First, the good news: I've just finished the DRIVE installment for this Thursday. For those that like insider hints, let's just say it involves a species that sounds like "Smesskans".

Secondly: I needed to check out a date in the Drive universe, and thought I'd try the Wikipedia entry on the strip...and found it kind of a bummer. It's missin' a lot of stuff! So if any of you are into Wikipedia, feel free to go to town on that entry!

I'd love to see you guys flesh it out!

Isn't that just like family? They pop in, stir up all sorts of doubts about your path in life, and zoom right off again. At least they didn't steal the Machito right out from under Fernando: They seem to have a propensity for that.

There's still a lot we don't know about the Tres Primos. What's *their* ultimate goal? What was their past that got them to the point they're at? How did they cross paths with Fernando's father? And what's all this about Fernando's father in the first place? Oh, so many delicious questions.

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Saturday's was the final installment of the weekly double-dose-of-Drive. I really have to thank the sci fi-lovin' folks at Star Pirates for the site sponsorship. It was immensely fun to advance the storyline over the past month. And it's a high compliment to have a company love the strip enough that they'd want to support the site to see more.

If you enjoyed the extra Drive installments, you can thank Star Pirates by trying out their free, in-browser space MMO. In the game, you're a Star Pirate trying to eke out a living mining asteroids, raiding other players’ ships for cargo, or teaming up for fleet-on-fleet combat! You can even play as La Familia...which I think is prit-ty rad.

We're in our last week of our double-dose-of-Drive, and I can't thank the folks at
Star Pirates enough. I've been knee-deep in finishing the documentary these last few months...but have been missing Drive immensely. So to have them give me the nudge to do two Drives a week has been really fun. (As was drawing that crowd scene on Slaughter. I especially like the big fella with the knife!)*

...and I can't wait for you guys to see the strip later in the week!

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*Edited to note: In glancing over the image again, I think they ALL have a knife.

We're now in week 3 of the double-dose-of-Drive, and it feels right. Feels good. Feels strong.

I hope you guys are enjoying it, too!

Sponsor Shout-out: A huge "thank you" again to the folks behind Star Pirates for sponsoring this month of strips It's been so fun to really dive back into the story. If you're a Drive reader and haven't yet checked out their free, browser-based space MMo -- check it out!

Now taking bets on whether Fernando just peels out and does doughnuts with the ship until they return.

Also: A first (brief) mention of how their FTL communication system works! We've had word of the vidpacks system, before...but this is the first time we've heard tell that the whole thing is ring-dependent. (Correct me if I'm wrong, there: I don't *think* it's been mentioned, before.)

Off they go, to the lovely little seaside vacation village of Slaughter. Take the kids! Jet-ski rentals until 5PM!

This is something I've been dying to show you guys for a while, now: A map of the galactic powers in the Milky Way.

Have a close look! Whatcha see? Anything that suggests past wars/plots/intricacies...or suggests future ones? Post what you think, below: It'll be fun to hear what you can parse out just from the map!

And as we had into the second week of our Double-Dose-of-Drive, let me give a huge 'thank you' to the game masters at
Star Pirates. I'm already getting word back that a lot of Drive readers are trying out Star Pirates'free, browser-based space MMO -- which is awesome. It's a virtuous circle of scifi-lovin' folks!

So post below! Whatcha see? Whatcha think?

What be this, this Six Moons of Slaughter? Tune in next week: Same Drive-time, same Drive-channel.

Good news! All throughout April, we're going to have two Drives a week...all thanks to the game masters at
Star Pirates! See, the folks at Star Pirates are huge fans of the strip, and like you -- they were jonesing for more of the story.

And when they read that I had to take time off from Drive in order to manage my obligations on Stripped and Sheldon, they had a proposal. What if they sponsored Drive for a whole month, to make sure a whole big chunk of the story could spin out? It's a brilliant idea...and guys, it's happening all throughout April.

So while you're enjoying the double-dose of DRIVE, give Star Pirates a go! It’s an in-browser space MMO you can play anywhere for free. You play as a star pirate, scratching out a living mining asteroids, raiding other players’ ships for cargo, or teaming up for fleet-on-fleet combat! There are even fleets named after factions in the Drive universe...which I've always thought was super cool!