Characters.

So the strip had been sold to a small paper in San Francisco, and I was well into my coming out process - including having met and moved in with my boyfriend - which necessitated some changes in the opening storyline. I couldn't have Tad denying his sexuality as strongly as he'd done in the college strip, because I thought it was sort of insulting, and frankly, boring. And while the college strip had been mostly Tad and Zen, I wanted to add new characters to try and get some new perspectives - but again, I know about three face styles and four hairstyles, so I was really pushing my limits - like trying to have five people speaking individually in one panel.

Vanna and Zen were the same as the college strip, though Vanna was a bit more militant - Chuque was based on an old enemy of mine (who recently found me on Facebook and is well aware that the character is him, heh), and Ben, named for my college best friend, is their straight friend. It's so weird to put it that way, right?

About the bicycle pump - I must have tried thirty punch lines and none of them worked, because bluntly it's a really dumb joke. Tad finds a bike pump in Zen's room and assumes it's a dildo! And then they share a laugh. Ugh. But it is funny to me to see the White Party mention, another tip that I was just starting to get into the usual things a 28 year old gay man does when newly out. Charity work, mostly.