The Talented Mister Halifax, part three

No update on April Fool's Day -- I was busy (mostly with being ill, but that's beside the point) and with the date, no-one would have believed anything that happened in the strip anyway. I could have thrown together a quick strip along the April Fool's theme, but... eh. I didn't really want to break the storyline before this concluding part, and I couldn't think of anything decent anyway. April Fool's seemed a damp squib this year -- Randy was catching up on updates, so April 1st didn't go up until a day later, which is probably why he didn't bother hoaxing us. Penny Arcade ran a strip about April Fool's, rather than making the strip itself an April Fool's joke. Queen of Wands, the lord (or lady) of April Fooling finished up its run in February.

I guess April Fool's has become too easy for most webcomics -- it's like the one day you can have your characters do anything, no matter how outlandish or out of character, and not have to justify it. It's a cheap shot, and getting too cheap for most of the creators who'd rather try to tell a decent story than go for the cheap and obvious jokes. (Aeire is an exception to this, because she made April Fool's '04 an integral part of the Queen of Wands story -- in fact, it's pretty much the beginning point from which you can see the end just getting into sight.)

So to this strip. I ended up cutting a couple of responses from Halifax and Holly out of the strip because they didn't really click when the secretary was ranting at him. The 'background gets gradually darker as the subject's emotions grow more intense' is something I first used in the 'Wiccan Work It Out' arc last year, even to the point of adding the shading on the darkest panel.

I'm glad this arc is over, to be honest, because drawing Halifax in a suit is really awkward. There are certain characters I could quite happily draw in a suit, but Halifax is not one of them. He looks so out of place in formal wear that even when I've done a decent enough picture of it, I can't help but feel there's something wrong about it. This arc did, at least, give me the opportunity to clear up Halifax's uncertain financial situation -- though it remains to be seen whether or not he'll get the fat raise and company car he asked for.

Best bits: the slow escalation of the secretary's murderous rage; chibi Halifax in the last panel.
Worst bits: Holly vanishing from Halifax's side; backgrounds a little iffy.