Thus endeth the “Hoarders” storyline started back in JEFBOT.212_Must See TV! Sure, jefbot will be dealing with sorting out his nerd hoard and repairing the doors of the apartment in future comics, but those will be part of other storylines and/or solitary strips. And, of course, there’s the matter of cel, and finally getting answers from her, which will happen this year. Everything (well, almost) you wanted to know about cel, her relationship to the UFOs and the fate of Mu will be revealed. Promise. I’m champing at the bit to get to this storyline. Champing, I say!

If you’ve only recently started reading the strip and are wondering what UFOs, beaches and hamsters have to do with jefbot and cel, reading the “Beach” strips should clear most of that up. Those start here: JEFBOT.157_Social Distortion.

I’ve told you since the beginning of this storyline that things were going to get weird by the end. And so it goes: just when things seemed to be settling down as far as the aliens were concerned, they up and abduct our favorite little hamster. However, no need to worry, Musashi fans – this isn’t the end of his story, it’s really just the beginning.

This strip (or something very much like it) has been in my head since I introduced Musashi and Miyuki way back in JEFBOT.28_Hamster God. Yeah, they looked a little different back then, but I knew that one day (should the strip go on long enough) the events in this very strip would eventually occur. Well, today’s the day, and I’m excited to finally get this strip out of my head and onto your screens via the web. Although nothing will change with JEFbot immediately, Musashi’s abduction is one of the milestones I’ve been waiting to get to, and it’ll have wide-ranging effects on the JEFbot Universe at a later date.

Thanks for indulging me with this storyline (the longest one, yet!). It was a lot of fun to write and draw and I can’t wait for you guys to see where it all leads. If you’re experiencing storyline fatigue though, no worries – we’ll be getting back into some more lighthearted fare for the rest of the year before hitting the next storyline, in 2010. See you Friday!

And thus, “The Beach” storyline (aka Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind) ends! Well, almost – I have a strange little epilogue for you all next week. Also, the questions that arose in this arc – How did cel know Musashi? What does she know about the aliens? Why did she leave? Will she and jefbot ever go steady and does she really like Zac Efron? – haven’t been forgotten and will be answered in future strips. Hope you all stick around as the story unfolds and thanks for all the feedback you guys have given me with your comments and emails. Keep ‘em comin’!

I’m not sure if one could classify it as a phobia per se, but I’ve had an irrational fear of driving other people’s cars for years (actually, I’ve never particularly liked driving in L.A., period). I can’t even have someone riding in my car with me without freaking out a bit unless they’re a close friend. And I hate caravanning too, so don’t ask me to do it. First thing to happen when I have enough money to do so: hire a chauffeur. Next on the list is a 24 hour masseuse, because massages are awesome.

It seems so long ago when jefbot passed on going to the beach party due to his “antisocialness.” Right about now I bet he wishes he had stuck with that decision.

I totally didn’t mean for today’s strip to be a double-decker, it’s just I couldn’t get the timing right with the standard 3-4 panel layout (and believe me, I tried). I think the extra panels were worth it though, as the whole thing just flows better now. Plus, this is a pretty important moment in this storyline as we see jefbot really being thrown for a loop at cel’s sudden departure and I didn’t want to rush his moment.