Obviously, this strip would have worked slightly better if it had run before, or ideally on, Dec. 31st…but, with all of the chaos going on in my scheduling this chapter, I’m happy already that I managed to run it in the correct week, at least. >_> It would definitely have been even worse if it had run next week…or some time in February…
And the scheduling within the story is very fortunate, of course – lining up Biff’s annual, inexplicable ruckus with a situation that calls for utmost stealth has always been a goal of mine. The bucket list is growing shorter…
What exactly Biff does to bring about fireworks out of nothing remains unexplained, again. Since it’s unlikely that there were any crates with fireworks stacked up at the edge of the forest clearing, my best guess is that he somehow managed to bump into Gregory’s magic hat just right to cause the spectacle…but even my best guess is only as good as yours, so don’t necessarily consider that canonical. The canonical explanation remains “?”. (And I hope Gregory didn’t get his hair singed.)
Snuka sees the disaster coming, but naturally too late to do anything about it – if there even was anything to do about it. Trying to prevent Biff’s every-year-at-the-end-of-the-year accident could well upset the balance of the fundamental forces of the universe, or waken some ancient god from a timeless slumber, so it’s probably safer not to mess with it, anyway. Study panel four for a rare glimpse at what Snuka looks like with his eyes open – which also serves as explanation why he usually keeps them shut or nearly so.
Even as a paladin, Snuka retains some muscle memory of the correct way to sneak, it seems. So much so, in fact, that even K’ip follows his lead…who usually shouldn’t have too much of a problem sneaking naturally. Not that K’ip would look markedly less ridiculous if he snuck his natural way – he tends to stick his ass out too far, since his legs are actually to long for a cat.
So yeah, the year is off to a pretty bad start for our friends – but I hope the opposite is true for you. More on Monday.