Commentary I’m proud to say that no one guessed how in the world the cliffhanger from the end of the last chapter would resolve itself. The nice thing about doing a humor strip is that, at times, the humor can be a convenient “out” of a storytelling situation and somehow it doesn’t feel cheap. In [...]
Archive for ‘Chapter 05 – The Redemption of Dr. Rocket’
Commentary Even more with the convincing the audience that this is really who Dr. Rocket is now. While not exactly visually resplendent, I wanted to revisit something here (both artistically and from a character standpoint) that I hadn’t shown since chapter one: that in Valhalla “things are different” and mortal enemies can play a game [...]
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Oct 7, 08 | 169 – Faker! |
Jul 13, 10 | SF Origins: The Life and Times of Soviet Sam, Pg. 8 “Sweet Dreams” |
Jul 8, 08 | Guest Strip by Brian Anderson of “Dog Eat Doug!” |
Nov 7, 16 | 711- Fallen Son |
Jan 18, 12 | 379 – A True Hero |
Commentary Visually, I really love this one. After what I felt was kind of a visually bankrupt previous strip, I really wanted to do something different with this one. With the action being outside of Valhalla and not featuring any of the Fogeys, the opportunity was certainly there. Dictator Tot’s exit was a long time [...]
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Mar 25, 07 | 124 – Shooting |
Jun 22, 11 | 327 – The Buddy System |
Jan 6, 11 | Guest Strip by Marjorie Rishel |
Sep 11, 19 | 799 – Redemption is Possible |
Aug 29, 10 | SF Origins: Operation: Valhalla, No. 6 “Spy Gal Arrives” |
Commentary Now, this I realize that this is almost entirely a cut-and-paste job from an eariler strip. In this case, I thought it was justified as a)it allowed me to get ahead a little and b)it was perfect for the pacing I was trying to achieve. I think the coloring really sells it and I had [...]
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Jan 3, 07 | 62 – Conditions of Release |
Sep 27, 11 | Chapter 4, “Dictator Tot’s Revenge” Recap by Jeremy Bentley |
Jan 2, 07 | 61 – Dictator Tot in Hel |
Feb 17, 12 | Pg. 2, “Devil Horned Goodbye” |
Mar 13, 07 | 112 – Budapest ’68 All Over Again |
Commentary This strip hearkens back to something set up in Star Maiden’s WebSpace page, namely that she was a webcam girl. I had a lot of fun with the second panel in trying to make Star look both sexy and deranged. The drool pretty much sold it. Swifty’s feeling at the end of this strip pretty [...]
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Apr 17, 13 | 498 – Zurida’s Conditions |
Jul 17, 08 | 146 – Cad and a Layabout |
Nov 26, 14 | 640 – Jerry Must Come Back |
Sep 18, 18 | Cover |
Nov 27, 17 | 750 – The Big Slap |
Commentary Looking at my comments below, it’s clear I wasn’t very happy about the way this strip turned out at the time. Looking at it now, I’m not sure what my problem was. Looks pretty decent to me, although I regret the color scheme I chose for Jerry’s hospital room, especially since he’s going to [...]
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Oct 20, 20 | 848 – Organic Deodorant |
Jul 14, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 22 “The Society of Heroes” |
Jan 19, 07 | 76 – Space Pig’s Feelings Get Hurt |
Oct 26, 12 | Pg. 10 “The End?” |
Oct 17, 06 | 24 – Too Little Too Late |
Commentary Ah, “Wrinkly Butt.” As this one was sitting at my drawing board, my wife happened upon it and exclaimed “WHAT IS UP WITH SPY GAL’S CHEST?” I explained that she’s been long established as a large-chested character and that she’s clearly folding her arms here so… My wife wasn’t having it. It was an [...]
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Jan 21, 13 | 473 – Monkey Rain |
Apr 2, 14 | 585 – Atomic Fly’s Special Delivery |
Apr 28, 14 | 590 – Will He Fight? |
Aug 3, 15 | 664 – Too Old to Drive |
Jan 16, 17 | 726 – Harrison Ford Finger of Doom |
Commentary Ah, the proposal. I think this veers towards the sitcomish, but I like it for one reason: that we stay on Jerry the whole way through. Jerry doesn’t say a word, but he has his own little George-Bailey-Welcoming-Home-His-Brother-At-The-Train-Station moment, a brilliant bit of acting by Jimmy Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Life in which he [...]
