-san = standard Japanese name suffix, shows politeness.
Sensei = Teacher
Dom speaks:
Hahahaha... I love it when people complain about our failure to please all of the
people all of the time.
So what if there aren't any earthshaking developments like in previous strips in this
chapter? (Pardon the pun, I had to make it).
Here's the way I see it: A girl walks in on a scene that looks much more innocent to
her than it does to people who were there for the explosion (she sees construction, not
devastation). She sees someone in a costume she recognizes, then she sees someone she
recognizes. She asks him what's been going on. He tells her his opinion of what
happened, then asks a question that makes perfect sense in his logical calculus. He
waits for an answer to his question. It's a natural thing to do.
What do you want, for us to start with an earthquake and build up to a climax? For
Largo to pull Kimiko into his muscular Clark-Gable-in-Gone-With-the-Wind-posters arms
and tell her "It's dangerous here, we'll talk more about it when you're safe" as soft
lighting highlights his roguish, knee-melting Errol Flynn smile? For Erika to barge out
of the store, infuriated by the morning's happenings, then grow to fifty feet in height
and trample buildings wearing nothing but her unmentionables? For Dom to look at the
river and finally show if he really has the pocket aces he's been betting like he had?
Wait, don't answer that. I'll just move on.
We built up to the "earthquake", starting back in strip 420 (or if you really want to
go back, 191. That was almost three years ago). The "earthquake" happened. People are
now dealing with its aftermath in their own ways. As we've proven to both the audience
and ourselves in previous chapters, trying to show five different people and what
they're doing all at once presents horrible, horrible layout and pacing problems. So
now we're trying it a more natural way--people come in and out of the picture, and
while they're all important in one way or another, you get to see the big picture over
time.
If you enjoy it, great. If you don't enjoy it, great. There'll be another strip, and
another part of the picture, on Monday.