Bad Machinery

The story of Bad Machinery picks up three years after the end of Scary Go Round and involves two groups of schoolchildren that investigate mysteries.

It is recorded as the work of John Allison. The recorded date of publication is 2009. It is associated with United Kingdom. The record gives 2009 as its date of establishment or first appearance. Recorded genres are mystery fiction and comedy.

• Title — Bad Machinery • Author — John Allison • Url — scarygoround.com • Status — Concluded • First — 2009 09 21 • Genre — Mystery, Comedy • Preceded By — Scary Go Round 2002-06-04 to 2009-09-14

After the announcement of the end of Scary Go Round, John Allison answered readers' questions about the "new comic" in his blog, posted on 2009-09-13. He gave several hints as to the content of the new comic, indicating a preference to move away from writing about the lives of twenty-somethings, and the dispensing of many characters from Scary Go Round. In another post, the title of the new comic was revealed to be Bad Machinery, and each story (with the exception of the preamble) would be 100 pages long. The comic is named after a song by indie band Let's Active. On 21 September 2009, after a one-week hiatus following the end of Scary Go Round, Bad Machinery was launched on the same web site that had previously hosted Scary Go Round, titled Scary Go Round Presents Bad Machinery. As of 2021, ten collections of Bad Machinery storylines have been published by Oni Press in full-colour paperback, beginning with The Case of the Team Spirit, in March 2013.

In Bad Machinery, two groups of child investigators attend the fictional Griswalds Grammar School in Keane End, Tackleford. The groups interact and compete to solve the mysteries, keeping a tally on a wall. They are not always aware that they are both working on the same mystery or dilemma, as they start with different leads. Bad Machinery focuses on humour, with funny and surreal situations, punctuated by moments of action and mystery. Every episode is comedic, and the artist will frequently add visual jokes in the background. Bad Machinery is also proudly British in its sensibilities.