Question #2: SPAAAAAAAAAAACE
This Comic's Cast:
Yes, yes, another dig at 8-Bit Theater. I love to do that.
But yeah, in all honest it really did seem like the comic needed a big push to go in a new direction. Having done time travel and alternate dimensions, space was the last area (the final frontier if you will) left to explore. I know a few fans said they were out at that point (although the change in art-style that came at the same time might have has something to do with that as well), but I was quite pleased with how the change in locale, to space, opened up the story potential and let the comic do a lot of new things. We didn't simply tread water for a while, which was great.
When evil spreads across the land, and darkness rises and the monsters roam. When the creatures of the night make beautiful music, and the things that go bump in the night go bump with greater enthusiasm. When the world is in peril and is in need of a hero...
These guys are, sadly, the best the world can hope for. These are the adventures of the heroes of CVRPG. They mean well, they try hard, and occasionally they do the impossible...
They actually do something heroic.