A friend of mine made a remark that I was the first cartoonist to come up with the term "McJolly." Which s weird since I don't know anyone who did after me. I had help for the Chinese characters in the last panel, you don't wanna know what it means.

This is the first appearance of Wilfred who's also the last main character to be added in the strip. I made some final adjustments to his height after this one.

I'm not really sure if this came out in the magazine. The last line he recited in the last panel was taken from the first hit by the indie band Color It Red, which is about schooldays, I think.

A friend of mine had the exact umbrella as this one which we used to launch countless times whenever there wasn't any teacher around.

Another idea based on a real experience in college.

This got some rave reactions from some friends which served to all the more endear the character of Joan to them.

This was based on a true experience of mine in college. Notice the brand of the sauce, that's hot.

This was Jonee's last appearance in the strip. He was to be replaced later with another, more permanent character.

My intention with the Jonee character was for the usual class outcast. No malice was intended towards the real person, it was just a phase he went through anyway.

Jorge's buddy, Jason does have a counterpart in the real world, I just didn't realize it at the time.

This first appearance of Jorge's character was such a big deal to a good friend of my mine whom I based the character on, he says he kept my letter informing him of it and the copies of the strip in his desk until now. This also marks another level in the social standing of the characters as Steven, Mike and Stan no longer rule the roost and have been relegated to geek status from hereon.

This strip's so dated. This came out during the height of the dance group's success in the early 90s.

Enrollment's always something parents don't look forward to for this reason aside from shelling out higher tuition fees, of course.

There's a follow up strip to this one that I unfortunately lost. I'll probably scan the one that came out in the magazine in the future and post it here.

It's the same story every year. This is also one of those rare times when I show the parents of the other characters other than Anne's.

This one came from one of those experiences we had in Puerto Galera. It was first time to see a "tuko," feisty li'l fella. Tried to attack the broom we waved in its face too. Hehe.

Just came from our first outing to Puerto Galera at this time. I used the experience as a material for this one.

I include my other character, the Drolls in this strip whenever I can. They were, after all, my ticket to being published in the first place.

The first appearance of Jessica. I never knew at the time he'd be a permanent fixture in the strip.

This sequel came naturally I guess.

This is one of my favorite strips, I like how everyone's reactions changed in the last panel. This also marks the first strip that cemented Jason's reputation as a romeo.

The things we do to delay the inevitable.

Stan is Mike's spokesperson whenever he gets into trouble or too far with his practical jokes.

Joan has always strongly liked Steve and she's not discreet about it. Ever.

This was my first attempt in comic strip continuity. I did this at the suggestion of my classmate and friend in college.

I redid this when I did the book dummy for my thesis.

Mike was still able to get away with Joan this time since I haven't yet rearranged their status in the pecking order. These days he'll get a slap from her for attempting such a thing.

Autograph by Anjanette Abayari.

The Prince Charles reference is about his racking up a huge phone bill for making overseas calls to his then rumored paramour and now wife, Camilla Parker Bowles. This was in, I think, 1993.