I don’t know how I came up with the idea of having Brian communicate using an old Speak & Spell, but the idea of having him wear it around his neck obviously came from Flavor Flav of Public Enemy. Of course, a Speak & Spell can’t really recite words in the manner that Brian is using it, but whatever. This is just a comic. Zombies don’t really exist either!

The box marked “VHS Tapes” was a teeny, tiny little joke, implying that Orneryboy and Dirtygirl had replaced their old videotape collection with DVDs. But somehow in the ensuing years since I stopped making Orneryboy comics, VHS tapes inexplicably became popular again…?

I took this strip’s title from the Beastie Boys album of the same name.

I almost forgot to point out Soya Sauce in the last panel, sneakily playing with Dirtygirl's yarn. Jen actually knit me a scarf like that in real life. I think it's perhaps the only item of clothing I own that is not grey or black.