I think I may have found a sneaky, Star-Trek-style way of addressing Lovecraft’s racism in this strip. Not that I had to, but It’s one of those things Lovecraft fans always have to apologize for. There are in fact black students on campus I plan to introduce when it’s appropriate to introduce yet more characters, but I was uneasy with how to directly deal with the racism they face in 1911 (even in a fictional context I have more control over). Especially while keeping it funny! White guilt. But these Hounds are apparently critters even other Lovecraftian beasties are inexplicably prejudiced against.

Plus I have new insight on Shog as a character, so that’s good too.

Originally I didn’t have these scenes with Yithro, Shog, and the Hound in mind. They kind of bubbled up because Winston threw me for a loop not joining up with Esau, and I felt like I hadn’t visited the upper planes in a while.

Sometimes writing this strip on the fly is pretty exhilarating! Exactly the experience I wanted–finishing stuff day to day instead of brooding over epic chapters of an unfinishable novel.

I’m sure I’ll hit more snags in the future, but now I’m excited to see what happens when I do!