Susan Summers seems to be a fairly handicapable gal who hasn't let a wheelchair stop her from maintaining an active and fulfilling life. But as the 83rd strip shows, she's still quite depressed over the hand she's been dealt in life. Namely the car accident during a snowy day that caused her to be in a wheelchair in the first place. This also made her hate winter as well.
Izabell's parents aren't on the best of terms with one another, often screaming at each other for hours on end with their daughter well within earshot of it all. Apparently this happens with such frequency that all Iz can do in response is sigh in frustration and bury herself deeper in her hobbies.
The 2023 Mother's Day strip starts out sweet as we're shown the kids doing fun things with their moms (Kyle and Dallas are playing video games with their moms, Jake is helping his adopted mom bake, and Adam is helping his mom knit) but the last panel hits us right in the heart as we are shown Sora and her dad visiting her mom's grave.
Notice that Izabell's mom isn't even shown despite being alive and well. When asked why isn't she shown, Word of God says: It’s complicated. The implications are not good.
The sheer PANIC that Victoria goes through when Dallas stumbles upon her with her girlfriend is nothing short of heartwrenching. The way she fumbles for some sort of explanation before begging her baby brother not to tell anyone, falling to her knees all the while really makes you feel bad for the dalmatian.
During a little backyard campout, Jake goes on a nostalgic tangent about how he used to watch the stars with 'someone' back in the city and refuses to elaborate further when Dallas asks. Cut to a familiar looking deer laying in a prison cell...
Izabell overhears Kyle's parents fighting over a broken plate, but they both apologize right away. Izabell is stunned that it's over so quickly. When Kyle asks her what she means by that, Izabell tells him "never mind." The last panel shows a flashback of poor Izabell sadly sitting on the stairs as we see silhouettes of her parents fighting.
One comic has Jasmine going outside to grab the morning paper, only to see that someone had wrote "Cold Bloods are Mud Bloods" on the garage door.
In the next comic, while Lucas is explaining to Marcus what happened, he says that he's "seen worse." It then cuts to a flashback of Lucas when he was a kid and his family home was set on fire, obviously from some bigots. Luckily, Lucas and his family got out in time.
One strip reveals that Rita, Kyle's mother, had a child that was stillborn. It begins with Rita and her kids cleaning up the attic when Rachael finds a box full of baby stuff with the name "Charlie" written on it. Rita starts having a terrible flashback of her asking the doctor why her baby's not crying. Just as the kids are about to leave, Kyle can see his mother trembling as she puts the box away.
Strip Nr. 182 is a heartbreaking silent tale of the Carroll family. It's loving beginnings, the reason for their marriage, its current dysfunctional state, and how it's affecting Izabell.
Mixed with Heartwarming, one strip reveals that when Jake was really young, his birth mother made him a doll called Mr. Me for his birthday, and promised to make him more. Cut to the present, where Jake receives a package from the prison his mother is staying at, filled with new Mr. Me dolls, with a note attached saying "From Mommy. Happy Birthday, Jake." It shows that despite being an abusive drug addict, Jake's birth mother still cares for him.
The strip where Dallas accidentally breaks Kyle's guitar. Kyle looks at the damage with a face that looks like a mix between anger and sadness as he explains how his grandfather gave him the guitar right before he died.
, with a younger Jake trying and failing to wake her up.