Bad Machinery by John Allison for December 09, 2024

  1. Selkiedad
    John Campbell  about 1 month ago

    Surprisingly, “following leads at the pub” wasn’t just a euphemism for “drinking”. We got a little different twist on the story of how Tommy Binks died here.

    Dixon Lovelace previously appeared in the Scary Go Round story “Chilton Takes Charge”, in which Amy first opened Bric-a-Brac. He was Amy’s mentor, rival, and baffling crush. He ended up looting the original Bric-a-Brac while it was burning down, with the excuse that he was rescuing Melanie (who we last saw as a waitress at Bank of Burgers, but she worked for Amy up through the early Bad Machinery cases; it was her leaving that created the job opening that Shauna filled), who was trapped inside. (Ryan actually rescued Melanie, and they dated for a little while afterwards, until the mailman-smuggling-ring-pirate-ghost-gunplay incident, for which Melanie’s father blamed Ryan, despite Melanie being the one doing all the shooting.) We saw “Chilton Takes Charge”-era Lovelace in a flashback back in “Missing Piece”, in the strip where Amy beat him to a “Jonathan Gash”.

    The guy with the blue beret and monocle in the second panel is Dinkle, a rogue and alcohol sponge, who was acting as Lovelace’s sidekick in “Chilton Takes Charge”. He’s probably the one who actually started the fire that destroyed the original Bric-a-Brac, though I think only he and Lovelace are aware of that. We saw Dinkle earlier in this case, at the auction where Amy bought the maggot-infested mattress and tax scam record.

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  2. New badger avatar
    tudza Premium Member about 1 month ago

    Totally spaced on the t-shirt. Only realized on a second look.

    Turns out the guy who always knows who is carrying a knife is a shivy. ( which I just made up )

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  3. Notatroll
    Whatever happened to common sense?  about 1 month ago

    Don’t trust Amy.

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  4. Missing large
    R.U. Kidding  about 1 month ago

    Minniver’s Knob?

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  5. Froggy with cat ears
    willie_mctell  about 1 month ago

    Miniver’s Knob? I’ve never watched Lovelace although it’s readily available in the US. Is the book an allusion?

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