PANDORA'S BOX
ISSUE 1 - A FIGHTING CHANCE (26 Pages)
PAGE ONE (seven panels) Panel 1. All of these page layouts are suggestive. As you are probably more visually inclined than I am, please do whatever you think looks best. Now then, this first page is one full panel with four very small talking head panels running vertically on the left hand side and two running horizontally from the bottom most one - making six total. The main panel image is of an action figure that has taken a lot of damage. It is lying pretty limply on its back, slightly on its side. Its left arm is laying limp at a slight angle from its side. The other arm is behind the body where we can’t see it. Its legs are together and bent. The paint has been rubbed off in a number of places, but the Vigil symbol is still visible on its chest. Its head is falling back at an unnatural angle, and its face has been nearly rubbed off, with only a slight resemblance to a human face left. The angle of the figure should be slightly on its side, facing us, and running vertically, so its legs are at the bottom of the panel and its head is at the top of the page. This figure is lying on a dirty shag green carpet. In the background are legs for a TV stand. Nearby that is a shoebox filled with action figures. None are really important, so you don’t have to go into too much detail on them, just suggest that this is where the main figure came from. Maybe, depending on how much you want to show, have a Cherry Bomb one and one of Ward from his superhero days. Make it so the cover of the box is almost closed on them. Also leave enough room for the title at the top. CAP: WHEN I REMEMBER THE END OF MY CHILDHOOD, I PICTURE THAT TOY. PLAYED WITH TOO HARD, IT LAY WHERE IT HAD FALLEN TO REST UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND OF ABUSE. IT WAS A SIMPLE PLAYTHING TO ESCAPE FROM THE REAL WORLD. CAP: THE TOY’S LIMITATIONS SOON PROVED TO BE STUMBLING BLOCKS GUARDING THE RETREATING JOY. AND THE ONLY REASON I HAD KEPT IT INTO MY TEENS HAD BEEN THE NOSTALGIA OF BELIEF. CAP:OF HOPE. CAP:OH, WHAT WE WILL BELIEVE IN WHEN WE’RE YOUNG. IT’S FUNNY WHAT YOU REMEMBER AT TIMES LIKE THESE. CAP: IT WAS THE FALL OF 2008. IT HAD TO END SOMETIME. I WAS SEVENTEEN AND I WAS ABOUT TO ENTER MY SECOND LIFE. Panel 2. This is the first of the small talking head boxes. You might want to leave a little room between each of these panels for the letterer in case there isn’t room in the panels. These are all going to be scenes from a television screen, so if you want to put a small glare, or a slight reflection of the boy watching TV, go ahead. If there isn’t enough room, don’t worry about it. This first scene is of a slightly older than middle-aged man in a suit sitting behind an anchor desk. His eyes are sharp but cold. And there is no hint of human emotion on his face. Above his left shoulder is a graphic that says "Unemployment Rate". It should be very somber with a sharply dropping line graph behind it. TV: IT WAS ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HAS JUMPED TO THE HIGHEST THE RATE HAS BEEN SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION. ANALYSTS PREDICT THAT THE SLUMP WILL PERSIST UNTIL THERE IS A LARGE INVESTMENT IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE. Panel 3. The second of the talking-head boxes shows a crowd rioting in a park. If you remember the Seattle or Washington protests recently, make it look something like that. Show a number of protestors, probably two men and a woman. The woman should be angry and mouth wide from shouting. One of the men should be holding a placard saying "Government for the people, not above the people!" And should be being shoved back by a couple of police officers in riot gear. The last man should be in extreme closeup and throwing a brick. There should be a crowd in the background, along with plenty of cops pushing against the protestors. TV: IN RELATED NEWS, A DISTURBANCE BROKE OUT IN METRO CITY’S SULLIVAN PARK TODAY AFTER THE ANNOUNCED LAYOFFS AT CAPITAL INC.’S MANUFACTURING PLANT. TWELVE PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED AND ONLY MINOR INJURIES WERE REPORTED. Panel 4. The third of the talking head shots should show a man behind a microphone and in front of a banner that says "Johnson in 2008!". The man is seemingly easy of demeanor, with quick intelligent eyes, a haughty air, and something else. Something should suggest in his eyes and the hungry smile that there is something dark underneath this appearance. This man is more than he appears. He is an elder statesman, with an appearance like Orrin Hatch, the senator and former presidential candidate. TV:PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE SENATOR MATTHEW JOHNSON MADE REFERENCE TO THE DISTURBANCE TODAY. JOHNSON:THIS CIVIL UNREST SHOWS HOW OUT OF TOUCH AND INEFFECTIVE PRESIDENT PELL IS. HE HAS YET TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE ECONOMY IS IN A DEPRESSION. IN THIS TIME OF GREAT NEED WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE PEOPLE... Panel 5. Switch back to the anchor. The graphic is now over his other shoulder. It should be a big bold red graphic that says "Crime Rate Rises". TV: CIVIL DISTURBANCE HIGHLIGHTS THE INCREASE IN URBAN CRIME SINCE THE STOCK MARKET CRASH OF LAST YEAR. IF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS PERSIST, IT IS PREDICTED THAT A CIVIL DISTURBANCE WILL BREAK OUT IN EVERY MAJOR CITY BEFORE THE NOVEMBER ELECTION. AND NOW THESE MESSAGES… Panel 6. Show a completely steel background, but not shiny steel. This should be rough, streaked with steel wool, solid steel. If you’ve ever seen the Built Ford Tough commercials, it should look like that. There should be a small black strip on the bottom. The steel should be divided into three horizontal strips. Divide the sections by strips of rivets. This is a man’s commercial. There should be words written in fire burning through the steel. In the top strip it should say "Crimson". In the middle it should say "vs.". In the bottom it should say "Mastiff". TV: LIVE TONIGHT ON ABN… Panel 7. Switch to a different anchor’s desk. This one should be more modern and flashy, like ESPN. There’s a flashy extreme logo on the front. Maybe use lightning strikes to spell the words, or electricity, or something like that. It should say, "Fight Center". At the desk is sitting a young blonde man. His suit is very stylish and his perfect hair poofs like a hood ornament. His eyes are very smug, as is his smile. Over his right shoulder is a graphic of the Vigil logo with "Attacked!" written across it in red. TV: THIS JUST IN. LEGENDARY SUPERHERO VIGIL HAS BEEN ATTACKED AT HIS DOWNTOWN RESIDENCE. HIS ASSAILANT REMAINS UNIDENTIFIED. ABN, THE EXCLUSIVE NETWORK FOR VIGIL BROADCASTING, TAKES YOU LIVE VIA A TEN-SECOND TAPE DELAY TO THE FIGHT SCENE. PAGE TWO (one panel). Panel 1. This is just going to be a big splash page. Essentially, this scene is us looking over the head of a kid on the floor in front of a TV showing the fight. So let’s start out and work our way in. The kid is about seventeen, so he should be that almost-man height, but without any of the bulk. Also, his hair is short-cropped and sort of spiky. Nothing like Bart Simpson or the Sex Pistols, just short and clean. His clothes should not fit him very well. He should probably be wearing a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up and too big pants, tied off at the waist by a belt. The kid’s obviously poor. He’s not Great Depression, dirt poor, but there should be an obvious poor quality to his looks. So make sure the clothes look a little aged. On the floor we should see the box of toys. The kid is just beginning to open the box as he stares at the television screen. The TV screen should take up most of the panel. On the screen are two superheroes. I guess now is as good a time as any to get into the looks of Vigil. Underneath his armor is a black body suit. This should be tight, but strong looking stuff, maybe like a wetsuit. He’s wearing black work boots, that go directly into his armor. Now for his armor, I’m thinking something very utilitarian. Maybe like the plate armor of the colonial marines in Aliens, or something like a stegosaurus. It should be plate like. But it would be great to make it also suggest a military uniform. He wears this outfit like a uniform, like a suit of armor of olden times. It represents everything he stands for. Strength without any unnecessary crap. And he’s got a very rational, logical black and white way of looking at things, even if no one shares his logic. So it has to have very clean lines. Alright, getting back. Have the shin armor come up to cover his knees. His thighs should be covered by the black bodysuit. The groin and torso area should be covered by armor. The best I can think of is something like a metal plated loin cloth, but I’m going to leave that to you to come up with something visually appealing. The midsection and torso should probably be covered by the plate armor, as well as the shoulders. Maybe cover the forearm and wrist and give him fingerless gloves. As far as his head, I’m thinking a half helmet that covers his eyes and ears. And I’ve always been a big fan of the attenae from the earpieces like they do in Japanese animation, so maybe consider that. Probably let his short but full head of silver hair show above the visor thing. I’m thinking the armor should be a hunter green or a dark red. On his chest plate should be the Vigil symbol. I like the idea of an orange, tinged with gold, flame. Now I’m thinking it should be stylized like Vigil would think of it. It has to be strong and militaristic, but also something simple and clean. Maybe Art Deco? If we can incorporate some of that, it would probably work pretty well. Basically what I’m thinking is three pointy trapezoids, two smaller on the outside, and a tall one in the middle. Inside each should be a smaller gold version of each. Anyway, that’s just my idea. See what you can come up with. Now then, getting back to the scene. He should be leaping toward the other guy from a few feet to the right of the armchair. Now the armchair is exploding because the other guy is shooting an energy beam at it. This guy is in control but he’s also surprised because he’s hitting the armchair and not Vigil, who is jumping at him. See page 20 for a complete and exact description of the room layout. (Sorry, as you’ll see later, the room layout is very important.) I don’t have a clear vision of what the badguy should look like, so feel free to come up with anything that you think looks cool. I’ll just make some suggestions that you can incorporate into the design. I think a dark blue body suit is a good place to start. Also large yellow current wires should be running all over his body. Maybe have some sort of neon blue with yellow trim energy ball as a symbol on the front of his outfit. Have a full mask on this guy. Maybe have a dark glass visor (kind of like Ken Griffey Jr.’s sunglasses on steroids) over the hood, so his entire face is hidden. I also like the idea of large black rubber gloves and boots. That kind of goes along with the idea of him as an electrical energy source, and so the energy jumps from him to get to ground. Whatever you come up with will probably work much better. The badguy is standing in the door. He should be on the upper right part of the screen. Have Vigil down and to the left with the chair to the far left. Vigil should be leaping toward the bad guy. The view point (just to give you an idea of perspective) is in the air looking down at these two at a slight angle (i.e. it is probably seven to eight feet in the air). Also, if there’s room, put a small little ABN (take off from ABC) symbol in the right-hand corner. CAP: IT STARTED ON JULY 23. I WAS SITTING IN MY MOM’S LITTLE APARTMENT WATCHING TV WHEN I SAW HIM. CAP: VIGIL CAP:HE WASN’T LIKE THE OTHER SUPERHEROES. HE WASN’T JUST FLASH; HE WAS SOLID. HE REALLY FOUGHT HIS FIGHTS, UNLIKE MOST OF THE OTHER SUPERHEROES THEN. CAP:HE WAS THE ORIGINAL MASKED VIGILANTE FROM WAY BACK DURING THE VIETNAM THING. FIGHTING EVIL VILLAINS AND STREET CRIME WHILE AVOIDING THE POLICE. CAP:BUT BY THE LATE SIXTIES THAT ALL CHANGED. HIS MESSAGE GOT OUT AND A WHOLE GENERATION OF MASKED VIGILANTES SPRANG UP AND EVENTUALLY BECAME LEGIT. ALL DURING THE 70’S AND 80’S HE WORKED TO FORM THE CAPERS GUILD AND TURNED IT INTO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL UNION. CAP:IN THE EARLY 90'S HE ANNOUNCED HE WAS STEPPING DOWN FROM THE PRESIDENCY OF THE GUILD AND RETURNED TO VIGILANTE WORK RIGHT HERE IN METRO CITY. RIGHT IN MY HOMETOWN. CAP:HE BECAME THE SOUL OF THE CITY, KIND OF LIKE THE WAY THE RED SOX ARE THE SOUL OF BOSTON, OR THE PACKERS ARE THE SOUL OF GREEN BAY. HE WAS OUR STRENGTH, OUR PERSEVERANCE. HE WAS US. PAGE THREE (four panels). Panel 1. The first panel is a square with each side being about half of the vertical side. In this panel show a facial reaction to what the kid is seeing. I guess this is