Commentary by Kevin McShane

During my years there, Oberlin was unapologetic about its “alternative” (read: hippie) reputation. However, there were some last few shreds of normalcy in the ol’ girl.

For example, every year there were a handful of formal dances at the various dorms and venues around campus. Mostly ignorned and shunned by the general Oberlin populace, these formals were mostly an excuse for the music Conservatory students to play more “contemporary” (read: less than 100 years old) music, as well as for freshman girls to get one more use out of their senior prom dresses. I went to a couple of these and found them to be fun for the most part, but not nearly as big a deal as they seemed my freshman year when I did this strip.

With this strip, I dove into the infamous “Love Triangle” storyline headfirst by introducting Erik, Toupy’s first and only enemy, as well as L.E.‘s date to the “Winter Formal.”

Anyway, Erik was based on every asshole I went to high school with. His hair helmet was a slight reference to George Prep, the main character of my high school comic strip.

One subtle thing I like about this strip is Toupy’s antennae. They twitch when he senses trouble. They’re kinda like his Spidey Sense. Only WAY cooler.

-K