Chapter 14, Page 16 Which is more scared?

As pointed out by Journo-SEAL, I inadvertently reposted last week's comic. *headdesk* I blame it on the cold.

I was really disappointed when the little red squirrel didn't run over my shoes. At least he got away in one piece. Never did find out why he ran into a crowd of teenagers in the first place.

Chapter 14, Page 10 In stereo

And I got another one out! Woot!

Is it normal to be this freaked out about bugs and arachnids? Because I remember alternating between annoyed and amused by the whole thing. Not that I'd want one of the poisonous specimens crawling on me. That would be scary.

Chapter 14, Page 9 Scary spider

Sorry for the delay. Again. Life happened a lot. And then there was the heat wave that made drawing rather difficult. (The tablet gets very warm very quickly and my hands tend to stick to paper.) I think I'm starting to catch up on a lifetime of inadequate sleep, so maybe I'll be able to update more frequently.

No promises.

Chapter 14, Page 3 It came from the drain

Gee. I wonder what Mary's reaction to this thing is.

[/sarcasm]

Actually, I'm kinda surprised the rest of the neighborhood didn't hear that.

Chapter 12, Page 14 Release the clutch

Since Mary is visiting her cousin, I figured now was a good time to introduce this little extension of one of the prior plot threads. As it turned out, her (my) uncle was wrong on multiple counts.

I didn't 'just lack confidence.' Giving me one more thing to concentrate on while driving did not help my confidence. And being forced to do something I so sincerely did not want to do probably contributed more to delaying my eventual acquisition of a driver's license than anything.

Chapter 12, Page 10 Walked Right Into It

Ever notice that some of the worse 'conversations' you get into are the ones you walked right into, should have seen the obvious warning signs, but for some inexplicable reason, you just couldn't keep your big mouth shut?

... Maybe it's just me.

Chapter 11, Page 23 On the upside

Yeah, that really helps lighten the mood, Dad. But at least he's trying, right?

You know, when this arc is over I'm going to have to figure out what to do next. I have a bunch of idea files, but I'm starting to realize how few of them include material from my teen years. They couldn't have been that uneventful, could they?

Chapter 11, Page 21 The driver reboots

Sorry. I couldn't resist that pun.

Hmm. Other than that I think this episode speaks (or screams) for itself.

Chapter 11, Page 20 System crash

Pretty self-explanatory, I think. Mary's systems crashed, and so too will the family van.

Chapter 11, Page 17 Not road ready

I'm back! Miss me? Well, know that I have house sitting and visits out of the way (nice seeing you, Dan!) I think I should be able to keep a better schedule. Or at least a slightly more consistent one.

Poor Mary. If she thinks this is nerve wracking... Let's just say I have a very good reason to not like driving.

Chapter 11, Page 16 With great power...

So which has Mary frightened more? The van or her Dad? It might be equal portions of both, actually. Having that much power, that much potential for destruction, at your potential control is a rather uncomfortable feeling. At least for her.

Chapter 11, Page 8 A growing fear

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had a bad experience with those scare-'em-straight driving videos. You know, the ones that go into gruesome detail on what happens if you drink and drive or otherwise behave like an idiot behind the wheel. As if Mary's imagination really needed fueling.

Chapter 11, Page 2 Ill timed freakout

Talk about flawed logic, though she does have some reason to be concerned. There are few thoughts as horrifying as the possibility of being mistaken for your Dad's wife.

Not that Mary has much to worry about there. Most people mistake Dad for being in her grandparents' generation. But Mary is used to the way her parents look, so she doesn't consider this.

Chapter 10, Page 17 Language hazard

Well, Dad certainly does have good lungs.

Yiddish is a very, ah, colorful language.

Chapter 10, Page 11 Explain then cut

I think I would have taken the notion of beauty parlors and clothes shopping a bit better if they hadn't involved, well, this.

Seriously, people, is it really so hard to explain what it is you're doing before you subject a girl to it? This isn't fun at all when you don't know what the heck is going on.

Actually, a picture book with various hairstyles to choose from might've been a good idea.

Chapter 9, Page 13 Why that look?

Mary is in trouble. Though perhaps she's suffered enough for her crime?

Chapter 8, Page 12 -- Live bait

Ah, a day at the lake. Sun, sand, water, and no sharks.

Well, no big sharks.

Chapter 7, page 13 Big bad dream

I kinda wish I had managed to get this done on Friday so I could have had the thirteenth page on Friday the thirteenth. It's even better given that Mary's having a nightmare in this episode.

Ever hear that you forget your dreams soon after waking? Doesn't happen with me. There are some memories I have where I can't tell if it was a dream I had or really happened. I frequently wake up having trouble distinguishing what was dream and what was reality. That feeling can last most of the morning.

Chapter 7, Page 1 Never the same

Wednesday's comic will be light-hearted to make up for this episode! I promise!

This was actually supposed to be spread out a bit more between the end of Chapter 6 and the start of Chapter 7. But as various things conspired against that happening here's the end result. I hope it isn't too terribly wordy.

Chapter 6, Page 36 What else is real?

The swamp has been losing its ambiance since construction started on the far side, but it still manages to give one the feeling that there's something in there staring at you.

Mary, of course, being somewhat insane, wants to explore the swamp in order to find out what that something is.

The original for this episode was going to feel a lot more like naval gazing, but I realized in time that it would not be in the best interests of the story or my schedule.

Been reading way too much Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.