I hadn't originally planned on annotating this week so quickly, but it seemed remarkably appropriate to write about it given my surroundings. See, I'm in Las Vegas right now, and last week of Rookies was all about gambling.

Let me jump back to Friday, Strip 15 to add one tidbit. Yes, the wide frame of the table is based on the famous painting of dogs playing poker.

Monday, Strip 16 - I hope you'll excuse the use of shortcuts in the art required to bring this strip in on time. That includes lifting imagery from the Outlander Club footage, using Photoshop to stitch together tiles and filtering them to fill out the backgrounds.

So, this is the week we get to meet Raal. His female sabacc opponents have names in the script, but they're really just placeholder names and not meant to suggest what their real names can be, so I'll leave them out for fear of them being wikied and then misconstrued as the real deal. The Swokes Swokes, as previously stated, was the most fun to draw. As to whether or not a Kubaz female could actually have a body like that, I don't know, but I doubt it's natural anyway.

And yeah, Deeto is missing two fingers. It's a very quick and easy way to establish the idea that he has an interesting background.

Tuesday, Strip 17 - That's an SE4 droid in the background. The human woman is simply called as "DOWAGER" in the script, and her dress is described as a giraffe pattern. Her dialogue confirms that we're back on Ord Mantell. The alien neon script in the establishing shot of Strip 15 calls this place the "15 MOONS CASINO".

Those old-timers who own the Crisis on Cloud City adventure module might recognize the design of the cards. This fantastic game book from West End Games (1989) actually came with a full set of sabacc cards and workable rules to play.

Wednesday, Strip 18 - You can see remnants of the Outlander Club odupiendo racetrack in the background behind Raal's head. If the dialogue bubbles are too small (and they're meant to be), the nonsensical cooing of the female patrons include "OOO..." "GEEP." and "warble barble."

Rules vary, but the object of Sabacc is to get a hand that totals closest to 23 without going over (or under -23). Deeto has what is an almost unbeatable hand...

Thursday, Strip 19 - Almost, except for the Idiot's Array. This has been done before in the few instances where sabacc has been depicted in the course of fiction - the last-second Idiot's Array -- but some tricks are worth playing again, especially if they do conform to the actual rules of the game. I suppose I could just as easily made up a different game with a different structure and still pull off the miraculous win, but then it wouldn't have been as rewarding to fans who know the structure of sabacc.

You can see some of the original 1989 card artwork in Raal's hand - he's got an Idiot, the 2 of coins and the 3 of staves.

In panel #2, we can see our first look at Sammie, who we'll meet in the next strip.

Friday, Strip 20. So Deeto turns out to be Ten-Suckers Madoom. It struck me as interesting to have a character with a contradictory nickname. Clearly, Deeto has only eight suckers, thanks to his finger amputation. Did he lose his fingers before the nickname? Is the nickname ironic? Did he lose the fingers after the nickname while trying to lay low? I don't know, but it's the kind of detailing I enjoy.

His puny blaster is a goofy design. The spines that line the back are supposed to echo the crest of spines that lines a Rodian's head.

Here we get our first look at Sammie, another of the main characters. It's not his full name of course, but Raal's friendly way of referring to him. He looks to be left handed. He's human (don't let anyone tell you he's a Ho'Din). His complexion is darker than Raal's, but if he was being played by a terrestrial actor, it would have to be someone of very mixed racial origins.

Some feedback...

For those who tried to decipher the Aurebesh names on Tiree's datapad, no one got them all correct, but a lot of you came close. I will say we've met the first person on the list, but we haven't been formally introduced to her. This week for sure. The second and third are Raal Yorta and Sammie Staable, who we have just met in the casino. The fourth person, we'll meet soon enough. Of these four recruits, one of them has already appeared in another EU source. The rest are making their debut in Rookies.

And Joe, thanks for picking up on the humor of this strip. Raal's a funny guy. His mouth gets him into messes, but it also gets him out of it at times.

Next week: The fugitive female that began the strip returns, and we meet our fourth "rookie". This strip is still just putting the playing pieces on the board, but the game will soon begin in earnest.