Steeple Volume 3

Steeple

by John Allison

A supernatural tale of friendship, the devil, and moral gray areas from the creator of Giant Days!
 

A new year begins in Tredregyn, and a Satanic ritual goes awry—bringing the filming of a cozy TV detective drama to town. Unfortunately, this particular Pandora’s box contains a few things a lot less pleasant than casual jobs and showbiz glitz. Plus, in a special backup feature, a teen sleuth puts the cat among the parish pigeons as she attempts to solve the disappearance of a glamorous author.
 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Humor, Supernatural

176 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2022

About the author

John Allison is the author and artist of the British webcomics Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

John Allison was the master of meandering mini-plots in Giant Days, and he kind of tried repeating the same structure in Steeple, and it turns out that only really works if the characters are interesting and likeable. Steeple's characters just aren't likeable enough, and then the paperthin stories aren't funny enough to carry the thing.

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Allison can do no wrong, if you ask me. His peculiar brand of humour and ridiculous storytelling is exactly in my alley, and this third volume of Steeple continues the excellence that the first two volumes started. Billie and Maggie are still trying to find their places in the world, even as Christmas, the arrival of a film crew, and a crossover with one of Allison's other characters Lottie Grote keep them on their toes.

[Karl P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Allison crafts another wonder of sultry comic art, eldritch weirdness and quirky, wry humor.
Readers of his previous works (Bobbins, Scary-Go-Round, Giant Days, and Bad Machinery) will find more mature and nuanced storytelling than his early days, but that very same absurdist bent that drew us in so many years ago.
The new crew (sexy, sometimes naughty, Maggie Warren; saintly, sometimes Santanist Billie Baker; the tasty crumpet Reverend Penrose) encounter the reality shifting personal gravity of Charlotte Grote.
Volume 3 (originally published as a web comic) continues to expand the universe of small-town Tredregyn and its supernatural inhabitants (as well as some very hedonistic humans).
Everything by Allison is a joy to read and Steeple Volume 3 is an absolute must read.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly I think I'm just bored of Steeple. It wasn't John Allison's best work, but it was fine enough. This volume breaks the mold a bit by giving some semblance of actual ongoing plot but that plot is pretty boring.

[Xanthe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely unhinged and I love it. Where's the rest?

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of fun as I wind up October, with the 3rd Volume of Steeple, Steeple Volume 3: That's the Spirit by John Allison. It follows the continuing adventures of the people of Tredregyn in Cornwall, especially the merman battling Reverend Penrose and his assistant Maggie, ex of the local Satanic Church and also Billie, the Rev's ex assistant and now working at the Satanic Church.

The stories follow the disappearance of a famous author, kidnapped by creatures from the Deep. Maggie gets a letter from her father, another Satanist, to attend his birthday celebrations. She takes Billie as her wing woman and they both get into trouble. The group also get involved with a TV production crew, filming their successful crime drama in Tredregyn.

It's all tongue in cheek, beautifully drawn and colored and filled with jokes, drinking, demons and action. They've all grown and 'matured' since the first volume. The stories are interesting and page turners. Lots of fun and demon fighting.. sort of. Enjoyable to say the very least. Will there be a Volume 4? I hope so. (3.0 stars_)

[Doreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

12/29/2025 Full review tk at TheFrumiousConsortium.net.

1/7/2026 This is a review of the first three published volumes of the series.

For quite a long time there, I'd treat myself every Christmas by reading a new volume of John Allison's Bad Machinery while the kids played with their new toys. I eventually ran out of volumes (there are only ten, after all) so decided to go ahead and read all three books of the Steeple series this past holiday season as a sort of consolation. It probably helps that I do have at least nine volumes of Mr Allison's other works still waiting unread on my shelves, in addition to the others I haven't yet bought. Anyway, I'm doing my part to make sure my favorite cartoonist is able to live comfortably and continue making the books I adore.

To which cohort we can safely add the Steeple books! I wasn't sure if I'd love anything outside of the Bad Machinery comics: I'd tried some of the Scary-Go-Round strips a few years back and bounced firmly off them. But Mr Allison does probably some of his most thoughtful, self-assured work to date here with Steeple, in books that aren't afraid to tackle morality, religion and the power of true kindness.