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Dec 1, 06 | 51 – Can Hair Eat? |
Mar 19, 09 | 200 – Where is He!? |
Aug 31, 12 | Pg. 4 “Crib Cage” |
Aug 1, 14 | Pg. 5 “Many Doors, All Locked” |
Commentary Okay, I admit it. I goofed. There’s a huge continuity error here and I didn’t realize it until months later. Spy Gal states in panel 2 that they had been engaged before. The thing is…I made it pretty clear in the flashback for Chapter 3 that they hadn’t. Captain Spectacular was PLANNING to propose, [...]
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Commentary I am nothing if not patient. I created Tangerine quite a while ago. In fact, his actual first appearance is on the cover of the first SuperFogeys book and in the bonus story of that same book as drawn by Mike Hartigan. Each of the SuperFogeys are pretty much analogues for characters in either the [...]
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Oct 1, 15 | Chapter 21 Teaser! |
Dec 24, 09 | Guest Strip by Rufus Edge of “Comicdeoxyribonucleicacid!” No. 2! |
Jan 13, 14 | 562 – Violent Amputation |
Jan 14, 10 | 239 – How Captain Spectacular Knows The Third Man |
Mar 3, 07 | 106 – What’s in the Box? |
Commentary Ah! Ah! Ah! Too much! There’s just way too much going on in this strip. I could have easily took all the same ideas here and spread them out into three strips instead of compacting them into one. Plus, I was way too in love with my own dialogue. Swifty’s in the first panel [...]
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Nov 2, 16 | 710 – Crimson Oils |
Sep 27, 11 | Chapter 4, “Dictator Tot’s Revenge” Recap by Jeremy Bentley |
May 15, 13 | 504 – A Striking Mustache |
Oct 21, 19 | 805 – Across the Mountaintop |
Mar 11, 21 | 881 – Minutes Away |
Commentary My previous comments: Some of you have already seen this strip. I did this one a month or so back as a guest strip for Lucas Turnbloom’s “Imagine This”. But…as you can see from the previous strip…it fits right in nicely with our ongoing story. Big thanks to my Tall Tale Features compatriot for lending me [...]
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Jan 15, 20 | 824 – Knives Out |
May 25, 08 | SF Collection # 5 Cover (Unused) |
Mar 21, 07 | 120 – Swifty’s Losing? |
Jul 2, 12 | 425 – The Maiden Within |
Jul 23, 18 | Pg. 8 “Better When She Was a Villain” |
Commentary Ugh. Another butt-ugly strip. I think I’m starting to realize that this was a bit problem for me in Chapter 5 – too many strips trying to do too much. Dr. Rocket’s gift-giving continues here. Of particular note is the peanut butter cookie he gives Captain Spectacular. That’s actually a follow-up to a bonus [...]
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Feb 1, 12 | 383 – Jackpot. |
Oct 2, 13 | 540 – Jerry is Committed |
Oct 1, 06 | 9 – How to Turn Dr. Rocket On |
Oct 22, 12 | 451 – Will Tangerine Help? |
Aug 21, 13 | 528 – Spy Gal vs. Jerry |
Commentary Oh, this is just the ultimate slam. Captain Spectacular is definitely a “lives in the moment” kind of guy. I just couldn’t resist kicking Jerry when he’s down. He doesn’t speak, but again he communicates a lot. This strip is also one of the first indications that Cap and Doc were once friends, [...]
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Dec 2, 08 | 184 – The Origin of Captain Spectacular and Dr. Rocket, Pt. 1 “Laban and Amram” |
Jul 29, 13 | 521 – Spy Gal Awakened |
Oct 1, 12 | 445 – I Don’t Know What I’ve Been Told |
Dec 5, 06 | 54 – Gene Gets What’s Coming to Him |
Jul 21, 14 | 611 – Escape |
Commentary This is one of those rare strips that I think is pretty good, both visually and from a story standpoint, but that has a pretty weak punchline. There’s just something so obvious about that last panel. What I do like a lot is the unconventional paneling. I don’t remember exactly how I hit on the [...]
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May 18, 12 | Pg. 2 “Not Ready or Able” |
Sep 10, 12 | 443 – “Open to Ideas” |
Nov 20, 13 | 550 – Everything in its Right Place |
Mar 30, 11 | 303 – Namby-Pamby Religious Jaghole |
Sep 9, 08 | 161 – Tangerine’s Arrival and Dr. Klein’s Return |
COMMENTARY In the first panel there, you’ll notice a sign on the box that’s cut off. The full sign would read “Ark of the Covenant – Do Not Touch,” an obvious shout-out to Indiana Jones. The monster is another shout-out. This is my lame attempt at a tribute to the master of drawing monsters—Jack Kirby. [...]
