This page is directly inspired by Steve Ditko’s 12-panel grid. It seemed the best way to display all this dialog on a single page. The characters speak in short call-and-response sentences, closer to real life. Cramming lots of words in single panels proved problematic. On the other hand, dividing the page into 12 equal-spaced sections shows character movement with subtlety and nuance.

Ines is based on Rita Moreno, the only reason to watch West Side Story. I tried presenting her flirtation with Zip without words, through the store window. Does it work?

The classic Alan Moore/Harvey Kurtzman “close-up to flashback” technique. Established bond between young Zip and Whitey Sullivan/Bulger. I obsessed about nailing the 1970s Brighton Center neighborhood—looking at it now, it isn’t as important as I thought it was.

Trying to emulate Artie Simiek‘s thought balloon style with a vector art application was time-consuming. I still think the thought balloon is a valuable tool, unique to comics, and should be used. Other artists, both new and old, tend to agree.

Stray Bullets creator David Lapham uses a 4-row, 8-panel grid. I modified his approach with a split between flashback and current time.

Splitting the two scenes on a single page is more convincing here than on page three. The solid blacks are my old-school attempt at page design/unification. It certainly makes my dense work a lot easier to read!

John Romita practically drew the bottom scene without knowing it. He brought subtlety to the art of using weather, both as a character and time-tracking element. I first noticed this in his 1977 Spider-Man newspaper strip.

The 4-row layout is proof positive the Stray Bullets influence. This forced me to focus on each panel’s storytelling. Hopefully each setting is convincing. Wouldn’t want the ghost of Alex Toth haunting my dreams.

The top scene resonated with a lot of my friends, all of whom were burned by selfish employess at the last second.

The police lieutenant is based on Dan DeCarlo.

I don’t like the pointers of my word balloons very much. They’re too uniform, without enough customization per panel. Most are short and curved, when a lot of them should be straight.

Background details come from combining current photo research with my own memories as a 17-year-old produce worker. Researched everything right down to the cash register. Time of day was important to keep track, which I’ve done with background details—lots of wall clocks.