Air Raid Robertson

Author notes

A Piece of Dignity Page 2

Air Raid Robertson

on April 5, 2012

The line about someone punching "like a knotted club" is a direct lift from Jack London. I always thought that this was such an evocative analogy and was therefore ripe for thievery. Good artists borrow and great artists steal, right?

This story is a departure from other Air Raid Robertson tales in that it has first-person narration. I was a little wary of doing this since I didn't want it to come off like a bargain basement clone of Frank Miller. A lot of comics began doing first-person narrative after Miller's run with Daredevil and Batman. And, well, most of it is a lame attempt to emulate Frank Miller's fondness for Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane.

But no, I'm reasonably convinced that Ridley sounds like something different in this monologue. I wanted to project the character's studious nature and mild pessimism. I think that puts it in a different court than hardboiled crime noir, which is something that I already lampooned in these pages.
I did a bit of research into boxing while I was composing this storyline. I only used a tiny amount of the facts I discovered, but I think it's enough to make this comic book story at least somewhat believable.