In case you missed an earlier mention of it, Sheila is part of an amateur women’s basketball team called the Downtowners, the name taken from their specialty of making the three-point baskets from mid-court (“downtown”). Being a ‘roo, Sheila is particularly good at it, as you can see in this comic from our first dozen “meet the cast” strips. Here, we meet Nickey, one of Sheila’s teammates who is based upon a real-life friend of mine named Nicole Froberg Drayer (1972-2013). Upon learning of my creation of the comic, back in 2008, she asked to be part of it. I was proud to be Nickey’s “best girlfriend,” and I was honored to be the entirety of her wedding party to her husband, George Drayer. Her life was cut short, but not before she achieved her dream — to work at WETA Workshop in New Zealand. I miss her still, and I hope she’ll be happy to know that I’ve finally started the story that features her. We’ll begin with the first 15 strips out of the nearly 100 that I wrote for her before her passing. She liked the tale, and I hope that you will, too.
This strip is one of many underwritten by my wonderful friend Flare Starfire, whose magnificent music can be found and downloaded, absolutely free, from his website, Shire Records. What I find most amazing about Flare’s work is that it is entirely improvised. Go have a listen to music from his 18 albums of amazing keyboard work. You won’t be disappointed.
