She's here, and she has no time for your nonsense.
Widdershins has been shortlisted for a British Fantasy Award, which is cool as heck!
Cast: Dr Esther Flack, Eliza Swift, George Knott, Nicola Barber, Robert Hackett, Vincent Knott, Will Sharpe, Yasmin Rana
Comments (92)
ThoughtBubble
14 Nov 2026 – 15 Nov 2026
Harrogate Convention Centre
Manchester Megacon
31 Jul 2027 – 1 Aug 2027
Manchester Central
And the Hammer Comes Down! I love it! Sweet Justice
Aw yeah get her Nicola!
Here comes the Barber. And somebody's due a short cut...
That is an awful line... Well done!
Just a little off the top.
/slowclap
I'm the Barber, and you're due to be trimmed down to size.
["Did ye really jus' say that?"
"...Not if anyone asks."](https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/june-6th-2017 "https://widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/june-6th-2017")
WOOO! Hiya, Nicola!
Now we get to see how dedicated Rana is to her cause. It's one thing to be opposed to hanging a university student for doing dangerous research and losing their notes on it; it's another, much more principled thing to be opposed to hanging an adult in a position of power who framed said university student, mucked with Rana's spirit, and attempted multiple murders; or another adult in a position of power who bankrolled the former (and also attempted multiple murders) with the end goal of getting re-elected. Personally I hope she sticks to her principles; if she can manage to quell the bloodthirsty crowd here, she will make an excellent mayor.
You make an excellent point. Though George might take some quelling, too.
Nicola's look says, "Please, by all means, resist arrest!"
Between that and George's face yesterday (and basically every time we see Flack or Will) Kate's treating us to some fantastic expression work lately.
I see it more as "why are you adding to my workload?" :P
It can be two things. Especially two things that overlap so very well.
"Go ahead. Make my day."
The word "punk" meant something different in those days, so its omission is probably for the best.
Oh, this is from “Sudden Impact”, where he didn’t say punk. That was in “Dirty Harry” - “Are you feeling lucky?”
"Well then! Lets see to the REAL criminal!"
You know...I have a feeling he is really going to regret making that statement.
"I don't care who it is, but SOMEBODY'S getting hanged here today!"
"Which one? I see two of the...I mean, you..."
Flack: whips out, opens flick-knife fan
Nicky: wields truncheon
fight music plays
Announcer: Round 1. Fight!
>:=)>
3 seconds later:
Announcer: FINISH HER.
Obviously, Nicola's finisher is to nonlethally restrain and cuff her before throwing her in a cell.
I hear the steps on the way down to the cells can be quite treacherous...
ANIMALITY!
Oh wait, that's just Gren....
[https://www.youtube.com/wat...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVRbEvPvF7A "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVRbEvPvF7A")
Whoo! Time for Nicola to save the day and make everyone settle down until she knows what the heck is going on. Also, I love how Will's reaction to getting cuffed and threatened with hanging is just a resigned laugh. And it just occurred to me, but where the heck did Flack get that shirt for Vincent? It has the right number on it, so presumably it's the same one that Will was wearing in his cell? I suppose maybe she forced him to tell her where it was at knifepoint and they went and fetched it from the shop they left it at. But if it's that same shirt, it looks like it fits him surprisingly well for having an entirely different height and build from Will. Though I suppose Will had the sleeves rolled up the entire time we saw him in it and it looks like it might have been a bit baggy on him, so maybe it just fits Knotty perfectly and it didn't fit Will lol.
Your noose, madam.
Oh wow, congrats on getting picked for that award, really hoping you win it ^u^
Hmm, for some reason Sharpe's expression in Panel 3 reminds me of a line from A Tale of Two Cities: It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done
Let's face it, the bar is pretty low.
Edit: Aha, for the removal of doubt, I mean the 'far, far better thing that I do', not Ms Ashwin being selected for an award.
Aaah, why do you people keep bringing that line up!? You're going to give Ms Ashwin ideas!
I love how Knotty's ready to laugh off his own almost being hanged but properly panicked for Will.
They're cuffing Will. That'll at least slow down any hanging.
Well as far as the officers know he's just some trouble maker.
Fair point. They'd probably want to check a bit more thoroughly that they're hanging the right person this time, at least, and not just (say) a passing lawyer who happens to bear a resemblance.
>and not just (say) a passing lawyer who happens to bear a resemblance.
...or who has been hooded so no one can tell that he doesn’t bear any resemblance!
This reminds me of a line from one of the Flashman novels where the... protagonist... has just been rescued from being blown from a cannon during the the Sepoy Mutiny (he had been disguised as an Indian, only a little too well). After they figure out that he's really a British officer, they let him go -- and prepare to duly blow all the other mutineers from guns. Only Flashman makes them release the mutineers and let them run away.
A young officer responds, rather admiringly, that this was highly merciful of Flashman*. Flashman snarls in response that mercy be damned; at the rate things were around there, one of the mutineers was probably secretly Lord Canning.
So, yeah, when you almost hang one person you probably check your procedures pretty thoroughly before you hang the next one. :)
Moe
*Which means, of course, that it was utterly out of character for the man, not that any of his contemporaries knew that.
People being hanged have to have their hands tied. To prevent them from trying to grab the noose and support their weight.
Hands tied, sure. Handcuffed to a police officer makes it more difficult, though.
I don't think he's cuffed to the police officer I think those are both Sharpe's hands. It's a bit of weird position because the one arm is in a sling though.
