One day, I was looking for some gift-wrapping paper and I noticed that there were a number of designs built from squares, placed in a rectangular grid.

Having read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, I immediately recognised that it was an example of visual images juxtaposed in deliberate sequence - i.e. a comic by his definition.

OK, it wasn't a very interesing comic: there were only a few different panels, repeated indefinitely down and across the page and all were abstract designs, not illustrations. However, it was easy to imagine sheets of gift-wrap paper containing actual stories.

Not knowing anything about the wrapping-paper industry, I didn't take the idea any further but remembered it when I started thinking about doing the Space Babe comic. Initially I intended to make the pages be like fragments of the wrapping-paper - they would be grids of square panels, maybe 7 across. That would suit the first part of the story I was working on ( some of the stuff that will be in issue 3 ), however I quickly realised that:

• It probably wouldn't suit all the rest of the story.
• maybe the panels would be too small.
• I'd have to do far too much drawing.

I also hoped it would give the comic a "relentless" feeling and suit the abstract ( OK, cartoony ) nature of the artwork.

....and besides, if I'd tried to do use a more "usual" approach, I would probably have spent so long worrying about layouts, I'd never have had the confidence to get past the first few pages.