Bob the rat trainer’s wine-based descriptions of people were pulled mainly from the original sketchbook comic, which I wrote just after watching The Greatest Show on Earth. I was unable to bring myself to watch it again before redoing the comic, and I was surprised to discover that I had preserved a reference to the movie. There may in fact be others! I don’t even know!

LANCE: How about her?
BOB: Selene? She’s like chablis–heady and effervescent.
ESKIMO: Chablis isn’t effervescent. (to Lance, by way of explanation) My school had a wino elective.
LANCE: And her?
BOB: Kyra, the costume designer. She is like midori–sickly sweet.
ESKIMO: How about the boss?
BOB: Mm… he’s like an old cabernet. Oaky, with a richness one can’t fully appreciate on first taste. Heavy on tannens.
LANCE: And her?
BOB: Toggles? She’s a clown. (after a beat, by way of explanation) Clowns are freaky.