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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
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1:02 pm - Villainy: The Bookworm (short)
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Techie counseled me to write a bastard to get me out of my writing slump. I did enjoy writing this, but I don't think it helped. Possibly because the characters didn't turn out to be bastards, even though I was thinking of House the whole time.
PAGE 1:
Panel 1:
Late morning, a lovely snowy Saturday, outside the Hardin supervillain containment center. Everything looks peaceeful. One can practically hear the birds chirping.
Panel 2:
Same angle. A massive explosion blows out one wall of the building. Cue "oh shit" moment.
Panel 3:
Closer to the hole. An overly muscular supervillain (Bane/Killer Croc type) stands triumphant on the brink of escape. Other inmates come up behind him, including, hardly noticeable, one man in his sixties, limping along with the aid of a plastic hospital-issue cane. (Jacob Turner/Bookworm I.) A guard also runs up from behind, waving a nightstick. (Having just arrived for work, he hasn't had time to take off his coat.)
Panel 4:
(Bane guy) raises a fist to knock the guard out without looking, Batman-style. The guard runs right into his fist. The other inmates cheer.
Panel 5:
(Bane guy), who we can now safely assume has energy blast superpowers, runs toward the electric fence separating the inmates from the herd of curious onlookers outside, blasting as he goes. The other inmates follow, chanting his name. Whatever that may be.
Panel 6:
(Bane guy) reaches a hole he's just made in the fence and stops to deliver the traditional testosterone speech. The spectators, realizing they don't really want to be in his way, back off. (One loses his hat in the shuffle.)
BG: Ha! No prison can hold me! Tremble in fear, Steel City! Tremble!
PAGE 2:
Panel 1:
(Bane guy) gets tasered from behind by an overachieving guard, turning him into a cartoonish skeleton surrounded by light, screaming in pain.
Panel 2:
(Bane guy) collapses in a smoking heap. More guards tackle other escaping prisoners.
Panel 3:
The crowd begins to disperse. The very curious stick around while the sensible folks move off. Turner threads his way through the crowd, unnoticed, now wearing the guard's coat over his prison uniform, the spectator's lost hat pulled down low over his face.
Panel 4:
Tighter shot on Turner. He looks back over his shoulder at the blace he's left behind, smirking.
Panel 5:
Long shot. Turner walks away, leaning slightly on his cane, distinguishable from the rest of the crowd only by the paper slippers on his feet.
PAGE 3:
Panel 1:
The home of Campbell Callahan. He sits alone at a large desk strewn with papers. He frowns at the screen of his open laptop.
CAMPBELL: No escapes.
Panel 2:
Campbell sits back, looking stern and Steely.
CAMPBELL: It's never that easy.
Panel 3:
A basketball comes flying through the door, crashing into a lamp on Campbell's desk. He bows his head, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
Panel 4:
A boy, temporary name Shawn Devin, who will grow up to be our Nightwing, looks through the doorway with a guilty expression on his face.
SHAWN: Oops.
Panel 5:
Campbell turns around to look at Shawn, serious, but not especially angry.
CAMPBELL: Have you finished your homework?
SHAWN: No, sir.
Panel 6:
Shawn's expression brightens somewhat as he reaches down to retrieve his basketball.
CAMPBELL: Do it. You can sit in on this after you're done.
SHAWN: We have a case?
PAGE 4:
Panel 1:
The suburbs, outside the home of Nancy Turner. Her ex-husband stands on the sidewalk in front of the house, looking up at it.
CAPTION: There may have been an escape from Hardin this morning. There's no telling what we might need to put a stop to.
Panel 2:
Jacob walks around the side of the house, where Nancy is puttering about in her garden. Forty years ago, she must have been a lovely, wholesome girl-next-door. It still shows, though she's grown old and stooped and frumpy. She doesn't turn to face her ex-husband.
JACOB: Hi, honey. I'm home.
NANCY: Jacob.
JACOB: Are you still mad at me?
Panel 3:
Jacob approaches; his overture is pointedly ignored.
NANCY: What do you want?
JACOB: Can't a man stop by to say hello to the woman he loves?
Panel 4:
Nancy turns to look at Jacob, scowling, and starts to rise, with some difficulty. Jacob reaches down to help her up, but she pulls her hand away.
NANCY: No.
Panel 5:
Jacob takes Nancy's arm and helps her up whether she likes it or not. She glares at him, chin thrust out in anger.
JACOB: Nancy.
NANCY: Met anyone new in prison?
Panel 6:
Jacob takes a step back. Their hands hang in the air as if they were reaching for each other, emphasizing the gulf between them.
PAGE 5:
Panel 1:
Close-up on the face of a very beautiful, dark-haired vamp.
CAPTION: There's never been anyone new.
Panel 2:
Pull back to reveal a gravestone, slightly weathered, with a portrait set in above the name "Silvia Dillehunt."
JACOB (o.p.): Did we ever think it was going to turn out this way?
Panel 3:
From behind the stone. Jacob stands over the grave, head slightly bowed, both hands clasped over his cane.
JACOB: It just figures I'd find you here.
Panel 4:
Jacob turns away, tipping his hat to the grave.
JACOB: All right, enough visiting. Time to go home.
Panel 5:
Long shot. Jacob alks out of the cemetery, toward the Steel City Public Library across the street.
PAGE 6:
Panel 1:
Inside the library, very brightly lit with harsh artificial light. A female librarian stands in front of the entrance to a computer lab, smiling helpfully. A sign behind her indicates that renovations have been made thanks to the generosity of Derek Steel.
LIBRARIAN: Can I help you?
