I jettisoned the idea of the main characters using cars in the chase, in favour of motor-bikes. This avoided having to take interior shots of the drivers faces through window screens or shots looking up towards the driver and so on. I did though build the interior of a police car for a some shots of the pursuing police officers. (The interior of the car was based on a design built by a lady called Astrid on an official Lego video I watched).

For the chase itself I didn’t want it to be page after page of vehicles screaming around, I also wanted the chase to be viewed from another viewpoint. In this case the Police Control Room where the police chase is being co-ordinated. This idea came from the British film Robbery, directed by Peter Yates, (who also directed Bullit), where the robbers are pursued by the police after a diamond robbery. (The main robbery of the film was based on the Great Train Robbery, back in the 1960's. The robbery of a post office train is very famous here in the UK). The chase itself cuts between the robbers, pursing police cars and motor-bikes and the police control room. Great stuff and a fantastic film. (I made use of one passage from the film, (although slightly amended), where my police controller says, “Bravo’s 1 and 2 are now in bike to bike contact with the robbers. Can any other units assist?”

I’m also a fan of the Bullit chase, my favourite part being the prelude to the actual chase, where McQueen turns the tables on the Mafia hitmen and starts following them.

I was trying to write this story as a two tier story that is, two panels per page, with events unfolding in the Police Control room in one panel and the chase itself in the second panel. The reader could then have read the story three ways, a) reading all of top panels first then b) reading all of the bottom panels in one go and c) reading the comic in the conventional manner that is, the top and then the bottom panel. The story didn’t quite work out like that. This is probably advanced comic writing and I’m still only taking baby steps.

If you’ve read the story first (as opposed to reading these notes first), you’ll be aware that the chase isn’t a case of The Guard chasing a robber. I suppose this story proves that even the heroes can have rushes of blood to the head and can get caught up in the moment.

The last page of the story has a couple of in-jokes, which may not be apparent if you’re not a Lego fan. The first one is of the mini-figure ‘swallowed’ by a shark. Lego release two or three series of individual themed mini-figures every year. One of the themes is a mini-figure dressed in an animal costume with an appropriate name. So for example, Pig Guy or in this instance, Shark Guy.

The second in-joke (and if you’re not a member of the British run Brickish Association, some readers might not see the connection), is that the Association gave away an Association mini-figure this year. Unfortunately, on quite a lot of the figures sent out, a spilt had developed on the side of the truck where the arms are pushed in. Hence the joke about the character splitting his sides. (Well, I thought it was funny)!

This story also introduces a new character, the new editor of the Yorkton Mercury, S. Lander. Lander will be making his presence felt in future stories. I’m conscious that I am now only eighteen issues away from reaching issue fifty.

This series is a challenge to myself to try and produce a comic series of not just individual stories, but also to try and produce a longer story over several issues using as many different story styles as I can. I’m now starting the run-in towards the landmark fiftieth issue. Work is already underway and I’ve got the spreadsheets to prove it! Whether I can achieve the stories I have in mind, which will see the Guard’s world change, new characters introduced, established characters change and die we shall see…

Finally, feel free to hum any suitable chase style music whilst reading this story if you so wish.

Green Lion Comics, story and characters © Adrian Banfield, 2016.