This cartoon is the sequel to the first one. After receiving only one suggestion for the mascot's name, we were just a tad disillusioned. (The huge pile of responses shown in the cartoon is simply wishful thinking mingled with sarcasm!) I don't remember if the name Hugo was actually the suggestion we received, or if we just made it up ourselves. (Jon, do you recall?)

This episode of Not Reality introduces more characters from our news staff, namely Corey, Brandy, and Kevin. Corey was a precocious freshman that always got on our nerves; don't ask me why we always cast him with such good parts in these comics. Kevin was the editor of the newspaper that year; he's depicted as the squat football-player-looking guy. Brandy worked alongside Jon, Corey, and I on the centerspread staff. She appears between Corey and Kevin in the last panel.

Perhaps the biggest irony about the whole mascot-naming affaire is that, after this episode of NR, we never did anything with Hugo again. The cynical observer might think it was because we were bitter at the school's complete lack of interest in our contest -- which may have been part of it, honestly. But the biggest reason is probably just that Jon and I simply grew tired of him. With Valentine's Day, a school play, prom, and graduation coming up, we had plenty of material from which to draw storylines for the next few months. With all that, there was simply no compelling reason to go back to Hugo.