John Allison
@badmachinery.com
Cartoonist in Leeds, UK. I brought you such comics as Steeple, Bad Machinery, Giant Days, Scary Go Round, Bobbins, Great British Bump-Off and Solver. The nation's favourite.
https://badmachinery.com
https://badmachinery.com
Pinned
John Allison
@badmachinery.com
· Jul 8
Someone just asked so it may be worth reiterating, the Giant Days/Batman crossover can be read not just free but ad-free here.
scarygoround.com/giantdays/in...
scarygoround.com/giantdays/in...
Reposted by John Allison
"Twelfth Night Till Candlemas"
The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending
My popular seasonal post from last year:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
Now with a couple of footnotes one year on:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending
My popular seasonal post from last year:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
Now with a couple of footnotes one year on:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
"Twelfth Night Till Candlemas"
The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending
emptycity.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 9:03 AM
"Twelfth Night Till Candlemas"
The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending
My popular seasonal post from last year:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
Now with a couple of footnotes one year on:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
The story of a forty-year book-quest and of its remarkable ending
My popular seasonal post from last year:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
Now with a couple of footnotes one year on:
emptycity.substack.com/p/twelfth-ni...
Final comic of 2025: "Without the Beatles (NEMS pt 3 concludes)" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
Without the Beatles (NEMS pt 3 concludes) - Bad Machinery
I guess we’ll never know if Cilla rigged the clock to go boom or not. Here ends Destroy History: NEMS. Will Destroy History ever return? Not soon, my friends, not soon. But maybe one day. Never say ne...
badmachinery.com
December 24, 2025 at 7:31 AM
Final comic of 2025: "Without the Beatles (NEMS pt 3 concludes)" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
It's a rare Tuesday comic from me; to think, once upon a time I commemorated every Tuesday with a new page. A different time, a simpler age.
New comic: "It would have taken a lot longer" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
It would have taken a lot longer - Bad Machinery
WHERE IS CILLA (BAND)? Alas, we may never find out. The mercurial berater of airline stewardesses and shop assistants has vanished like Scotch tape. Scotch tape? Scotch mist. Something the 3M corporat...
badmachinery.com
December 23, 2025 at 5:03 PM
It's a rare Tuesday comic from me; to think, once upon a time I commemorated every Tuesday with a new page. A different time, a simpler age.
It's all Stanwyck all the time at my house
'Tis the season of the Barbara Stanwyck Christmas Cinematic Universe. 🎄
December 23, 2025 at 5:00 PM
It's all Stanwyck all the time at my house
Reposted by John Allison
He's m ng ist
He’s check ice
He find ou
naught ice
Norman Collier is comi town
He’s check ice
He find ou
naught ice
Norman Collier is comi town
December 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM
He's m ng ist
He’s check ice
He find ou
naught ice
Norman Collier is comi town
He’s check ice
He find ou
naught ice
Norman Collier is comi town
I was reminded today of a very specific sort of British shopping bag that precedes free "disposable" plastic bags. It was made out of a sort of mesh, with metal handles. I wonder if anyone still makes them. They seemed near-indestructible.
December 23, 2025 at 1:40 PM
I was reminded today of a very specific sort of British shopping bag that precedes free "disposable" plastic bags. It was made out of a sort of mesh, with metal handles. I wonder if anyone still makes them. They seemed near-indestructible.
New comic: "It would have taken a lot longer" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
It would have taken a lot longer - Bad Machinery
WHERE IS CILLA (BAND)? Alas, we may never find out. The mercurial berater of airline stewardesses and shop assistants has vanished like Scotch tape. Scotch tape? Scotch mist. Something the 3M corporat...
badmachinery.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:07 AM
New comic: "It would have taken a lot longer" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
New comic: "That’s her gift" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
That's her gift - Bad Machinery
Shelley and Esther don’t often get to share time on the page, so when it happens, I consider it a treat for you and a treat for me. But not, perhaps, a treat for Cilla. Note ye: comics update Monday,[...
badmachinery.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:22 AM
New comic: "That’s her gift" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
Some recent Steeple drawings
December 21, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Some recent Steeple drawings
Looking forward to spooking up my mind with this
Thanks for all the kind words about TOND, the #BrokenVeil ghost story for Christmas.
We’re really proud of it, and hope to be able to make lots more of these. So, thanks to all our supporters on Patreon.
pod.link/1745494718/e...
We’re really proud of it, and hope to be able to make lots more of these. So, thanks to all our supporters on Patreon.
pod.link/1745494718/e...
December 20, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Looking forward to spooking up my mind with this
B. Walsh, A. Hammond, H. Willoughby, A. Carr: no. I have no real interest in Strictly but I have watched it with my mum many times and I feel that the only way to keep the ship up is to employ Amelia Dimoldenberg and Ania Magliano as the new hosts.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
Strictly Come Dancing’s new hosts: who is in the running?
As two beloved presenters stand down, speculation is rife over who may take up the ‘very sparkly baton’
www.theguardian.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:25 PM
B. Walsh, A. Hammond, H. Willoughby, A. Carr: no. I have no real interest in Strictly but I have watched it with my mum many times and I feel that the only way to keep the ship up is to employ Amelia Dimoldenberg and Ania Magliano as the new hosts.
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
New comic: "We never got to do it" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
We never got to do it - Bad Machinery
There she is, Cilla, our songbird queen.
badmachinery.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:36 AM
New comic: "We never got to do it" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
Last day for Xmas Topatoco orders. I note that there are two (2) copies of NEMS 1968 left in my store (topatoco.com/sgr)
Hello friends, foes, & lovers (👀?), we have our UPDATED Holiday shipping deadlines for you! :) These deadlines will also be available to look at on our website too: topatoco.com/pages/holida...
