In coming up with strips and arcs for the Summer, I had a few that involved a kid... Rather than introduce a new kid to the cast, I decided to use Francis' son, Karl. So we'll be seeing more of him in the weeks and months to come. I like having Lyn without John. Not that I don't like them together, I just like having her be able to develop as more than just the girlfriend. It helps that she's Jack's sister so I have another group of characters for her to easily interact with. As it has been with a few recent strips, I also had to come up with where to place this strip. I didn't want it to be in the apartment since it involved smoking and John doesn't smoke. I also couldn't place it in a restaurant since most are non-smoking now. There was the possibility of the bar, but Karl shouldn't be in a bar. So outside it was. I then had to figure out something to have them do that wasn't just sitting around. Fireworks came to mind and I loved doing the lighting/effects.