So, as I've been struggling with myself to continue working on Ellie Connelly, so I can actually start putting up some comics on the site, I've been finding myself getting bogged down in historical details. This is the first time I've done a period piece, and I just can't seem to let myself slide on what I would normally consider small details.

For example, on page 8 (the current page-in-progress) there's a very brief, one-panel shot of the exterior of Ellie's home in New York City. In 1892. Wanting to keep a level of historical realism in this story, I've been finding myself researching a lot about Irish immigrants and different neighborhoods in NYC at that time. I've learned that there were a lot of Irish living in Greenwich Village in the 1890s, and I know there are a lot of good rowhouses there (since I decided to put Ellie in NY, I wanted her to live in a brownstone, or a rowhouse, or something like that). But then I started letting myself get all wrapped up in WHICH house? Like, I needed to find the street she may have lived on, and the right style of house - one with nice architectural detail, but not too much to draw.

All for one panel.

And now that I think I've found the house, I'm stuck thinking about the interior, how the house is laid out, where the doors are, that sort of thing. And it got me wondering, am I the only cartoonist I know who worries about that stuff? And, how important IS the historical realism? I mean, if it's getting in the way of me telling the story, should it really matter?

I know that a lot of filmmakers go to extensive lengths to reproduce time periods for their movies, and they have to actually MAKE the stuff, a lot of the time. Is it too much to ask that we cartoonists do the same kind of research?

And I also have to keep in mind that, though only a very small part of this book even takes place in NYC, it is hopefully only the first such story, and that subsequent adventures will show more of the city, of Ellie's home, and her neighborhood, so I think these are important things to think about, even if I'm not going to be using it all right now.

It's not much of an issue with contemporary settings - you can look at most any magazine or movie to see what people are wearing. But if you're setting a story in a particular city, how extensively do you research the city, the neighborhoods? How much photo reference do you use?

I guess I should consider myself lucky that the house I have in mind is still standing, and I could go take pictures of it if I were anywhere near NYC...

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