Vol 1, collecting issues #1-5, has colors by Sarah Stern and letters by Jim Campbell. It introduces our main characters, beginning with priest-in-training Billie Baker. She's very much the can-do, organizing type without whom most communities would collapse, despite her work being little appreciated, if not outright disdained. She's sweet and chirpy and more than ready to tackle her newest assignment as curate to the Church of England parish in the small coastal town of Tredregyn in Cornwall.

What she doesn't know, however, is that the current priest, Reverend David Penrose, is on a one-man mission to fight back the abominations that slither out of the sea and threaten the people of Tredregyn (with the support of his crotchety housekeeper, Mrs Clovis.) He sees his battle as a holy war. Billie initially thinks he's nuts, but when she encounters one of the sea creatures herself, she realizes that far greater challenges lie in store for her in this parish than she'd ever expected.

(Since I'm discussing all three books in the series, there will be mild spoilers ahead, so I do recommend reading these brilliant books first if you'd like to remain completely unsurprised by all the terrific plot twists.)

Billie has also been busy getting to know the locals, including her new leather-clad, bike-riding friend Maggie Warren. She's less surprised to learn that Maggie is a local barmaid than that she's also a trainee priestess at the local Church of Satan. The women are resolved not to let theology get in the way of their friendship, which is especially helpful when a new threat appears that will require both churches to team up to actually protect the people of the town.

The final section of this story-packed volume involves a convention of witches coming to town, and the crises of faith it puts our best friends through. The ending was absolutely not what I was expecting when I started this book. Frankly, it's even better. This first volume is a very trenchant critique of modern tribalism under the guise of religious identification, and a rallying cry for people to treat one another first and foremost as fellow human beings deserving of basic rights and decency, no matter what they might believe.

Vol 2: The Silvery Moon is shorter, as it was published as an original graphic novel instead of a trade paperback like its predecessor in the series. Also John Allison shoulders the creative duties for this story alone, so it's quite a bit of work!

Billie and Maggie are each acclimating to their new roles in Tredregyn, but Brian, one of Billie's new roommates, is keeping an important secret from her. Once again, the Church of England and the Church of Satan will have to join forces to contain a threat to their town.

The Anglican church might have bigger problems tho when a "secret shopper" arrives to poke about the rectory. Meanwhile, Magus Tom Pendennis of the Satanic Church is having issues of his own, and decides he's going to fix them by sending his rival a Christmas present (and I'm not gonna lie, I fell about laughing at the Secret Sentai pun.)

The ending sets up super nicely for Vol 3: That's The Spirit! This original graphic novel is also primarily done by Mr Allison, with an assist on colors by Sammy Borras. Billie and Maggie are enjoying their Christmas, even if they have barely anything planned out besides dinner at Mrs Clovis'. Unfortunately for the festivities, they've accidentally brought along an uninvited guest and will have to figure out how to get rid of him.

The second part of this book features my all-time favorite John Allison character and the kid I always wanted to be, the irrepressible Charlotte Grote. She comes to Tredregyn in search of her good friend Shelley Winters, who's gone missing while on a book tour. After run-ins with Maggie and Billie, she finally gets help from Reverend Penrose in tracking down Shelley. Their final conversation as they head back to Tackleford is well hilarious.

Finally, we come to the meatiest part of this volume, titled Clotted Crime, after the fictional murder mystery show depicted in the book's pages. Maggie and Mrs Clovis are both addicted to the cozy crime series but Reverend Penrose calls it "church-sploitation", as its essential premise is the investigation of murders committed in and around Cornwall churches. When filming comes to Tredregyn tho, everyone is excited to participate, even as new dangers and old ties resurface to threaten the inhabitants, and our main characters in particular.

I'm ngl, when I first saw these books, I was a little scared to read them because I didn't want to learn that my favorite cartoonist has regressive views on religion. I was somewhat heartened when my best friend, who is Jewish, read these first (at my Christmas party, lol) and gave them the thumbs up. The whole series is smart and hilarious and thoroughly filled with both sense and compassion. And while the fourth volume wasn't picked up by Dark Horse, you can read the rest online starting here.

Oh gosh, I forgot to update my Best of 2025 shop with these titles, and subsequently forgot to include them in my annual reading recap, oops. Off to do that before more other work!

Steeple, Volumes 1, 2 & 3 by John Allison were published by Dark Horse Comics and are available from all good booksellers, including Bookshop!

