Chinook Illustration

The Leverson Inquiry continues to throw up drama and comedy in Seething Lane and it's now the turn of the Organ-Grinders to entertain us.

If it sounds like it might be true.... lob it in.  And as for 'ethics' ?  What the hell does that mean?

Like siblings bickering, Cessminster and Holywreck revel in their endless squabbles.  As the Great Northern Tribes once again discuss running away, Bullingdon and his party plot, plan and connive. 

The 'wanna-be' King of the Great Northern Tribes sits and chuckles, waiting for the game to unfold.

Say 'Hello' to Lady Cantata. Lady 'C' stalks the corridors of power in her killer heels searching out the weak.  A lifelong party wife she rose to Government despite Bullingdon and Scarlatti's opposition and now intrigues and dissembles better than anyone of the PM's toadying minions.

She is often sent out on missions that require rather more subtlety than Scarlatti could ever manage. Inveterate worshiper at the alter of free enterprise she is reputedly a 'sleeping' Director of more than a thousand companies; many of which enjoy lucrative government contracts.

Surely not.

It would be nice to think that this episode was extreme and far-fetched but in light of recent events, political exposes, phone hacking scandals and enquiries it seems rather to close to our politicians and their media masters for comfort.

In these days of a struggling economy the Chancellor Scarlatti is determined to find a way to boost takings at the checkout.

Don't worry that you're sinking further into debt; here's an offer you can't refuse.

Bullingdon likes to play the hero, fending-off 'Johnny Foreigner".  And a Eurostan summit always opens up the possibility of playing to NewsTrolls back home.  The Headlines will love you Bullingdon, the headlines will love you.
 

UK fans of 'The Today Programme" mornings on Radio 4 will recognise this scenario all too well.  If you've never heard it, the programme's 'rottweiler' presenter John Humphrys is infamous for talking more than the interviewee and interrupting their every sentence.

I love Simpkins. Let's face it; you can never have enough Robots.  Simpkins is a strange mix of elements from 'Robbie' from Fireball XL5, 'Robbie' from Forbidden Planet, Kryten from Red Dwarf, Manuel from Fawlty Towers, Sheldon from Big Bang Theory and Megan Fox from Transformers.

 

Frankly, Chancellor Scarlatti is a nasty little shit.  Which is funny really as most Chancellors are quite charming fellows or 'or a really good bloke' as their multimillionaire pals would say.

 
Inspired by events surrounding the 'Weapons of mass Destruction' scandal, this strip morphed into several different versions before I settled on this.
Still... you've got to laugh.

 

Simpkins steals the show.  One espresso too many and he loses his head and ends up on his back.

Simpkins is a devoted assistant to Sam and despite his accident-prone nature is able to be another pair of eyes and ears upon the intrigues around parliament. He will also commit terrible acts on instruction.  Not particularly nice I know, but useful you've got to admit.
 

Sam walking through the city.  This was one of my first opportunities to think about the version of London and Cessminster I was creating.  In this early incarnation there are all the usual Steampunk elements there but even at this point I was already starting to think about feeding in some more 'story book', 'electro' motifs as well as cutesy/bizarre settings and characters.