(49) Trés Jolies!

First appearance by name of my favorite gay bar. I always thought that "Trés Jolies" was the perfect name for a prettyboy bar, and I used it right up to the last strip. I trust my French is good enough that I don't have to translate. Although I did misspell it on this first occasion. If that persists, I'll go back and edit old strips.

What I'm not sure of is whether "Trés Jolies" implies a particular gender. Either way would be good.

Murf sleeps through the entire strip.

(48) a little Damon Runyon, a little Stan Lee

Jeff is still in a tizzy over whether he's butch or fem -- a distinction that lost any importance years ago. One problem with this strip: Jeff seems too literate. He shouldn't know who Damon Runyon was. Not even Guys and Dolls. Jeff has neglected the obligatory-for-gay-men study of classic musicals.

Going to musicals is butch, right?

(47) Farewell to 1982

And so ends 1982. Jeff chides Murf over being bookish, but he's too good natured to do it with venom.

Jeff was an amalgam of people I knew. The name came from somebody who I only met once or twice at PRO gatherings. Soon he was taken over (to a degree) by the early roommate who held a party in my absence. I think his name was John?? After that, Jeff was a collection of traits rather than modeled after one specific person.

(46) A Party I Missed & Will Never Forget

True story. Once I had a roommate who threw a party at the house while I was visiting my family in Oregon. He didn't bother telling me about it. Any artist never wastes any of the material that's handed to him. He uses the whole pig, especially the squeal.

(45a) Queerbasher Revenge Redux

Strip #45 was another one I liked well enough to re-draw for reprint.

(45) Queerbasher Revenge

In my previous job, a co-worker seriously opined one day that all the queers should be lined up and shot.

Is there less violent homophobia today than there was then? It seems like it. Or at least it's gone underground. At any rate, today I'd go straight to our HR person and file a written complaint. If there was anything I could've done in 1982 to respond, I didn't know it.

If I could rename Murphy's Manor, I would call the strip Weekend Revolutionaries because it is about ordinary gayfolk who take activism into their own hands. Here is my modest proposal of what to do about violence: kill it with love and kisses. Especially the latter.

(44) Sid Jacobs' Elixir of Love

Sid's continuing adventures as an opera performer. Elixir of Love continues to be a favorite of mine.

The sorcerer's snake oil song is notable for its successors: Gilbert's parody for John Wellington Wells, and Sondheim's "Pirelli" song in Sweeny Todd come to mind.

Although I think I over estimated how many really are opera fans.