Unlike some stories which were one-offs in terms of ongoing impact, the Summer sports story had something in it that would turn out to have major repercussions going forward, for Les meets Cayla, the new school secretary and the mother of Summer’s rival on the basketball team, and unforeseen things begin to happen. Graphically, Cayla is a striking character to draw, and her arrival opens the door to a flood of new storylines going forward, not the least of which is the slowly simmering romance (can I hear an “understatement of the year” from anyone?) that begins to happen between Cayla and Les. As Cayla slowly begins to assume major character status, it’s the point where this new time-jump era begins to coalesce and take on an identity and life of its own as the strip moved forward.