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Oct 2, 08 | 168 – Tangerine Gets His Mad On |
May 14, 08 | SF Collection #1 Cover |
Mar 11, 07 | 110 – Spanking |
Jan 20, 07 | 77 – Headed for a Time-Out |
Jan 8, 14 | 561 – Blind Rage |
COMMENTARY Look at the detail in that darkened warehouse! I kid. If you look closely at the third panel you’ll see that Dictator Tot has tossed aside a small device. I didn’t have room to explicitly state it, but the idea is that she was using that device to make it appear as though she [...]
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Aug 11, 09 | SF Origins: Tangerine, Pg. 3 “New Parts” |
Oct 11, 17 | 737 – Dastard Number Two |
Sep 30, 11 | Chapter 7, “Visiting Day” Recap by Rossana Bugini |
Sep 4, 13 | 532 – How Hard is the Rock Upon Which Stands Your Principles? |
Mar 24, 07 | 123 – The Box is Opened |
COMMENTARY Based on this strip, for some reason, a lot of people assumed that Captain Spectacular II is the son of Captain Spectacular. Such is not the case. I love, love, love the look of this one. I wish I got to play with colors like the more often, or, at least, that I was [...]
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Dec 3, 12 | 463 – May Percy Have a Pet? |
Aug 28, 13 | 530 – Jerry’s Greatest Hits |
Aug 8, 16 | 688 – Zurida, The Peacemaker |
Mar 21, 07 | 120 – Swifty’s Losing? |
Mar 24, 07 | 123 – The Box is Opened |
COMMENTARY This strip originally without the “Clap! Clap!” at the end. It wasn’t until the day after I posted it that Th3rd World Publisher Mike DeVito suggested it and I redrew the last panel immediately. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the Captain’s hair is a character all its own. People were mostly confused [...]
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Mar 15, 07 | 114 – Enter: Star Maiden |
Mar 3, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 3 “The Captain and Jerry” |
May 3, 09 | 206 – The Valhalla Basement Dungeon |
Oct 28, 08 | 175 – My Pleasure |
Dec 5, 12 | 464 – Cuffed |
COMMENTARY This is the second appearance of the Bubbles of Light. No one questioned the first appearance back in Chapter 4 and I don’t really blame them. There wasn’t much to go on. Here we get a few more clues, leading to the obvious conclusion that Swifty—or at least some iteration of him—is time-traveling. The [...]
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Sep 25, 12 | GUEST STRIP by Crystal Murphy, Summer Fun Pt. 1! |
Oct 9, 08 | 170 – There Will Be Blood |
Nov 23, 11 | 365 – Bloody Roofie |
Aug 13, 12 | 435 – A Job Well Done |
Apr 9, 07 | 138 – Good News and Bad News |
What a fun strip this was to work on. From the dialogue dance to the pure character illustration, I just love it. What I’m trying to do is say a lot about the relationship between Captain Spectacular and Spy Gal in very few frames. Up to you whether I succeeded or not. Captain Spectacular thinking [...]
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May 2, 11 | 312 – Dr. Rocket’s Space Journey, Pt. 1: The Real Cause of Dr. Rocket’s Suffering |
Mar 23, 21 | 884 – No Good at This |
Nov 25, 13 | 551 – The Guthrie is Turned On |
Aug 18, 14 | 618 – Thanks to Money Man |
Sep 5, 14 | Pg. 9 – Like Other Men |
COMMENTARY The relationship between Spy Gal and Star Maiden is one of my most favorite things in the SuperFogeys, and I don’t spend nearly enough time on it. Spy Gal’s mothering instinct really comes out when she sees someone suffering and yet…she’s still Spy Gal. I think I could have drawn the light effect better [...]
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Jul 23, 18 | Pg. 8 “Better When She Was a Villain” |
Jul 31, 13 | 522 – A Favor for Spy Gal |
Nov 13, 08 | 179 – Reverend Space Pig |
Dec 14, 16 | 719 – It’s Easy When You Know How |
Sep 7, 16 | 697 – No Fun Being Ignored |
COMMENTARY The angry looks that the Space Pig and Tangerine are giving each are meant to suggest a fallout between them after the events of “The Secret Origin of the Space Pig” (which you can find in SuperFogreys Vol.1, on sale in the SF Store). Tangerine finally arriving at Valhalla was a long time in [...]
