Wen-Tack/The Great Unboxing and more
The subject of the Wen-Tack comic ("The Great Unboxing") came up the other day and as a lot of people have signed up for the Patreon since I posted it here in 2021, here's a link back to a PDF of this failed but still-interesting experiment along with commentary on what worked and when it didn't why.
BONUS ITEM! A housefly has been following me round the house for the last four days. He sits on my head, he lands on the screen, he is uncatchable and I never kill an insect if I can possibly avoid it. What I think he wants me to do is post a selection of baffling thumbnail sketches for the next issue of Solver, which I finished writing today. This story is a three-parter called WOBBLY HEAD and it finally resolves the incomplete murder plot in my Wicked Things series, while also tackling many other important issues. It begins on October 21st (unless I am in some way incapacitated before I draw it).
Comments (27)
I really like Wen-Tack.
The fly is wise
The Fly. Your moral scruples will not allow you to outright splaaat him/her. I get it. Use a vacuum cleaner (hoover) to suck him/her up and then release the bug outside.
I have an insect vacuum for just this purpose, but some flies are kind of uncatchable - the clever ones! This one's like a dog. He's always pleased to see me.
i think i would be lying if i denied also finding wen-tack a bit off the rails when it first ran. but it did also have some of my absolute favourite panels and jokes and i'll keep going back and re-reading it for those alone. "my nuts story", i'm somewhat ashamed to admit, has been a permanent part of my vocabulary since 2017. how many opportunities does the average person get to work "my nuts story" into a conversation? more than you'd think, it turns out
I had to think about My Nuts Story for a second to recall its origins among the roughly 5000 cash-in paperbacks released by little Youtube boys around 2017-18. I thank you for your continuing to share the gift of My Nuts Story with friends, colleagues and strangers.
Just re-read Wen-Tack. All my favorite moments are still there! While I appreciate yer self-critique, from this reader's perspective, it has all the great qualities of the long-form Bad Machinery stories. Unpredictable, with the characters running wild through loads of fun little blind alleys, but building ineffably towards a finale. Lots of laughs, and some deep feels that are played so lightly, one might almost miss 'em. To have these old stories to revisit while continued top-drawer new material rolls out, it's nothing but fine, I promise.
Well said
Lotte! You are too young to be a (Matt Berry voice) "femme fatale".
Is that Daisy in the last image
Haha no, wait and see
THAT's no housefly (C. Grote, Seductress!!)
So excited to finally learn the truth from Wicked Things! And hoping the 3 issues are chunky enough to make you consider printing it as Solver vol 2 🙏
66 pages, so most likely half a book, Jon: too thick for stapling, too thin for a spine. Unless a fourth chapter becomes necessary.
I enjoyed re-reading Wen-Tack. It had its moments, and plenty of them. Did we ever see the mystery kids at sixth form, or was that the end of their on-page schooling?
That was the end, brief mentions have been made of their post-16 schooling and Lottie and Claire being the sole keepers of the mystery-solving flame, but I'd have to be reminded of where. There were a number of abandoned projects post Bad Machinery - Go-Kart Conspiracy, Babysitter Of The Year.
May there always be a Charlotte/Esther/Raven-Haired Beauty to make the boys profoundly uncomfortable in the Scary-Go-Roundverse.
okay I am Hype for this, whatever it turns out to be. Stay healthy!
Were there any rights issues with Boom that prevented you from following up on Wicked Things’ murder plot until a few years had passed, or was it more because of your own motivation? Both are understandable.
I had hoped to finish it off with Wicked Things artist Max Sarin - maybe as part of the Giant Days Kickstarter, or via our overseas publishers, but it proved not to be possible.
Delighted to re-read Wen-Tack! It never occurred to me that anything was wrong with it, but sure, I suppose it skips the climactic unboxing that could've been shown on-panel. Even still, I loved how it created an unintended consequence for the schoolkids with the redistricting - that was a really interesting outcome, and the cause/effect felt sound. I don't think this is a low point at all, it's delightful all the way through!
Tantalizing, if gnomic, glimpses into a story I very much want to read!
Gnomic is the brand!!!!
Solver's alive *and* it's a 3 partner *and* it has Wicked Things follow up??? Amazing news. Hopefully there aren't too many Wicked Things fans out there who were in it for the gritty realism of a murder case remaining indefinitely unsolved and the initial suspect being released due to insufficient evidence.
It was, arguably, the most convincing outcome, I agree.
I can't wait to read this! That unresolved Wicked Things story has been nagging at the back of my mind for years now, so I'm very glad you're going to finish it. Do we have to wait until all three parts are done before going back to the Nineties with Jack?
Yes, that series will return when I've had time to really think about it.