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The cast of "Scandal Sheet!"

Scandal Sheet! is a comic that follows the adventures of a group of people who work at the Weekly Comet, a supermarket tabloid newspaper that makes the National Enquirer look like the New York Times. But is this tabloid rag actually more than it seems to be?

Foster Hearst
First appearance: June 3, 2002
Foster is the nominal hero of our story. He attended journalism school with his best friend Max (see below), who graduated first and then disappointed Foster by taking a job at "the sleaziest, most libelous tabloid in the country." After a series of post-graduation humiliations in the job market brought Foster to the Comet himself, he discovered that not everything was as it seemed. His recent experiences should have made him impervious to further surprises, but he still has yet to completely wrap his head around the truth, and as a result, he's continually getting himself into trouble.

Max Murdock
First appearance: June 5, 2002
Unlike Foster, Max joined the Comet happily unaware of its true nature, looking forward to a life free of fact-checking. When he was brought into the paper's inner circle, he was thrilled and cocky; however, he has never completely recovered from the loss of his first partner, Garcia, to a hungry yeti. Max's easygoing nature belies a steely determination to protect Foster from his own ignorance.

Ito Masello
First appearance: October 28, 2002
Ito is an associate attorney at the law firm of Robben Olde Widdowes & Laffing. She lives in the same building as Max and Foster. The daughter of an Italian father and a Chinese mother, Ito has a complicated relationship with her parents. Currently the only man in Ito's life is her pet ferret, "Sosumi." So far, Ito seems unaware of Foster's growing feelings for her.

Millard Detweiler
First appearance: January 6, 2003
The mysterious publisher of the Comet, Millard Detweiler combines the worst physical features of Danny DeVito and Ed Asner. He operates his paper according to two principles: first, that the most artistic way to lie is to tell the truth so unconvincingly that people are sure you are lying; and second, that the best place to hide a needle isn't a haystack but a big pile of other needles. Detweiler carefully cultivates an image as a panderer of the most ridiculous stories ever to besmirch the name of journalism in order to continue his secret and vital work as a protector of the world's mysteries.

Samantha Hooper
First appearance: August 20, 2003
The Comet's undead informant, Samantha has a prickly professional relationship with the paper's living employees... she exchanges information for blood, although her agreement with Detweiler prohibits her from killing anyone who works for the Comet. Samantha has spent the past hundred years atoning for the murders she committed in her early days as a vampire in turn-of-the-century New Orleans. Although she no longer kills and professes to hate the hunt, she still acts mostly out of amoral self-interest. Despite this, she has risked destruction and persecution at the hands of her fellow vampires more than once in order to save Foster.

"Phil"
First appearance: January 29, 2003
Better known by his nickname, "Bigfoot," Phil came to the Comet to complain about the paper's libelous Sasquatch coverage and wound up staying on as a consultant. He also writes the paper's advice and horoscope columns. Phil rarely leaves the Comet's offices and spends a lot of time online. His affable personality masks a deep loneliness caused by his isolation from his own kind; his friends at the Comet sympathize and wish they could help but don't really know what they can do to help.

Brenda Barba
First appearance: January 1, 2003
Brenda is the receptionist for the "secure floor" of the Comet. Although trusted with the knowledge of the paper's true mission, her duties are pretty much like that of any receptionist. She takes great delight in knowing all the gossip about the paper's secret activities and serves as an unofficial counselor for Comet employees with personal problems. Her off-camera fiance, Jon, travels outside of the country frequently. Her best friend at the Comet is Andrea Campos (see below), who does not know the paper's secrets; it hurts Brenda to have to keep secrets from Andrea but she knows it has to be that way.

Grady Babbage
First appearance: February 28, 2003
Grady is in charge of I.T. at the Comet. He is, to put it mildly, a mouth-frothing conspiracy theorist. You name the conspiracy, he'll believe it... except for any conspiracy involving the U.S. government, because "no group that big, disorganized, and stupid could keep anything secret." Despite his paranoia, he's a valuable employee -- his skills and his loyalty to Detweiler are unquestioned. Besides, his coworkers at the Comet know that they can push his buttons to get anything they want.

Andrea Campos
First appearance: February 17, 2003
Andrea works in the layout department at the Comet. As a relatively low-level employee, she is not privy to the paper's secret mission and thinks she works for an ordinary tabloid. Max is in love with her, a fact that she was long oblivious to but recently has discovered; she is conflicted about how to respond. She likes Max, but because she thinks he writes untrue tabloid trash for a living, she doesn't respect him (the irony of her own employment at the same paper is lost on her). Also, she is widowed and has a preteen son, Cameron Campos (Cam-Cam) -- she is worried about the effect on him if she should date Max and then break up with him.

Melissa "Mitzi" Milholland
First appearance: July 15, 2002
Foster first met Mitzi during his brief sojourn as the staff writer of Triple Crown Studios -- she was one of the adult film stars who worked there. She rescued Foster's adult film screenplay, Thigh-tanic, from the trash and used it to launch her own production company. Now a consummate businesswoman, she took Foster to the AVN Awards when Thigh-tanic was nominated for best screenplay; she hasn't given up on convincing him to write more scripts for her.

All of this stuff is ©2002-2005 Troy Smith. Please don't steal it.

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