Request immediate backup!

Request immediate backup!

Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.

“We have a firefight in progress at 36th and Iron!”

For the record, a .44 Magnum really does go “BKOOM!” They also have quite a kick. It’s one reason Mike is very careful to only squeeze off one shot at a time.

A couple of friends took me out to a shooting range where I fired most of the weapons that appear in this gunfight, or equivalent firearms of the same caliber. It provided me with some insight into the ballistics and details for this scene.

READ THE NEW SCENE HERE.

Okay, whadda we got here?

Okay, whadda we got here?

Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.

“You guys smell something funny in here?”

This warehouse scene went through many script revisions during the writing process and even while I was drawing the pages. I had trouble laying out the interior, and frequently diverged from what I’d written in the script. In the end, nearly the entire action scene was improvised.

READ THE NEW SCENE HERE.

Time for Plan B

Time for Plan B

Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.

“One warrant as promised.”

South branch of the Chicago River

This is the south branch of the Chicago River. Bridgeport is just south of it. It’s an old, traditionally blue-collar, Irish neighborhood where the White Sox play at the now former Comiskey Park. It’s also where the younger Mayor Daley grew up.

I drew this page in the spring of 2004 after a friend showed me around South Side. I was looking for a warehouse to photograph for this scene. It was foreign territory to me at the time, because I was a “North Sider” and rarely had occasion to venture south of I-290, which unofficially divides the city into the two “Sides.”

Roughly one year later I became a “South Sider” and regularly went over the bridge drawn in panel one to visit my girlfriend at the time (now my wife). She lived only a few blocks from this warehouse!

Kate and Mike fishing flak vests out of the trunk of a car.

This panel was totally inspired by a famous scene from Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.”

These aren’t exactly the armor vests used by the Chicago police, but I had a hard time tracking down an authentic source.

Mike’s comment is a reference to the “Sneak and Peek” searches authorized by legislation passed since 2001. I know I play a little fast and loose with the law in this story, but it frightens me that our government seems to be doing the same these days.

READ THE NEW SCENE HERE.

Need a translator, huh?

Need a translator, huh?

Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.

“Heard you boys need your hands held.”

Cook County Hospital

This is actually the old Cook County Hospital. The John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital was built in the late nineties to replace it, but I stuck with the old building because I prefer the classic architecture. There was a debate whether to tear down the old structure before the city decided to renovate it.

I just think the old building has a ton of character, so I decided to use it instead.

READ THE NEW SCENE HERE.