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Jan 16, 13 | 472 – The Stink of the Space Monkeys |
May 2, 08 | 85 – WebSpace Page: Spy Gal |
Aug 27, 12 | 439 – So IMPOLITE! |
Mar 10, 07 | 109 – WHO THREW THIS!? |
Dec 12, 11 | 370 – Ugly Little Man |
COMMENTARY Tangerine’s body design presents some unique challenges. He doesn’t really have elbows (the way I draw him anyway) and he’s so much shorter than everybody else that whenever he appears it requires some rethinking of how I usually frame the characters in the panel. I thought long and hard about the use of the [...]
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Aug 27, 12 | 439 – So IMPOLITE! |
Mar 9, 12 | Pg. 3 “His Old Flame” |
Oct 1, 09 | 227 – Star Maiden’s Fan Club |
Dec 24, 12 | Merry Christmas From The SuperFogeys! |
May 18, 10 | SF Origins: Star Maiden, Pg. 6 “Earth” |
COMMENTARY I felt like, with two and half years behind me and being in the middle of a complicated (in comparison, anyway), back-and-forth chapter like this one that I needed to take a minute to acknowledge just what the heck was going on. Spy Gal is admittedly making some leaps in logic here, but it’s [...]
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Jul 30, 18 | Pg. 9 “Who is Talking?” |
Sep 4, 19 | 797 – Squishiness in the War Room |
Oct 8, 06 | 15 – Introducing Swifty! |
Dec 2, 13 | 553 – Capture and Rescue Mission |
Jul 9, 08 | Guest Strip by Rufus Edge of “comicdeoxyribonucleicacid!” |
COMMENTARY One of the more awkwardly organized strips I’ve done, design-wise. The balloons in the second panel just would not fit in a natural way. In comics, you generally want the person speaking first on the left side of the panel and the next person to the right of them and so on. Usually, I [...]
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Jul 26, 22 | 909 – Get Outta Town |
May 25, 11 | 319 – The Plans of Dr. Klein, Pt. 2 “Isn’t Everybody?” |
May 20, 13 | 505 – Dark Disease |
Apr 7, 07 | 136 – CENSORED! |
Feb 24, 14 | 574 – Jerry Stirring |
COMMENTARY When I created Tangerine about two years prior to the strips on this page being drawn, this strip and the one above were in my original notes. Tangerine’s entire personality was then extrapolated from these two conversations with Jerry. The Pink Shade is a character that gets referenced now and again, but her actual [...]
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Jan 6, 14 | 560 – Lifeless |
Sep 19, 11 | 352 – Megatron is Copyrighted |
Nov 26, 12 | 461 – He Escaped |
Apr 28, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 11 “Huzzah!” |
Oct 21, 10 | 281 – Expected |
COMMENTARY Arachno is supposed to be an analogue to Spider-Man. He’s probably too dead-on in name to every make an actual appearance, but he provides a good shorthand here to illustrate just how unusual the public turning against him was to the Captain. SUPERFOGEYS 2-YEAR ANNIVERSARY This week marks the 2-year anniversary of both the [...]
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Aug 10, 11 | 341 – Stop |
Mar 31, 09 | SF Origins: The Society of Heroes, Pg. 7 “Good Looks Good on You” |
Jan 1, 10 | Guest Strip by Chris Watkins of “Odori Park!” |
Jul 22, 10 | 266 – The Greatest Book Ever Written |
Sep 28, 12 | GUEST STRIP by Crystal Murphy, Summer Fun Pt. 4 |
COMMENTARY This is maybe one of the most economical and tragic things I’ve ever written. Really, the intent was to begin really breaking down Tangerine’s character, but Captain Spectacular got swept up in that tide as well as we see his fatal character flaw—when things are going well, the Captain does just fine. When things [...]
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Sep 23, 13 | 537 – The Guthrie |
Mar 18, 07 | 117 – Dementia |
Jul 9, 14 | 608 – Gumdrops and Rainbows |
Oct 2, 06 | 10 – Why Spy Gal Came to Valhalla |
Mar 12, 18 | 770 – Bumps in the Road |
COMMENTARY I had to do a bit of a storytelling shuffle to keep Tangerine away from Dr. Rocket until this point in the story. I love his entrance here. In particular, I loved doing the growling drawing of Tangerine. The red color isn’t meant to suggest that Tangerine can actually turn red—it’s just an artistic [...]
