Illjwamh

I don't count "agreeing that [character] is sexy" as ship-teasing.

Really? Eh. I'm not feelin' it.

Lol. I knew someone was going to bring that up. I was thinking about it as I typed it, wondering if I should just address it right off. I'd ship Diane and Nanase (were it not for Ellen). I wouldn't ship Diane and Ellen, and thus the three-way grouping doesn't appeal to me either. This holds true for more than just Diane. I can't see myself shipping Ellen with anyone besides Nanase.

Magic having a code of ethics would be severely limiting from a writing perspective; it would make it exceptionally difficult to create effective villains.

I would ship it, but shipping Nanase with anyone requires one to ignore Ellen, and I can't do that.

I thought of this too, ever since I figured out what the second purpose for a seer must be. It fits in with Voltaire's plans to traumatize him by killing Elliot, and with Tedd's own musings about Lord Tedd being what he would/could have become if not for the support of his friends (who until very recently consisted solely of Elliot).

Fri. Jan. 19, 2018 Susan: 499 (so of COURSE we're going to cut away on Monday) Mr. Raven: 111 FULL COUNT

Interesting. Yes, I can definitely see Nanase wanting to move out. I could see her rooming with Ellen, though one wonders if her mother would allow it. (One further wonders if Nanase would allow her mother to not allow it.) It's also crucial to remember who has cars and who doesn't. As far as I can recall, the car-owners are: Elliot/Ellen (usually taken by Elliot), Justin, Susan, and Diane. That leaves Tedd, Grace, Sarah, and Nanase without. For them, living on or near campus would be much easier than commuting.

Wed. Jan. 17, 2018 Tedd: 714 Mr. Raven: 110 Susan: 498 Diane: 163 *My current suspicion is that one addressing Tedd in panels 2 and 3 is Heka, but until that is definitively confirmed one way or another, nothing will be notated here. FULL COUNT

Separating them into regional groups would severely limit the storyline potential, though. One of the things that keeps EGS fresh is Dan's tendency to mix and match the characters from one story to the next. For instance, one story might feature, Tedd, Sarah, and Ellen, then the next might have Nanase, Elliot, Justin, and Grace. That could be followed with Susan, Diane, and Sarah, then one with Justin, Tedd, and Elliot. Etc. Etc.

Dan could easily just make up some big university that's reasonably nearby and that offers programs in things all of them are interested in. I could also easily see things like Elliot going to community college first while he figures himself out, Ellen going wherever Nanase goes, Tedd not bothering, or he and Grace deciding on one together, etc..

So magic resets, and Tedd gets to help design the new rules for it. Disappointing yet awesome at the same time. I wonder what he'll insist on, and just how many other seers we'll meet (and what they'll be like).

Mon. Jan. 15, 2018 Pandora: 117 Zeus: 21 Ellen: 632 (2018 debut) Sirleck: 20 (2018 debut) Tedd: 713 (2018 debut) FULL COUNT

OOF. Right in the feels. Fri. Jan. 12, 2018 Mr. Raven: 109 Pandora: 116 Diane: 162 Zeus: 20 FULL COUNT

In case anyone wasn't sure, this song is posted in all seriousness, rather than to be funny. I'm actually rather choked up over here.

I was just about to post something to that effect myself, actually.

Does this count as a Wham Episode? I feel like it does, whether you were anticipating it or not. Wed. Jan. 10, 2018 Zeus: 19 Diane: 161 Pandora: 115 Mr. Raven: 108 Susan: 497 *With his appearance in this strip, Zeus is now tied with his previous incarnation, Jerry. FULL COUNT

Given the in-universe timeline, some important anniversaries are coming up. Namely: when Tedd met Grace, and shortly thereafter the birth of Ellen and the battle with the Goo, which marked the first time the original main 8 were all in one place. Any predictions on if/how these events will be observed by the characters in upcoming storylines?

Okay, since I haven't done it yet, in addition to today's count (see above post), here also is the full 2017 NP count: 2017 NP Rhoda: 55 Catalina: 47 Susan: 46 Hanma: 44 Ashley: 32 Ellen: 28 Grace: 23 Kitty: 16 Nanase: 11 Drake: 10 Diane: 9 Sarah: 8 Duck: 8 Justin: 7 Pandora: 7 Writer's Block: 6 Liz: 6 Bill: 5 Octopus Robot Butler: 5 Charlotte: 5 Elliot: 4 Felix: 4 Rich: 3 Zeus: 3 Mrs. Kitsune: 3 Tedd: 2 Greg: 2 Larry: 2 Akiko: 2 Tom: 2 George: 1 Tensaided: 1 Cheerleadra: 1 Voltaire: 1 Rick: 1 Elijah: 1 *As always, characters new to NP this year are in bold. **And though I jumped the gun when I said this the first time, forgetting that I was only counting half a year at that point, Rhoda managed to hold on to her number one spot, making her still the first non-main to get it in either format (not counting Dan, who doesn't count). ***For the total count, I think I'm going to ignore what I said and make the main cast colorization thing permanent, just so it's easier to see where they lie relative to other characters on the NP listing. As you can see they don't dominate the top ranks like they do in story comics. NP TOTAL COUNT AS OF 2017

Mon. Jan. 8, 2018 Small Eyes Aberration: 6 Mr. Raven: 107 Susan: 496 Li'l Nase: 28 Zeus: 18 (2018 debut) Diane: 160 (2018 debut) Pandora: 114 (2018 debut) *Aside from Small-Eyes, whose face we see, none of the other vampires are counted because those aren't really even proper silhouettes; they're just explosions. The fact that we know who is exploding doesn't make any difference. **Before anyone tries to say that was Zeus in the last panel (I've seen a few comments to that effect on Facebook), look at the eyebrows. That's Pandora. FULL COUNT

It's been heavily implied that she's prepared herself to be reset, while maintaining her memories and personality. "If any immortal can do it, I can." Furthermore, it was also implied here that she knew this was a possibility from the outset of the evening's events.

Prediction: The light was the forced reset of Pandora, after she intervened to save Raven. Sirleck's dodged bullet is that she will now be incapable of coming after him for revenge.

That wasn't targeted at you; I was rather pointing out how quickly this thread went off the rails. So quickly, in fact, that one could argue it was never on them to begin with.

I'm going to assume you're being facetious? As much as the good guy, it's the audience ourselves. I know I'm not the only one who was so focused on magic stuff that I completely forgot about such mundane things as guns. Right?

Fri. Jan. 5, 2018 Mr. Raven: 106 Gullet: 6 Small Eyes Aberration: 5 (2018 debut) FULL COUNT