The holidays are over, my first classes are in full swing, and I’m back with fresh material and a new storyline to kick off the new year. Life is good.

So yes, this story is introducing a new character to the cast. Details on who she is and what role she’ll play will be better detailed in subsequent pages, but I will say that Peter’s initial reaction is a perfect reflection of how I used to react to a pretty face at that age. Rather than having any sense of bravery or courage to actually talk to the girl, I would instead opt to act like she was trying to shoot me and run like crazy in the opposite direction.

This habit eventually faded around high school or so, but for a good chunk of my childhood my lack of courage in the face of beauty really made it hard to talk to girls that I liked.

Also, Chelsea’s back yard in these panels is identical to that of the actual girl’s whom I used as the basis for Chelsea’s character. Her family had a trampoline on a raised deck just above a small creek/ravine running through their back yard. It was the most dangerous placement I’d ever seen for a trampoline, but for some reason the neighborhood kids would flock to it. Crazy kids.

Official site: PeterandCompany.com