Strip 525 -- First Seen: 2010-09-10
Escape From Terra is updated with new pages every Monday through Friday.

What Comes Next

The war is over, but This Means War has a ways to go. Novo Paolo/Bubbleopolis is still in a nebula/stellar nursery, no one knows what happened to the planet Sharen (center of the Intergalactic Council), and the status of the now-surrendered Invaders is yet to be resolved. What will they do when they learn their homeworld is basically destroyed? Will Alyss and Li be re-united? How about Diana (the real one) and Otto?

These questions will be resolved in the next few weeks, before This Means War part 3 wraps in late May.

After that, I plan to go BACK in time about 400 years, to when Alyss and Li left their home in the Sol System to colonize a new world on the far side of the galaxy. As one might expect, hijinks ensue. New subtitle yet to be determined, start date sometime in around the start of July. Stay tuned!

A Little House Cleaning

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The Transcript For This Page

Panel 1
Really an inset to Panel 2, which is a large flashback panel
 
Reggie: Man, did that Merry Petzger ever excoriate me.
 
Panel 2
Flashback panel: At the King's Court, Merry Petzger is yelling at Reggie. Merry is about average height for a woman, trim and fit but not voluptuous – a bit small-breated, dark wavy hair, round face with a small, receeding chin. Not unattractive but not a beauty queen either. Let's put them just outside the door to Reggie's office, with the 'Make A Joyful Noise' wording over the doorway.

Caption (Reggie): The next day she showed up at King's Court and read me the riot act.
Merry: You don't know how to run an anarchy!

Panel 3
Back to the present, the round corner booth at Callahan's: Reggie continues speaking.

Reggie: She's a big fan of Xeer, the 'customary law' of Somalia. To the exclusion of all else.
Reggie: Most arbitrators – myself included – use aspects of Xeer, plus appropriate elements from other systems. Whatever works.
 
Panel 4
Looking past Callahan at Bert.
 
Callahan: So what about these rats?
Bert: Neither Ernie nor I were willing to just cut these guys loose.


 Panel 5
Show both Ernie and Bert in this shot, plus one or two others.
 
Bert: The next time they get frisky they might end up with somebody dead.
Ernie: Besides, the low-lives owe Reggie for the destroyed mining equipment and the trash job they did on Little Toot.
Panel 6
Medium shot of the brothers. Ernie is making a 'quotes' gesture with one hand, with his other hand on his drink.
                       
Bert: At Petzger's urging, we've contracted with a disinterested arbitrator – Pablo Rosenberg – to hear the case and render a judgment.
Ernie: And, coincidentally, Rosenberg has asked Merry to represent these, uh, putative pirates.
 
Panel 7
Medium shot of Callahan, about to take a sip of his own drink as he speaks.   
Callahan: Asking her to put her convictions where her mouth is.
Callahan: This should be interesting.