And wow it was amazing to see the characters grow and change in time. Amazing to see how much stuff Pete set up in advance.

Isn't it amazing? There are some amazing arcs! I always wonder just how much ahead Pete plans. Does he plant seeds early on and see what germinates later? Or did he know, when Gwynn first found the book, the long path they'd walk to now...

He's posted some stuff on the Defenders blog that indicates it's a little of both. For example, Pete says that he always had in his head what Oasis really was, what/who Kusari was, all the way back to when they were first introduced. So the big plot points and reveals are mostly planned ahead of time.

But some other reveals are vague hints that got planned out later, and some are outright retcons. For example, he admitted that making Agent Tyler the crazy guy in this early strip was entirely made up later on and that guy was not originally meant to be an important character.

That's fascinating on all counts, especially that he planned Kusari being Sasha...I had not guessed that at all.

Speaking of which... I'm in the middle of a reread (fixing a transcript glitch) and just got through with the 4U revolution. I guess this is the first time I have read it since we found out precisely what Oasis/Harbinger is. Wow! I finally understand the Schlock triangle! I mean really understand it.

Speaking of which...

This statement is scary when you consider that Kusari/Sasha no longer has any oversight, and what humanity they maybe had been developing was likely extinguished by their sister's actions against them. I'm thinking KuSasha will be our next big story arc.

Are there any left? I think their facility was destroyed and I know the ones in the shuttle died along with the other hC staff.

Someone forgot the conclusion off the Hereticorp downfall arc. Very last page:

(incidentally, it also means the Noah Zark/Kaka arc is not over either.

With that said, the whole reason Riff is alive is precisely because Sasha started to develop desire of her own upon which she took decision. I might add, Noah has the means/capacity to transfer the minds of people into animal. that seems like something Sasha might find to be needing, with here limited supply of bodies.

Yes, yes I did forget, in spite of just rereading the last 10 years... Maybe it was wishful thinking that they didn't have to worry about it anymore...

Well, Pete has been hinting that Sasha has been developing some kind of humanity and ethics, even to the point of disobeying her "control". So I'm hoping for some kind of final "that which redeems" arc. <shrug> In that sense, I wouldn't mind them having to worry about it - if it all works out in the end. I liked Sasha. I kind of even liked Kusari (although much less). I am curious how they will operate (think) now that there is no formal oversight (or no apparent one, anyway).

I still wonder if they were remnant bits of humanity shining through, or if they've developed from ground up.

But perhaps some things will never truly be answered. Regardless, I'm sure Pete knew this aspect before they were first introduced with both sisters.

One thread that has actually been left unresolved is that Bun-Bun actually stole some Hereticorp/Riff with his space pirate crew and we have no idea what he did with it:

Doing a third re-read and just noticed this




Not sure if this was intentional or not.

Not sure I understand what you mean.

Look at the first panel and then look at Fem-Torg and Fem-Riff.