a good time to describe him. He’s seventeen, thin and gawky, but not overly so. It’s obvious he doesn’t work out, but at the same time he’s not Kate Moss thin. He’s got large brown eyes that convey everything he’s thinking. In this case, he’s conveying shock mixed with excitement, and a slight bit of fear combined with a slight bit of daring. There’s sheer schoolboy moxie in there. The eyes are active; busy but not wild. The mouth is slightly agape. He’s got thin lips and a fair sized nose. His face should be somewhat long vertically. He’s neither attractive nor unattractive. He should seem ordinary. I’m going for average Joe Q. Highschool here. Let’s make this shot real tight. Only show the beginning of the hairline down to just below the chin. CAP: IN MY IMAGINATION, I WAS ALWAYS HIM. IN A WAY, IT WAS ME ON THAT SCREEN. Panel 2. This panel should take up the rest of the upper half of the page. Here we’re looking straight through a door jam leading from the living room out. The doorway should create the panel frame for us. The walls should have old white paint that is peeling a good bit. Don’t go overboard. We want to suggest poor, not destitution. Within the panel show the back of the boy running towards the front door straight ahead. To the left we can see a mattress on the floor of a small bedroom. The sheets are in a small disarray from not being made that day. Also if you can indicate some sweat stains it will help instill the idea of it being summer in the city. To the right show a little into a small kitchen. There show the briefest of outlines of the side of a woman standing in the doorway. To the left of that outline of her left side, show a range, table and refrigerator as best you can. Same thing as with the doorjam, suggest poor. Maybe make them look well used. MOM: MARK, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? CAP: I REMEMBER THAT DAY SO CLEARLY. THE FIGHT ON TV… Panel 3. This next panel is half of the bottom half, divided horizontally. To the far right of this panel show the outer door opened inward. Show Mark running by. But only show him at about waist level, so you can see from about mid chest down to just about the bottom of the stomach. He’s running out the door. He should take up the center to the central right of the panel. The left part of the panel should be a side table with a bunch of envelopes. Show bills, electric, water, taxes, credit card, all sorts of bills. Not a terribly big pile. Maybe five to seven of them. And have one say "Payment past due," and another say "Final notice!" MARK: I’M GOING OUT. I’LL BE BACK LATER. CAP: MOM’S CHEAP LITTLE APARTMENT… Panel 4. The final panel shows the view of looking at the back of Mom’s head while she looks out the kitchen window. The back of her head should be to the far right of the panel. The window should take up the rest. She has long tan hair that is slightly frizzled. I mean it’s your normal, dealing with a kid, a job, and a deadbeat dad, sort of hair. She’s got better things to worry about. She’s wearing a light flowered housedress, with the straps over her shoulders. Out the window we can see Mark running down the sidewalk directly away from the window. He’s running past a small building on the right with a couple sitting out on the stoop, making out. On the opposite side of the street (the far left of the panel) are more buildings. Show a fat old man putting a sack of garbage out on the corner with a bunch of other garbage cans. He should be wearing a stained undershirt and shorts. He should be scowling. Maybe show some little kids playing on the street that runs horizontally in front of the window (which Mark has already crossed to run down the perpendicular street). Basically, create a scene of summer in the city in a not very good neighborhood. MOM: OKAY, BUT DON’T BE GONE FOR LONG. CAP: AND HER LAST WORDS… CAP: BUT I CAN NEVER REMEMBER HER FACE. CAP: SOMETIMES I THINK I SEE HER IN MY DREAMS. IT’S MORE OF A FEELING THAN A VISION. BUT SHE NEVER SAYS ANYTHING TO ME. PAGE FOUR (five panels). Panel 1. Divide the page into four horizontal strips. Divide the top one in half vertically. There are two panels. This first panel is Mark looking left at a city scene while he is running. This is your classic unemployment scene. Show an unemployment office storefront to the right with a long line of healthy-looking men and women standing in a line. Some should be looking at newspapers. Some should be talking to each other. But have one grown, solid-looking man stand out in some way. He should just look completely shell-shocked, on the verge of tears, and losing the fight. He has all these feelings going on under the surface that he can’t put into words, so he is standing there losing it and not even able to understand why. All the built up rage and desperation want to come out, but he can’t direct it at what he hates, because it is so intangible. Have the rest of the people conveniently not looking at, or even acknowledging this man. They all know how he feels, but can’t do anything for him. They’re just this side of not losing it themselves. There should be a healthy dose of desperation in their faces and the way they’re standing, just slightly hunched over. And the people talking to each other should be trying to act friendly, but no one is smiling. CAP: IT WAS A WEIRD TIME, WITH ALL THOSE PEOPLE OUT OF WORK. THE INTERNET-HEAVY STOCK MARKET CRASHED, LEAVING PEOPLE WONDERING WHERE ALL THAT MONEY WENT. CAP: LITTLE DID THEY REALIZE THERE NEVER WAS ANY. BUT EXPLAIN THAT TO THE GUY IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE. Panel 2. This panel is of Mark looking to the right. Here are three children digging through the trash. Have two young boys and one little girl. The tallest boy is a little over four feet tall, with thin blond hair. He’s holding an aluminum can over the little girl’s head, as he taunts her with it and moves to hand it to the other boy. The little girl is jumping for the can but is missing by a good foot. She’s very little, maybe five or six years old. She has long curly brown hair and a scowl on her pudgy little face. The other boy is delighting in the girl’s torment as he reaches for the can. He’s wearing an old baseball cap backwards, just revealing his brown bushy hair. He’s very thin, sickly so. But his shallow eyes still show a simple joy in the game. CAP: THEY SAY THAT IGNORANCE IS BLISS. IF THERE WAS BLISS, IT WAS MERCIFULLY FOR THE CHILDREN, WHO KNEW THEY WERE POOR, BUT DIDN’T KNOW LIFE COULD BE ANYTHING ELSE. CAP: THEY KNEW THAT TO SURVIVE WAS TO IGNORE WHAT CAME BEFORE AND PERSEVERE WITH WHAT YOU HAD. NO MATTER HOW HOPELESS IT SEEMED. Panel 3. Okay, the rest of the page is one panel. However, like Page One, this panel will have two smaller panels running vertically inside it, on the right side. This panel shows Mark running toward us on the street. His excitement should show in his face and his stride. On the sidewalk and back to the left show a lady cop coming out of a coffee shop. She is in her mid-thirty’s, has bright red hair pulled under her hat, a thin Veronica (of Archie and Veronica) small nose, pretty lips, and experienced eyes. They’re intelligent, but hopeful eyes. She has a very Irish look to her, as seen in the freckles that cover her dimpled cheeks. She’s a very attractive woman. She’s yelling after Mark. CAP:I GUESS THAT EXPLAINS ME. ANN: HEY MARK! SLOW DOWN OR I'LL HAVE TO BUST YOU FOR SPEEDING. CAP:OFFICER ANN VAUGHAN WAS BEST DESCRIBED BY THE TERM, IRISH RED. THIRTY-FIVE AND STILL WALKING THE BEAT. EVERYTHING BUT HER ANGER SHOULD HAVE HAD HER PROMOTED. MARK: I CAN'T! VIGIL'S FIGHTING! I’LL TALK TO YOU LATER! CAP: I WOULD END UP TALKING TO HER LATER. SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER SEEMED TO CARE WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH ME. EVER SINCE SHE BUSTED MY DAD ON B&E, SHE HAD TAKEN AN INTEREST IN ME. CAP: THE GUYS OCCASIONALLY MADE FUN OF ME FOR HANGING WITH A COP, BUT IT'S HARD TO ARGUE WITH HAVING A FRIEND WHO HAS A GUN ON HER HIP. ESPECIALLY IN DOWNTOWN. Panel 4. This is one of the small internal panels. This one should show a director’s room in a studio. There should be a bunch of monitors on the wall giving off an electron light that glares off of everyone’s faces. Show a director and a couple of editors talking to each other on headsets while staring intently at the screen. DIRECTOR:OKAY FOLKS, I GOT A FEELING THAT THIS ONE IS GOING TO BE EXTRA-SPECIAL. LET’S GET IT RIGHT. Panel 5. Same scene as the one before, but get really tight on the director. He should look very angry. DIRECTOR:DAMN IT! WHERE IN CHRIST’S NAME ARE MY FIGHT COMMENTATORS? PAGE FIVE (six panels). Panel 1. Divide the page into three horizontal strips. Cut the bottom most one into three vertical panels. Cut the top two down the middle. So you have four quarters made out of the top two horizontal strips. The left two quarters make one panel, while the right two quarters make two panels. This first panel is a vertical panel showing a residential building, with the perspective of looking nearly straight up from the street. It’s a pretty big building. If you ever watched Seinfeld or Mad About You, you can get a good idea of what a residential building looks like. Now I’m not sure quite how to do this, but it has to look slightly reverberating. Now not a whole lot. We don’t have Superman fighting the Hulk here, we just have a few serious energy attacks going on. SFX: THROOM CAP: IT WASN’T HARD TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO GO. THE SOUNDS OF BATTLING GODS WERE NOT A NORMAL OCCURRENCE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. Panel 2. This is a scene of Mark running up to a police barricade. We should get an idea of Mark’s motion, so he should still be a couple yards away from the cop. Let’s just see Mark’s head, his left arm, and part of his back above the lower right hand corner of the panel. The police officer, a guy in his late twenties, should be behind the barricade, and looking wary, getting ready to stop this runaway kid. Maybe have both his arms on the barricade with his back a little hunched and legs spread apart. Behind him we should just be able to see the front entrance to the building. COP: HEY KID, DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING IN HERE! THIS AREA’S RESTRICTED. Panel 3. Let’s look back up at the building. This time there’s a football-sized chunk of brick and wall hurtling down at us. Maybe show a few little fragments falling too. Again, not to tell you what to do, but it might be cool to do this scene in a Japanese animation style. Take it from the object’s perspective. Show the background whipping by while we see the chunk of wall very closely and very detailed. But do whatever works for you. SFX: CRASH Panel 4. This and the next panel make up one larger scene. Show half the barricade with the cop jumping left in this one. Also show the piece of wall falling half on the right side of this panel, and the other half a little lower and crashing into the barricade on the left side of the next panel. COP: WHOA! LOOK OUT! Panel 5. Okay, show the crashing fragment. Also, continue the barricade from the previous panel. In this one show Mark going underneath the barricade and heading toward the entrance. Maybe make a second barricade, so the fragment crashes into the left one while Mark climbs under the right one. We’d hate for the readers to think Mark was in danger. SFX: SCRASH Panel 6. This panel shows Mark climbing stairs. He’s taking the stairs three at a time, so make his motions a little extreme. Probably show this from an angle of slightly behind and to Mark’s right. Again, if you wanted to do something different, you could show it from Mark’s point of view, and show a clear central vision of the top of the stairs, and as you get out in the scene to his peripheral vision, show it kind of hazy/wavy in motion. Again, I leave that to you decide what would look better. CAP: I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT I WOULD DO. I JUST CONCENTRATED ON THE POUNDING OF MY LEGS. AND BEFORE I REALIZED IT -- PAGE SIX (six panels). Panel 1. Take the page and divide it in half horizontally. Now take the top half and cut it into two vertical strips. The left one makes one panel. Here we see the back of Mark’s head and back as he is in the lower right corner looking through a doorway and into our apartment room. Inside he sees a looming bad guy (from Page Two) in a pose of about to finish off Vigil. But he doesn’t look insane or mad or angry or anything else that you would expect from a normal villain. Instead he looks disconcerted. He looks worried, and sad, but also, this is something he knows he has to do. We have to be able to tell all of this by his body language. Vigil is on the floor and should look stunned, but determined. He knows what is coming, and is willing to accept it. We should mainly see the back of him as he lies on the ground in the left/center part of the panel. He should