This is the one that made me love Kyra. I knew when I introduced her, with that marriage joke, that it was the wrong direction for the character. I was already covering that ground with Alina, but more to the point the best way to make the most of Sinbad was to give him someone more sensible to play against.

In retrospect, that had been missing all along. By the end of season two, the silliness had ramped up so high I was stuffing marshmallows up the Viking Warrior's nose. I don't regret that, but absurdity only escalates so far before there's a need to shift gears. After trying and failing to think of how to make Kyra a zany clown like every other character in the strip, the solution turned how not to make her one at all. Once that idea hit, everything clicked.

If today's strip isn't your thing, don't worry. Sinbad and his gang remain nutcases. But with this strip, I'm effectively committing myself to telling a proper story with Kyra, which is challenging in that, other than the hot air balloon ride to come shortly, she has almost no more screen time until her wedding scene with Sinbad at the very end.

So, uh, yeah. Wish me luck.