February 18th, 2005 -- Caffee

So, I turned 30 today, and figured it was time to start drawing Alas again. Hurrah! I really hadn't intended for her little "hiatus" to last as long as it did, but the good news is that I have a nice long run of strips drawn up and ready. You may notice a slight change in the visual style compared to the beginning of this story arc, but that's basically because I've had to relearn how to draw everybody.

If you're just joining our story in progress, know that Alas is still in Istanbul, still playing with The Vultures, and generally trying to find herself. I'll make no secret of the fact that I plan to steer her back to DC, since I myself will be returning to the District towards the end of the summer.

The site will once again be undergoing major revisions (probably around the time of strip #300) as the Web Gopher and I try to put Alas on par with contemporary web comics. That should be around April, I think. In the meantime, thrill to Alas' escapades in self-doubt and obscure cultural references!

You may notice that the previous strip is also numbered 267. As filler art, it should not have been so numbered. This is the real strip #267, as we now return to regularly scheduled comics.

Addendum: I should probably explain a little something here about diplomatic immunity. Just because your parent is a diplomat doesn't mean you enjoy full diplomatic priveliges. However, in the US government at least, a diplomat's dependents are entitled to diplomatic passports (for which the Turkish government issues matching diplomatic ID cards). Legally speaking, the dependent really doesn't have as much protection as his or her diplomatic parent. The traffic cop who pulls Caffee over probably could issue a ticket, but seeing that diplomatic ID tells the cop two things. First, this is a foreigner who probably doesn't speak the language well (even though Caffee's fairly fluent, he can feign ignorance), and won't understand that all the cop really needs is a bribe. Second, this is a foreigner with diplomatic ties, and even if the cop gets the bribe or issues the ticket, someone higher up could find out about it later and make the cop's life miserable. Rather than abiding by any laws regarding immunity, the cop is really just throwing up his hands and saying, "It ain't worth it."

2008-04-23

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