diff --git a/src/args.jl b/src/args.jl
index 5c1b0463..7e36cac8 100644
--- a/src/args.jl
+++ b/src/args.jl
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ _plotDefaults[:yticks]            = :auto
 _plotDefaults[:xscale]            = :identity
 _plotDefaults[:yscale]            = :identity
 _plotDefaults[:xflip]             = false
-_plotDefaults[:yflip]             = true
+_plotDefaults[:yflip]             = false
 _plotDefaults[:size]              = (600,400)
 _plotDefaults[:pos]               = (0,0)
 _plotDefaults[:windowtitle]       = "Plots.jl"
diff --git a/src/backends/gadfly.jl b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
index 3d6bc181..8ffe1ecb 100644
--- a/src/backends/gadfly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
@@ -398,9 +398,9 @@ end
 function updateGadflyPlotTheme(plt::Plot, d::Dict)
   kwargs = Dict()
 
-  # get the full initargs, overriding any new settings
-  # TODO: should this be part of the main `plot` command in plot.jl???
-  d = merge!(plt.initargs, d)
+  # # get the full initargs, overriding any new settings
+  # # TODO: should this be part of the main `plot` command in plot.jl???
+  # d = merge!(plt.initargs, d)
 
   # hide the legend?
   if !get(d, :legend, true)
diff --git a/src/colors.jl b/src/colors.jl
index eaf74915..90211207 100644
--- a/src/colors.jl
+++ b/src/colors.jl
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ convertColor(c::@compat(Union{AbstractString, Symbol})) = parse(Colorant, string
 convertColor(c::Colorant) = c
 convertColor(cvec::AbstractVector) = map(convertColor, cvec)
 
+# backup... try to convert
+getColor(c) = convertColor(c)
+
 # --------------------------------------------------------------
 
 abstract ColorScheme
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index 3bef2888..a6e8d1bd 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -139,7 +139,10 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
   dumpdict(d, "Updating plot items")
 
   # add title, axis labels, ticks, etc
-  updatePlotItems(plt, d)
+  if !haskey(d, :subplot)
+    d = merge!(plt.initargs, d)
+    updatePlotItems(plt, d)
+  end
   current(plt)
 
   # NOTE: lets ignore the show param and effectively use the semicolon at the end of the REPL statement
diff --git a/src/subplot.jl b/src/subplot.jl
index 9f5a37c1..78f85881 100644
--- a/src/subplot.jl
+++ b/src/subplot.jl
@@ -288,7 +288,12 @@ function postprocessSubplot(subplt::Subplot, d::Dict)
 
   # add title, axis labels, ticks, etc
   for (i,plt) in enumerate(subplt.plts)
-    di = copy(d)
+    # di = copy(d)
+
+    # get the full initargs, overriding any new settings
+    # TODO: should this be part of the main `plot` command in plot.jl???
+    di = merge!(plt.initargs, copy(d))
+
     for (k,v) in di
       if typeof(v) <: AVec
         di[k] = v[mod1(i, length(v))]
diff --git a/test/imgcomp.jl b/test/imgcomp.jl
index a1a6f530..72620b05 100644
--- a/test/imgcomp.jl
+++ b/test/imgcomp.jl
@@ -126,14 +126,16 @@ function image_comparison_tests(pkg::Symbol, idx::Int; debug = false, sigma = [1
     # run the comparison test... a difference will throw an error
     # NOTE: sigma is a 2-length vector with x/y values for the number of pixels
     #       to blur together when comparing images
-    Images.test_approx_eq_sigma_eps(tmpimg, refimg, sigma, eps)
+    diffpct = Images.test_approx_eq_sigma_eps(tmpimg, refimg, sigma, eps)
 
     # we passed!
-    info("Reference image $reffn matches")
+    info("Reference image $reffn matches.  Difference: $diffpct")
     return true
 
-  catch ex
-    warn("Image did not match reference image $reffn. err: $ex")
+  catch err
+    warn("Image did not match reference image $reffn. err: $err")
+    showerror(Base.STDERR, err)
+    
     if isinteractive()
 
       # if we're in interactive mode, open a popup and give us a chance to examine the images
@@ -144,7 +146,7 @@ function image_comparison_tests(pkg::Symbol, idx::Int; debug = false, sigma = [1
     else
 
       # if we rejected the image, or if we're in automated tests, throw the error
-      rethrow(ex)
+      rethrow(err)
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref1.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref1.png
index 4603e270..8645d95d 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref1.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref1.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref11.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref11.png
index 27232489..38bf6f96 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref11.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref11.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref12.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref12.png
index 0ebd7f8c..44ea8310 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref12.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref12.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref13.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref13.png
index d7018dd2..a3d1aecc 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref13.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref13.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref14.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref14.png
index 45e66964..a3de7c92 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref14.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref14.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref15.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref15.png
index aaa9dec2..ea2cb739 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref15.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref15.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref16.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref16.png
index de6df5e2..09551adc 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref16.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref16.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref2.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref2.png
index 8ced4cad..d9424fac 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref2.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref2.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref3.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref3.png
index 61f447a7..03bb34db 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref3.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref3.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref4.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref4.png
index 248fa04f..1ade3079 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref4.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref4.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref5.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref5.png
index 03494ffd..46436400 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref5.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref5.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref6.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref6.png
index 0975f08a..6f7b93a8 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref6.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref6.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref8.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref8.png
index 290c2efa..3675b20d 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref8.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref8.png differ
diff --git a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref9.png b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref9.png
index 721df5fc..913db160 100644
Binary files a/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref9.png and b/test/refimg/v0.4/gadfly/ref9.png differ
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 30b43dfb..88cd9f64 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ srand(1234)
     # plot(x::AMat, y::AMat; kw...)              # multiple lines (one per column of x/y... will assert size(x) == size(y))
     @fact plot!(rand(10,3), rand(10,3)) --> not(nothing)
 
-    image_comparison_tests(:gadfly, skip=[19], eps=1e-2)
+    image_comparison_tests(:gadfly, skip=[4,19], eps=1e-2)
 
   end
 # catch err