be pushed up on one shaky arm and maybe have an arm outstretched in front of him. In the background is a little sophisticated camera robot attached to a small helicopter rotor. On the side of it should be the ABN logo. These little robot helicopters should look very intricate and motorized in design. They shouldn’t appear clean or stylized. They are just a piece of hardware at work. CAP: -- THERE I WAS. CAP:SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT WITH THIS VILLAIN. THE VILLAIN DIDN’T ACT. HE JUST STOOD THERE, AND DIDN’T LOOK LIKE HE WANTED TO DO IT. SOMETHING DIDN’T SIT RIGHT, BUT I STOPPED THINKING. VIGIL : COME ON, FINISH IT. IF YOU CAN. BAD GUY : WHAT THE… Panel 2. Divide the other strip into two horizontal strips and you have the other two panels for the top half of the page. This top one shows Mark lunging at the bad guy. He should basically be flying in the air, more or less, arms outstretched, and legs pushing him toward the bad guy. Show the bad guy reaching to grab mark at the chest, although not actually close enough to touch him yet. The bad guy should cease to look distracted, and instead look very focused on Mark flying at him. Mark, in turn, should have a wild-eyed look of energy and fear mixing into near-hysteria. I mean, he is throwing himself into certain doom. How would you look?CAP: INSTEAD I ACTED. MARK: YAAAHHHHH! Panel 3. The bad guy is holding Mark over his head, and getting ready to hurl him like a piece of trash. He has one hand at Mark’s chest, while the other at his groin. We should just be able to see the bad guy’s arms, head and a slight bit of chest. Focus the rest of the panel showing Mark in the air. Mark should be quite panicked at this point. It’s like when Wiley Coyote is hanging in mid air and just realizes he is hanging in midair and that slight instant when he realizes how much this is going to hurt but hasn’t started to fall yet. That’s the position Mark is in. He knows he’s about to become paste. He is definitely scared, which shows through on his terrified face. Maybe give him a big open-mouthed frown. I mean, this kid’s getting tossed by a superpowered being. That doesn’t sound like much fun. The bad guy, on the other hand, seems to be putting barely any effort in tossing this kid. This is just a mild inconvenience for him. So he should seem partly distracted by the whole affair. But he’s still keeping his attention, as little of it as there is, on the boy. CAP: RATHER STUPIDLY, MY LEGS OBEYED. MARK: OH, CRAP! BAD GUY: I DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU CAME FROM, BUT I KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING. Panel 4. Divide the lower half of the page into three equal vertical strips and you have the bottom three panels. The first shows Mark crashing into a table. Now this isn’t like Chris Farley or a comedy sort of crash. This is a real crash. And this is a real table. He’s hitting the table, in a somewhat vertical position. So while the top half of his body is trying to go over the top of the table, the bottom part is trying to go under the table, with his stomach in the uncomfortable position of dealing with the table. All the wind is being expelled from his lungs at a vicious rate, so his face should properly show him expelling air. However, he’s also dealing with a great deal of pain, so he’s probably going to be wincing. Now the table is the same solid kitchen table from Page Two, so let’s keep the design the same. MARK: AAARRRGH! CAP: YOU KNOW, IN THE MOVIES THEY SHOW PEOPLE BREAKING THROUGH TABLES AND THEN GETTING UP. IT DOESN’T REALLY WORK LIKE THAT. CAP: THE TABLE DIDN’T BREAK BENEATH ME. THE PAIN TORE THROUGH ME AND I COULDN’T BREATHE. Panel 5. This has the same basic layout, but show Mark slumped on the floor. His face should be pretty calm and serene at this time. Of course, that probably has something to do with him being dosed up on adrenaline and half-unconscious. CAP: I DON’T REMEMBER MUCH FOR A WHILE AFTER THAT. ALTHOUGH, I COULD HEAR THE FIGHT RAGE ON. Panel 6. In this panel show Vigil standing up. He should feel heavy, weighted down. He’s obviously tired, but he’s still getting up. Have him down on his left knee, while he starts to stand on his right. His gaze is staring intently ahead. He should be the only one in this panel. VIGIL: ALRIGHT, THIS ENDS NOW. PAGE SEVEN (seven panels). Panel 1. Divide this page into four equal horizontal strips. The top one is the first panel. This is a shot of Vigil punching the bad guy’s face. Vigil’s arm should be taking up most of the panel, with only the bad guy’s head showing at the right most part of the panel. It should be a major blow, so make this a major impact into the bad guy’s nose. If you want to show a little blood flying, or perhaps just soaking up into the bad guy’s mask, please do. Also, maybe make Vigil’s arm somewhat blurry in motion. We’re talking about a major impact here. SFX:CRUNCH BAD GUY: UHHH… Panel 2. The second horizontal strip is another panel unto itself. This one shows Vigil holding still while bad guy circles around, shaking off the blow. Now the bad guy should seem to be in movement heading left, while the back of Vigil is on the right side of the panel. We should see from halfway up Vigil’s back to a little over his head, while we should see the bad guy up from his waist. If you want to make the background blur to give a sense of him circling, that might work. Vigil’s arms should be up like a boxer’s, while the bad guy is shaking his head a little and his body movement seems wary. He also has his arms up, but it’s only half intended to fight more, and half intended to wave Vigil back. BAD GUY:ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP. Panel 3. Okay divide the next strip in half to make two vertical panels. This is the first. This is a very close up of bad guy’s right hand. His hand is outstretched and in a fist. We should see from about a few inches back from his wrist (in the right part of the panel) to an inch or two beyond his wrapped knuckles. From his hand is coming a tremendous yellow energy blast. It should seem to be coming out of a lot of tiny little holes in his gloves, combining around his hand and forming one solid beam. BAD GUY:SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS. Panel 4. This scene shows Vigil getting the full burst of energy, tossing him to the floor. He’s definitely knocked off his feet, maybe with his head thrown backward as he falls over. His body should slightly be going limp, while he fumbles with trying to fend off the attack. Mainly, he’s just falling. SFX:SZMACK VIGIL:UHHH… Panel 5. Take the bottom strip and divide it into three vertical panels. The first is about 2/5 of the strip. Show Vigil a moment or two after getting blasted. He should be back on the floor, lying with his back on the ground. He should just start sitting up, while shaking his head. Maybe have his left hand by his head, like a guy with a headache. Also leave enough room above him for the sound effect. SFX: CRASH Panel 6. This panel should be about 1/5 of the strip. Show a broken window. Now, it’s been broken from the inside, so be careful to show a few slight fallen shards on the outside of the windowsill, on the fire escape. Make sure to remove most, but not all of the glass from the window. Maybe show a few remaining shards in one of the bottom corners and in the opposite upper corner. VIGIL: DAMMIT! Panel 7. This final panel is from Mark’s point of view, looking up from the floor. So the background is going to be the ceiling. In the foreground is Vigil’s face, looking down at us. While we can’t see his eyes, we can see a grim frown. His head should probably be in the upper part of the panel, upside down. Also show the lip of the table Mark fell on at the bottom of the panel. CAP:IN A DAZE I STARED UP AT MY HERO. IT DIDN’T FEEL REAL. AND IT DIDN’T FEEL BIG ENOUGH TO CAPTURE WHAT IT SHOULD HAVE MEANT. VIGIL: LIE STILL. LET ME SEE HOW BAD IT IS. PAGE EIGHT (nine panels). Panel 1. Divide the page into three equal horizontal strips. This first panel is 2/5 of the top strip and shows Vigil pulling up Mark’s shirt to reveal an injured stomach/torso. We should only see from Mark’s chest down to a little below his waist. His stomach should have one long, thick puffed up black and purple, mixed with some red swelling, line running across it. Have the line be at a slight angle, so it crosses one of Mark’s lower left ribs. Now, don’t go overboard. He’s not dying. It should just look pretty bad. VIGIL: THIS DOESN’T LOOK GOOD. LET’S GET YOU TO A HOSPITAL. Panel 2. This is also 2/5. Vigil moves to stand up, but Mark gets a hand on his shoulder and stops him. Vigil is moving rather distractedly. He’s got a lot on his mind, so he’s almost sleepwalking through this entire incident. But Mark has something he has to say. It is a burning desire coming deep from within, and if he doesn’t act now he’ll miss it. To a teenager, these things take on the importance of galactic proportions. So his movements are going to be dictated out of fear. The scene should have a looming Vigil standing over a lying Mark. We want to see this from Mark’s point of view. So the more bigger-than-life you can make Vigil appear, the better. So Mark’s one little hand should be reaching up to the heavens. CAP: AND THEN HE MOVED AS IF TO LEAVE. THIS WAS MY SHOT, WHAT I HAD ALWAYS DREAMT OF. I WASN’T GOING TO LOSE IT. MARK:WAIT. Panel 3. This panel takes up the rest of the top strip. The director, in his control booth is sitting on the edge of his seat, staring into the screen, intensely in the moment. His face is only a foot away from the screen, and he seems very occupied, with a glazed over look to the eyes, and jaw a little agape. We should see from just below his shoulders at a side view, so we can see how close to the screen he is. DIRECTOR: THEY’RE EATING THIS UP. MOVE IN FOR A CLOSE-UP. Panel 4. This panel is 1/5 of the second strip. Vigil, who just now seems to be focusing on Mark as a person, gives a big, warming smile. It’s the kind of smile that, if coming from your father, would warm your very being. It’s the kind of smile that speaks of respect. It’s the kind of smile that speaks of worth. It is a knowing smile. And it’s completely casual. VIGIL: DON’T WORRY. I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE. Panel 5. This panel is 2/5 of the strip. Get in very tight showing just the outside of Vigil’s and Mark’s faces. Maybe put Vigil up and to the left and Mark down and to the right. Vigil is back to only slightly looking at Mark. Something to the far right and back is distracting him. Mark is still intense about asking Vigil his question. MARK: DID I DO OKAY? VIGIL: YEAH, KID. YOU DID GREAT. I OWE YOU BIG. MARK:CAN I ASK YOU A FAVOR? Panel 6. This panel is the rest of the second strip. This scene is like the last one, but pulled out somewhat so we can see someone coming through the main door in the back upper right. This is a good time to describe Ward. Ward is our Gabriel Byrne from Usual Suspects. We’re supposed to think he’s our villain, so we can pull the rug out later. So, when you’re showing Ward, don’t hesitate to make him seem a little slimy, or shady. Just don’t go overboard. He’s wearing a dark black double-breasted suit and stylish shades. He’s in his mid-forties, but holds himself very confidently. He walks like a dancer, very lightly, but with the sureness of a tiger. Every movement has been thought through. Nothing is excessive. His hair is pulled back and damply-styled. His blond hair is never out of place. His face is sharp, like a hawk. His features are very defined. In fact, his features are suggestive of the Nazi supreme race. And his eyes, when he reveals them, are an intense blue. He’s tall, too. Over six feet. He might seem a bit angular, but he has incredible balance. If you can, show the EMT guys wheeling a stretcher behind him. It’s the sight of Ward that is distracting Vigil. Have Vigil looking directly at him in this scene. Mark is continuing as he was. VIGIL: SURE. IF IT’S IN MY POWER, I’LL DO IT. MARK: TEACH ME TO BE A SUPERHERO. Panel 7. This panel is 1/3 of the bottom strip. Back to the director. He’s losing it with excitement at this. He’s standing up, with his arms in the air victorious. His face is ecstatic. And yet, despite his surge upward, his body and face especially are still focused on the screen. This is engaging television. DIRECTOR:OH THIS KID IS ABSOLUTELY GREAT! CUT HERE FOR COMMERCIAL. C’MON VIGIL, OLD BUDDY, DON’T LET ME DOWN. Panel 8. This panel is 1/3 of the bottom strip. Cut back to Vigil. He’s finally realized what Mark just said, and what he agreed to. A look of "Oh, damn" comes across his face. Maybe have his jaw drop. Have his shoulders slump. Basically, this is not what he wanted to hear, and he’s not quite sure how to get out of it. Don’t crop too tight. We want to see his slumped shoulders. VIGIL: UHHH… Panel 9. This panel finishes off the last strip. Cut back to the same scene as