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Frank Gogol's Writer's Commentary for Dead End Kids #1

Frank Gogol has a writer's commentary for Dead End Kids #1. Which is surprisingly not published by Dynamite, but by Source Point Press. He writes,

Three kids in the late 90's trying to solve their friend's murder. It's like Stand by Me meets The Hardy Boys, but violent. At least, that's the elevator pitch.

Really, this book is about kids from broken homes who take care of one another and who provide each other with stability and then what happens when the stability is torn away because one of them is murdered.

Since I'm a sucker for process and I eat stuff like this up. If you're like me — a) I'm so sorry and b) you'll probably like this behind-the-scenes look at DEK.

Cover

For the cover, I had this sort of iconic-style image in my mind. Some kids leaning up against a Dead End sign with these devil-may-care looks on their faces. Almost like a 90s rock album. And they'd be done in grey tones against a bright backdrop. Criss Madd, who did all of the covers for the series, really took that concept and nailed it. It's striking.

Pages 1-3

In my head, the opening sequence was really clear, even before I started writing this book last May.

It would be this cinematic sequence that would start on a Dead End sign and it would lead the reader deeper and deeper down this suburban street in the dead of winter.

One of the sort of driving ideas for this book was that it'd almost be like an anti-coming-of-age story. So the narration, here, works to establish that coming-of-age feel, then point-blank comes out and says "This is not that story." And then the page turn…

We see poor Ben. Dead. Beneath thick sheet of ice. And apparently only the first casualty of this story.

Any fans of Nirvana here? You know what, Nevermind.

Then, on the facing page to Ben, we've got the title page, in case you'd forgotten the name of the book already.

There's a subtitle, too: Wonder Years – a call back to the coming-of-age show of the same name from the late 80s and early 90s. It's also meant to be an ironic call back to those childhood years. You know, the ones that are supposed to be the best ones of your life? Not so much for these kids.

As for these The Offspring lyrics — look, I never wanted to be that guy who has lyrics in the front of his books. But the more I tried to resist these lyrics, in particular, the more perfect they felt.

Pages 4-7

Let's spend a little time getting to know our kids, yeah?

First up, we're introduced to Amanda, but 24 hours earlier. Who doesn't love a good time jump?

If you weren't already sure this book was set in the late 90s, then her bedroom will definitely drive that home. All credit to Nenad Cviticanin, who drew and colored this whole book solo, for all of those little references. Outside of Amanda burning a CD on an iMac (because we used to do that before iTunes…), everything else is from his imagination.

So, Amanda. Things aren't going great at home for her…

Next, we're introduced to Tank, our gentle giant in this story. Things aren't much better at his house either…

Then we spend a little time getting to know our dead kid from page 2, Ben…

And lastly, we're introduced to Murphy and things in his house are… pretty good, actually. He's kind of a little dick, isn't he?

This sequence of four pages was really about getting to know and spend a little time with these kids. Seeing them in silos before we bring them together…

Pages 8 and 9

I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, we built clubhouses in the woods and got up to all kinds of no good. So, there was never going to be a version of this story that didn't have a clubhouse. And since they have a clubhouse, they've got to be up to something, right?

Just kidding. It's a surprise party for Ben! Cute, right?

But seriously, this is an important page because it really works to drive home that anti-coming-of-age-ness I was talking about earlier. Coming-of-age stories tend to be pretty neat and everyone sort of gets what they needed to grow as a person by the end. But our kids don't have any answers. All they can do is take care of one another. Together.

Pages 10 and 11

So, now that we know our kids and maybe even care a little bit about what happens to them, let's get some antagonists! It is a murder mystery after all.

Man, that Bulmer guy looks familiar…

Ok, full disclosure: I wrote this whole book just so I could see Clint Eastwood (circa Gran Torino) whoop Fred Durst's ass…

Pages 12-15

Because this book is, to a large extent, predicated on Murphy's relationship to Ben, I wanted to spend a little more time with just them. 

So, we get this sweet exchange between two friends, because two dudes can have a strong, meaningful relationship that's not built only on fart jokes.

Then, there's this exchange. Damn.

And here's where our narrative catches up with the beginning of this story. Looking at it now, it feels extra sad because of the dramatic irony. The kids know something bad has happened. As readers, we know exactly what bad thing has happened and are already dreading how it's going to impact them when they find out, too.

Then, we get an all-black page. The reasons for this were two: First, I really wanted the reader to linger on this moment a little longer. To let it set in. And second, it's a nifty way to keep your left- and right-facing pages in the printed comic where they're supposed to be.

Page 16

Oof, this page.

Originally, this page had some dialogue, but Nenad's are made every word irrelevant and I cut them all. This page does everything it needs to do using its visuals.

Page 17-22

So, we've done all our set up and had our inciting incident. Now, we can get the plot moving. Seems to me, a lot of series these days use their first issue to do the heavy lifting to set up the world and the characters and, then, the plot kicks off in issue 2. But I wanted to get to the meat and potatoes.

After a round of toasts to Ben's memory, Murphy decides he's having none of it. There's no way Ben's death was an accident, and Murphy has an idea who might be responsible…

So, the kids investigate…

And Clin–I mean Avery' is lurking. A red herring, right? Probably…

The investigation turns up a clue…

…which has Murphy livid. And just in time, because guess who's heading his way with a Louisville Slugger?

To be continued…

…in just two weeks on 8/21 when Dead End Kids #2 hits shops! And for those of you who missed out on DEK #1, keep your eyes peeled on Monday for some news.

-Frank

Want more Dead End Kids? Keep up with me and the series on Instagram and Twitter. But do it on Instagram. Twitter is a hellscape.

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