When last we left our heroes, they had two dead talk show hosts on their hands: Dr. Swill and Wendy Wave.  At the scene of Wendy Wave's murder, Zukovsky the lawyer mysteriously appears... this time with Opa! in tow.

Come to find out Anthony Bourdain is writing a graphic novel.  The celebrity chef is penning "Get Gyro," which concerns some "ultraviolent food nerds."  Why is this interesting for The Cult of Low Self-Esteem?

As Oprah Winfrey prepares for her 25th and final season, we bring you Chapter 2 of The Cult of Low Self-Esteem, "Old Friends and Lawyers."

As the curtain raises on the second Division and Rush graphic novel serialization, we turn our eyes to the television screen.  Oprah Winfrey has been threatening to leave Chicago for years, in what seems like an annual crisis, sending her fans in a tizzy.  How predictable have her threats to move been?  This story was one of two pitched as the opening Division and Rush parody, in June 2009.

And so, we turn our eyes to Opa!, a talk show diva who has announced her intention to leave town.  Alas, not all decisions are universally respected and it seems that Opa! may have attracted the loving attention of... The Cult of Low Self-Esteem.  Click the art below to find out about Opa!'s announcement and learn the fate of Dr. Swill in Chapter 1: A Sense of Abandonment

As we're prepping the second Division & Rush story arc, "The Cult of Low Self-Esteem," it's time to take a break for some news from the comics world.

"The biggest challenge for Nelson and Johns may be merging the cultures of the Warner lot in Burbank and the offices of DC, which are in Manhattan but may soon move to L.A."

It's official: Division and Rush is a literary work.  How's that?  Division and Rush writer Todd Allen is on a panel at the Printer's Row Lit Fest, so it must be literary.

Here's Todd's Printer's Row schedule:

Saturday, June 12^th

12:30 - 1:30 "Graphic Novels and Mysteries" panel.

Dearborn Station/Lower Level (47 West Polk Street, Chicago)

Other panelists are

• Brian Azzarello (100 Bullets, Joker, First Wave)
• Jon Jordan (Crimespree)

Moderator: Tim Broderick (Odd Jobs)

At last, the final chapter of "The Murder Professor."  Has Amanda gone too far?  Will Stu ever get caught?  Will Division and Rush get fired?  Should Stu's mustache be illegal?  Will this story end before the Drew Peterson trial starts?

When last we saw Amanda Janus, she'd convinced herself she'd figured out what acquitted murder suspect Stu Peterman really liked and opened her trenchcoat prove it.  Ah, there's nothing like someone dedicated to their work.  How far is Amanda willing to go to get her story?  Will Division and Rush find a charge to pin on Stu before Stu's lawyer has them thrown off the force?  What is it that gets Stu's attention and what does it have to do with "women over 30?"

I am pleased to announce your humble scribe has been inducted into the Mystery Writers of America as an active (read: full) member on the basis of the Division and Rush webcomic (start here).

"What?" you ask. "Membership in a professional writers association for writing a webcomic?"

The question of motive is an important one in a criminal case.  What motivates Stu Peterman?  It seems Amanda Janus thinks she knows, and she's ready to exploit that to get her story.  Then again, sometimes pushing buttons can have unintended consequences...

In the meantime, Division and Rush are left to ponder how long before Stu's lawyer sues the department for harassment and whether they can kiss their pensions goodbye.  Click on the image below for the Chapter 14 of The Murder Professor, "What Stu Likes."

They say drinking has its sinister side.  That it isn't always fun and games.

Have you ever negotiated a contract at the bar, hoping your business partner held his liquor worse than you and few points of concession would slip through?

Are you one of these people who think you'll get a more truthful answer if the person you're talking to is blitzed?  (And yes, the bar is a favorite point of interview for gossip columnists hoping for, if not more truth, at least loosened lips.)

In "The Drinking Game," Chapter 13 of "The Murder Professor," Division and Rush take Stu to the bar in a desperate attempt to get some answers.  We also find out what sinister plot Stu has been hatching with his lawyer.  Click on the images below to start reading.

You never know what's going to go on in a dorm room and you don't want to know what goes on in off-campus housing.  College kids can be into some pretty wacky things.

When last we left our heroes, Stu Peterman had climbed a ladder and entered in through the window of a dorm on the campus of Devotional College with Division and Rush chasing after him.  Can our heroes intervene before something uncouth happens? Click on the images below and find out in "Rear Dorm Window," Chapter 12 of "The Murder Professor.

Mayors can have a rough job.  Since they can hire and fire department heads and the buck theoretically stops with them, they can catch the heat for anything that goes wrong from littering to literacy rate. 

Ever heard Mayor Daley react to bad news?  He tends to get a little hot under the collar.  Ever wonder what it's like when the Superintendent of Police (that's what they call the Police Chief in Chicago) has a meeting with the mayor?  Ever wonder what would happen if a case got hot enough the investigating officers had to take a meeting from on high?