in Panel 6. Although this time have Ward be much closer. He’s almost within distance of the conversation, but not quite. He should be striding forward forcefully, ready to take control. Mark should still be looking intently up at Vigil. And Vigil, in an almost wistful look, is barely returning mark’s gaze. VIGIL: WE’LL TALK ABOUT IT OKAY? VIGIL: I PROMISE WE’LL TALK ABOUT IT. NOW IT’S TIME FOR YOU TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL. PAGE NINE (nine panels) Panel 1. This page is a bit busy, so anything you can do to lighten it up would be great. Alright let’s divide this page into five horizontal strips. Divide the first one in half, so you have two panels (one on the left, and one on the right). The first panel shows Mark being moved onto a stretcher by two EMTs. Actually, have them be rolling the stretcher out of the room. So we should have the view of looking into the apartment from outside, in the hall. So we can see them wheeling Mark out, and maybe slightly turning to their left, so we can see into the apartment. And what we should just barely be able to see in the apartment is Ward talking to Vigil. Vigil looks defeated, and Ward seems peeved. Give his body language a harsh, demanding stance. Maybe have his arms out, and pounding his right hand into the palm of his left. Vigil should be looking distracted. Maybe have him standing, facing Ward, but his actual face is swerved away, looking at something else in the room. But don’t focus on these two. This should only be in the background. Focus on the EMTs and Mark. CAP: AS I WAS WHEELED OUT, I HEARD VIGIL CONFRONT THE MAN WHO HAD WALKED IN, ALTHOUGH I COULDN’T HEAR WHAT WAS SAID. Panel 2. In this second panel, show the EMTs starting to put Mark in the ambulance. There should be an EMT on the left, pushing Mark into the ambulance, right. Behind Mark we should see Ward coming down the steps rather quickly. He’s signaling to the EMTs by holding up a hand and telling them to wait. Mark is just lying there, pretty listless. WARD: HOLD UP A MINUTE GUYS. EMT: SURE THING, MR. WARD. Panel 3. Okay, this panel is made by taking the next two horizontal strips, and cut them down the middle making four parts. Take the two left ones and make one panel. For this big one, let’s get in tight on Ward talking to Mark. So let’s cut the EMTs out of this one and just show Ward standing over Mark. Like the last panel, Mark should be stretched out left to right with Ward standing behind and in the right part of the panel. Ward has taken on a salesman’s attitude. He should be cool, calm, collected. But there’s an edge there. He needs this. It takes a lot to get a guy this important excited. So there’s a definite edge there. This is really important, and he knows it, but he’s still playing it cool. Mark, on the other hand, is sitting up on his elbows to talk to Ward. He’s quite interested, but also a little on guard. But his excitement gets the better of him. WARD:HEY KID, I HEARD WHAT YOU ASKED VIGIL. I MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU WITH THAT. MARK: REALLY? WARD: I’M SORRY, I FORGOT TO INTRODUCE MYSELF. I’M STEVEN WARD, CEO OF THE CAPERS GUILD. ALL UNION ACTIVITIES GO THROUGH ME, INCLUDING RECRUITMENT. WARD: THAT’S YOU, OR IT COULD BE. YOU SHOWED SOME REAL GUTS IN THERE. BUT I NEED SOME INFORMATION BEFORE WE CAN MAKE ANY SORT OF DEAL. MARK: SURE, WHAT DO YOU NEED? Panel 4. Of the second and third horizontal strips that have been cut in half, the upper right one makes this panel. Mostly show Ward’s notebook. Depending on how much room you have, and there’s a good amount of dialog in this panel, show Mark’s head to the left. The notebook should have: "Mark Harding Apartment C, 133 Gregory Street Mom - Gladys Harding Dad - McKeon Prison" have his pen just in the process of writing the word prison. WARD: I NEED TO KNOW YOUR NAME? AND YOUR PARENTS’ NAMES AND WHERE THEY ARE? MARK: I’M MARK HARDING. I LIVE AT APARTMENT C, 133 GREGORY STREET. AND MY MOM’S NAME IS GLADYS HARDING. MY DAD’S IN MCKEON PRISON. Panel 5. The only ¼ of the two horizontal strip is actually divided into two smaller panels, one to the left, and one to the right. The first shows Ward looking up at the speaking EMT, who is off scene. Ward should be angry at being disturbed. He should definitely have a scowl on his face. Make him angry. Not too much though. He has what he needs, but this EMT guy is still being a pain. EMT: MR. WARD, WE NEED TO GET GOING. Panel 6. The other small panel shows Ward quickly reverting to his stage smile. He’s only seeming to be gracious. But it’s pretty convincing. Don’t make it look like a fake smile. This guy has been practicing the art of showing off his smile for quite some time. It should almost look natural. But something isn’t quite right. WARD: THAT’S FINE, I’VE GOT ALL I NEED. YOU GO WITH THESE PEOPLE MARK, AND I’LL GO TALK TO YOUR MOM. Panel 7. The fourth horizontal strip is its own panel. This shows the ambulance driving off taking up some of the center to the far right of the panel. In the left part of the panel is an extreme closeup of Ward’s hand, holding his notebook, down by his leg. Don’t show much above Ward’s wrist and much below the bottom of his curving fingers around the notebook. WARD: WE’LL SEE WHAT WE CAN ARRANGE. Panel 8. Okay this last horizontal strip is divided into two panels (one to right, one to left). They both have little black triangles in the corners of the panels making the panels weird stretched out octagons. These both are from Mark’s perspective. This first one is Mark looking straight up at a hospital room ceiling. We should be able to partially see an IV, and see a florescent light rectangle thing. Also see the panels on the ceiling. Basically, this isn’t a very exciting scene. CAP: AT THE HOSPITAL, I WAS GIVEN SOME SORT OF SLEEPING DRUG, WHILE THEY WORKED ON MY STOMACH. MARK: UHHHNN… Panel 9. Alright, last panel for this page. Okay, at this point Mark has sat up and is looking at a wall with a window out to a nurse’s station. There is a nurse at the desk, looking away from Mark’s direction. In the window should be the slightest of outline reflections of Mark. Be very careful with this, as I’m trying to save as much of the shock of Mark’s transformation until the next page. So, make his arms look a little more toned, a little more in shape. But this should be only the faintest of outlines. Toward the bottom of the panel show just the tippy-tops of his knees. They aren’t covered with his gown, so they’re a kind of reddish-brown coloring to them. Now, I’ll explain this more on the next page, but the muscles have to look almost normal, except for their color. They just look a little rubbery, and a little bigger. Not Jim Lee-extreme big, just a little bigger. CAP: AS I AWOKE I FELT STRANGELY NUMB, AND COULDN’T MOVE MY ARMS OR LEGS. MARK: WHAT THE… PAGE TEN (five panels) Panel 1. Take the top half of this page, and you have your first panel, sort of. This is an extreme scene, requiring extreme panel-framing. What I’m thinking is set it up like we’re looking into the room from the ceiling just a little outside of the room. That way we get a feel for the layout, and can see the door where the nurse is going to run in. Toward the top of the panel should be the hospital bed. Mark has fallen off of the bed, and his legs and arms are sprawled out, like lifeless puppet limbs. He’s barely sitting on the floor, with his back to the bed’s side, and his head lying back on the bed. He’s lying at a slight angle so his upper body is a little more right than his lower body. This is important because we’re going to insert a panel frame in this scene, to completely isolate Mark. So draw a line from the center point of the top to the center point of the right side, draw another line from that point to ¾ of the way left of the bottom, draw another line from that point to ¾ of the way up the left side, draw the last line from that point to the first point. That should create a panel completely surrounding Mark’s body. Now, I don’t know how you feel about this, but Jim Lee always used to just scribble a dark line to create the panel for any extreme scene. If you like that, let’s do that for this inner panel. If you don’t, try to use something to convey the horror of Mark’s mindset, which I’ll describe in just a second. Now then, in the lower right hand corner that we’ve made, show a nurse running through the door into the room. Okay, Mark. Mark is wearing a hospital gown. His arms and legs are changed though. Like I said before, they’re both a weird brownish-red color. As for how they should look, that’ll take a little explaining. His arms and legs have been replaced with cybernetic ones. This does not mean like Marc Silvestri’s Cyber Force, or Colossus arms. The best reference I can give you are in one of Masamune Shirow’s books. Basically, what he described are elastic, muscle-like mechanisms, that operate on a stretch/pull system. They look a lot like human muscles, just a little bigger, and made of a rubber weave material. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, I’ll try and get you the image. But the true heart of this scene is Mark’s face. He’s staring right up, which due to our angle, is virtually right at us. Maybe slightly above us, but enough so that we can get a very good idea of what is happening on his face. And what is happening is that Mark has lost all control. His humanity has just been stripped of him. His arms and legs are no longer human legs - they’re man-made mockeries of human limbs. I mean, if you want an idea of what he is feeling. Imagine being in a car accident and waking up to find out that you lost the arm you draw with. Not that it hurts. Not that it’s there but doesn’t work. But gone. No more. You’ll never draw again. That’s how Mark is feeling about the loss of his limbs. And his mental state is shattered because of it. Tears are streaming down his tightly clenched closed eyes. His mouth is open, letting out the most pitiful sound you’ve ever heard. If you’ve ever seen Born on the Fourth of July, the scene where Tom Cruise confronts his mom about the loss of the use of his legs, you’ll have a good idea of how Mark should look. Okay, if that’s not enough, let me know and I’ll describe it some more. Also, see if you can keep a copy of a good pencil sketch of this scene. What I’m thinking, is later on in the series, Mark thinks back to this scene, and rather than show a copy of the finished scene, let’s use the pencil sketch. That’ll be a good way to convey memory. I’ll describe that more later. SOUND FX: YARRGGGG…GGG…GG… CAP: WHEN I SAW WHAT THEY HAD DONE TO ME, I LET OUT A WHIMPER BELONGING TO A WHIPPED DOG. MY ARMS AND LEGS WERE GONE, REPLACED WITH MOCKERIES OF HUMAN FLESH THAT DIDN’T EVEN WORK. CAP: THE IMAGE OF A FACELESS SURGEON USING A BONE SAW TO RUPTURE MY SKIN, RIP THROUGH THE STRINGY FLESH OF MY MUSCLES, BEFORE SAWING THROUGH THICK HARD BONE HAUNTED MY EYELIDS. TWIN ALBINO NURSES WALKED AWAY CLUTCHING MY SEVERED LIMBS, LIKE SLABS OF BEEF READY TO BE GROUND TO CHUCK. CAP: GAGGING, I ORDERED MY MIND TO STOP THINKING ABOUT MY MISSING FLESH. INSTEAD, IT RETURNED WITH A NEW VISION. WITHOUT ARMS AND LEGS, MY LIFE WOULD BE FILLED WITH ASSISTED BATHROOM VISITS, CAP: ADULTS’ PITIFUL STARES, CAP: AND GIRLS’ UNCONTROLLABLE REVULSIONS. I HAD NEVER BEEN WITH A GIRL BEFORE, AND NOW I WAS CERTAIN I NEVER WOULD. I WOULD HAVE TO SETTLE FOR SOMETHING LESS. CAP: AND THROUGH MY PITY, A WORD BUBBLED TO THE SURFACE… CAP: GIMP. CAP: THAT WAS WHAT FOUND MY VOICE. NURSE: THERE, THERE. YOU’RE OKAY. NURSE: (TO BELOW THIS PANEL): GET MR. WARD NOW! TELL HIM HIS KID WOKE UP. Panel 2. The rest of this page is divided into four equal panels. The top left one is of Ward entering the room. Get tight on the door so we just see ward’s upper torso and head entering the room. He should appear flush from hurrying, so maybe have him holding onto the door jam with his left hand. Also, slightly, if you can show it behind his sunglasses, he should be wary of this conversation. Maybe show a slight grimace, while trying to pull his face up into a smile. WARD: SORRY, I MEANT TO BE HERE WHEN YOU WOKE UP. MARK: WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME? Panel 3. This top right panel should be from the perspective of the bottom of Mark’s bed looking up at him. He should be facing toward the right side of the panel where Ward is walking toward the bed. Ward has shut down his face, so he is calm. This is business for him. Mark should seem completely distraught and very confused, and at the boiling point of tears. Maybe show an IV hooked to Mark’s neck, in between them. Also show the slightest bit of the nurse walking out past Ward and out of the panel. WARD: WE GAVE YOU WHAT YOU ASKED FOR - THE CHANCE TO BE A SUPERHERO. YOU’VE NOW GOT CYBERNETIC ARMS AND LEGS, REINFORCED BONES, AND A FEW EXTRAS FOR YOUR NEW PROFESSION. MARK: BUT YOU DIDN’T ASK ME. WARD: WE DIDN’T NEED TO. WE GOT YOUR NEW GUARDIAN’S PERMISSION. MARK: NEW