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A missing author and a detective procedural filming in town are the basic plots for this collection, but the series is still more about the characters than the action, which is what makes it so enjoyable. The scenarios do offer fertile ground for the characters to bounce off each other, and we get a little more back story about Maggie and the Church of Satan (in a simmering B plot that feels like a long-term story arc). The series is still a lot of fun, with a great collection of outlandish characters who play off each other to great effect, both comedically and otherwise. I laughed out loud several times during my read, and am continuously amazed at how John Allison manages to do that with all these different settings and characters (although this book does in fact feature a crossover, which just adds to the fun). Still highly recommended.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the previous book, this one compiles a few online Steeple stories. The first, about a drunk supernatural leech, is the shortest of the bunch and forgettable. The second features Shelly Winters and Charlotte Grotte from past Allison comics, and it's the best part of the book. I like the Steeple characters, but there's a reason Lottie and Shelly pop up in all of Allison's comics, they're great. The last story takes up half the collection. It's a little all over the place: there's a film crew in town, Billie has a fling, Penrose confronts his past trauma, Maggie confronts her daddy issues, and politics involving the Satanic Church reach a boiling point. Fun stuff, with the usual inspired dialogue, but I feel like Allison could have tightened the story better, or left out a plotline or two.

[Alex Sarll]

Well, I timed this one poorly for the Christmas special, though the literal sesh gremlin was a great idea. But the story with the terrible storm felt more seasonally appropriate for this soggy July. And before that brings Sunday TV favourite Clotted Crime to town, and moves the plot along, there's the charming crossover with the wider Allison world; I'm glad the visitors noticed how much hornier Steeple is than his other books.

[Brandon L · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more like it. After establishing the town and basic outline in the first Steeple, and a little exploration in the second, we have the basic structure to expand and deepen the stories more. Maggie and Billie remain the heart of Steeple, and I think they’re a good pair. Allison likes pairs of folks to bounce off of, to compare and contrast, and I think that it works here very well as Maggie represents a sort of authentic rebellion/attempt to find one’s way that reflects a certain Christian spirit, and Billie’s dedication to community works and personal al indulgence reflect a kind of secular (here, Satanist) approach to doing good in the world. Two sides of the same coin.

I think some folks who came to Allison’s work on Giant Days, which had very little of the fantastical/paranormal (though still plenty of eccentric and weird) are put off by those flairs, which can make it seem juvenile or silly. But I think that’s underselling the work that Allison does to integrate the odd into his world in meaningful ways that give his world a lot of narrative color. He also has fun with his panels, embraces the tradition of the British mysteries across his work, and explores things in a way that few other comics writers are. I always love his droll sense of humor, his fashion designs, and how lived in his characters seem. We get some fun depth here with costuming (Billie’s backless jumpsuit) and little panels (Maggie watching SpongeBob) that I think help tell the story and things about our characters that aren’t said, but bring the world together.

[Lost in Book Land · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi Again!

I finished reading another volume of Steeple (I think this might even be the last one which is incredibly sad), I love all of John Allison’s graphic novels and I was really enjoying this one as well. I did a google search and a GoodReads search and did not see a fourth volume. However, I do know that John Allison has some other graphic novels I need to pick up still so those will be coming up for me soon as well as continuing my re-read of Giant Days. But in the meantime, let’s talk Steeple Volume 3 (and hope that we get to meet this crew of characters again soon).

SPOILERS AHEAD

In this volume, Billie is needing rent money, which she firmly disagrees with since she does not even get a paycheck but its time to make a new prayer and hope that it works (either that or work at a super sketchy gas station down the road). Luckily for her the prayer works but in a way she absolutely did not expect.

As always this was another great volume! I love John Allison’s work so much and highly recommend all of it. This volume was no expectation, it was fun and I loved seeing how Billie’s rent situation worked out. I absolutely can not wait to pick up another graphic novel in the near future!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steeple, volume Three, That’s The Spirit
So funny!! As an Anglican priest I cracked up laughing so many times ****

* Christmas with Clovis:
This clever, goofy, OTT, quirky Church of England satire/homage continues:
“The combination of hangovers, turkey, heavy plum pudding, and the log fire .. created a perfect soporific storm!”
“It’s bloody DOCTOR ‘OO on now. I never understood it. Always a different actor! Makes no sense.”

Author Unknown? Part 1 - “Who would have it in for a local bookshop? I mean, other than Amazon dot co dot uk?”

