by Dirk Tiede | Jun 28, 2021 | News
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.
by Dirk Tiede | Jun 21, 2021 | News
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.
by Dirk Tiede | Jun 14, 2021 | News
Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.
“One warrant as promised.”
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!
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.
by Dirk Tiede | Jun 7, 2021 | News
Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.
“Heard you boys need your hands held.”
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.
by Dirk Tiede | May 3, 2021 | News
Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.
“Where ya think he’s goin’ in such a hurry?”
This is the north end of Lincoln Park, which stretches for miles along the shore of Lake Michigan all the way from North Avenue to the end of Lake Shore drive at Hollywood Avenue.
As with many American cities, Chicago still has a housing problem. There tend to be a lot of homeless people who sleep in the park, especially near Uptown between Lawrence and Wilson.
The story the witness tells on the final page actually happened to me one night. It was too weird an experience to not put into the comic.
by Dirk Tiede | Apr 26, 2021 | News
Part Two: Agitation continues today with the next scene.
“Aren’t there some witnesses we need to interview?”
Most police work isn’t glamourous. It’s taking statements, finding evidence, and filing unending reports. And sometimes it means telling people the news that someone close to them is dead.
There really was a Dunkin’ Donuts across the street from this building at the time I drew this in 2002. My friends lived upstairs from me at the time, and we’d meet for breakfast there a few times week to chat about life and work before we got started to our work day.
