Original Commentary

When I suggested that Mr. Taylor and Kimberly have a quick heart to heart before he left, I had that third panel in my mind, nearly exactly the way it looks there (Kimberly's eyes were a bit smaller in my vision, and Mr. Taylor looked a bit cocky... I just didn't think it was appropriate). It's such a "little girl and daddy" moment. Makes my bitter heart kind of sad, actually.

Terrence mentioned to me that the line in the second panel will have a payoff in a few comics.

Oh, and the meeting is now over, illustrated by the unnamed stock holders walking out in the first panel. -Isabel

The end is in sight. Isabel had suggested more interaction between Kimberly and her father. I don't blame her. I wanted to also, but there was enough going on right now. That's also why I didn't specify how often these meetings are. So I don't set myself a deadline and miss it - Terrence

Modern Commentary
And the minor shareholders exit. I'm pretty sure this is the last we see of them.

The denouement takes longer than I remembered, especially since there's a post-script chapter after this one.

But a lot has happened here and should be dealt with. Mr. Taylor has re-entered everyone's lives and the balances of power have changed - Terrence

Original Commentary

I'm sure Brisbane's honesty will be his undoing... or at the least I'd think so. I'm sure it's the reason why Mr. Taylor, Dan and Mrs. Taylor voted for him (all for their own reasons, I'm sure) -Isabel

Ok, so I'm rehashing a plot point. I meant, originally, for Brisbane and Kimberly to have a pressing need for money, but I couldn't come up with a way that didn't seem contrived and a little too coincidental - Terrence

Modern Commentary
So, perhaps the denouement could have been at least one comic shorter. All this one does is get Brisbane and Kimberly into Dan's office.

And I hate it when you have folks just come up and tell your main characters how awesome they are. It never works. I don't like it when other people do it and I don't like it when I do it.

Sometimes you need to keep the count right for the week. I just wish I had done something with the punchline. But I was probably frantically writing as it was - Terrence

Original Commentary

Why the first panel? Because everybody's working on partial information. And Brisbane came in after Kimberly was introduced to the crowd.

Why the first panel? To show that everyone there is working with limited information. And what is the dirt? The bribery attempt. I was going to mention it here, but I'm saving it for next week instead, at Isabel's suggestion - Terrence

Modern Commentary
I don't know that we needed a full explanation of the backroom drama between everybody. Perhaps we should have just implied that the balance of power had potentially shifted and said less about how it happened... - Terrence

Original Commentary

When Terrence first handed me this script I thought, "Oh ----, how am I going to pull this off?!". Looking back, the solution was quite simple, but a while this comic kept churning in my brain and I tried to come up with a soultion.

I was very much so tempted to make Mr. Taylor goosing Miz Taylor again... but one derogatory act per chapter (right, Cedric? XD).

I know it's kind of a borderline glance... but Brisbane is looking at Kimberly, not her parents.-Isabel

I originally meant that "Trust me" line to be in the second panel, but it works better this way - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Dan explains himself a bit and Kimberly realizes that her parents' relationship might be...complicated.

This comic pulls its weight. There's a comic's worth of stuff here- Terrence

Original Commentary

Again with the math. Just to make it more obvious to those who didn't count the shares themselves. I'm kinda proud that the fractions didn't round down more evenly. This is the closest thing I've done to a conspiracy arc, and I want to be sure people can follow it. This is one of the few comics that has tail-less bubbles, by the way - Terrence

Modern Commentary
Yeah, Isabel and I have had some serious conversation about word bubbles and their tails. I'm more in favor of tail-less bubbles when it's obvious who's talking. I had probaably just been reading Living Game or Touch or something like and wanted to imitate it.

Isabel isn't much for it, since her style is a different and doesn't give audiences the subtle cues they'd get in a proper manga.

Isabel is right. I just didn't see how I could do it in the second panel without it going over Brisbane or Kimberly's faces.

It's Dan talking in the first panel, by the way. - Terrence

Original Commentary

I'm sure we missed some conversation in there... either that or Dan finally caught on to the body language the two had with each other. He may look young, but he really is just an unmarried older man who decided to get swept into his work than his love life. Poor Dan.

And, one more thing that won't make any sense to the lot of you, but will hopefully make Terrence laugh... omg! a plot opening! *Tiger uppercut* *-5 fame* XD -Isabel

Yes, it jumps a bit funny. If it were a weekday, the last panel would be its own comic, but it isn't. And yes, I laughed - Terrence

Modern Commentary
As I may have mentioned in the past: Sometimes we have elaborate plans and figure out things in advance. Sometimes we just pass plot tokens along to our future selves in the hopes that they'll be clever enough to figure out how to use them.

So, would Kimberly have voted with Dan? I'm not sure. And I don't think she's sure either. But she wouldn't just tell Dan that. Easier to say yes now that there's no stakes- Terrence