Notes:

Hillary’s ropes: a reference to Sir Edmund Hillary (1919-2008), New Zealand mountaineer. In 1953, Hillary and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest (the highest mountain on Earth). During their descent, Hillary and Norgay met with fellow climber George Lowe, to whom Hillary spoke his famous words: “Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.” Today, Hillary’s face appears on the New Zealand five dollar bill.

Marauding Moas: the moa was a flightless bird endemic to New Zealand. It has been extinct for several hundred years. The largest moa grew to approximately 3.6 metres (12 feet) in height (with neck outstretched) and weighed up to 230 kg (510 pounds).

As mentioned before, this whole sequence is partly a tribute to the late New Zealand cartoonist Eric Resetar (aka “Hec Rose”) (1928-2011).

And no, your eyes aren’t blurry; the printing on this page is (intentionally) slightly out of register.

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