Mad Dog McGillicuddy and his Rabid Band of Howler Monkeys

I had no idea what to focus on for Smiley's backstory, until I realised it had to be about why he's so damn smiley! So we start with a super-quick history of the lucky wristbands (or the leather they're made of), and the fact that most of the owners fell upon some type of misfortune...probably because they lost the enchanted leather... It may be difficult to tell, but the house that Smiley buys is the Howler Monkey house. The panel where Smiley learns the piano and picks it up instantly, to his teacher's delight, is a tribute to 'Groundhog Day', right down to the fact that he's chewing bubble gum. In panel 10, when he's auditioning for Mad Dog and Beardo, he's playing 'Benny and the Jets' by Elton John. For panel 11, instead of drawing the band (and their fuggin instruments) AGAIN, I just designed a very simple logo, with the motto 'Silex Pergo'. 'Silex' is Latin for stone, or ROCK, and 'Pergo' means to continue, or go ON... Therefore, 'Silex Pergo' translates (very roughly) as ROCK ON. Panel 12: I think I am the first comic artist to use the discordant sound effect, 'GURNG'. The last panel is a joke, but not a particularly effective or funny one. It says, 'Let's hope this isn't the beginning of the end,' followed immediately by 'End'... Yeah, anyway...