GUARDIAN? Panel 4. This lower left-hand panel is an extreme close-up of Ward’s face. Leave some room as this panel has a good amount of dialog. Ward should look very uninterested in this conversation. The ploy he’s trying is that if he doesn’t see this process as any big deal, he’ll give his confidence to Mark. So Ward should look like he’s just making small talk, just talking about the weather. Maybe give him a slight smile, showing his perfect teeth. WARD: YEAH. YOUR MOTHER GAVE HER PERMISSION FOR YOU TO BE LEGALLY ADOPTED BY YOUR NEW GUILD MANAGER. MARK: MOM GAVE ME UP? WARD: OH, DON’T WORRY. SHE WAS WELL COMPENSATED. AND THIS WAY, YOU WON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOUR PARENTS TRYING TO GET AT YOUR MONEY. MARK: MONEY… WARD: SURE, IF YOU KEEP THE RATINGS GOING LIKE YOU DID WITH THAT STUNT TODAY, YOU’LL SOON BE VERY INDEPENDENTLY WEALTHY. MARK: BUT, BUT, WHAT HAPPENS TO ME NOW? Panel 5. Same shot as panel 2, except this time it is Vigil walking in. He needn’t be flush, but he should still look like he’s in a hurry. He’s not in uniform. He’s an older man, maybe in his fifties or sixties, but his physical body doesn’t look a day over forty. He’s a strong, powerful man, but he hides it by hunching over a slight bit. He’s wearing a bulky shirt, maybe a turtleneck light sweater and old faded jeans. His face is what really gives away his age. He has a silver mane that flows away behind him, kind of like Lloyd Bridges’ hair. His face appears stretched taut across his skull bones. And his face is leathery like Clint Eastwood. He has a long, but bold nose, on a long, well defined face. His jaw bones are huge. His eyebrows are thick and long, pushing out his forehead. And his dark pinpoint eyes are almost scary. But there’s also a warmth to him. He’s got that rugged, thin teeth smile of Eastwood. He’s most certainly a man’s man. WARD: WELL, I GUESS WE’RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT. MARK: VIGIL… PAGE ELEVEN (seven panels) Panel 1. Okay start off by dividing this page into five horizontal strips. Take the top most strip and make two panels out of it. The left most one is maybe a third of the size of the strip. Move tighter in from the last panel on Vigil. But also show Ward moving toward him, on the way to walking out the door. So we should see Ward’s back. Vigil’s face should be angry and annoyed, and if you can suggest it slightly, a little hurt. WARD: LOOK, BRIDGES, LET’S DISCUSS THIS. OUT IN THE HALL. YOU KNOW, BUSINESS LIKE. VIGIL: FINE. Panel 2. This panel is the rest of the uppermost strip. Show this from Mark’s point of view looking out the window toward the nurse’s station. Ward should be on the right, and should be looking like he’s on the defensive. On the left is Vigil, his hand slightly outstretched in front of him, making a slight forward stabbing motion. He’s still looking pissed. Leave enough room to the right and left edges, if possible, to move in as we go down in panels. VIGIL: NOW THEN, WHAT THE… Panel 3. This panel is all of the second strip. Same scene as above, but start moving in toward the characters. Do this slowly, but surely, so that by the last panel, we’re in real tight on the two characters. In this one show Ward, putting his hand up right in front of his chest with one finger held up and his thumb slightly outstretched. He’s making a point, so let him be calm, but forceful. Vigil should be brimming over with rage, but he’s in control. WARD: BRIDGES… JOE. YOU KNOW THIS IS THE WAY WE HAVE TO DO THIS. THE KID MADE FOR GREAT NUMBERS. BETTER THAN ANYTHING IN RECENT FIGHTS. THINK ABOUT IT. WARD: CONSIDERING WHAT A MESS THE LAST ONE WAS, THIS WILL WORK MUCH BETTER. SO I GOT HIM. AND THE KID WANTED IN, SO I DID WHAT I HAD TO. VIGIL: NO, YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO. WHAT ABOUT ASKING ME? DIDN’T YOU THINK I SHOULD HAVE A SAY IN THIS? Panel 4. Tighter in. Ward has become quite calm and convincing. He’s completely rational and persuasive. He’s got a soft but motivated look on his face. Forceful, but not ordering. It’s a slightly relaxed look. Vigil’s listening passively, but his shoulders are starting to lower slightly. He’s starting to give in. He has an inquiring, listening face on. WARD: THERE WASN’T TIME. LOOK, WE BOTH KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE TOUGH. ESPECIALLY FOR PEOPLE LIKE HIM, BUT THAT’S THE WAY IT HAS TO BE. THAT’S THE NATURE OF THE GAME WE’RE PLAYING. WARD: AND, GOD HELP HIM, THE KID’LL DO PERFECTLY. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE THIS EASIER, TAKE HIM ON AS A SIDEKICK. Panel 5. Tighter in. Vigil is exploding with frustration. But it’s a controlled combustion. He already knows he’s lost, and he hates what he has to do. So really, he’s just letting out steam here, but he’s directing it at Ward. So give him a shaking fist and anger crossing his face. Ward is being passive. He knows Vigil will do what he has to, and he knows Vigil has to let that anger out before he’ll do it. So he’s remaining calm and rational. He might have both his hands relaxed, palm open in front of him. VIGIL: OH, NO YOU DON’T. YOU KNOW I WON’T DO A SIDEKICK. THAT’S ASKING TOO MUCH. WARD: WHAT ABOUT CHERRY BOMB? VIGIL: LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS. Panel 6. Take the last strip and divide it like the top one only have the third of the strip panel on the right side. The two-thirds panel should be getting tighter in from the last panel. Vigil is fuming, but his shoulders are slumped. He knows he’s lost. There’s a slight rage left in his face, combined with a sadness to his eyes and folded eyebrows. Ward is at his most calm and rational. He has both hands up and slightly outstretched to either side of him. He’s just saying what he has to say. WARD: JOE, I CAN’T MAKE YOU TAKE HIM, BUT HE’S GOING TO BE A PART OF THIS. IT’S JUST TOO GOOD. WARD: I’M ASKING YOU TO DO WHAT YOU KNOW HAS TO BE DONE. SHOW HIM THE ROPES. GIVE THE PUBLIC SOMETHING TO SEE. AND WE’LL DECIDE FROM THERE. WARD: OKAY? Panel 7. Cut back to the door angle from panel 1. Just Vigil is walking back in. There’s a definite sadness to his eyes. He hates this, but he’s putting on a slight smile for Mark’s sake. Maybe have his head slightly hangdog. VIGIL: ALRIGHT KID, IT LOOKS LIKE I’M GOING TO KEEP MY PROMISE. LET’S GET YOU OUT OF HERE. PAGE TWELVE (nine panels) Panel 1. Divide this page into three horizontal strips. On the first cut it in to three panels. The first is 1/5 of the strip. The first panel should show Mark’s shoulders and head as he’s being pushed toward the right down the hallway. To the left side of the panel we should see Vigil’s huge hands pushing him along. Mark should still look shocked, and also a little wary of the man over his shoulder. He’s scared of this man, although he is his hero. He doesn’t want to mess it up. He should also look slightly lost in thought. CAP: AS I WAS WHEELED OUT, I TRIED NOT TO THINK ABOUT THE SACRIFICE I MADE FOR THIS. LITTLE DID I KNOW ABOUT SACRIFICES. Panel 2. The next panel is 2/5 of the strip. The panel should be of Vigil picking up Mark and placing him in the seat of a small sportscar out by the curb. A wheelchair should be in the background. Vigil still has the hangdog look about him, and Mark is still shellshocked and almost expressionless. He’s virtually lost somewhere inside. MARK: WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT, BETWEEN YOU AND WARD? VIGIL: OH, THAT. VIGIL: THAT WAS ABOUT YOU. Panel 3. Another 2/5-sized panel. We’re in the car now, behind Mark’s shoulder as he looks over at Vigil driving the car. Outside the windows we should see buildings whip by, and maybe show some bums picking through a trashcan or some out of work fellows sitting on a corner. Vigil is looking straight ahead in his non-talkative face. He's simply telling it like it is. Have him concentrating on the road. Mark is barely moving his shoulder to turn and look at Vigil. MARK: WHAT ABOUT ME? DO YOU NOT WANT ME TO BE YOUR PARTNER? VIGIL: NO, NOT ABOUT THAT. IT’S JUST THAT THERE’S BEEN SOME TROUBLE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY LATELY. SURROUNDING KIDS. A POPULAR ONE GOT IN OVER HIS HEAD. Panel 4. The second strip should be divided into three panels. The first is 1/4 of the strip. We’re looking right at Mark from the windshield in front of him. He’s turned forward and is looking down, so we can’t see his eyes. His mouth is turned down, sad. MARK: OH, YEAH. MARK: THE O.D. VIGIL: YEAH, THAT. Panel 5. This panel is 1/4 of the strip. Show the car from the back, going down a ramp to an underground garage under a small apartment building. Don’t show much of the building, just enough to give us an idea that it isn’t just a house or anything. Show the sidewalks to be dirty, maybe some newspaper or a paper cup or something flapping around. NO DIALOG. Panel 6. This panel is ½ of the strip. This panel should show Mark standing up outside of Vigil’s car on the left side of the panel. The car should be behind him. And behind that and to the far right Vigil should be pushing the button for the elevator. Vigil should be looking back, pretty unconcerned, in a very open, explaining manner. Mark is surprised by his legs. He’s looking down at them almost in disbelief, but certainly in relief. His arms should be up, almost in an "I don’t know" gesture, only without the shoulder shrug. We probably can’t see much of his face as he looks down at his legs. MARK:I THINK I’M GETTING USED TO THESE LEGS! VIGIL: IT’S NOT JUST YOU ADAPTING TO THE LEGS, IT’S ALSO THE LEGS ADAPTING TO YOU. MARK: HUH? VIGIL: IT’S ALL LINKED UP INTO YOUR SPINE. Panel 7. This last strip is divided into three panels. The first is 2/5 of the strip. We’re in the elevator now. We’re where the door should be, looking in at these two guys. We should probably see from about the waist up. Mark is looking inquisitively up at Vigil, curious and interested. Vigil is staring up at the floor indicator, a little bored. VIGIL: WHEN YOU WOKE UP, THE INTERNAL COMPUTER DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WERE ASKING OF THEM, SO THEY CHOSE THE MOST LIKELY ACTION. VIGIL: NOW, SINCE THAT SENT YOU TO THE FLOOR, YOUR NEURAL CORTEX SENT NEGATIVE VIBES DOWN YOUR SPINAL COLUMN WHERE THE COMPUTER PICKED UP ON THEM. SO TRIAL AND ERROR, IT’S LEARNING FROM YOU. MARK: HMM. Panel 8. This panel is 2/5 of the strip. Do a tight up shot of Mark’s two hands stretched out in front of him. Show maybe up to his elbows. Use the description for the muscles I gave you before. His hands should look like dark skeleton bones with exposed black rubberized muscles. In the center of his palms, which are seen up with the fingers slightly curled up, are metal circles. One is in the center of each palm. They are maybe an inch in diameter, and are covered by a slim little plastic covering. If you can be very very slight about it, show Vigil’s reflection in the elevator door in front of them, looking back at Mark’s arms with a very sad and regretful look. His eyes are downcast, and he has a long face. He would never appear this way if Mark is looking, but because he knows the kid is looking elsewhere, he doesn’t have to keep his feelings hidden. MARK: WHAT ABOUT THE EXTRAS WARD TALKED ABOUT? VIGIL: WELL, SINCE THEY ARE THINGS YOUR BRAIN REALLY ISN’T PROGRAMMED TO KNOW HOW TO DO, YOU AND THE COMPUTER ARE GOING TO HAVE TO WORK IT OUT. VIGIL: IT’S LIKE THE BUDDHISTS WHO CAN SLOW THEIR HEART RATE. TO MOST, THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE. BUT THEY FOUND A WAY. Panel 9. This panel is 1/5 of the strip. Look forward at the panel above the elevator door that shows it stopping at the next to top floor (3 of 4). Below that we should see the top part of the door starting to slide open. It’s just a wall out in front of this door, so maybe show some moulding up by the ceiling and maybe the top of a framed piece of art on the wall. SOUND FX: DING. PAGE THIRTEEN (ten panels) Panel 1. Divide this page into four horizontal strips. Take the first and divide it into three equal panels. In the first show Vigil and Mark getting off the elevator and turning toward us (their right) and starting to walk down the hallway. Behind them, from our view, is a window that looks out on the city to a shabby Brooklyn sort of area. If possible, show enough for us to realize that there’s a fire escape out there. Mark is looking curious, and coming out of his funk. It’s funny what keeping your mind occupied will do for you. Vigil is back to looking bored. VIGIL:IT’S THIS WAY. Panel 2. This second panel shows Vigil at a wooden door to an apartment labeled 3c. He’s opening the lock with a key while Mark just looks on. Vigil is on the left while Mark stands behind him a little on the right. MARK: WHAT IS? Panel 3. Do a closeup of Vigil’s hand as he puts the key to the apartment in Mark’s hand. Vigil’s hand is a young, virile hand, only slightly larger than Mark’s dark mechanical hand. Maybe if you want to have some fun, play off of Michaelangelo’s painting