writer: Sam Costello
artist: David Brame
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Writing comics isn’t easy for me. It often takes months—or more—from the spark of an idea to finished comic, with lots of false starts and dead ends along the way. That’s the way it usually works, at least. In the case of Quants, things fell into place faster. Much faster. Like, in an afternoon.
I was sitting in a restaurant, eating and listening to the three guys—mid-to-late 20s, probably working in financial services or sales—talk. They were discussing college, getting drunk, women. And one of described the women they had met on vacation as “only 6s here.” Or something very close to that. I don’t remember the exact words, but I do remember the disdain in his voice and my surprise at the idea that one person might even today reduce another’s value to a number assigned to their appearance.
It seemed so callous, insensitive, and unreflective. It made me angry. I got back to the office and an idea was born. By the end of my train ride home after work, I had a first draft of Quants.