The Motor Cyclist and the Magnetic Shell: A Military Fantasy H. M. Bateman's animated, slightly maniac style is perfectly suited to this sequential cartoon showing a motorcyclist being relentlessly pursued by a shell. The arbitrary and indiscriminate nature of shell fire, whether shrapnel or high explosive, was one of the hardest aspects of warfare to bear, and there was little infantry soldiers could do except try to find shelter. The resultant wounds could be horrifying, and yet, while a shell burst might dismember one man, another man close by might escape unharmed. Bateman's nightmarish narrative suggests that some soldiers must have felt that certain shells had their name written on them.