the city but without trying to be gritty/edgy, or overly glamorized...Something kind of everyday but a bit quirky and fun." In an early conception of the story, all characters wore school uniforms. The names of the protagonists were selected arbitrarily, but their birthdates were meant to be somewhat methodical. The first chapter of Volume 1 was previewed in a 2005 edition of Tokyopop's quarterly Manga magazine (then known as Takuhai). A live presentation of the same chapter is also available through Tokyopop's Manga Online feature, Mangapods, though Quick herself denies being part of the project due to lack of communication. Production Off Beat is hand-drawn by Quick on Bristol paper with mechanical pencil, micron pens, India ink and brush. Initially, toning was done by hand, but issues with moiré led Quick to screentone using Adobe Photoshop, with each page checked by her editor in light of persistent problems. While freelancing for Central Park Media, she found lettering with Adobe Illustrator frustrating, and opted to have Tokyopop's Vanessa Satone oversee the process for Off Beat instead. Themes and structure Much of Off Beats tone is derived from its relation to urban culture. The fictional version of New York City that Quick has constructed is incredibly rich in detail, with attention to minuscule factors such as street addresses and subway/bus commute schedules. Often, the establishing shots of a scene will concentrate on landscape to capture in essence how a given area affects or portrays characters within that scene. Examples include shots of busy traffic and corner stores, Tory's messy room, and a dilapidated park. References are made to such problems as gang warfare, counterfeiting, illegal immigration, arms dealing, and terrorism in the form of bomb threats. Conspiracy theory and hacker subculture are also subjects that are explored. Editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl has commented:"It features a spot-on, great depiction of New York. Everything Fake does wrong with setting, this does right. The location sets a brilliant backdrop for a really great story with a smart Walter Mitty twist, and cute guys to boot! It's truly manga with an American sensibility. The character designs are unique and appealing, the romance is sweet and understated, and it actually looks like Queens, which makes me really happy." Off Beat is divided into chapters. Each volume is made up of six cumulative chapters (i.e. Chapter 6 carries over from Volume 1 into Chapter 7 at the beginning of