1 {scene: darkness}
1 Lambert: Ow! Why did you <gollum>...
2 Mordekai: This Gollum attacked us before too! I'm going to strangle it!
2 Lambert: Aaaackthpth! Pleasssss...
3 Alvissa: Wait! It attacked us before, but we've come back in time...
3 Dwalin: Do whut thu elf says, laddie! Lut it goo! {translation: Do what the elf says! Let it go!}
4 Mordekai: If you insist...
4 Lambert: Ow. <wheeze> My precioussss oesophagussss...

I made the decision very early on when I began this comic back in 2001 to use different coloured speech balloons for different characters. I made that decision mainly because I had cheap image processing software at the time, and the process of making white speech balloons with black borders was long and complicated. Leaving the borders off and colouring the balloons was much, much quicker.

Now that I do strips like this occasionally, I'm really glad for this bit of serendipity*.

* If you don't know what this means, look it up. It's a very cool word.

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2020-11-08 Rerun commentary: I'm very disappointed that Andy Serkis never says the word "oesophagus" as Gollum in any of the films.

"What's oesophagusesss, preciousss?"

"OE-SOPH-A-GUSES. Boil 'em. Mash 'em. Stick 'em in a stew."