Commentary:
This is the final ever published strip of The Adventures of Zip Siegel and Galactic Adjudicator Juno Pike. After 41 years in newspapers, the strip never returned from what was intended to be a brief hiatus. The three reconstructed strips that follow reflect notes found in the papers of cartoonist Alex Daily, but contradict both later interviews and contemporary editorial guidelines.
Text summary: (click to open)
PANEL ONE: Juno Pike, in a dark room, surrounded by monolithic figures.
JUNO: They make me tie my own blindfold. I find myself wondering if they have hands.
PANEL TWO:
JUNO: "Alright," I say. "Ask away."
PANEL THREE:
VISIONEERS: "Do you stand for truth?" "Will you stand for truth?" "Can you stand for truth?"
JUNO: "I'm a galactic adjudicator. You will know if a lie is told anywhere in my vicinity."
PANEL FOUR:
VISIONEERS: "Do you believe?"
JUNO: "In truth. In love."
PANEL FIVE:
VISIONEERS: "Do you have any attachments to the world you will observe?"
PANEL SIX:
JUNO: "One day I will see Zip Siegel again," I say. "This much I know to be true."
PANEL SIX: Juno, smiling, blindfolded, does not see that what she just said has caused her lie detector to return blue -- having detected a lie.
