1 Vader: {peering into the reactor shaft} My master, this open shaft in your chamber leading to the Death Star reactor core is dangerous.
2 Vader: {as the reactor glows an ominous red below} Even if you don't fall in, there's the radiation...
2 Emperor: Yes, my friend...
3 Emperor: {turning to Vader} Do you think I don't understand? I asked for this shaft to be placed here.
4 Emperor: Do you think I like being so pallid? This radiation is designed to give me a nice macho tan.

Interestingly, I produced the background for panel 2 showing the reactor core simply by increasing the saturation of the colours present in the "white" wall background behind the figures, and decreasing the lightness. I expected I'd have to do some heavy manipulation with gradient fills and noise and so on to get a cool reactor core, but these two simple adjustments made a perfect nuclear inferno. Serendipity at work!

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2012-06-01 Rerun commentary: The fact that the wall behind my desk turned out to be a reactor core in disguise has hardly led to me developing any horrible mutations at all!