Bad Machinery may well be my favorite webcomic running -- which, if you've seen the webcomics queue in my RSS reader, is saying quite a lot. It's full of bizarre but compelling mysteries and witty Britishisms. Plus, everyone from the mystery-solving teen protagonists to the  (often not terribly evil) antagonists to the dorky omega clique is just so darned likable.

And the full range of creator John Allison's oddball comic powers are on display in the current storyline, "The Case of the Lonely One." In their second year of grammar school, our junior sleuths are introduced to Lem, who at first seems your typical loner weird kid. He smells weird, has trouble making friends, and eats nothing but raw onions (hence, the weird smell). But gradually, more and more students are drawn to Lem until he's the most popular kid in school and, to paraphrase the good Doctor, "Everyone eats onions now. Onions are cool." Star mystery-solver Shauna finds herself alone amongst the Lem-zombies and must, for once, solve a case without her friends.

"The Case of the Lonely One" wraps November 11th, and is rolling toward its final crescendo. Now we know the truth behind Lem's onion-eating, friend-stealing ways -- which have proven at once wackier and less insidious than Shauna could have imagined. It's left me jonesing for each new update -- and something about today's page left me particularly in stitches.

The Case of the Lonely One [Bad Machinery]