A nervous Black Cat puts the whammy on Alucard.

…and the cat screams out the name of a fourth claw-wielding character from the Phantasy Star series.

I swear, I’d have made it yell “Rika” if cats could say “Rika.” I am such a nerd.

Black Cat puts the whammy on Chris.

Pluto’s backstory mixes Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” with bullies.

Pluto’s meows reference three of the four claw-wielding characters from the Phantasy Star series — Myau, Mieu and Nei.

I also tried to draw Rudo and Anna from Phantasy Star II in the upper-right panel. I am such a nerd.

I remember a few hangouts in high school: bowling alley, mall, parks, Taco Bell (“Toxic Hell”), Big Boy’s, and a little “hole-in-the-wall” Chinese restaurant that had affordable combo specials for young teenagers.

The above setting is loosely based on a Big Boy restaurant from my high school memories. I should find a way to work that tiny Chinese restaurant into the comic.

Axl’s computer mentions OS/2 on the desktop. Either OS/2 means something different in the future, or Axl’s hacking through an antique.

I used OS/2 Warp for only a few years in college. I liked the operating system, but I had trouble finding third-party apps. I finally moved to Windows NT 4.0 in order to learn LightWave 3D.

I drew this in the 90′s. Today we have electronic ink, OLED displays, and Microsoft Surface. By the time I finish this comic, folks will think it takes place in the past instead of the future.

Missy and Lore have different tastes.

Strangers in Paradise influenced my use of text on this page.

Keri’s outfit splits the difference between Ranma 1/2 and Minor Domo from Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem. I loved Minor Domo.

I also loved Nei, the tragic character from Phantasy Star II. So…

When I drew this page in the 90′s, I had seen Robot Carnival on the Sci-Fi channel. The film made a powerful impression on me, and this is the second time I drew a reference to Robot Carnival in Lore.

The Sci-Fi channel recently changed its name to “SyFy.” Pity.