Putting the 'Surprise' in 'Surprise Party'

Another strip inked entirely with a brush here -- I'm actually kinda disappointed that inking with a brush worked out so well, because now I don't have an excuse to stop it and go back to using pens. If anything I like my work better when inked with a brush. The flow of lines seems to work so much better when I can draw a thicker line in one long stroke and don't have to go over and over the same area because of small nib size. It means the inking takes longer, in most cases, but still feels like less work when I'm actually doing it.
As discussed previously, I find it hard to get used to drawing characters when I haven't done it for a while. I frequently get this problem with Emma the barmaid, as she tends to have a couple of brief appearances with a long time before her next one. This time, I managed to slip back into drawing Holly quite well, though. Perhaps because she was in the bulk of the earlier strips this year, although if that's the case I'm not quite sure why I frequently have problems drawing Halifax. I swear if you read the archives his look changes every three or four weeks.