(Strip Number 190, Original Publication Date, 31 October 1981)
Panel 1: Today's single panel has, going from left to right, the following visual elements:
- Eyeless John opening the front door saying "Sorry I'm late; how was Halloween?"
- Michael's cowboy costume draped over a high-backed chair that has a large bowl that's been knocked askew on it; the chair is bracketed by filthy hand prints.
- An end table with a candy apple and a lamp whose shade is out of plumb.
- Elly lying on the couch in a pile of detritus looking as if she was rode hard and put away wet; Lizzie's Little Bo Peep costume is draped over the back of the chesterfield.
- A coffee table covered in candy wrappers and a burnt-out jack-o-lantern.
Summary: The general hypothesis is that if John hadn't gone out and left Elly to fend for herself like the evil, conflict-causing man he is, she wouldn't have suffered so much; this presupposes, of course, that John isn't as equally fragile and easily overwhelmed by the unstoppable menace of small, amazingly average children. Had he stayed home, there'd be two people on the couch looking half-dead.