Proof that Locke has a heart.
Hey, Terry added some commentary to Part One! Go check it out! His thoughts there and here are in red italics.
Page 8
I've hinted before that Locke has a broken heart but this sequence finally lays it out there. There's clearly someone in his past that he misses and this album on display obviously has sentimental value to him. The song lyrics he's singing to himself are from If I Never Knew Your Name by Neil Diamond. This is of course the second major Neil Diamond reference in Reckless as detailed here. I'm pretty sure making the album a Neil album was my idea.
I’m willing to bet that was one of those details that came without debate at all seeing we share equal respect for Mister Diamond.
It's adorable that Locke is so busy trying to be an action hero that he'll lie to himself in his own inner monologue. If he manages to steal this piece he's not selling it.
Never let it be said I want paying attention to your character development.
Page 9
This testing the security pages is one of the better layouts in this one. It's also Locke mostly distracting himself from his own nostalgic feelings.
Here’s a little backstory for you I don’t think I ever shared. In my mind this whole expedition started at some ungodly hour in the aftermath of an epic bender after he read an article about this exhibit that stick in his mind for days as he systematically drank, did crazier and crazier things to distract himself, and finally got so bombed he bought himself a plane ticket back to NYC on flight that was departing immediately before he could sober up. Hence the reason he lands with zero appropriate attire for what is clearly the winter, which he wound know, having lived there. So now he’s there, and he can’t just turn around and leave, but he also won’t fully admit to even himself in his inner monologue that he’s thee purely for deep sentimental/emotional reasons, so he has to case the joint and do all those things to justify being there, quite literally, to himself in his own inner monologue.
I don't think Terry ever DID tell me that but I had always assumed it. He has a pretty good handle on my character...
It's worth reminding you here that Reckless Life takes place in the future so the idea here was that records had become super-rare to the point that they weren't just hipster collector's items but legit museum finds.
I should’a stuck with an 8-track.
Obviously, I did not accurately predict that vinyl would make a comeback. (I happen to love collecting records.)
He does. I can vouch for him.
Page 10
A rare splash of red for this story. I kind of wish I just kept this one all black and white. It would have fit the tone.
Looking at it now, and reading your commentary, I would have liked the red to appear only when he was having his self-denial inner monologues about being there to steal it/something. Like present-day Locke trying to justify his being there. Talking over his own inner monologue.
After a few more kinda cool checking the security shots Locke finally admits to himself why he's here. He's hoping that's not just a copy of the record he let go of but the ACTUAL record he used to own. I wonder if Locke regrets leaving something or someone else in New York and this him trying to fix something that he can't fix?
Deep Thoughts
By Jack Handy…
I'd say you'll find out but you won't. Reckless Life ended before I got to the rest of this back story but you will find out SOME things before we wrap up. Just not that. Sorry! I wasn't getting paid to do this!
You were getting paid in self-respect and the admiration of your adoring readers. Also, we made steaks, more than once.
Page 11-13
Yep. Locke is out of there. I hope you enjoyed this heist story where the super-cool thief goes to a high-security museum looks at a thing and then goes home! I like how Terry kind of flipped the expectation there. This is a character study on Locke and we can save the action for another day.
Thank you sir. I had a lot of fun writing it, was and am still honored you let me play in your very exclusive sandbox.
I do really like the "leaving" panels. The airport looks a lot better on the way out!
I seem to recall we had a reverse sequence we discussed where he chucks all the gear he lifted in the beginning, but it got mixed because he would have had to be wearing it in the rest of the story or something. Maybe not. That sounds like something I would do though. Bookend the story like that. It’s also exactly the kind of thing you would immediately edit out for time/page count.
The museum pedestal has a nice cinematic reveal to it. I don't often use blur effects but they feel right here as we reveal (in a super-rare RL splash page) that OH MAN THAT IS LOCKE'S RECORD! And he's never going to know! But we do and that's kind of the point of the story. Despite his one-liners and sunglasses at night Locke is kind of a softie.
Yeah. Love this sequence. It came out perfect. I seem to recall now that we agreed on Neil Diamond, it was the song that you changed.
Fun fact: the internet was not what it was today in 2004 and record stores mostly had cds so I had NO idea what the back of Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show looked like. My thinking at the time was "well if I can't find it on google who's going to fact-check me on this one?" Just wait a few years, 2004 Tim...
Fun Fact: At the time you could have asked me because I owned it.
Seriously? This story is almost 20 years old and you're just telling me this now? *Face palm*
Even more fun fact: I know own that album because it's great and also because it's in this story so I definitely could have scanned it and fixed that panel but that's against my "no special edition-ing" philosophy on this project. Maybe for the printed collection.
Check the back, maybe it’s my old one!
LOL!
NEXT TIME: The first chapter of Reckless Life's best arc and the art project that I am most of proud of to this day. Do not miss THIRD WHEEL.
Thanks for this sir. Again, it was an honor and a pleasure being allowed to play with your toys.
I’m seriously looking forward to this next arc. You were without question firing on all cylinders and it shows.
Cheers all!