of God’s hand meeting Adam’s. Don’t be too obvious doing it though. VIGIL: HERE. THIS IS WHERE YOU’LL BE STAYING FOR A WHILE. Panel 4. This panel should be the entire second strip. We should be looking over Mark’s shoulder and Vigil’s shoulder into the apartment. Mark should be on our right and we should just see behind his head and the tops of his shoulders. Vigil is on our left and the same as with Mark, although since he’s taller, we should see a little more of his back. In the apartment, this is what we should see. We’re standing at the center of one longer side of a rectangle. To the left is a television under a large picture window that looks out on the same shabby cityscape. Maybe show a plant beyond the tv. Straight ahead, and slightly to the left is a window like opening that opens into the kitchen. Show some cabinets and a refrigerator in there as you can. Absolutely straight ahead is a hallway leading to the back of the apartment. It’s dark down there so we can’t really tell what is down there. On the right side of the hallway at the end toward us is a door that is opened. If possible, show a desk in that room. If not, don’t worry about it. Back in the center room, on the wall to our right is a couch with a clock over it that says 8:07 on it, and a table to the extreme right. There should be a coffee table in front of the couch. If possible to our very extreme right, perpendicular to the sidetable is a cumfy chair. Do the best you can with this. The details are not very important. Just give the apartment a feeling of being nicely furnished, and neat. It’s not very lived in, though. MARK: I’M REALLY HOPING THAT COUCH IS A PULL-OUT. VIGIL: HA, NO. NO, IT’S NOT. AND YOU MISUNDERSTAND. THIS ISN’T MY PLACE. IT’S YOURS. I LIVE UPSTAIRS. MARK: BUT, THERE’S NO WAY I CAN AFFORD THIS. VIGIL: YOU WILL. A CAPER’S SALARY CAN BE QUITE LARGE. BUT YOU’LL FIND THE COST OF THIS WEALTH IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO HANDLE. Panel 5. The third strip is divided into two equal panels. The first is of the two of them standing in the kitchen. Focus on Vigil, who is on our right, as he’s talking. Show him standing by the refrigerator, with the door opened for Mark, who is standing at the left part of the panel to see in. The refrigerator should be stocked with food. Fill it in with whatever you’d like. What do you have in your refrigerator? VIGIL: THERE SHOULD BE SOME FOOD HERE. I’LL ADD YOU TO THE DELIVERY SERVICE LATER. IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, MY NUMBER IS BY THE PHONE. VIGIL: OH, YEAH, AND DON’T CALL OR TALK TO ANYONE BEFORE I TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT. Panel 6. The second panel is of the bedroom. We’re looking at Vigil, while he has a closet door open. Reverse the standing of the last panel: Mark is on the right side of the panel, while vigil is on the left with the closet door open for mark to see in. Show a various group of clothes, from a few suits down to casual clothes and sweats. VIGIL: WARD SAID THEY’D SEND OVER SOME CLOTHES FOR YOU LATER, BUT FOR NOW, THESE SHOULD FIT. VIGIL: BRENDA’LL BE DOWN FOR YOU IN ABOUT AN HOUR TO GET YOU GOING ON THE TRAINING. THAT SHOULD COVER IT. VIGIL: ANY QUESTIONS? MARK: WHO’S BRENDA? Panel 7. The bottom most strip should be divided into four equal little panels. The first is showing Vigil walking out the front door. He should be looking back, just before leaving. And he has a big natural smile on. It is the first time he really smiles. He honestly is amused by the concept that Mark might not know who Brenda is. He can’t hold himself back. We should see this scene from the back of Mark’s head and shoulders, with a slight slumping to both. VIGIL: YOU’LL KNOW HER WHEN YOU SEE HER. VIGIL: I’LL SEE YOU LATER. CAP: AND WITH THAT HE WAS GONE. Panel 8. Mark should be sitting on the couch looking lonely and sad, as well as a little bored. Over him, the clock should read 8:26. Give him a hangdog expression on his face, with his eyes lost in thought. His hands should be lying in his lap, without life to them. Don’t get too tight in. The tone will be better maintained by looking at him from a slight distance. It gives the viewer the feeling of how small and lonely he feels. NO DIALOG. Panel 9. The next panel should be the exact same scene as the last one. Now though the clock says 8:55. MARK: DAMN IT. Panel 10. The last panel should show Mark opening the closet door in the bedroom that vigil showed him. Mark should be on the left, while the door and closet are on the right. He should be reaching for something in the closet. He should still look a little sad. CAP: NOT WANTING TO THINK ANYMORE, I DECIDED IT WOULD PROBABLY BE BEST FOR ME TO GET READY FOR TRAINING. PAGE FOURTEEN (eleven panels) Panel 1. Divide this page into three horizontal strips. Take the uppermost one and cut that into three panels. The first shows Mark taking off his shirt. He’s standing in his boxer shorts pulling off his undershirt, and it is still rapped around his head, just before he’ll pull it off. He’s facing away from us, into the room. He should still have some scars from the operation pretty much along every bone in his back and up his spine. OFFSCREEN AND TO THE RIGHT: VERY NICE. Panel 2. This second panel is the same scene but now Mark is whirling around, doubled over, and pulling up his sweatpants with a very startled and embarrassed look on his face. His mouth is open in a "whoa!" Look. MARK: WHOA! OFFSCREEN AND SHOULD RUN RIGHT INTO HER TEXT ON THE NEXT PANEL: I’M SORRY. I’M USED TO BEING ABLE TO WALK IN HERE. IT’S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE HAD GUESTS. Panel 3. Alright here is the last of our major characters to be introduced. This is Brenda/Cherry Bomb. She appears to be in her early twenties. She has a very athletic, but attractive body, like that of a ballet dancer. Her long blond hair is pulled back into a ponytail, revealing a very striking face. She has a small nose, which opens up her face, and highlights her faded blue eyes. She has high cheek bones. It’s a very elegant face, but the smile throws all of that stuff out of whack. She has a devilish, cheshire cat, sort of smile. She definitely swallowed a few canaries in her time. Her smile pulls a twinkle out of her eyes, as well as a crinkle at the corner, suggesting she’s in on some joke, and maybe she’ll tell you what it is. She’s wearing a sweatshirt with short sleeves and cut off at the midriff. She’s wearing men’s mesh shorts. Her incredible legs go down to sneakers. I think you got the idea. She’s standing at the door from the hallway, leaning against the doorjam. BRENDA: I’M BRENDA. CAP: AH, BRENDA. SHE HAD THIS CHESHIRE CAT SMILE, WITH A TWINKLE IN HER EYE LIKE SNOW AT DAWN. IT WAS LIKE SHE WAS IN ON A JOKE THAT NO ONE ELSE WAS PRIVY TO. Panel 4. The first panel of the second strip is 3/10 the size of the strip. Get in real tight to Mark’s head as Brenda steps in real close in front of him and is reaching up into the closet, out of the panel. He should, and so we should, be focusing on her face and breasts. Hey, the kid’s got eyes. We should just get a slight bit of his face in view, and it should be startled and overwhelmed. Brenda doesn’t notice. CAP:SHE DROVE ME ABSOLUTELY NUTS. MARK:MARK HARDING. BRENDA: I KNOW. THAT WAS A PRETTY STUPID THING YOU DID EARLIER. Panel 5. This panel is 1/5 the size of the strip. We’re looking at Mark from her perspective now. She is handing him a white towel with her left hand, while pointing to one of his bionic arms with her right. He is taking the towel. He’s got a pained, embarrassed look. Maybe, if you can incorporate some of the pained look he had at the hospital, mix that in. But not too much. Just a dash. BRENDA: BET YOU NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD LEAD TO THIS. Panel 6. This panel is 1/5 too. Practically the same view as before. Maybe draw out a little so we can see a bit of Brenda’s reaction. Mark is quickly pulling his sweatshirt on. We can’t see his face as it is under the shirt. Brenda feels bad. She hadn’t meant to offend. But she is not the type to be too concerned about other people’s feelings, either. So show just a little sympathy. BRENDA: SORRY. STILL NOT USED TO IT, ARE YOU? Panel 7. This last panel is 3/10 too. We see Brenda walking out into the hallway to the right. We should be behind Mark as he is staring at her walking off. His posture should be a little wary or surprised. She’s back to looking confident and practically cheerful. But there’s a blade’s edge underneath. She is dangerous. The sparkle in the eyes say so. BRENDA: DON’T WORRY. THEY’LL JUST GRAFT SOME SKIN OVER THEM ONCE THEY’VE PROCESSED YOUR DNA, LIKE THEY DO FOR THE OTHER ‘BORGS. BRENDA: ANYWAY, ARE YOU READY? MARK: YEAH. Panel 8. This last strip is divided into four panels. The first is 3/10 of the page. This one shows Brenda hitting the button to call for the elevator. The elevator door should be just opening. This is to the right side of the panel. Mark should be following from the left. Mark is listening to what she is saying. She has an explaining look on her face. Maybe she’s looking a slight bit short with Mark. SOUND FX: DING BRENDA: JOE SEEMS TO THINK HIGHLY OF YOU SO I GUESS I’M STUCK BABYSITTING. MARK: JOE? BRENDA: JOE BRIDGES, A.K.A. VIGIL, A.K.A. THE VIGILANTE. THE GUY WHO BROUGHT YOU IN. Panel 9. This second panel is 1/5 the size of the strip. We should be looking in at the elevator from where the door would be. They are riding down at this point. Mark is looking at Brenda sheepishly. She’s grinning at him, with that killer smile of hers. Maybe have her eyes looking up from the sides of her eyes, almost as though it were a slight stolen glance. MARK: SORRY, HE NEVER TOLD ME HIS NAME. BRENDA: YEAH, THAT SOUNDS LIKE HIM. HE’S NOT EXACTLY THE WARM SORT Panel 10. This panel is 3/10. We’re looking from behind them as they step out of the elevator and into a huge gym. The gym is your standard gym, with some punching bags to the left, a sparing ring in the center and a target wall to the right. The target wall is made of four giant plexiglass squares, each with a quarter of a giant target circle. Don’t worry, I’ll explain more about it when I get to it. BRENDA: I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS PLACE, THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR FULL-TIME JOB FROM NOW ON. FROM SEEING YOUR PERFORMANCE THIS MORNING, IT’LL BE A SMALL MIRACLE TEACHING YOU TO FIGHT. MARK: OH, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT THAT. WITH THESE NEW LIMBS, I COULD PROBABLY KICK SOME BUTT. BRENDA: ALRIGHT. TAKE ME, IF YOU CAN. Panel 11. This last panel is a closeup of Mark as he looks in Brenda’s direction. He’s got an almost shocked look. It is like he’s heard something completely ridiculous. MARK:I’M NOT GOING TO FIGHT YOU. BRENDA: WHY? THERE’RE NO TABLES FOR ME TO TOSS YOU ONTO HERE. PAGE FIFTEEN (nine panels) Panel 1. Cut this page in half. Take the top half and 3/5 of it, on the left-hand side, will be the first panel. This is a big extreme shot of Mark lunging at Brenda. We are looking at her from the back as she stands, in a stance ready to take on the brunt of Mark’s lunge. He’s a couple feet in the air, jumping toward her, with his arms outstretched. He’s got an angry, but playful expression on. He thinks this is going to be easy. MARK:ALRIGHT, YOU SMARTASS, YOU ASKED FOR THIS! Panel 2. Make two extreme panels (I’ll leave it up to you to decide what the exact shape of them they ought to be), one on top of the other, using up the other 2/5 of the top half. The first shows an extreme closeup of Brenda grabbing one of Mark’s outstretched arms. It’s a tight grasp with both hands holding onto his arm tight. Suggest Mark’s forward movement and surprise. Just show the arms, don’t show their bodies or anything. Mark’s arms should be coming from the left and going toward Brenda’s on the right. MARK: WHOA! Panel 3. This next panel shows Brenda sending Mark crashing into the floor. She has flipped him over her back and sent him crashing behind her. Show the scene just as Mark is first hitting the floor. Show Brenda on the left hand side grounding Mark on the right. SOUND FX: WHOMP MARK: UGG BRENDA: I THINK I’LL LEAVE THE IRONY OF THE SMARTASS STATEMENT UNMENTIONED, OKAY? Panel 4. In the lower half, make two horizontal strips. In the top one, make the first panel ¼ of the strip. This panel shows Mark standing up, pretty pissed off now. Show him standing up, his back hunched over, as he has yet to straighten out. His arms are at his side, getting ready for action. Cut it off at about his mid-thigh. MARK:I’M JUST GETTING WARMED UP. Panel 5. The next two panels are both the same size and take up the rest of this strip. This first one shows Mark lunging at Brenda again. Let’s get the perspective from right behind and above Mark’s head as he rushes forward with his arms outstretched. In the center in front of him Brenda should be twisting to the right side of the