Oddly enough, this does make some twisted amount of sense. Given the general distrust people have for one another, having a complete stranger (and one with a beak that would give Severus Snape a run for his money) offer to help would inevitably be seen the wrong way. Add in the fact Mike is not exactly the nicest of people (and has a sad tendency to self-destruct from time to time), and you had a recipe for trouble, no matter what Mike’s motives. But by putting on the costume, Mike’s “mindset” is shifted away from his usual sardonic tendencies; he wears a mask to mask the fact he’s a dick and is honest about the fact he’s not the nicest of people outside the costume.

Things can (and likely will) still go wrong with all this, though I must admit I’m amused by the fact some uppity politician is going to try and “get even” with Mike over his own mess caused when the politician tried to take advantage of Mike’s (or Pythagorean, rather) growing popularity. It would be absolutely hilarious if in trying to get back at Mike, the politician ended up facing down Mike on the political arena. It would be even more humorous if Mike were elected in that ass’s place, elevated because he’s been working hard to help other people (the very thing politicians are supposed to do). Over the years we’ve seen a number of characters in S*P “grow up;” it is about time for Mike to do the same.

The comic focuses on the dimensionally-displaced heroine Fiona Dae, a young lady from Earth who has found herself displaced to another Earth where people have magic (but no guns), humans are just one of a multitude of intelligent species, and the U.S. government is a benign dictatorship under a man named Henderson who provides security and some semblance of order, in return for being the undisputed ruler of the nation. Of course, how benign he is depends on just who you ask, and there’s naturally a Resistance of sorts that is trying to get Fiona to work for them, even as Henderson tries to get her to work for him (even while claiming she could leave anytime she wants to).

As with most stories in the Transference genre, Fiona is intent on returning to her old world (which is of course easier said than done). This is despite the fact that in this new Earth, she has learned magic and has become a bit of a hero (having fought a giant wolf at one point, as well as a band of villains who’d been hired by the Hendersons to identify who the dimension-traveler was, and who don’t know when enough is enough. Part of this lies with her upbringing; her father was apparently a survivalist and a vigilante who home-schooled her, resulting in Fiona being… paranoid about letting people get close (as well as dying her hair blue so she’s not reminded of her dad when she looks in the mirror). Despite this, she’s become friends (of sorts) with the two people she first met in this alternative Earth, a heroic sorcerer named Van who has this talent at attracting women, and a cursed hero named Jim who tends to turn into a stuffed rabbit whenever he acts too arrogant or is caught in a lie.

More recently, there’s also Akela, a four-armed blue-skinned lady who started helping her investigate the Hendersons and who has apparently started to fall for Fiona. In this, cartoonist Michael Lunsford has actually taken a rather realistic approach; Fiona hasn’t shown attraction for anyone at this point (being focused on returning back to her Earth, though this seems to be more due to her being constantly weirded out by this alternative Earth than because of family or friends back there), and Akela even admits to herself that it’s probably a lost cause. I must admit I’m rather taken by this approach to a relationship. I could see it going one of three paths, with Fiona not being interested (in Akela or in girls in general), a relationship forming, or even Fiona not quite realizing until she finally has a chance to go back to her own world… but realizes she’d have to leave Akela. No doubt there are other paths as well.

Interestingly, the Hendersons are also being developed further, specifically with Hall Henderson (who has also shown a bit of interest in Fiona, though I’m not sure if he’s romantically interested in her as his partner Eva implies, or if he’s fascinated with her situation) learning he’s not the first (or only) Hall Henderson… and realizing that his boss, Mr. Henderson, is up to something. What this is has only been hinted at (though it may have something to do with dimensional transit), but in all likelihood as the story’s climax approaches we’ll see Hall (and his older incarnation) drawn back into Fiona’s story, even as she’s dragged (screaming and kicking) into an ultimate confrontation against Mr. Henderson.

Needless to say, the story’s grown rather complex and involved at this point with four years of archives (even with some occasional breaks and intermittent updates), but during this time Lunsford has created an impressive mix of characters. The obvious star of the story is Fiona, but that doesn’t diminish the stories of the other characters (though Jim seems more of a two-dimensional jerk who only avoids Mary Sue territory due to the curse he suffers under). And I must admit I’m curious as to what Akele’s story is, especially as she suddenly moves to share the stage with Fiona. I’m not exactly sure where Lunsford is going with Supernormal Step, but he has created something quite unique, and more than a little fun.

As is tradition with any visual medium, people often see more into images than was intended (just ask the fine folks at Disney and the “sex” in an advertisement for the animated movie “Tangled”). In this case, it was a drawing of Sonoda Yuki’s almost-boyfriend Kobayashi Yutaka, bruised and semi-conscious, with a sizeable bruise on his side that could look something like an upside-down “2” to someone with entirely too much time and imagination on their hands. It was typical silliness brought upon by far too few updates, and the next update would have dropped this from the radar… at least, until one of the fans asked Gallagher during a live-drawing on Justin.tv last night. Gallagher’s reaction was… delightfully amusing, as he sputtered that it was scribbles… scribbled bruises at that. After which he threatened to shut down the forums to force people to step away from the computer and “get some fresh air.”

Taking a step back and this becomes an example of life imitating art. One of the main themes in recent storylines for Megatokyo is overzealous fans who take their fandom and the objects of their fandom far too seriously. And fans do sometimes tend to become overzealous about their pet theories; there are still some Harry Potter fans who insist Harry should have ended up with anyone other than Ginny, while I suspect small wars could erupt over which Companion is the favorite of the “Doctor Who” fandom. Having seen the image… I could see why people felt there was a “2” there… and having seen Gallagher draw the comics, I very much doubt there was rhyme or reason behind it. But it does say something about Gallagher’s comic; even with an intermittent schedule, it can draw the readers’ passions and whimsy. And that level of loyalty among fans is hard to come by.