comics

Lichtenstein was inspired by a DC Comic series' cover that presented a young woman in despair surrounded by furious waves while her boyfriend clings onto a nearby boat as he steadily observes the horrific event.
Chose name "Brad" to replace original boyfriend name which was "Mel." The reason for this was because Lichtenstein claimed that the name "Brad" was a more heroic name and was appropriate for the action displayed on the cover.
Underlying meaning= conveyed the young woman literally drowning in her own emotions & implying that a "Brad" might have broken her heart and thus, not wanting him to come to her rescue.
Symbolized the agony, anxiety, and miserableness a woman goes through in hardships.

When asked about his artwork, Lichtenstein remarked, "I remember being concerned with the idea of doing two almost separate paintings having little hint of compositional connection, and each having slightly separate stylistic character. Of course there is the humorous connection of one panel shooting the other."
Lichtenstein's version of the artwork makes the artwork even more compelling by its dominant feature being the enemy aircraft's explosion.

The original artwork was from a DC Comic book that featured a fighter aircraft firing a rocket to its enemy target, watching it explode with a huge "WHAAM!"
Lichtenstein took the original one panel artwork and transformed it into two panels that placed a different focus on the main theme. In the original artwork, the fighter jet is the prominent feature of the picture with its firing rocket. Whereas, in Lichtenstein's artwork, he creates two panels, so that one side would be the cause (the fighter jet firing its rocket) & the other side the effect (the BIG explosion of the enemy aircraft)

Lichtenstein