squashed jack o’lantern a bit. Is that an intentional flourish, Mr Allison? Hmmm?
Isn’t unguent another name for a goat or something? Is this “Goat Oil”? Probably quite pungent if it is. In fact it’s a pungent unguent.
The Unholy Ungulate is an entirely different beast.
Yeah, there was a film called Legend which had Tom Cruise as a kind of fairy but the excellent Tim Curry played the Devil in the form of a goat like creature with massive horns. He was definitely Ungulant.
“Unguent” is a synonym for “lubricant” – generally with the implication that it’s for lubricating human bodies instead of, say, automotive parts.
You’re thinking of “ungulents”, a collective name for slippery hooved mammals.
“Ungulates”.
Implying that all other mammals are gulates.
Such as the common greased pig.
Or maybe Big Ken when greased?
For those who are a-wondering; Tom’s comment in panel three is referencing people who turn up at your door, flash a (usually terrible) form of ID at you for half a second and then offer to sell you a variety of cleaning products out of a sports bag as part of a prisoner rehabilitation/earning scheme.
Alas there is no such scheme of selling deluxe bog brushes and microfibre pads as these are in fact scouts for their mates in the van down the road, looking for easy marks for burglary.
Thank you for the explanation. Different countries, different customs, eh?
Loving Tom’s Leggy Look.
I feel like, “Ha ha, you failed to retain the biggest do-gooder in England (so she moved to my church and now constantly ruins my evilness by continuing to do good)” is less a burn and more of a self-own than Tom realizes.
Or, considering what happens to Tom when Billie touches him, a self-burn.
Isn’t “Own Thyself” a famous Satanist saying or something?
I think it goes: “To own thyself, be true.”
Haha.
You’re thinking of ‘Do What Thou Wilt But A Pencil Must Be Lead’
So what did Olde Red Eyes do to get thrown into prison?
https://steeple.church/comic/it-could-be-worse-than-that/
Two Unholy Unguents on the go / It’s a nightmare scenario