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COMMENTARY One of my all-time favorite strips. Visually, I think this just works. I think I had just rewatched the movie Quiz Show shortly before writing this strip, so I had Geritol on the brain. Great movie. SUPERFOGEYS FALLING BEHIND IN WEBCOMIC READER’S CHOICE AWARDS The SuperFogeys need your help! Those of you that have [...]
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Oct 10, 12 | 448 – Thinking Like a Hero |
Jul 31, 15 | 663 – Pandora’s Box |
Jun 15, 10 | SF Origins: The Life and Times of Soviet Sam, Pg. 4 “Pantsless” |
Jun 4, 12 | 417 – Guess Who’s Back? |
Apr 6, 12 | Pg. 7 “Death or Peanut Butter Cookies?” |
COMMENTARY In the first two panels we see that Swifty did indeed use the Space Pig Urine given to him by Dr. Rocket earlier in the chapter. I wish I had chosen a different wall color for the background of this strip (and all those remaining in Chapter 5 for that matter). That brown is [...]
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Jul 17, 15 | 657 – The Most Difficult Thing Swifty Has Ever Done |
Oct 21, 06 | 27 – Spy Gal’s Explanation |
Jan 7, 10 | Guest Strip by Will Boyer of “The Misadventures of Super Milo!” |
Sep 30, 08 | 167 – Captain Spectacular’s Shame |
Oct 23, 19 | 806 – Space Pigs in the Forest |
COMMENTARY There wasn’t room in the flashback of this chapter to make it explicit that Dr. Rocket was responsible for the public turning against the Captain in the 70’s, so it was nice of Tangerine to make that point for us here. Unfortunately, this strip and the next few are far too wordy. I had [...]
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May 18, 11 | 317 – Why Dr. Klein Needs a Robot |
Aug 15, 16 | 690 – Name Calling |
Aug 27, 14 | 621 – Jerry’s Powers |
Nov 7, 16 | 711- Fallen Son |
COMMENTARY This strip angered a lot of people. No one—and I mean NO ONE—felt that Captain Spectacular would just stand by and watch Spy Gal get knocked out like that. Honestly, I couldn’t understand that reaction based on what we’d just seen in his flashback. Not only is the Captain flawed, but Tangerine is his [...]
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Dec 21, 12 | Guest Strip by Crystal Murphy! |
Oct 16, 06 | 23 – The Incontinent Duo |
Nov 6, 06 | 34 – Introducing the Healer! |
Nov 30, 11 | 367 – The Division Sword |
Feb 8, 11 | Pg. 2 “New Designer in Town” |
COMMENTARY I want to do an entire comic book of Star Maiden just walking around Valhalla and interacting with everyone. She’s so, so much fun to write and draw. Some of my most favorite lines from her ever are in this strip. I wanted to cut down the dialogue for the print edition, but I [...]
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Nov 12, 09 | 233 – She Was Undercover |
May 30, 12 | 416 – Alcohol is His Kryptonite |
May 7, 12 | 409 – Walkin’ Blues |
Nov 20, 19 | 814 – Ptoof! |
Nov 9, 16 | 712 – Ah-ah-ah |
COMMENTARY Here’s another idea that’s too big for the strip format. I’m just really pushing the boundaries of what a strip can do. Thankfully, I don’t have anything like a syndicate to answer to, so I can do this, get this idea out of the way, and regret not expanding it two strips later. Still, [...]
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Dec 3, 20 | 859 – Snakes on a Swifty |
May 25, 12 | Pg. 3 “A Couple of Brothers” |
Sep 5, 16 | 696 – Account Closed |
Oct 22, 12 | 451 – Will Tangerine Help? |
Oct 22, 14 | 530 – The Long Arm of the Universe |
COMMENTARY No single strip that I have done (at the time of this writing I’m about 10 strips into Chapter 7) has caused as much controversy as this one. The comments exploded when this strip hit. I think maybe 1% of the audience saw this coming. And, even if they did, no one thought it [...]
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Jan 13, 07 | 68 – Jerry’s Computer Troubles |
Feb 26, 18 | 766 – Always |
Jul 24, 08 | 148 – The Society of Heroes – Introducing Tangerine! |
Sep 30, 10 | 278 – The Others |
Aug 5, 10 | 268 – Sick and Unflattering |