Ohh, you are correct! The officer is wearing gloves.
In back, though. Will's hands are cuffed in front.
Flack is smarter than Hackett. She knows when the jig is up. She's just too late to get away.
Instead of trying to get the execution back on track, Hackett should really be inching for the exit. "Shocking incident. Shocking. There should be a full inquiry. I'll go arrange that right away. In my office. Not the train station. It's just a coincidence that I'm heading in that direction."
Iirc, isn't he under Flack's mental influence? So he's basically going to be under an compulsion to ensure that Will dies.
I do not think so. The impression I had is that he is paying her to rig the election for him.
Which doesn't mean he isn't under her influence -- she may have imbued him with a sprit of Ambition, for instance. I'm pretty sure he'd be happy to frame a defense on that claim anyway...
All he needs to do to save his sorry butt is to claim he was under the influence, which will be easy if the Magic Word is spoken.
Don't be so sure about that. Flack looks cornered here, but keep in mind the reason everyone was imbued to attack Sharpe was to cause a huge riot at the hanging. That just might work as a distraction.
Not if someone says the magic word.
Which one? "Please" or "thank you"?
"Quiescete"
Gesundheit
Yep, I don't think George will have any issue with Vincent not following in the family business. Funny how these things work out.
You just had to break out a condemned man, watch your best friend possibly thrown to her death, and nearly get yourself hanged. Maybe just tell the man next time....
Yeah but that would have ended up with an innocent man hanged, so it was sort of a lose-lose, not that he knew that at the time.
Nope...but you could say that this almost ended up with an innocent man hanged, too!
Flack's in real trouble in that last panel! She's not only facing Captain Nicola Barber, but also two other women who take no nonsense; one of them she enchanted illegally, and the other she nearly shot. She's not going to find any mercy here.
She also has the incriminating documents in her purse, and Will knows that.
So... crazed escape attempt, play innocent, be arrogant and forceful, beg for your life, commit suicide, summon demons?
Those are the obvious choices our lovely flack cannon has, at least that I can see. Which will she choose?
I sense a ship coming on... I’m sure Eliza knows very well what she wants.
See, I've BEEN thinking that... but the age difference makes me a tad uncomfortable.
Also, Flack's expression in Panel 5 is priceless.
Nicola! Yay.
Yay, Nicola is back! She’s like, my second favorite Barber!
She's my second-favorite non-smoking Barber woman.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the proper procedure here would be to call off that morning's hanging, and show up in court that afternoon with all the relevant people in tow to sort out just who should be hanged.
Congratulations! I hope you get the award.
I feel kinda bad that I don't recognize any of the other shortlisters, though it makes it easier to root for the one excellent author I do know.
Is it just me, or are they switching back and forth between Author, Title and Title, by Author practically every catagory?
Well, Hellboy is pretty big :) As is BPRD, which is an offshoot of it. And Saga is huuuuge right now, and extremely good. I doubt I am gonna get past nomination here, but it's still a very cool stage to be on!
Well, I heard of those others and never read them, while I read this one religiously.
Whups. Must've missed that one.
I know Saga, and Hellboy, but some of the others... I don't know if that's because they're British, or ifI haven't paid enough attention.
Nicola Barber is here, and she has no time for this Flack.
It is hilarious to me how Mayor Hackett thinks for a second that he can still get away with this with three witnesses against him, two of whom are on the platform, including the man who was about to be wrongly hanged.
God, it's so much better reading these on desktop instead of mobile. The lines, they're so smooth. I can see into the heart of the universe and it's feather-soft shading all the way down.
Oh good, you've been stopped by the strong arm withering glare of the law!
No one's said much yet about the really sweet father-son moment in the first couple panels. George's hands shaking as he unties Vincent, flinging his arms around him in a burst of emotion, Vincent looking surprised and pleased by the unexpected hug...
I must say, as much as I always enjoy getting to know a new set of characters, it IS really nice to see a member of the Barber family turn up again. (Even though that inevitably leads me to wondering what everyone else has been up to in the meantime...)
I did not just jump up and yell "YEAH!"; you just jumped up...
Okay, yes, fine, I just jumped up and yelled "YEAH!"
I actually cackled at the look and her face in the second to last panel
Oooh you're up against Saga and Hellboy, that's some steep competition and some high level comics. I, for one, think you're well deserving to be peered with them and hope you get some more readers from it :D
Congrats Kate!! I hope you win!
No update today, sorry! I am wildly off my game due to a wretched stomachache, gonna skip Friday’s update otherwise I am not getting through this convention weekend alive, my apologies!
Staying alive through the weekend is good. Get well soon, don't die!
Oh no! I hope you feel better soon Kate! Take it easy, ok
Our favorite 'I don't share my humor with anyone' Barber in Blue.
British Fantasy Award isn’t chump change. Congratulations!
Kick her ass Nicola!
is... there a facial resembelance between officer Barber and Ms Flack...? Or am I just imagining it... XP
Honestly, Flack would have been smarter to leave the scene as soon as she saw Will, instead of lingering to try and make him stop. He was supposed to be gone, so if he's there, she could assume Eliza was too. When plans don't work, ya gotta bail, Flack!
Officer Nicola looks a bit older.
She's had a hard few weeks. Henry got shot, Harriet's disappeared, Vee is back and as insufferable as ever.
And worst of all, she probably had to deal with Mum.
She's earned the right to a few years of age.
Oh hey Nicky!