subtle and not-so-subtle jokes and references

You may have noticed that there are 4 new strips on the site today.  As we get deeper and deeper into the storyline, the sets and scenes seem to be getting more complicated.  From the standpoint of practice and technical skill refinement, this is probably a good thing, but from the standpoint of my inherent laziness, it's just plain no good, man.

 But that's not the theme of this post.

The theme of this post is subtle and not-so-subtle jokes and references.  I'll try to focus on the subtle things I've added in the comics to this point.  In the second strip, we notice that Dimitri is sporting a shotgun with a rather unnecessary sight attached to the end of the barrel.  In strip 3, we see that Dimitri is holding his shotgun in the opposite hand as in the previous strip, our first clue of his ambidextrousness.

In strip 4, we get our first clear shot of the nunchaku-knives, which, though they look cool, would be a rather impractical weapon for all but the most skilled or masochistic.  Strip 5 shows us that Dimitri keeps an ashtray in his office which is strikingly similar to the ones at the bar.

The Final Fantasy VI parody strip is also the sixth comic strip.  In strip 11, we get a clear shot of Rina's familiar-looking sword dongle.  The fellow featured in the drawing in strip 14 is also a cartoon bounty hunter. Also, did you notice the electric guitar in strip 16?

Vampire manga fans may recognize the guy hanging on the wall in the 17th strip, in addition to another pilfered black ashtray on the table which is kind of difficult to discern.  The 21st strip features a truck with a trailer which reads 'Fail Mart' with a tiny symbolized whale's tail separating those two words.  I wanted to make a joke here about how major retailers choose logos which reveal how they feel about customers (Target thinks of consumers as Targets, and the new Wal-mart signs replaced the star with this asterisk-looking symbol that looks suspiciously like a brown star...) but I opted to go this other route instead in order to make a tech-related joke.

In the 22nd strip, if you take a close look at the window, you can see the reflection of the emptiness of the set.  And finally, this brings us to the 24th strip, which has a graphic depicting a country incorrectly labeled as 'Egypt'.  The guitar-playing cat in this strip is an homage to the piano cat, and I refuse to reveal the rest of the headlines cut off by the news tickers.  Use your imagination.