Panel 1: Yeahp, Thugboy’s once again waxing a tad metatextual with this story, in that he breaks that ol’ fourth wall and addresses the reader directly. Some might ask, how do I justify this unusual if short-lived narrative approach? I don’t, really; I just go ahead and do whatever works for me at the time as a storyteller. 

Panel 2: Behold, what might be one of the earlier appearances of the running riff of Thugboy’s gun-related T-shirts. Mossberg is, as firearm enthusiasts are no doubt aware, an American gun manufacturer best known for shotgun production. I mention the “American” detail because, due to the Swedish crown in the logo, I’d assumed they weren’t. Ah, but a wee bit of lazy Googling seems to confirm that the founders of the company were, apparently, first- or second-generation Swedish immigrants. 

Panel 3: This bit about Emp’s drooling is a reference to an even briefer Empowered vol. 2 story establishing that our heroine does, indeed, drool in her sleep—or, at least, when napping.

-Adam Warren