Knowing Pete? I bet it was planned. In fact, I can very well see him reading the forums and chuckling evilly thinking "I've got the Sluggites *right* where I want them..."

I mean, really. Who out there thought that the "For Sale" sign would end up on Aylee's pod? (Well, actually that's reminiscent of CRfH when Roger sells the frozen Refrigerator Monster as "modern art" (or somesuch) but only slightly so)

Just because the Do* strips have been lame doesn't mean that Sluggy Prime is going to be. Have faith, young Padawan...
Robert A. Howard

Heh, no rent,
but no deed either.
Nyah!

[gentle chiding]C'mon, guys. Pete's a married adult with a child. You really think he doesn't know what's involved in selling a house? Or doesn't know his own plotting better than any of his readers? He threw that "For Sale" sign in front of the Kesandru House to scare everyone for a minute, and it worked.[/gentle chiding]

What this smacks of is knee-jerk reaction. I see this happen all the time--so many people act like the comic of the day is all the Sluggy there will ever be again. I've heard that everyone was sure the gang had died at the end of Kesandru's Well, just because Pete drew some ghostly shapes and stuck a "The End" in the corner, but he was just yanking your chain. People ought to consider taking a more "wait and see" attitude, at least as far as major plot points are concerned.

Pretty funny strip. I think Riff selling Aylee occassionally is part of his quirky charm.

Also the "Like... like finding people who annoy you and cloning them" coupled with the distinctly -UN-Riff expression of worry. (HUH. Is it spec time? Perhaps)

And Blanc, I wasn't at the forums for Kesandru's well, so I couldn't tell you how others reacted, but I, myself thought that the story was going to drag out for longer than it did, maybe another week, because the gang overshot reality. I didn't think "Everyone's dead forever! Nooooo!", and it seems silly that anyone else did.

Of course, if someone really -did- think that, I guess my post just makes it worse. >Shrug<

Anyway you look at it, the false "The End" was a dirty trick. I'm not sure how you can think otherwise. It's one thing to use "The End" for a storyline and leave threads dangling, but Pete didn't even do that. He resolved the darn thing the very next day. In a situation like that, you either use a "To be continued" or "The End?" (note the all important question mark). Granted, I didn't think the gang was dead forever. I don't think anyone did. I actually presented two specs concerning that strip: 1.) That we were observing them in the moment before they fully arrived (which turned out to be correct) and 2.) that they hadn't made it all the way back (which Torg commented on afterward), and someone (Sasha? Min? Crystal?) would have to do something to help them make it. The first spec wasn't very entertaining, so I spent most of my time defending the second one, which from our perspective was more logical.

Anyway, on to today's strip:

I'm pretty neutral on the subject of whether Pete thought of it before us or not. Pete's not perfect; he can make mistakes too. However, if he was planning to get the gang out of the house, I don't think he'll let it go so easily. The thing to remember is, this is Kesandru's house, and he built it to retrieve his soul from Raythdom, complete with a new body. Did he plan any further than that?

Which book?

Riff? Looking uncharacteristically worried?

I have four words to say to that: Department of Vehicle Registry

Heh heh heh

Seems too much of a "Oops, gotta fix that" reaction strip.

My reaction: Disappointed.

The last panel is pretty good though.

Maskerade I think.
The Phantom of the Opera parody.
With the witches and the secret policemen in the (financially) doomed opera house.
Accompanied by a chorus of the silliest support acts he's ever done (and that is saying something).


I still want to have a go at breeding (were they Norman's?) moon roses...

Ok, I have that one. I'll have to go and reread it.