Entering its second miniseries, The Great British Bump-Off continues the work (along with Wicked Things and Solver) of giving each of the original Bad Machinery gang members their own space for zany mystery solving.
The two characters who have made these solo excursions – Charlotte Grote in Wicked Things and, here, Shauna Wickle – have registered their distinctive niches as to the types of mysteries they solve; it is Shauna’s burden to find herself tied up in primarily arts and crafts-based madcaps. You would suspect that there might be fewer quilting and baking mysteries than, say, jewel-thieving or even clown-based crime rings, but you’d be wrong in that suspicion.
Dark Horse
As of the second issue of Kill or Be Quilt, there has been no outright murder, which might be of some relief to our beleaguered Shauna, though that relief may be short-lived. The most extreme crime (car arson) occurred at the end of the last issue; here, a little property damage moves the plot along without greatly raising the stakes.
The mysteries in John Allison’s stories are never as engaging as their casts. Long-running Shauna Wickle has already earned her star: snappy, adorable, capable of burning sarcasm, she joins a veritable league of smarmy heroines dating back to Shelley Winters. Allison populates this story with characters whose utility, however brief, is matched by an instantaneous sense of character: the vapid, mommy-issue-laden crush object, paranoid craft store owners, and wonderfully robust craft employees. Each of these characters – characters that we’ll likely never see again as we move on to further Tackleford stories – feels expertly crafted to be as rounded as a character can be expected to be with only a handful of panels to their names.
Dark Horse
As always, Max Sarin continues to be an indispensable asset to these books and one of the most effective cartoonists in this post-webcomic, all-ages market. Clean lines, infallible caricature, and impeccable comedic timing make this art at once memorable and fluid. Sarin feels to have been a rock-solid, never-changing force for these stories since the first issue of Giant Days, but of course, the artwork has only become more refined and pitch-perfect for each scenario. Watching Sarin grow over the last decade has been nearly as much fun as spending time with the Tackleford cast as they grow.
Endlessly charming and perfectly drafted, The Great British Bump-Off: Kill or Be Quilt #2 is another absolutely banger of an issue. It’s hard to finish without grin-induced chin pains, as nearly every panel has some delightful zinger. For my money, the continuing adventures of the Bad Machinery gang is the most rewardingly lovely time to have in modern comics. Now, if only our girl Mildred could get a mini of her own.
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