“Ah, now eventually you do plan to have heist scenes in your heist comic, right?”
This whole sequence has a few good examples of why I set Reckless Life in the “not too distant” future. It’s all basically because I didn’t want to be beholden to reality. I get bored drawing “stuff.” Architecture and cars and tech gizmos and you name it. If the story is “in the future” I figured I had carte blanche to draw things however I felt like. This Camran building is a good example. It’s a little anime, a little Batman Beyond, very little in the way of actual architecture.
Locke’s gear is another example. The arm computer thing does become a mainstay in the series but the electronic stethoscope is just something I thought was cool for this scene. Is there any basis for that in reality? I don’t know. Sorry to break the illusion but I myself am not a super criminal and do not know how to crack safes but ‘it’s the future!” so don’t think about it too hard!
These days I’m actually a bit of a futurist but I definitely was not when I was 22.
Pages 9:
I had a rule for myself in RL to not use photoshop blurs and whatnot. As you can see I made it all of 9 pages. The laser mist effect is something I’ll trot out again in future stories. Lots of lasers and ceiling ducts. Again, I am not an actual supercriminal, I just like movies.
I like Locke’s eyes behind the guard in the lower left for no reason other than they’re easy to miss.
Page 10:
Really random Easter Egg: The painting next to the bookcase is all triangles. This is the reference to the Seinfeld episode, The Junior Mint in which George buys a painting of triangles. I’m serious, I did that on purpose and in fact, in college, I did several pieces that I called “The Triangles.” I was very into Seinfeld when it aired. Hell, I still love it.
Locke’s virtual screen predated Minority Report by a few months. You’re welcome, Spielberg.
Page 11:
Two MORE Easter Eggs on this page. The obvious one is the Vader quote in the last panel. The other was just for me. 4722 was my extension when I worked at Harley-Davidson. Hence the name of the lock.
I like Locke throwing the triangles painting here. Once again kind of flying in the face of the silent jewel thief.
Page 12:
Hmm. Locke seems to be wrecking stuff for the heck of it now. Might be significant to the plot…
NEXT WEEK: Who’s at the door?