Meshing with Multimedia

... the comic strip, for those of you wondering. An ongoing storyline involves Jeremy's dilemma over selling his van- a 1962 split-window VW kombi that he's been driving for years- potentially for thirty thousand dollars. In one of the strips where this is introduced, Jeremy mentions that "half of it belongs to Hector", which is a fantastic callback.  Back when the strip was still in black-and-white, Jeremy and Hector chipped in to buy the van for only $300 and spent several years repairing it to make it roadworthy again.  Newer readers probably didn't get this reference when it was published but I liked the fact that they included this reference to one of their earlier strips. 

Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi deserve a ton of credit for writing Sticky's first scene in the pilot episode. In this brief clip, he gets a prize-money check but his parents take it away immediately. This, of course, is a reference to his backstory from the first book where his parents- after his increasing quiz show success- become more focused on the prizes he brings home than on his well-being. Episode 2 features a brief but very well-written moment courtesy of the same duo that beautifully captures Martina Crowe's personality, where she glares around the classroom and causes her fellow students to lower their raised hands. This is very much in keeping with Martina's "don't cross me" book personality.