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Tear Jerker / Knights of the Dinner Table

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  • What turned out to be a clue to the audience. Bundle of Trouble 17, which reprinted the issue featuring Gary's death, also showed Gary holding his son Timmy's hand with him looking up at his dad smiling as they walk into the sunset. It would later turn out that Gary is alive and that he had surreptitiously visited his son periodically during the period of his supposed death so this probably represents one of those visits.
  • Gary Jackson's death was originally meant to be real and not fake with Jolly Blackburn worrying the character was being associated too much with the RL Gary Gygax and Steve Jackson (despite being a wheeling dealing exaggeration used car salesman and con man executive—or perhaps because of it). Many fans were stunned by this as it injected a dose of realism and consequence to the setting.
  • When Sheila finally settles down to meet with Bob's father at a dinner with Bob present. Sheila has been conditioned to think of Bob as a Psychopathic Manchild who exaggerates everything wrong in his life and full of Moral Myopia despite their love. What follows is a night of Bob remaining deathly silent as his father makes inappropriate remarks about Sheila, insults Bob nonstop for hours, and shows himself to be a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk. Sheila ends up with a My God, What Have I Done? stare on the drive home as well as a realization of where so many of Bob's issues come from.
  • The nature of Brian's relationship with his father was left ambiguous for many years, until being made painfully clear in a flashback. The scene consists of 12-year-old Brian in his room with his back against the wall (looking adorable with his too-big wizard hat and Green Lantern T-shirt), surrounded by toys and games. His father (off-panel) is bellowing at him at him about his poor grades and "living in a dream world." All Brian can do is feebly mumble "Y-yes, s-sir," to which his father responds "ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE BACK OF MY HAND?" The scene sheds a great deal of light on the reasons for Brian's current...issues, and was so effective that even some of the readers who hated him reported wanting to give him a hug.
  • Issue #60 (October 2001) was written at the time of the September 11 attacks and Jolly Blackburn dedicated a heartfelt editorial about the grief and shock everyone was feeling. The same issue also printed a one panel comic with the Knights wearing firefighter helmets and police caps saying that rather than Hackmaster they wanted to play as the real heroes tonight, with Sara and Brian both revealing they donated blood. Additionally while the attacks were not mentioned overtly in the then ongoing story arc Sara wears a top with F.D.N.Y printed on it throught the 'Grudge Match' storyline.

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