[Looking at tombstones in the church graveyard]: “If there’s one thing that never goes out of fashion, it’s dying in olden times.”

Author Unknown? Part 2 - “I try not to talk to the locals too much. That’s the curate’s job.” - priest

Crime #1 - “Underestimating this clergyman tends to be a FATAL mistake.”

Crime #2 - “It must be convenient to be able to fit your congregation into a mid-sized family car – and still have space for your shopping.”

Crime #3 - “Shall we compare notes on recent traumatic experiences? It could be therapeutic?”

Crime #4 - “Revered .. I’ve made you a cocoa. It's got marshmallows, whipped cream, and a whole Cadbury’s flake in it!” - curate.
“This drink seems .. satanic in nature.”

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

This continues to be a fun and wacky series. While this one felt a little bit all over the place (with the storm, the TV show, and Maggie’s dad showing up) it was still entertaining. I think that the randomness is starting to get to me in a negative way. Like bringing back a character we aren’t really that familiar with, or suddenly giving Maggie a whole backstory with her dad.... how am I supposed to feel like all of these characters matter if I don't even remember them being mentioned? It doesn’t feel very intentional, but it doesn’t take away from the story in the moment just the concepts as a whole. I hope that things get a little more intentional in the next one.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off: a cross over with Charlotte Grote from Bad Machinery. Squee!!!

Secondly: I think this is the volume where the series just got super-comfortable and fun for me. Not that it wasn't fun before, but the positions of Maggie and Billie are much more settled, and I finally got more comfortable with the Satanist Church stuff (especially when the Reverend is asking help from Brian). And if you have never read any of the series, probably none of the above makes any sense. Suffice it to say that this is a worthy successor to Bad Machinery, and I am looking forward to many volumes to come.

[Chriz Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! Collects the later volumes of Allison's Dark Horse title Steeple, which, unlike the earlier issues, only appeared on his website.

Continuing the adventures of former curate Billie Baker and her best friend Maggie Warren in a small town in coastal Cornwall, Billie continues to contend with her recent loss of faith in the CoE and recruitment to the Church of Satan. Hijinks ensue!

Also featuring the odious Magus Tom Pendennis, the loveable Warlock Brian Fitzpatrick, the unruffable Mrs. Clovis, and the stoic but beleaguered Reverend David Penrose.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't wait to see where this series goes next. I was so happy it got a second and a third volume and this little to be continued on the last page makes it clear there is a fourth! I fell even more in love with all the characters this time around, they were all fleshed out more deeply and given more backstory. The introduction or new villains, and new characters who will hopefully be back in the fourth volume will make me keep reading as long as Allison is making them.

[Mindy Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

billie and maggie tangle with an energy vampire, a film production, billie's inability to pay her rent at the church of satan, a missing children's author, and maggie's shitty dad. this was great fun, i've loved the whole series so far and i can only assume it will continue to be wonderful. the art is cute, the characters are ridiculous and sweet, it makes me laugh out loud. highly recommend, 5/5.

[Jeremy Impson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read John Allison's comics since the early 2000s, and I've always thought highly of his art and his humor. But Steeple is an extraordinary comic book. It's funny, exciting, cozy, irreverent, sexy, and calming, all in equal turns. If I must be reductive, I'll describe it as a cross between XFiles and the Vicar of Dibley. I love it.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the series is starting to head into satire, and that's fine. Roughly the last quarter of this volume is about the filming of a British detective series that takes place in a small seaside town. IMO spoofing the same small town series that seem to always be on PBS or Acorn.

A little bit of character growth does takes place, and seeds are sowed for future storylines.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Jones & the books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lottie!!!! 😍😍😍

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's so nice to have the web comics released as ACTUAL books! Yes, I am an old git who loves paper products. This one includes some character crossovers from the Allison-verse. Oh yes!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up this book felt like visiting old friends! This volume has two shorter stories followed by a longer plot line. Looking forward to some answers in Volume 4!

[Eric Nagurney · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Allison, good for the bones.

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now we've got a real story going on

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun crossover with some old friends. Really feels like peak John Allison to me.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky messed up characters with big hearts. The feel good never stops. John Allison kills it!! Again.

[Juliette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating : 3,5 ⭐

[Tim Nowotny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as bad as volume 2, not as good as volume 1. Still a bit directionless