Torchmen

The Torchmen are Mechanicsburg's air-defense system. They first appear here, as they come to life following Agatha's arrival at the Castle Heterodyne library. Whether there's cause and effect to this simultaneity isn't certain, but it's probably a pretty good bet.

The Torchmen take the form of winged, generally humanoid figures equipped with glasses (a remote sensing device), a hat-like contraption and sword. They're enveloped in, and possibly out-and-out composed of, flame. See this panel for a good idea of what they look like. When not preparing to wreak destruction on things in the air above town, they masquerade as lamp posts.

We don't know how long the Torchmen have been around, but it's obviously quite a while. Their first target in the story is the airship commanded by Baron Oublenmach and Duke Strinbeck that deposited Zola "Heterodyne" in town. Old-timer Kraddok, the airship's helmsman, has been around long enough to recognize the Torchmen for the incredibly dangerous threat to the airship that they are, and that recognition provokes a certain ... showdown ... with the officious, and obnoxious, Strinbeck. Because Mechanicsburg has been at peace (relatively speaking) ever since the arrival of Baron Klaus Wulfenbach and the establishment of The Baron's Peace, most of the younger hands on the airship don't fully grasp the threat that the Torchmen pose, although The Captain gets the idea quickly enough. When a swarm of Torchmen rise toward the airship with the mission to destroy, the crewmen figure it out, and rapidly decamp, jettisoning unnecessary weight (possibly including Strinbeck) to hasten their escape. Will they succeed? Stay tuned.