This particular strip started out in a very different direction.  It opened and closed on action, but then I realized I was missing something:   I needed to hear Alicia Patterson’s voice.  We’d gone twenty-three strips without Alicia ever saying anything.  I wanted her to say something, but I wish her first words could have been more profound.  I moved the strip I originally was going to use this week to next week.  Alicia does indeed have a lot more to say next week, but it’s in a very different, angry context.  I didn’t want her first words to be spoken in anger.  Does that make sense?  To me, it just seemed more fair to her as a character.

Anyway, this gave me the room to work in some character stuff, like Alicia’s work ethic, her initial realization that everything’s not kosher with Charles, Ned and Tuck, and I also got to include an indication of Charles Bouchier’s particular fetish that pays off something I introduced in Episode 11 .

Finally, yesterday, I accidentally posted the blog update I had intended for Friday.  I’m running a contest in honor of the new Blaxploitation film, Black Dynamite that is coming to a theater near you on October 16th.  Check out the trivia questions, send in your answers, and maybe you’ll have the chance to fight smack in style.

- JEP