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Background: Strangely enough, O'Malley was the central figure in the original concept for the cartoon. But you'll only see him appear a few more times over the course of the semester, the most prominent appearances being the strips that were the "original five" I submitted to the Chronicle as the "audition".

Why is that? He's just so friggin' hard to draw. It's hard to make the bill look angular and make his eyes appear oval. Plus, for some unknown reason, I never gave him any clothes. (A couple of years later, I gave him some hair and clothes. Seems to make it easier.)

O'Malley = "A Mallard". If that weren't obvious.

I dropped Cami (the chameleon) in the previous strip for the gag here. The "Chop! Chop!" thing is an inside joke with a couple of friends. There used to be a Chinese delivery place near my house called "Chop! Chop! Chinese to You!". We thought the name was lame and hilarious. In hindsight, it worked for another reason: my parents' cat would probably say this (as in "get this for me NOW!") if she could.