Back of the Envelope

Sluggy Freelance — Pete's still doing stick figures this week, but as it's a superhero story about Riff and Torg, it's all kinds of fun. I enjoyed it more than most of Oceans Unmoving.

Day by Day — Kofi Annan, pork, GOP spending, and Ward Churchhill get savaged. Meanwhile, Chris has accepted a commission from the Republican National Committee. Jan is not happy.

Scary Go Round — Esther and Erin have a sleepover, then try to figure out the teachers' evil plot. It looks like the upcoming Halloween party is going to be almost as much fun as one of Sluggy's.

College Roomies from Hell!!! — A hard drive crash means that Maritza's computer is down for a count, so there are only a couple of comics this week. At least she came through the hurricane okay. It's almost as if some powerful force is trying to prevent this story from being told. The few strips Maritza managed for the story show an ongoing fight between Dave and Margaret, while Mike's bungee jumping and looking for April. I don't know what Mike has planned.

General Protection Fault — Ki finishes her story about Sam, which gives Nick the opportunity to broach the topic of Todd. And we all thought that he didn't know.

Schlock Mercenary — Lieutenant Commander der Trihs goes shark-hunting. One of the sharks has already been killed, but there are more out there. Unfortunately, the police still are not buying the shark theory.

Sluggy Freelance — Lady Noga escapes, as does Bun-bun, leaving John Jacobs very unhappy. Unfortunately, between Slugween and trying to get a book out, Pete spends the rest of the week on filler and stick figures.

Day by Day — The good news is Saddam's on trial and the Iraqis have approved the new constitution. The bad news is that politics in the US is as crazy as ever, and technology is still beyond Zed's grasp.

Scary Go Round — Trying to interest The Boy's class in the Dark Arts isn't going so well, so it looks like the teachers may run out of coffee before they run out of students. The Boy's trying to figure out Esther, while Erin's caught on to the dark plot.

College Roomies from Hell!!! — Only three days of comics this week as Maritza battens down for some nasty weather. Let's see, Mike's plotting (to protect Marsha from the Dragon), Roger's crazy (to be hitting on the Dragon), and Dave's whining (about Margaret). You know, I think that sums up every week which has all three of the guys in it.

General Protection Fault — Ki backs out at the last minute, which gets Sam very upset. Fortunately, she has Fooker to turn to for help.

Schlock Mercenary — John der Trihs escapes from prison rather than waiting on bail, while his crew goes vacationing without him.

Okay, I'm really, really late this week. My apologies. As usual, this will go to the correct point in the archives once you've all had a chance to mock me for my lateness.

Sluggy Freelance — As usual when his plans fall apart, Bun-bun resorts to bloody violence. After slaughtering the crew of the skiff, Bun-bun lets B.A. drive it directly into his ship, turning it into a whirling top, which upsets Lady Noga's plan. The ship's damaged, but fortunately Kada can fix it.

Day by Day — The usual suspects are in for a whipping: the United Nations, Sandy Berger, Daily Kos, and the like. I particularly enjoyed Sam's longing for piracy, though.

Scary Go Round — While Shelley and Amy settle in at home, the board in charge of The Boy's school are planning to slaughter some students so they can afford coffee.

College Roomies from Hell!!! — A fight between Margaret and Marsha finally busts the door open and everyone's out of the closet. The Dragon corners Mike for a little chat, and then confronts him about his "girlfriend."

General Protection Fault — Uh-oh. Ki recounts her past, talking about the rumors about her old boyfriend's unfaithfulness. She confronted him, but quickly accepted his protests. She was willing to do almost anything to hold onto him.

Schlock Mercenary — With one crewman lost, John Der Trihs tires to convince the police that maybe, just maybe, a shark ate him. His argument obviously isn't convincing enough, as he's arrested for murder.

Sluggy Freelance — Kada gets the Bloody Bun moving, while Lady Noga closes in. She's got a pretty impressive trick up her sleeve, although it doesn't work too great for her Lieutenant Shanklin. However, if Bun-bun thinks he's in trouble, then it most be pretty good.

Day by Day — Jan and Damon try to figure out how to have a relationship, including working out the formula, but there's always room for gun jokes. Miers gets a mention, but only just.

Scary Go Round — Shelley and Amy hightail it home, now that the old men discovered they weren't the old maids they pretended to be. Of course, it turns out that Shel had matters well in hand the whole time, on account of her legal brilliance.

College Roomies from Hell!!! — Margaret tries to avoid telling Dave she loves him by claiming she slept with Roger, which causes Roger to spill the story, but it's not as if Dave's listening to him now. And with his mother at the door, Mike hides in the closet with the rest of them, just in time for April to come along and claim to be his girlfriend. I wish I knew what she was thinking.

General Protection Fault — Sam, Ki's ex-boyfriend, seems okay at first, but things start to fracture soon, both because of Sam's parents, and because of Sam's attitude towards Fooker.

Schlock Mercenary — While Tagon's on his way home, something is attacking his crew. It's up to Der Trihs to deal with this. Too bad he isn't all there. The odd thing is that he shows occasional flashes of competence amongst all that stupidity.

The webcomic artist Maritza Campos of College Roomies From Hell!!! had a close call the other day:

That's when I knew we've been robbed.
...
After we looked around, we found some huge scissors hidden below a bucket in the back yard.

Apparently, the only reason I'm not in the morgue today with some scissors through my forehead is that I got the car in the garage but didn't enter the house (which I always do, because I always get in, leave my purse, put the keys in my pants so I don't have a lot of stuff to carry besides the baby and the diaper bag, and leave again). They were there and I interrupted them (I know because a whole section of my dressing is turned inside out, but some of it was untouched. The rest of my jewelry was there, in plain sight, so I know they didn't have time to look. They saw I got home with my car and decided to scram, but I don't think they got the scissors to make themselves some pretty princess dresses, right?

Right.

Life is fragile, people. Always remember it.

I'm glad she's okay, and not just because I read her webcomic. Maritza's always been friendly, and quite willing to converse with her readers on her forum, which has resulted in some serendipitous art before, and she's even linked to this blog. It'd be presumptuous of me to call her a friend, but I like her and I've been praying for her well-being.

Sluggy Freelance — Bun-bun gives Blacksoul, who used to be his firstmate, quite a shock. Unfortunately, he doesn't take the proper safety precautions, and soon he's not in such great shape himself. Kada's doing her best to get the ship running again, but that crazy Lady Noga is close behind.

Day by Day — Sam and Zed are sweet, and Jan and Damon discuss Daily Kos's advice to protestors. The MSM manages to come in for some mocking for Rathergate and Katrina coverage. Finally, Sam tries to put the moderate position into perspective, and manages to floor Zed while also confirming that they're sleeping together.

Scary Go Round — Jon takes a break from drawing the comic to talk about drawing the comic. It's amusing, but kind of wordy.

College Roomies from Hell!!! — Marsha's trying to force Margaret to talk to Dave, but Dave tries to escape by hiding in the closet--which is already occupied by Lanolin, the satanists, and Roger. Mike proves incapable of keeping secrets from Marsha, and soon Margaret's stuffed in there too. Will she and Dave finally discuss their issues, or will he just make her cry?

General Protection Fault — Ki's Sam story isn't as lurid as we initially expected. So far Sam seems like a pretty decent guy, but I'm sure things will go south soon.

Schlock Mercenary — The captain lifts off, and puts Schlock in his place. Now if he can just clean up the mess the rest of his crew's caused.