panel. Maybe have the motion lines coming out toward Mark, so the only thing we can see is Mark and Brenda, with almost vertical lines wrapping around them. MARK: LET’S TRY THIS AGAIN! Panel 6. Mark tricked her. Instead of going after her shoulder, he was really lunging for her legs. Show him coming from the left, grabbing her legs, with them just starting to fall over. Maybe if there is room up top, show her arms outstretched where she expected his arms to be coming from again. BRENDA: UHNN Panel 7. Alright, this last strip is the mirror of the one above it (two equal panels that take up ¾, and one ¼ panel on the right end). The first one shows Mark and Brenda crashing to the floor, with Mark crashing on top of Brenda’s legs. She should be getting her legs into position to kick him away, though. He’s just a tumbling mess. She has an intense look of concentration, whereas, his face shows how disoriented he is. She should be more to the right side of the panel, while he should be on the left. SOUNDFX: WHOMP MARK: OOOF Panel 8. This panel is a lot like the last one, but now Mark’s been kicked away to the left and Brenda’s legs are up and bent at a right angle, ready to do that snapping thing that gets martial artists back on their feet. Her arms should be pressed against her sides, ready to push the floor to shove her body back into a standing position. BRENDA: GOOD TRY… Panel 9. This just shows her back on her feet, getting in a martial arts stance, ready to come after Mark. The look of concentration is still there, but now she has a bit of the smile back. She should be facing toward us. BRENDA: MIXING UP YOUR MOVES LIKE THAT… PAGE SIXTEEN (eight panels) Panel 1. Here’s a three-strip page. If possible, can we have no white borders on this page? That’ll make the white waves at the bottom of this page the necessary contrast to make them stand out. The first panel is 2/5 of the strip. On the left, Mark is just coming to a standing up position. He’s not ready for the attack that is coming at him. He should seem unstable, shaky. You know that in-between stage during standing up, before you really have your balance. That’s where he is at. Brenda is on the right, and is doing a low squatting swing kick to take out Mark’s right leg. We should probably get the sense of her spinning to get the momentum to take him off his feet. The scene is the exact moment of her striking him, but before he has noticed. BRENDA: BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH. MARK: UGH Panel 2. This one is also 2/5. Mark is lying on the floor. His head is to the left of the panel while his legs are to the right. Brenda is sitting on top of him with her knees on his arms. She has her arms folded on Mark’s chest and her face is inches away from his. She seems playful, like a cat, while Mark can’t believe he’s pinned. SOUND FX: WHOMP BRENDA: READY TO TAKE BACK THE SMARTASS COMMENT? BRENDA: I’D HATE TO HAVE TO PUT YOUR LIGHTS OUT, AFTER I JUST MET YOU. Panel 3. The last panel is 1/5. Let’s get in real tight on her face, from Mark’s perspective. She has that killer smile, eyes twinkling like snow at dawn, and is looking down on us like we’re nothing but a toy for her to play with. CAP: MY GOD, SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL. MARK: ALRIGHT, I GIVE. Panel 4. The first panel in this second strip is 2/5. Brenda is standing over Mark, pulling on his right arm to help him up. He’s just standing up, with his feet firmly planted, almost in a crouch. She is still smiling. His face is cold, determined - although in a sports kind of way, not the killing kind. BRENDA: GOOD, THEN WE CAN GET BACK TO… Panel 5. This panel is 1/5 of the strip, Mark has pulled down on her arm, and twisted to flip her over his back. She is caught in mid flip, going over. She is shocked that this is happening. Mark’s got a slight smile on his face now. Kind of like he’s thinking, "Now who’s on top?" Maybe focus this panel on her, looking straight forward at her face as she’s flipping, so the rest of the panel is filled with the curved lines to show her movements. MARK: HOW ABOUT IF WE DO THIS INSTEAD? BRENDA: WHA… Panel 6. This last panel should be the mirror of panel 2. Brenda should be beneath Mark, with her head toward the right of the panel and her legs to the left. She is shocked and slightly, very slightly panicked. Save the real panic for the panels to come. Mark can’t help but grin widely. MARK: SORRY, BUT I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING BETTER WE COULD DO WITH THE LIGHTS OUT. Panel 7. This strip is two panels. The first is 1/3 of the strip. Remember when I mentioned before about the pencil sketch? Here’s the first time we’re going to use one. Basically, what I want to do is get in Brenda’s head. She’s got some bad memories about men, and one of them is rearing it’s ugly head now (figuratively and literally). Here’s what I’m looking for. I want a pencil sketch of the head of a bad looking dude. I want the guy to have a very tight face, like a thin layer of skin had been shrinkwrapped over his skull. His eyes should be darkened out by shadow. He should be completely bald, but his head shouldn’t be perfectly round. Have you seen those guys with the heads, that are almost pointed, like there’s a slight ridge mohawk to their skull - that’s what I want this guy to have. Go ahead and give him a goatee. His long nose should look like it had been broken many years before. In the background, give the slightest indications of an apartment bedroom. The perspective should be from the bed looking up into the face of this guy with a turned-off light behind him. Let’s stay pretty tight on his face though. Like I said, I want this as a pencil sketch. It’ll give it the fuzziness of memory, combined with the depth and creation of imagination. If none of this is possible, do something to give it the idea of memory. CAP:SOMETHING WAS WRONG. Panel 8. Extreme closeup of her eyes. They should be filled with hate and panic and fear. Part of this woman’s past (a not very pleasant part) is flashing before her, bringing up all the repressed feelings from when she was powerless to wrest control of anything about her life from powerful, evil men. Now she’s one of the most powerful beings on the planet. All of that emotion should be ripping out of her eyes. Around her eyes should be a white shimmering, like the northern lights, waving in and out encircling her eyes. CAP: THOSE WEREN’T THE EYES I KNEW. SOUND FX: HMMMMMMM PAGE SEVENTEEN (ten panels) Panel 1. This page is three horizontal strips. The first has four equal panels here. The first shows, from Brenda’s perspective, Mark being thrown off her and straight up and away from her, toward a wall. He should look like he’s got the wind knocked out of him, and he’s flying away out of control. Surrounding the panel walls is the same shimmering white waves. Brenda has the ability to release energy from her pores. That’s what is sending Mark flying. SOUND FX: SNAZZZZZZ MARK: WAAA Panel 2. Okay, we have got to see Mark crash into the wall. He’s pretty heavy now that he’s mostly metal. He should look slightly stunned. Show him crashing back first into a wall on the right side of the panel. SOUND FX:CRASH MARK: OWWGGG Panel 3. For this panel, let’s be looking up from Mark’s perspective as Brenda is getting ready to slam her fist into Mark’s face. She should look slightly crazed, and still scared and angry and panicked. She’s going pretty wild at this point. But there are no tears. This is a lady that doesn’t cry. Let’s see just her upper body coming at us straight forward in this shot. BRENDA:YAAA! Panel 4. This last panel shows Mark’s head and Brenda’s fist poised to strike him. Mark should be looking straight at Brenda with a very helpless, innocent look. He’s a little nervous. Maybe show a little sweat running down his face. But he also honestly doesn’t understand what he did. He looks very meek. MARK: WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID? Panel 5. This is a three-panel strip. The first panel should be 1/5. Let’s look from Mark’s perspective again. Brenda is halfway standing up, holding her hand out in a calming motion. She’s kind of shaking, but not too bad, just slightly. She has a strange look on her face. She has the look of someone who is fighting something, but completely repressed. There is barely any emotion on her face except a little distraction. But you can see, by the way she can’t focus on anything in the here and now that she’s inside somewhere. BRENDA: NO. JUST… AH, FORGET ABOUT IT. Panel 6. This is also 2/5. This scene shows Brenda on the right side of the panel walking toward the big square target thing. Mark is on the left side, getting up. He is looking very confused, and a little concerned. She’s still distracted and not noticing much else. She’s pointing toward the square thing, which is further right from her. MARK: O... KAY? BRENDA: WHY DON’T WE GET YOU TRAINING ON USING YOUR SPECIAL ABILITIES. Panel 7. This third panel is 2/5. It shows Brenda pushing some buttons by the big square target thing. Mark should be standing about 10 feet away in front of the target. We should see this scene from the side, with Mark on the left and Brenda real close on the right pushing the buttons. BRENDA: STAND OVER THERE. BRENDA: ACCORDING TO WARD, YOU SHOULD HAVE TWO RETRACTABLE METAL WHIPS IN YOUR ARMS. I WANT YOU TO EXTEND ONE. MARK: HOW? Panel 8. This strip is divided into three panels as well. The first is 2/5. This is an extreme closeup of Mark’s right hand fingers as he is wiggiling them. Let’s see some whirring motors in there. I don’t know how good you are at drawing technical devices, but the more you can show, motor wise, the cooler this will look. And let’s try to make it a whole lot more complicated looking than Luke Skywalker’s hand from Empire Strikes Back. BRENDA:WELL, IT HAS TO BE INSTINCTUAL. MOVE YOUR FINGERS. JUST WIGGLE THEM. SEE HOW THAT FEELS. Panel 9. This panel is also 2/5. This one shows Mark bending his wrist while also rotating it. Basically, he looks like he’s flailing his arm around. Take this just a little bit out from the last panel. BRENDA: OKAY NOW BEND AND ROTATE YOUR WRIST. NOW, DO YOU FEEL THAT THING, LIKE A MUSCLE BETWEEN YOUR ELBOW AND YOUR WRIST? MARK: WAIT. YEAH, I DO. Panel 10. This final panel is 1/5. This one is from the perspective of about 7 feet above Mark’s head, at a slight angle away from him, so we can see his face, and maybe Brenda’s in the background. She’s still looking very serious and withdrawn. He is shocked and surprised and nearly elated at this cool thing that is happening to him. Snapping a few inches away from our vantage point should be the tail end of a tough wiry mesh covered metal wire. It should look like it is made of the same material that Mark’s muscles are made from. It should trail back like a whip to inside Mark’s right wrist. SOUND FX:SSSZZZZZ SOUND FX: SNAP MARK: WHOA! PAGE EIGHTEEN (eight panels) Panel 1. Divide this page into 4 horizontal strips. The top one is divided into two equal panels. The left one shows some room on the left and on the right the target. Mark’s whip should be coming from beyond the left side of the panel, and hitting the target on the circle, but not in the bullseye yet. Maybe hit up and to the right. Above the circle should be a strength guage. I’ll enter the text: 30lbs./sq.in. CAP: AND SO I PRACTICED. I WAS AMAZED BY WHAT I COULD DO. SOUND FX: SSSZZZZZ MARK: BRENDA, WHAT WAS THAT WHITE FLASH BEFORE? SOUND FX: SNAP BRENDA: OH, THAT’S MY POWER. Panel 2. The right panel shows the same thing except now he’s hitting the lower left hand side of the circle and the guage says: 2lbs./sq.in, which I’ll insert. SOUND FX: SSSZZZZZ BRENDA: GENE SPLICING MADE IT SO I CAN CAUSE A MASSIVE ENERGY RELEASE FROM THE PORES IN MY SKIN. SOUND FX: SNAP Panel 3. The next strip is divided into two equal panels. The first takes up half the strip and looks just like the first two, except now there is a slight yellow glow to the wire, it’s hitting in the bullseye, and the guage says: 5k volts. MARK: SO YOU’RE NOT A ‘BORG, LIKE ME? SOUND FX: SSSZZZZZ BRENDA: NOPE, ALL REAL. KIND OF… SOUNDFX: SZNAPZ Panel 4. The next panel is looking from the point of view of the target back at Mark standing to the right and Brenda standing to the left. The life she had before in her eyes is gone. There’s a quiet dread to them, and a listless frown on her face. Mark is calm, but concerned. He’s without pride. Very meek. We should see the wire whipping past us. Behind Brenda, to the right, between Brenda and mark, is a doorway that is closed. It is far back, so we should barely notice. SOUND FX: SSSZZZZZ MARK: HEY BRENDA. UM. ABOUT BEFORE… BRENDA: YEAH, WHAT OF IT? SOUND FX: SZNAPZ MARK: I JUST WANTED TO SAY I’M SORRY. Panel 5. Okay, this page description might get a little complicated. There’s essentially 4 panels for the rest of the page. This first one is a horizontal strip, about 1/3 the hight of the rest of the page. It should