The things I do for you people… :)

Confidentially, I really liked drawing this strip. Graphite on paper is still my favorite medium so far; I love trying to wring expression from pencil drawings. Now if only I could have started about a week earlier…*zonk*

As for the Eastland, it really did tip over while still tied to the dock, on July 24, 1915. It’s one of those fascinating, yet dreadful tales, amplified by how easily it could have been avoided. The ship had a reputation for listing at unhealthy angles, even causing an earlier accident. After the disaster, bodies were lain out at the 2nd Regiment Armory (different building, but still in Harpo Studio’s current spot) by the hundreds, waiting for distant family members to claim them. Not a pretty sight.

For more info on the doomed steamer, the Eastland Memorial Society has a good recap of the whole tale, as well as some passenger data (ignore its pleas to install Java, it’s not worth it if you don’t have it already); the Library of Congress has some great – if potentially disturbing – images taken from the Chicago Daily News. For entire newspapers following the accident, the Chicago Public Library has scanned clippings of the Chicago Examiner available online from 7/25 to 7/31. Dynamite stuff!