Sorry for the lateness of this week’s comic. Originally the comic was delayed because I was clubbed upside the head by a killer cold that I picked up from Pearl. I guess being around a sick baby for 5 days will catch up with you eventually.

Pearl’s been a challenge for us lately because she keeps getting ear infections. Last week, she was waylaid by double ear infections and some kind of bronchial issue that resulted in her being prescribed a nebulizer. On top of that, we’re pretty sure she was cutting a few molars.

So she couldn’t hear, had trouble breathing and wasn’t eating. It was a blast. Add into the mix Henry’s fourth birthday and a trip to the germ farm known as Chuck E. Cheese and it all caught up with me.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my kids. Sometimes it’s just hard to keep up, y’know?

We are particularly motivated to get Pearl well because this Friday she is having tubes put in to deal with her chronic ear infections. So the gauntlet has been thrown down in front of me to be a helpful, engaged parent while simultaneously staying out of my daughter’s face out of fear we’ll get her sick before the operation. Stressful.

Anyway, I hope today’s double comic makes up for all the drama in my life. It actually would have gone up late last night, but the Theater Hopper server kept returning 500 errors. Such is life.

The path to this comic was kind of an interesting one that started on Twitter. Thinking about I Am Number Four, I came up with a comic rather quickly. Specifically, I intended to make some kind of poop joke or allude to how childish making a “number two” reference would be – similar to what Cami does in the second panel here. “Number Four,” “number two…” It writes itself.

Anyway, I alluded to my punchline on Twitter and people pretty much predicted right away what I was planning on doing. What unfolded was a unique bit of crowdsourcing that transformed today’s comic into the monster you see today.

Originally, my webcomic buddy Brandon J. Carr chimed in with the Riker reference from Star Trek: The Next Generation. He quickly followed that up with a Johnny Number Five reference from Short Circuit.

A little latter, Phil Hofer – otherwise known as Comicpress genius Frumph – tossed out the idea to include 9 from the movie 9. The rest, as they say, is history.

I’ll give myself a little credit, though. The “Disassemble?” punchline – that was all me.

Yeah, so what if other people practically wrote 90% of the comic?! THAT PUNCHLINE IS MINE, BABY!

Anyway, credit where credit is due. Thanks to Brandon and Phil for the assist. It was a lot of fun going back and forth with them last Friday on Twitter. I don’t work in a big fancy studio with a bunch of creative types that allows me to brainstorm genius ideas. Twitter is the next best thing.

As for I Am Number Four… well, I guess you can discern from the comic that I really have nothing important to say about it. Sometimes it’s just more fun to go out on a tangent. But if YOU saw the movie this weekend, please feel free to leave your comments below!

Thanks again for your patience and understanding regarding the tardiness of the comic. Be sure to check the Bonus Materials blog during the week for more movie-related updates!