Tom Sewell

If Dan is really going to end this storyline soon, we aren't likely to find out for sure to play out the consequences here. Maybe it will end with Smokey's "civilian" form in the last comic--although Dan being Dan,, he or she may not be identified as Smokey. On the other hand, "soon" could mean "by the end of the evening." Remember how long the evening of Elliot and Ashley's first date took to play out in Dan Time? So, maybe by Easter.

The logical thing for them to do now is have Grace borrow Sam's form to call herself, assuming they both have their phones--of course they have their phones, even I (finally) have a smartphone (and I remember the time before touch-tone phones!). Now this means at least a couple of things: (1) Edward is going to find out about this call, and further calls, of course. (2) Grace is going go get a call from Sam while she's with Sarah. However, as to someone listening in on the other line--they'd be listening from the last century. Land lines? I think there's only been three calls on land lines in the entire canon of EGS and none of them involved Grace. Even Voltaire was surprised to actually find a pay phone. Also, I'm also old enough to have actually lived in a home with a party line when I was a kid. This was when I was living way out in rural Idaho.

The way Dan has set up the Immortals, getting all or most of them to agree on anything is an extremely rare event. Voltaire was pretty clever in seeming to be sympathetic to Pandora's cause--but he left out the part that he set up the attempted murder of Pandora's son. But is that enough to get support from enough other Immortals, or the right Immortals, to change their law? BTW, has anyone else noticed that Pandora is the only Immortal we've seen changing their form? Voltaire used another voice over a phone once, and he wore a different costume one other time, but that's it. But Pandora herself said "Immortals are shapeshifters!" to the Emissary back at the beginning of Sister 3, so Volty could probably look like anyone--maybe even Smokey. I doubt that because Voltaire is vain and wants everyone to be impressed with his brilliance, and I don't think that vanity would allow him to make a convincing act of being afraid like Smokey seemed to be just before they made their exit, but still...

Panel two: Sam says his spell might make parties more interesting. Panel three: Grace grins, probably remembering an interesting birthday party. Panel four: Sam begins to freak out, wondering exactly why Grace is smiling. Panel five: Grace gets serious instead of saying anything about that party. ---- Anybody have any doubt that Sam is the transgender person who sent the message to Elliot?

Seems so. Still may not be that much malicious. That's why I said Smokey seems childish, not seeming to realize how dangerous playing with magic can be. Maybe they got the message from Grace's transformation, since they ran away.

My morning guesses (GMT-8) are that: Smokey learned his/her smokey spell from Camdin. Camdin doesn't know Smokey's got magic, and may not even know Smokey While Smokey's all about learning neat new spells, Camdin basically wants to date Cheerleadra.

Do we know anyone else close to Grace who might also want to give everyone the same spell? Perhaps someone whose middle name is "Drew"? Someone whose very first wand has a spell very much like this spell? Or maybe exactly like Sam's spell, if the same Immortal gave the mark to this mysterious person as well as Sam? Maybe the next subject for a Grace vs. Grace internal debate is what she should tell Tedd's dad. A new wizard and rather childish wizard is a bigger issue than just someone who can change their gender. For that matter, should Grace tell Tedd? This is exactly the kind of mystery Tedd will want to know more about. I can even see Grace asking Mr. Raven what she should do.

Sam had enough backbone to come out once, and he did go on that first not-a-date with Sarah despite misgivings from the moment he agreed to it.

I thought whenever there's trouble Kim Possible was there on the double; it's in her theme song, after all.

There aren't a lot of wolves in Illinois these days, but even cartoon wolves have long, bushy tails, although not as large in proportion to their bodies as squirrels or quite as bushy, and seldom more than one. Since Grace's face was facing away from Sam when she squirreled-out, Sam might not be so sure she didn't have a wolf's muzzle when she was intimidating Smokey. I can see Grace reassuring Sam that she isn't a "real" werewolf because there aren't any, any more, and maybe letting slip that Pandora is the reason there aren't any real werewolves left (although Abraham did help). And that last thought triggered an idea, maybe a crack in the logic of Dan's conception of Immortal Law: If vampires aren't human any more, why is it breaking Immortal Law to kill them directly?

I thought you called Super Chicken (BWUCK-WUCK BWAWK!) Or maybe a fowl of a different feather? Maybe the Demonic Duck went by "Disco Duck" back in the Seventies. Who says the "normal" form of D W has to be human?

One tiny problem with looking up Grace: The Emissary doesn't know who Grace is when he's not in her dreams.

Watching people with magic, like, for instance, Tedd, or Edward? Tedd spent an awful lot of time studying how Elliot was able to create and alter clothes.

I'm not so sure about that. If Uryuoms were never able to learn and use human magic, why did this happen?

Wasn't a wizard, but this is the New World now, so with the Uryuom restrictions on magic removed, Grace might be at least a potential wizard now.

So how is Camdin eating a sandwich while Brave Sir Smokey, unbeknownst to Camdin, is running away from Grace? Methinks Lord Dan has pitched us a curve, or, for you cricket aficionados, bowled us a googly. Now if Camdin was a wizard like Nanase, this Smokey could be his clone, like Fox. But do we really think Camdin is a wizard? So, if Smokey isn't really Camdin, why does he or she seem to have the same spell? Well, I can think of someone who's close to Camdin, whether he wants to be or not, but I think Luke isn't to be enough of a jerk or enough of an actor to impersonate Camdin even if he learned Camdin's spell. Voltaire is definitely qualified, but why would Volty run away? Well, maybe Volty can see that Grace is a danger even to him. However, Voltaire has met Grace at least once, and was controlling Dex while Grace and Greg were fighting the fire guys at Greg's dojo. Perhaps Voltaire's vast intelligence actually missed that Tedd's girlfriend was the same squirrel woman at the dojo, probably because his even more vast arrogance got in the way. But that arrogance would also get in the way of running away.

http://egscomics.com/comic/tsos-42 I suggest the theme from Rocky the Flying Squirrel.

Compare Grace's expressions in Monday's comic to this one, and then to her expressions back in Family Ties when she confronts Not-Tengu. Grace is angry, so we might see spikes and horns yet.

Ah, Agatha Heterodyne, first seen on page 11 of GURPS IOU back in 1995.

Yeah, canines. "Dey chust vant to zee a leedle dranzvormay-zhun…"

You mean like that mugger at the mall?

Grace noticed that Smoke's pitch went up and down as he spoke. This could help her identify Camdin in his (relatively) normal form. (Normally abnormal?)

I think somewhere in canon Grace says that as a squirrel she's at least a little afraid of dogs. Come to think of it, has there ever been a dog in EGS? I kind of think Dan is a cat person.

So, what's it to be? Tiny squirrel? Sleepy-time squirrel-girl? Something with talons, horns, and three tails? Probably one of the first two if Grace doesn't want to ruin her clothes.

If Camdin doesn't fully form soon he's likely to see something like this form. Grace doesn't seem to be scared like Sam in the last panel, but Grace is concerned about Sam by now and would try to protect him if she saw Smokey Camdin as a threat. If Grace believes Camdin knows they both can transform, I think at the least she'll bring out her antennae.