nods both overt and sly to a variety of steampunk, Victoriana and other characters and objects. These are noted by the artist on his Blog, and include Gog and Magog, various Cthulhu/H. P. Lovecraft characters and tropes; Nigel Kneale's Kinvig; Doctor Who (in particular the serial "The Dæmons" (1971) and British television series such as Only Fools and Horses, Steptoe and Son and Dixon of Dock Green. Mother London The story opens at some point in the mythical past. Gog and Magog (the defenders of London) are getting old and so they agree to letting a druid sacrifice them so that they can defend the capital forever. The story moves forward to a Victorian era London where Abdul Alhazred is conducting a séance. However, it appears to be more hypnotism than Spiritualism and the medium is trying to extract information from his clients. Luckily the guest are undercover police officers but an attempt to arrest the villains reveals them to be clockwork automata. They were all created by Prof. Philo Thynne who left his position at London University's Mechanical Engineering Department to run the scheme, not for his personal gain, but to build a device to protect him from Stickleback, with whom he had previously had some kind of contact. In a series of events a clockwork cow explodes and derails a train with a mysterious cargo, Chief Constable Lime pulls Bey off the case and the latter is kidnapped by a couple of witch doctors. Bey is delivered to Stickleback who reveals that, although his criminal organisation has yet to be targeted, there is a mysterious well-connected group, called the City Fathers, had started taking out various criminal gangs with the intention of taking over London. Stickleback claims that Chief Constable Lime is one of them and that he needs Bey's help and so sets him free, with all the evidence collected by the gang. England's Glory The second tale opens on the supernatural murder of an unnamed individual by Chinese hopping vampires, overseen by a mysterious American. Elsewhere, in the wake of "Mother London," Stickleback's gang are coming under increasing criminal pressure. An underworld meeting between Stickleback's key 'staff' (including one Mr Tickle, who oversees Black Bob and Tonga) is interrupted by Her Majesty's Agent Alexander Ashenden who extends Stickleback an amnesty in exchange for services rendered. Stickleback makes his own deal. Stickleback's investigations point to 'Buffalo Bill