Mell is just saying what I was thinking while writing this storyline. It got harder and harder to keep things funny as the plot got darker and the stakes got higher. That said, I really like this particular strip and its glimpse into Helen's character. And I like getting the story to a point where the characters giving up evil and insanity would definitely not be a happy ending.

I wrote this strip around the time Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out, and the otherwise wonderuful Bill Mudron went around the Internet telling all of us what happens to Dumbledore. That was unconscionable.

The eyeball corridor apparently now contains tentacles.

This is one of my all-time favorite Narbonic strips. Especially Helen's pensive face and Mell's thumbs-up. Mell kind of has life figured out.

Helen says here that Dave is smarter than she is, but later on Dave complains that Helen is still smarter than him. So the question of who's smarter is left up in the air, which is for the best. Mell can get them both to do whatever she wants anyway.

I wrote Madblood's speech pretty early on and got attached to it, so this ended up being another strip where the dialogue crowds out the art. What the hell, might as well give Madblood one more chance to be cool. Also, excellent gun with excellent sound effects.

This is a grim strip, but on the plus side, Helen and Mell's polar outfits are adorable. In the first panel, Dave is quoting from Urusei Yatsura's "Slain by Elf," an extremely geeky song by an extremely geeky Scottish indie rock band. Manga editor Carl Horn introduced me to Yatsura.

At the time, I didn't think this strip was funny enough, but I guess it turned out pretty well. Also, Helen has a heart patch on her snowsuit that matches her mittens, which is awesomely ridiculous. I like the idea that she has themed outfits in reserve for any eventuality.