High time to reintroduce the regular characters, and Mopey naturally goes first – since she holds the highest academic rank right now.
As always with these reintroductions, the character design is altered at least somewhat – and then will probably float around for a few strips before settling on a definite ‘new’ look. I’m sorry, I’m not great with consistency, and feel that the B-movie theme gives me ample leeway in that regard. I’m sure Nolan Nobucks would skimp on make-up artists, so they likely wouldn’t be the sort who could keep an actor look identical shooting day after shooting day. “Somewhat similar” is probably the most that Nolan could ask for, and that also happens to be what I’m capable of in terms of consistency on the meta-level. XD
And while I reintroduce Mopey with a smile on the meta-level, she, herself, is wearing a frown in universe – clearly hinting at the fact that her personality hasn’t changed fundamentally in the meantime.
But I guess she has ample reasons to be frowning, of course, even if she normally doesn’t need one. On the one hand, there’s all the problems and responsibilities that come with being head of a faculty now… and then she’s really struggling with living up to her predecessor’s reputation for groundbreaking research. She’s got the breaking part down pat, of course – always one of her strong suits. What gives her problems is the ground, or more particularly the repairs that need to be made to it every time it gets broken in the course of the cellulitis research that’s one of the funding mainstays of the lab. How did Professor Dr. ever manage to balance his budgets with all of these extra expenses? It’s a more profound secret to Mopey than any scientific problem she’s ever worked on…despite the solution being surprisingly simple. Those casks of fine, aged single-malt whiskey that she discovered in a hidden corner of the lab weren’t actually Professor Dr.’s own ‘secret stash’, as Mopey surmises. They were for bribing Dean Martin in moments of financial emergencies, and always worked like a charm… >_>
More on Thursday.