Up On The Roof

I've mentioned before in the comic that Halifax likes to come up on the roof to relax and have space to think when everything's getting too much for him -- it's been a long time since that strip, though, and while I always meant to have him up on the roof for some internal monologues in the past I never quite managed to fit it in. Any internal monologues, as with this strip, tend to end up getting externalised into a conversation with another character -- last year it was Tara a couple of times, I think, and this year it's usually been Emma.
I'm happy with the way the cast keeps growing for this strip. I've still got Jessica's boyfriend to introduce yet, although I'm not sure when that'll be -- I do have the plot worked out until the end of the year (thanks to Mary, who co-plots the comic with me these days to avoid hideous, bloated, Milton Hoight-esque storylines that I usually did on my own) but we're currently working deeper into that plot to hack out exactly what each plot point entails in terms of strip content. Sometimes a major plot point will be revealed over the course of several days or weeks, and other times a few major plot points will follow each other like the 192 to Stockport in Manchester Piccadilly.
The weirdest thing about having a growing cast is realising that most of the characters haven't actually met each other yet, if they will at all. Despite their past relationships with Ormrod and Halifax, both Holly and Kali have yet to meet. Vince has met very, very, few people -- in fact, about the only person who ties this whole strip together is Halifax. I like that, though -- it's much like real life. The most unrealistic thing about 'Friends' is that none of the six ever seemed to have any circles of friends outside of the core six -- whereas with 'Seinfeld' the core four always had friends and acquaintances that they met up with or talked about. (George Costanza is a possible exception to this rule, but we will ignore him because he is both A Loser and My Future, so there.)

Anyway, soon: more Kali, more faces from the past, and more overly-wordy dialogue. I was better about that today, in my defence.