Division and Rush find out the hard way this week, in Chapter 11 of the Murder Professor: A Meeting With the Mayor, so click on an image below to start reading.

(Incidentally, if you're a regular comics reader -- as of today -- Heidi MacDonald's "Beat" blog has moved from Publisher's Weekly to http://www.comicsbeat.com/)

In sports, the coach really doesn't have much job security.  They're prone to being second guessed on that 4th down call.  Their strategies are called into question after the fact.  And then there's the relationship with the players.

We've all seen a team quit on their coach before.  Sometimes the lack of a positive relationship with players can do in a coach.  The media sometimes calls it a "player revolt" or a "player uprising."

Did you ever wonder what would happen if professional athletes had a good old fashioned "storm the Bastille" kind of revolt?  It's the end of the professional football season, when many coaches meet their final destiny with their current employer.  Click below and find out what happens when some pro football players find inspiration from Stu Peterman's Seminars in: The Murder Professor - Chapter 10: The Player Revolt

Sometimes the police hit a brick wall.

What happens when you run out of ideas?  Perhaps it's then time to sit on a suspect and make him sweat.

But can you make Stu Peterman sweat?  Click below and find out:

What do people get out of fame?  Easier access to dinner reservations?  Better treatment at airports?  An ego boost?

This week we witness an ecounter between Stu Peterman and local reporter, wherein we're given a hint about what Stu gets out of his celebrity.  It may or may not involve swimwear.

Click below and read "The Fringe Benefits of Fame," Chapter 8 of "The Murder Professor."

Ever notice how people famous for doing something allegedly sketchy always end up getting the royal treatment on the talk show circuit?  White House gatecrashers Tareq and Michaele Salah on the Today Show.  Our dear, indicted ex-Governor Rod Blagojevich on the Today Show, The View, Bonnie Hunt, Letterman and just about any place that would have him.

Click below to read Chapter 7 of “The Murder Professor” wherein Stu Peterman takes another media tour to New York and his lawyer discusses the nature of media exploitation.

Chicago's had it's fair share of reality television.  The Real World filmed here.  elimiDATE filmed a few episodes here.  Currently, our reality show fame is the stuff of which tabloid articles are made.  Could it get any sillier?  Oh, indeed it could.  Click below and start reading "Death of a Reality TV Star," Chapter 6 of "The Murder Professor."

This week, Stu Peterman shares his vast knowledge on the use of misdirection... and not just with large containers.  Click below to read Chapter 5: The Proper Use of Misdirection.

What would happen if you had lunch with someone who gives seminars on How Murderers Get Caught?  Would you talk about your spouse?  What kind of advice would you get?

That's what the next chapter of our graphic novel is all about.

Click below to read Chapter 4: The Business Lunch

Many villains are known for the origin stories.  Doctor Doom's face was scarred because he wouldn't let Reed Richards correct his equation.  The Joker fell in a vat of chemicals and emerged a changed man.

And then again, some villains just are.  We're not going to give you the secret origin of Stu Peterman, but we are going to find out how Stu's wives died.  Or at least what the court has to say about that.  Click below for Chapter 3: How Stu's Wives Died.

Welcome to Chapter 2 of our first serial, "The Murder Professor."  Some of this week's action involves taking a bath, so before you read "Death Takes a Bath," you might enjoy watching one of our greatest actors, Morgan Freeman, sing about taking a bath in a casket while wearing only a sash.  (He used to play Dracula on "The Electric Company")

Having seen that, below is Chapter 2: Death Takes a Bath

What's the definitive Chicago comic strip?  For my money, it's Dick Tracy.  (Sorry, Brenda Starr fans.)  Did you know Dick Tracy always had an eye for pastiches?  The first Dick Tracy villain, Big Boy, was a pastiche of Al Capone.  Not too long after Big Boy showed up, Dick
Tracy took on something that looked an awful lot like the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby.

It's with Dick Tracy as touchstone, that we now bring you "Division & Rush."  Cartoonist Chester Gould played Dick Tracy as drama.  Division & Rush is a satire.  Using the crime comic as a vehicle, we're going to poke a little fun at Chicago crime and Chicago personalities.  Law & Order doesn't have a monopoly on current event driven plots, after
all.

Our initial serial, "The Murder Professor," contemplates the public's reaction to Drew Peterson (and we should hasten to add Peterson is innocent until proven guilty) and puts a satirical lens over the scenario of what happens when someone the public and police are convinced is guilty walks away as a free man.  It's not Drew Peterson.  It's not OJ Simpson.  No, our boy is "Stu Peterman."  Click the comic panel below and we hope you get a chuckle out of "How Murderers Get Caught," the first chapter of "The Murder Professor," below.