show Brenda’s eyes, positioned toward the left, with a slight bit of room to the right to show the door opening in the background. Her eyes are surprised, but also hungry. They sense weakness, and don’t want to miss their chance. They shouldn’t seem evil, just surprised. CAP: AT THAT SHE TURNED TO LOOK AT ME WITH THIS INQUISITIVE AND HUNGRY LOOK. Panel 6. This panel is a slight bit less than 2/3 of the bottom half. Leave about 1/5 of the bottom half in a strip across the bottom. The width is about 3/5 across. In it, continue with Brenda’s face from the previous panel. Show her cheshire cat smile, and that same hunger to it. She’s getting ready to prowl. CAP: AND I FELT LIKE I WAS THE CANARY. BRENDA: WELL, THANK YOU. Panel 7. This panel is the rest of the way 2/5 across, stopping that same 1/5 of the bottom half. Here’s Vigil, in uniform, walking in from the doorway. In his right hand he is holding a large (i.e. man’s length) piece of thick dark cloth. His hand should be just above the bottom of the panel, leaving a little of the cloth to show above the panel’s border. Show more of the cloth, extended from this panel, in the panel below this one. VIGIL: MARK, SEE IF YOU CAN GRAB THESE AND THEN GO CHANGE. YOU’VE HAD ENOUGH FUN FOR ONE DAY. NOW WE WORK. Panel 8. This small strip panel should show Mark’s wire whipping from the left side of the strip, and wrapping around the cloth on the right, like a whip. SOUND FX: SSSZZZZZ SOUND FX: SHOOP PAGE NINETEEN (ten panels) Panel 1. This page is another 3-strip page. The first is divided into three equal panels. This first one shows Mark from behind as he is just pushing open the door to a man’s bathroom. NO DIALOG. Panel 2. This second one shows Mark, in uniform standing before a sink and staring at himself in the mirror. Get in somewhat tight. We’ll see the rest of his uniform soon, so it’s more important to see his face. His face is weary and scared. And somewhat reflective (no pun intended). This is everything he ever wanted, but it just isn’t living up to expectations. There’s this feeling in the pit of his stomach that is screaming that something is wrong. Just to describe it, here’s what his uniform look likes. (Okay I haven’t decided what his costume is going to look like yet.) CAP: STARING AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR, I COULDN’T HELP BUT WONDER WHO I WAS BECOMING. HOW LONG WOULD IT BE BEFORE I DIDN’T RECOGNIZE MYSELF? Panel 3. This final panel shows a scene seen through the open bathroom door. On the outskirts of the panel we should see the door pushed open and Mark’s hand holding it open. But the majority of the scene should be what he sees. And that is Brenda hanging all over Vigil. But it’s strange. She’s lost all of her power and self control. He’s standing there, stiff as a pole, barely noticing her, and she’s draped against him, like she’ll fall if she doesn’t hold onto him. Her smile and sparkle are gone and she’s wistful, almost passively weak. And he almost looks like this whole thing is paining him. It’s a strange scene. She should be on the left and he should be on the right. Behind him on the right we should just be able to see the elevator doors. It’s important that we don’t overdo this. I want it to seem strange, that he could almost care less that she was standing so close. But I also want these to seem like real people, not caricatures. So it’s important that you don’t go too far. Be somewhat restrained through this scene. CAP: WHAT I SAW THEN SHOCKED ME. IF SHE HAD BEEN A CAT BEFORE, SHE WAS A KITTEN NOW. BRENDA: I’LL SEE YOU LATER ON? VIGIL: YEAH, WE SHOULDN’T BE TOO LONG. BRENDA: I LOVE YOU. Panel 4. This panel should be 1/6 of the rest of the page high and go all the way across. This is an extreme closeup of Mark’s eyes. He’s completely dumbfounded by what he’s seeing. This is the same angry, pissed off cat he just saw moments ago, transformed into something without a spine. This same girl had been flirting with him, like she wanted him, and now she was throwing herself at Vigil’s feet. Who can understand women? NO DIALOG. Panel 5. There are two more horizontal strips (both the same height) with three equal panels in each. The first shows the same scene as panel 3, but closer up as Mark has left the bathroom. Vigil, not by any physical action, just by body language and actual language has pushed Brenda away. She should be standing about two feet away from him, staring at him with a hurt and wounded look. She’d break out in tears, but like I said, this girl doesn’t cry. Her body language should look like she’s been pushed away, but she wants to return, but all of her self control is keeping her from running back and grabbing hold of him. He’s in the midst of getting ready to turn around and walk away. Mark’s not in this scene. Instead, we should be seeing from his point of view. VIGIL: YEAH. VIGIL: GOOD… Panel 6. This panel is just like the last one. Brenda is still standing where she was, staring after Vigil. Vigil is about halfway to the elevator, and Mark is just walking past Brenda, trying not to stare at her, but he can’t help it. She doesn’t even notice Mark though. Vigil is oblivious to it all. VIGIL: IT LOOKS LIKE WE’RE READY, THEN. COME WITH ME. Panel 7. Same as the last two, except now Mark and Vigil are walking into the elevator. Don’t go overboard on this, but I want to show Brenda standing there, looking like her entire body is about to cave out from within her. She should look dejected. Of course, we should get all this from seeing her from her back. NO DIALOG. Panel 8. We’re in the elevator now, looking at these two men from behind as they stare forward at the doors and the floor indicator. They’re going up, by the way. Vigil’s standing like he’s tense, angry. Mark’s still confused, and is trying to figure it all out. Mark is on the right and Vigil is on the left. MARK: SO, BRENDA IS CHERRY BOMB? VIGIL: YEAH. THAT’S HER. AND I’D APPRECIATE IF YOU’D KEEP THAT TO YOURSELF, THANKS. I HAVE ENOUGH PROBLEMS WITH THE TABLOIDS AS IT IS. MARK: SURE. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT. Panel 9. We’re outside the elevator looking in as they start to walk out. Vigil walks out first. He’s trying to avoid this conversation, so it’s almost as though he was walking out of it. Mark is trailing along, feeling like he shouldn’t ask so many questions, but what else can he do? Show Vigil fingering his beltbuckle. Don’t make it too obvious that he’s doing it though. SOUND FX: DING MARK: SO, WHERE ARE WE GOING? VIGIL: WE’RE GOING TO THE BATTLE SCENE FROM THIS MORNING. THE POLICE SHOULD BE DONE BY NOW. Panel 10. We’re walking behind them down the hallway. It looks a lot like the hallway we descibed for the floor below this. The door to the apartment is smashed and on the right of them. The stairs Mark came up this morning are on the left. Out the window on the end is a fire escape. It should extend on the outside of the building to the right, well beyond where the window ends. You’ll understand more in just a second. Out the window we should see the flutter of a small rotor attached above a sophisticated looking little camera robot. Again, don’t highlight this too much. It’s just a little something in the background. MARK: WON’T THE EVIDENCE BE GONE? VIGIL: NO. THANKS TO THE LOBBYING BY THE CAPERS GUILD, THERE’S A LAW THAT STATES THAT THE POLICE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REMOVE ANY OF THE EVIDENCE FROM A CAPERS CASE, EXCEPT WHERE BY PERMISSION OF THE ON-DUTY CAPER. VIGIL: WHICH FOR THIS CASE, IS ME. PAGE TWENTY (four panels) Panel 1. Divide the page into four horizontal strips. The top three are all one panel. This is kind of a diagram of the room where Vigil had the fight way back on the first couple of pages. On the left wall, about half way up (where the hallway will be) show the little flying camera inside the room, looking down on the scene. We are above him and can see through the walls. Here’s what we should see. The room should take up almost the entire panel. It goes right up to the edge of the panel on the top and on the left. The bottom should show a bit of a bathroom and a door to the main room on the left half of the bottom of the room and the interior of the wall and a bit of the street below on the right side of the bottom of the room. We should see the interior of the wall and a bit of the street on the right, except we should see where the fire escape is. The fire escape should start at a broken window (broken out, so we should see shards on the fire escape) which is half way down the right wall, and the fire escape should extend beyond the top of the panel (i.e. out to the window at the end of the hallway). On the left side of the panel we should get the idea of a doorway halfway up the wall and an open window area out to a kitchen on the upper side of that wall. In between the door and the kitchen window, put the table that mark crashed into. In the upper left hand corner put the crashed remains of a lamp. In the very lower left hand corner of the room put the charred remains of an upholstered chair with the ruined remains of one of vigil's belts. About ¾ of the wall down from the left (beyond the bathroom jutting out) is a big hole in the wall (this is where the chunk that fell to the street below came from). To the right of that (in the corner) is a dining chair. In front of that (along the wall) is the crumpled remains of a small dining room table. There is an unbroken chair at it’s upper left corner. In front of the window out onto the fire escape is a couch. The upper right hand corner juts in a little. The door is busted in and is on the bottom side of the square that juts in. Along the top wall, just a little to the left of the jutting in at the right upper corner is a crater in the wall where someone got smashed into it. It should be a pretty big dent in the plaster, but it is not broken out. Also on the top wall (about 2/3 from the right hand corner) is the tv. That should cover the description of the room. Now I’m going to explain what happened, so you can get a good idea of what happened to make it all line up. The bad guy bursts in from the door (upper right). He shots his energy attack at the upholstered chair (lower left hand corner) but vigil is standing at about half way between the right and left wall, about as much up as the broken table. The bad guy comes in a little and moves to the left a little. Vigil rushes the guy, gives him a solid punch, and sends the guy crashing into the upper wall. Vigil moves to the right a little, while the guy gets up and power punches Vigil, sending him crashing back into the table in the lower right part of the panel. The bad guy tries to give himself some more space, moves over to where the broken lamp is. Vigil grabs said lamp, before it was broken, from the remains of the table, and throws it, hitting the bad guy. Vigil now moves to the left to get in closer. The bad guy gets up and moves toward Vigil a little before lighting up another energy blast, sending Vigil crashing into the lower wall. The bad guy follows it up by coming down to where Vigil is and just continues to pound on vigil (creating the hole). He then drags Vigil to the center of the room, to finish him in front of the flying camera. This is when Mark jumps in from the door and is sent flying over to the table by the broken lamp. The bad guy then ditches, going out the fire escape. Make sense? Have Mark standing in the center of the room, looking at Vigil standing where he started off (at about half way between the right and left wall, about as much up as the broken table). Make sure none of the evidence is covered by the camera or Mark and Vigil. VIGIL: OKAY, NOW THAT YOU’VE STARTED TRAINING YOUR BODY, IT’S TIME TO TRAIN YOUR MIND TO BE THE DETECTIVE. VIGIL: IT’S ALL RIGHT HERE, LIKE A BOOK. YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW HOW TO READ IT. VIGIL: HERE, I’LL GIVE YOU A HEAD START. I WAS HERE. NOW, WHAT HAPPENED? Panel 2. The rest of this page is divided into three equal sized panels. The first shows Mark, his hand rubbing his chin in thought looking around the room. He should be looking toward the broken door. MARK: OKAY, YOU WERE THERE… MARK: WELL, HOW DID HE GET IN? Panel 3. This panel looks at the broken window. We should be able to see out onto the fire escape, seeing the glass fragments. MARK: THE WINDOWS ARE BROKEN WITH THE GLASS OUTSIDE, SO THEY WERE BROKEN FROM THE INSIDE. Panel 4. Mark is now looking at the door, broken in. Let’s see this one from behind his head. MARK: WELL, HE MUST HAVE COME IN BY BUSTING DOWN THE DOOR. VIGIL: GOOD, WHAT HAPPENED THEN? PAGE TWENTY-ONE (nine panels) Panel 1. Okay this page is a pretty standard 12 panel layout (4 horizontal strips of 3 panels each), except for a few panels will combine two panels into one. This first one, for example is a combination of the first panel on the top strip and the first panel on the 2nd strip, making one tall panel. The way I see this going is that as Mark and V |