Steel Toes (Patreon)

Currently putting Issue 2 of BPA together and I realised there was some empty space I didn't want to use any of my old art for, so I drew a little spot illustration that double as a tribute to my favourite boots.

Growing up in Riga, Latvia, and back in early-00s teenage goths and metalheads were everywhere (and yes, i was one of them). Like, if you went to one of the central parks or the old town you were guaranteed to see a crowd of them sooner or later. (they eventually started getting replaced with emos/hipsters, but that was after My Time)

Of course, living where we were we didn't have a huge choice of alt clothing. There were a few stores in town that had That One Boot everyone wanted - "Steel" brand shitkickers (Polish, I believe?). I really wanted a pair too, but being a jobless teen and trying to compromise with my parents over what we spend money on when clothes-shopping I always had to go for normie store boots with an alternative vibe to them. Still, it wasn't The Real Deal that all the cool metal kids had. (same went for clothing - I remember modding and removing bullshit rhinestones from whatever black "normie clothes" we got in stores to make it MORE GOTH. I wasn't the smartest teen.)

Anyway, I finally got a pair of Steel boots in uni. And then another one, from that very store everyone bought them back in highschool. Those things felt like wearing literal bricks and the sole was so stiff I could barely go up the stairs but i felt so powerful wearing them. 

I wear Dr Martens these days, a comfier, more sensible boot, but look wise, it's not the same. Maybe I did get stuck in my edgelord goth phase a little too long, but I will always love the chunky toes and oversize sole that makes your foot look like a tiny bumper car. 

(Since I don't have my shitkickers anymore and didn't remember how protective those toes actually were, our reader Katheudo tried replicating the drawing and apparently yes, they are durable enough to stand on :v science!)

(I guess REALISTICALLY this isn't what Eve and Dan would've been wearing in the early 90s, but this comic is rooted in self-indulgence and who's gonna stop me? :v )