![red text on a yellow background of our 2025 shipping deadlines, text reads:
!!!HOLIDAY SHIPPING DEADLINES!!!
international (non-u.s.): november 24th
usps (u.s. orders)
ground advantage - 10th
usps priority - 12th
usps express - 16th
ups (u.s. orders):
ground: december 12th
ups 3-day select & ups 2nd day air - 17th
ups next day air - 18th
after these dates we cannot guarantee your items will arrive on time! Happy holidays friends, stay safe out there :]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mmfd7jsxhx7ixnwj6ea7d4kp/bafkreigpivkup2zf3rp3ukhvmkwoti53nwtaifsgywzdkugdklysgg7p2i@jpeg)
December 18, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Last day for Xmas Topatoco orders. I note that there are two (2) copies of NEMS 1968 left in my store (topatoco.com/sgr)
Reposted by John Allison
It's time! Behold the Christmas hedgehog! From Verdun, Bibl. mun., ms. 0107, f. 008. Our thanks as always to @etreharne.bsky.social who found her.
December 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
It's time! Behold the Christmas hedgehog! From Verdun, Bibl. mun., ms. 0107, f. 008. Our thanks as always to @etreharne.bsky.social who found her.
I'm reissuing a classic - no bonus tracks
I ate my first Fishermans Friend when I was 10. A friend handed it to me in class and told me it was "heroin". I put it in my mouth then, when he wasn't looking, put it in my pocket wrapped in a tissue. I spent the whole afternoon terrified that I was imminently going to be arrested.
December 17, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I'm reissuing a classic - no bonus tracks
New comic: "The queen of boogie-woogie" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
The queen of boogie-woogie - Bad Machinery
Jools Holland’s New Year Hootenanny is a pre-recorded New Year’s Eve event that is on BBC2 every year. The great and the good gather to pretend to boogie-woogie their way into the future. In an era wh...
badmachinery.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
New comic: "The queen of boogie-woogie" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
NEMS 1968 and Savage Sword of Susan now available at Topatoco badmachinery.com/2025/12/16/n...
NEMS 1968 and Savage Sword of Susan now available at Topatoco - Bad Machinery
There are limited stocks of Savage Sword of Susan and NEMS 1968 at Topatoco. If you’re in the UK or Europe you can find them at Page 45 along with all my other currently in-print books. I will be repr...
badmachinery.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:47 PM
NEMS 1968 and Savage Sword of Susan now available at Topatoco badmachinery.com/2025/12/16/n...
If you're a Webtoon user, Solver has now been running there for a couple of months in a phone-friendly format. Please tell your phone-friendly format friends.
www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/so...
www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/so...
Solver - Circus Windows part 2, episode 3
Charlotte Grote is an aged-out teen mystery solver, who glittering future was been derailed by an unfortunate murder accusation. She proved her innocence, but it cost her a university place, a glide p...
www.webtoons.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:18 AM
If you're a Webtoon user, Solver has now been running there for a couple of months in a phone-friendly format. Please tell your phone-friendly format friends.
www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/so...
www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/so...
Reposted by John Allison
When I interviewed Spinal Tap and Marty DiBergi this summer, none of them broke character, for the whole hour. Except Rob Reiner, once, losing it when Michael McKean's David St Hubbins talked about minimalism. I didn't use this in the feature and hadn't published any audio, but this is joyful.
December 15, 2025 at 10:24 AM
When I interviewed Spinal Tap and Marty DiBergi this summer, none of them broke character, for the whole hour. Except Rob Reiner, once, losing it when Michael McKean's David St Hubbins talked about minimalism. I didn't use this in the feature and hadn't published any audio, but this is joyful.
These are great, very well researched pieces, a bit like Stereogum's "The Number Ones" for old computer games. Excellent reading.
Over the last two months on my blog, I've written about the history of each of the nine computer games to reach #1 in UK sales charts during 1985.
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:14 AM
These are great, very well researched pieces, a bit like Stereogum's "The Number Ones" for old computer games. Excellent reading.
New comic: "Back back back" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
Back back back - Bad Machinery
I’m not sure who maintains the “where are they now” file these days. It used to be a jam packed (ram-packed) ledger but now, just a cloud of scuttlebutt and who knows.
badmachinery.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:53 AM
New comic: "Back back back" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
I repost purely because it is one of my very favourite things from my time in comic books: Lottie and Claire on the @gurihiru.bsky.social variant cover for the 2020 series Wicked Things.
December 13, 2025 at 12:17 PM
I repost purely because it is one of my very favourite things from my time in comic books: Lottie and Claire on the @gurihiru.bsky.social variant cover for the 2020 series Wicked Things.
I've found the perfect ad copy. It's so soothing that I think it would cure you without your having to buy the remedy described within. I give you: Blue Jay Corn Plasters
December 13, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I've found the perfect ad copy. It's so soothing that I think it would cure you without your having to buy the remedy described within. I give you: Blue Jay Corn Plasters
New comic: "Bip Bop" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
Bip Bop - Bad Machinery
Sid has seemed very authoritative in this story, doubtless due to the passing of a few years and a promotion, but you can be sure that Shelley will reduce anyone to their most basic and primitive form...
badmachinery.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:52 AM
New comic: "Bip Bop" badmachinery.com/comic/2025-1...
Whitbread Mackeson - Gran Hardy - CDP 1965
YouTube video by CDPcelebration
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 10:47 AM