Panel 1: I’m always fond of the “partially readable dialogue” riff, in which the actual, concrete dialogue between characters isn’t essential to see, so I partially obscure it.  Did this back in vol. 2, as I recall.

Panel 3: Though the doctrine won’t be clarified for a wee bit, I should say that the “clingy monkey” riff we’re about to see is, in fact, based on a real-life deal enacted by a married couple I know.  And yeahp, the first part of this story’s title (“Of Clingy Monkeys and Negative Excrescence”) has appeared.

Panel 4: I really shouldn’t have lettered that hiragana “EE?” quite so large, as it’s meant to be a relatively casual “HUH?” equivalent from Ninjette, not a loud exclamation.  (This, too, was taken from real life, as a Japanese friend of mine would occasionally exclaim thusly when presented with something mildly surprising.) 

-Adam Warren