Original Commentary

I wrote the outside panels first. Isabel and I talked about the structure of this comic before it was written. Isabel visualized it so that you could hear both ends of the conversation, but I liked the way it worked with just Sofia's side

Body oil is, of course, the stuff that wrestlers apply to make themselves look shiny. I'm not sure if Lola was asking about it as a potential problem or a potential solution. I know that olive oil can be good for pets - helps with hairballs in cats. I know that mineral oil can be bad for pets. I'm not sure what's in body oil, actually.

And to answer your question about the last panel, yes, Sofia would've said that even if Brent weren't in the trash - Terrence

Modern Commentary
I like when we show one side of a phone conversation and leave the other one to your imagination. - Terrence

Original Commentary

This was all, of course, based on something that happened to us in real life. Isabel felt that the cats needed a bath and we used similar methods - take a basin of water, insert cat, scrub cat, dry cat. The cats were fine with the first step, the one about taking a basin of water. It was when we tried to insert them that things got unpleasant.

We were washing our second cat when a circuitbreaker blew. Instead of finishing up together - it was early evening - Isabel sent me out to reset the circuitbreaker. While I was out, Momo leapt out of the water. Isabel jumped up, caught her, and knocked the water over.

We were washing the cats because Beowulf needed a bath. We gave up before getting to him and don't intend to bathe cats again unless we have a much better method of doing so - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Does a lot happen in this storyline? No. But it features a wet t-shirt at least.- Terrence

Ah. The purely fanservice storyline. I forgot about that one - Isabel

Also, the rubber duck is NOT optional. - Terrence

Original Commentary

I had planned on doing an arc involving Robert and Jane. Writing took a bit of a while. Isabel suggested the basic outline for this arc and I wrote it.

In the script, Cindy thought "He remembers me" in the first panel, but it got cut because of space. It struck me as a bit much so I didn't work too hard to find a way to put it back in.- Terrence

The background in this comic is put together from a few other files. The window in the background is taken from the Lemon Technology exterior. The walls were based on the Martini Tuesday exterior and enhanced a bit to look more brick-like - Isabel

Modern Commentary
Relationships! The idea of this storyline is to reintroduce the characters. We've done this a few times.

If we were clever, we would've made sure this would be during the beginning of a book.

We were not clever in this regard. I don't think this made it into any of the books; after book 3, sales didn't justify it unfortunately.- Terrence

Original Commentary

Laskowski? Yes, it's a reference so obscure even I wouldn't recognize it. Charles Laskowski is the real name of Faine Jade. Back in 1968, he released an album, Introspection. It's one of the greatest of the Great Unknown Psychadelic Albums. He emailed me last year, wishing me well because I mentioned him on my webpage. I've been meaning to work a reference into the comic ever since then and this is the first chance I've had

It wasn't until I was bubbling the comic that I realized that Amy's name wasn't mentioned in the script..- Terrence

Modern Commentary
"Battleship Potemkin"!

Over in Spare Parts, we had the characters watch Battleship Potemkin. In-universe, it was a modern American remake of the classic Soviet film. It was a riff on the 2002 remake of Solaris.

Solaris doesn't seem to have had the staying power that we had hoped it would, so the reference doesn't really come across. - Terrence

Original Commentary

Did I introduce three new characters in the space of three comics? Very well, then, I introduce three new characters in the space of three comics. I am large, I contain multitudes. (Apologies to Walt Whitman, of course). But I none of the characters I had would've fit. I spent hours trying to write a version where Emily was talking to Sofia or Lola or Jane, and explaining why the two were talking would take a week in itself. So Emily has a sister.

In the original synopsis, there were merely a large number of anonymous females interested in David. It worked better when they had names and a little personality. Will they be back? They have names. I can think of very very few characters I've named that have only showed up once. Maybe Tate from Spare Parts - Terrence

Modern Commentary
This would have, in retrospect, been a bad place to start a book with. Too many characters. Too many details. This storyline needs about 50% less. Introducing three characters in three comics - even if they're just there to do one thing - isn't a good idea.

Amy and Cindy never showed up again. David barely showed up again. Emily's sister wasn't mentioned again by my recollection.

It's not a bad idea having a brief thing showing how Emily and David work together, but this isn't it.- Terrence