Böcker av Bill Holbrook

Dethany and THE PHANTOM OF THE SWIM TEAM A prequel to the popular Dethany character from the hit newspaper strip On the Fastrack. When Dethany Dendrobia, the cheerful 12-year-old Goth, joins the neighborhood swim team, she assumes she is just helping out friends who need an extra person to qualify for meets. Outdoor sports are definitely beyond her comfort zone, but Dethany relishes the opportunity to spend the summer with her best buds before they move up to 8th grade--and before her family is transferred to a new town. However, not long after her first meet, mysterious incidents begin happening at the pool, and Dethany is the prime suspect. As she and her friends fight to clear her name, they uncover evidence that leads to stakes more important than a simple relay race. This coming-of-age graphic novel features the normal milestones of puberty set against a dastardly plot of local intrigue. Dive in!

The Pepper's Ghost effect has long been an illusion of the stage and other performances, conjuring the appearance of an ethereal spirit. It follows that it would play a role in the proposal of marriage for Dethany and Guy since, after all, what is more ethereal than the prospect of eternity together?For that reason alone 2019 was a big year for Dethany, but other major events also occurred. Autocorrect and the Computer Bug became parents with the birth of Cora, and Ms. Trellis brought in a consultant to advise her on Fastrack's operations. Guy also made progress toward his Master's Degree research on the Internet of Things.Dethany's sister Grace experienced a crisis of confidence, and on Valentine's Day we discover the true relationship between Cupid and Death.What could be more transparent?

When the world went into quarantine in the spring of 2020 everyone's lives were upended. That included the newest member of Beige University's gardening team, George Gopher. Although he possessed an underground residence, trouble still found him in the form of a desperate young female pursued by predators. In non-pandemic news, R.L. was returned to prison. Lindesfarne (and a certain long-running webcomic) both turned twenty-five years old, and Carl and Leona got their wedding in just days before the lockdown. The pair had an eventful honeymoon which turned out to be even more perilous than a virus. That was followed by Leona's pregnancy as life and death took turns at center stage. Also, Carl was drafted by the Tidewater Pitchforks, the worst team in the National Gardening League. Fiona moved in with the Dewclaws, and Kell transferred her business operations outdoors. Stay safe, everybody!

Dethany has always been at the forefront of advancements in tech so it was only natural for her to be an early adopter of connected machines. That transported her into the uncanny realm known as the Internet of Things. It proved to be a challenge, and Dethany found the only way to escape it was a summer vacation completely unplugged. Outside of cyberspace, 2018 became an eventful year for Dethany as she received an important promotion. Not coincidentally she also updated her workplace attire under Fi's guidance. On the downside, Ms. Trellis saddled her with the thankless task of being the company's Blame Fairy. Lenore the raven took center stage at the big Halloween party, and Fi continued to visit schools to encourage girls to study math...in Fi's own unique way. Speaking of appliances, Autocorrect auditioned to be cast as the new voice of Siri. To Dethany, probably the biggest event of the year took place when her parents met Guy's parents. Our normally unflappable Goth became genuinely nervous; a sign of how important the evening was to her. Sometimes machines know just how to interact.

Fi is not known for making commitments so it was quite surprising that she had accepted the proposal of her longtime suitor Carl Cull. When that happened it immediately became a question of whether she would actually follow through on the ceremony. Of course, wedding planner Dethany had something to say about that. Fi's reluctance was foreshadowed when she turned up at a job fair, indicating that she wasn't even sure about staying at Fastrack. That's a different case, however, since the company has never shown any reciprocal allegiance to its staff. In other events from 2017, Guy's father experienced a health crisis that brought the family together. That included his finding common ground with Dethany over chess. Dethany and Guy ran in a 5K charity race, sponsored by Fi who kept a close watch on her investment. There was a "Stranger Things" parody set in the online version of the Upside Down where facts ceased to matter. In other cyberspace events, Santa Claus lost his Naughty/Nice database. Most importantly to Dethany, Lenore was faced with the decision of whether to stay with her or become one of the famous ravens at the Tower of London. Send in your RSVP to discover her choice!

It finally happened that the traitor Angelique went too far, specifically targeting rabbits in her role as Herd Thinners CEO. It was then that the Dewclaw family took steps to turn her away from that path, unwilling or no. 2019 featured that and much more drama. Bruno and Corrie discovered that they required an alternative to the traditional means of starting a family. Little Onk the Canadian goose was separated from his father, and other offspring continued growing up. That was especially the case at Summer Camp, where Tyler the mouse found that not all threats are carnivorous. Carl decided to enter his name in the National Gardening League draft, and also to ask Leona to marry him. Neither action went according to plan. There was a visit from Marie Komodo the Tidying Expert, and there was an unexpected addition to the Beige U. Gardening team. Meanwhile, Lindesfarne reminisced about the time she was rejected as Easter Bunny material. Wild times, indeed.

In 1988, Al Leeds of the Washington Post Writers Group launched a new comic strip set at the Safe havens Day Care Center, featuring its dedicated yet beleaguered staff and their alarmingly precocious charges. Many things have changed since then, including a move to King Features Syndicate in 1993. At that point, the strip began following Samantha and her friends as they aged into elementary school and beyond, with the day care center finally reappearing when the former preschoolers began having children of their own.Here, you can see the early years of current favorites like Samantha, Dave and Jenny, along with characters like Matthew who took different paths. Also included is a bonus section, "The Safe Havens Survival Guide to Day Care".Welcome back!