Research for second panel was tougher than anticiapted. Not being Will Eisner, I need reference even for memoirs. I blocked off a day in 2001 to take reference photos of my old neighborhood in Springfield Mass. They tore down 110 Cedar Street years before. Luckily there was no shortage of similar, almost-condemned ghetto tenement buildings. I used the building on the corner of Bay and Marion streets as a guide, taking refernce photos of all four sides. When shooting the final side, a dark alley, I accidentally stumbled a drug deal. I was able to convince them that my camera had nothing to do with them, rushed the building shots and got out as quick as possible.

Emulating the Bil Keane “Family Circus” style was made difficult by the fact that he didn’t draw black people. I merged known elements of his style (solid black hair + bumpy hair = afro). The bum is based on Fred Sandford, plus a Keane drawing of “a beatnik”.