Panel 2:
Jacob and the librarian face each other. She remains cheery. He seems perplexed.
JACOB: What happened to the reference section?
LIBRARIAN: The ref...? It's been upstairs for the last three years.
Panel 3:
She turns to indicate the sign behind her.
JACOB: But the books.
LIBRARIAN: (Bane guy) blew a hole right through the building. Everything on the first floor was destroyed. If not for Mr. Steel...
Panel 4:
Jacob rolls his eyes.
JACOB: Oh, yes. What a saint.
LIBRARIAN: He also put a coffee shop in the reading room.
Panel 5:
A second librarian approaches as Jacob walks away.
JACOB: That's what a library is all about. Lattes and the internet.
Panel 6:
The two librarians share a moment.
LIBRARIAN: Old guys. They always have a problem with the lab.
LIBRARIAN 2: Don't look now. Here comes another one.
PAGE 7:
Panel 1:
Shawn Devin enters, accompanied by Campbell's grandfather, temporary name Stephen Wagner. Stephen is pushing eighty and, like Jacob, walks with the aid of a cane (dark wood tipped with silver.) He shows signs of having been physically imposing in his prime, but is now shrunken with age.
STEPHEN: When you said you needed a ride to the library...
SHAWN: I am here to do homework. Really.
Panel 2:
They walk into the computer lab. Shawn approaches the nearest free terminal.
STEPHEN: What's wrong with an encyclopedia?
SHAWN: Nothing. What's wrong with a website?
Panel 3:
Stephen pats shawn on the shoulder with a fondly annoyed smile.
STEPHEN: Just come and find me when you're ready to go.
SHAWN: I won't be long. Cam might need me tonight.
Panel 4:
Stephen walks into the reading room (slash coffee shop), passing by Jacob, who is sitting near the door, face hidden behind the newspaper he's reading.
Panel 5:
Stephen sits across from Jacob, ignoring him completely as he reaches for a newspaper someone has left on the table between them. Jacob's paper comes down just a bit, showing his eyes. He looks quite surprised.
Panel 6:
Jacob throws down his paper, staring at Stephen, eyes narrowed. Stephen has his own paper open, but is no longer paying any attention to it, startled by Jacob's sudden reveal. Behind them, we can see a sign that reads, "quiet, please."
JACOB (whispering): Sentinel!
PAGE 8:
Panel 1:
Stephen comes up out of his chair with the aid of his cane. Jacob rises the same way, hanging back a bit--a holdover from the years' worth of fights he's lost to this man.
STEPHEN: Bookworm!
Panel 2:
Jacob looks pointedly at the "quiet" sign.
JACOB: Shh! This is a library!
Panel 3:
In the background, the barista starts a very noisy coffee grinder. Stephen and Jacob both look disconcerted.
JACOB: Well...it used to be.
Panel 4:
Jacob swings his cane over his head at Stephen, who raises his own cane to block.
Panel 5:
On the barista, who is looking on in total awe as the geriatric combatants clash.
PAGE 9:
Panel 1:
Stephen and Jacob stand pointing their canes at each other, posed as if for a fencing match.
Panel 2:
Stephen attacks. The canes cross, high.
Panel 3:
Jacob presses forward. Canes cross, low.
Panel 4:
Jacob misses a parry. Stephen's cane jabs him in the chest, to his consternation.
Panel 5:
Jacob gives up on fencing, and swings his cane at Stephen's shoulder, knocking him sideways.
Panel 6:
Stephen falls down hard. Jacob stands over him, out of breath, putting his cane down for balance. In the background, the barista vaults over her counter, finally deciding to intervene.
PAGE 10:
Panel 1:
Jacob starts to make his escape. Stephen hooks his cane around Jacob's ankle.
Panel 2:
Low angle. Jacob crashes to the floor. The barista runs up from behind, only visible from the knees down.
Panel 3:
Stephen and Jacob glare at each ohter.
Panel 4:
They start jabbing each other furiously with their canes.
BARISTA: Somebody help!
Panel 5:
They both hesitate.
BARISTA: Please stop poking each other!
Panel 6:
Jacob starts to laugh. Stephen remains angry.
PAGE 11:
Panel 1:
Stephen starts to smile.
JACOB: We're scaring the nice girl.
Panel 2:
They both look up at her, looking as harmless as they can.
STEPHEN: Be a dear and fetch my grandson. Tell him if he had opened a book to study, this never would have happened.
Panel 3:
The barista backs away.
BARISTA: Okay...I'll be right back...
Panel 4:
Barista exits panel. Jacob and Stephen face each other again. Jacob looks suspicious
JACOB: Your grandson is too old to be in school.
STEPHEN: Have I ever gotten rid of a witness just to rough you up in private?
Panel 5:
Jacob looks down, smiling slightly.
JACOB: Things change.
JACOB (cont.): We could have done this, even ten years ago.
Panel 6:
They both laugh, looking almost friendly.
STEPHEN: You couldn't have been a match for me thirty years ago.
PAGE 12:
Panel 1:
A hospital room, later. Stephen lies in bed, not looking particularly under the weather. Campbell stands over him. In the background, Shawn perches on a chair, looking sheepish.
CAMPBELL: How do you break your hip crimefighting?!
STEPHEN: Give it a few years. You'll see.
Panel 2:
Campbell paces, clearly upset (but more out of concern than anger.) Stephen is unperturbed.
CAMPBELL: Granddad, you have to be more careful! You're--
STEPHEN: Old?
CAMPBELL: Retired.
Panel 3:
Inside Hardin's infirmary ward. (Bane guy) lies on a bed, eyes wide open and glassy, body twisted as if in terrible pain, with drool running down his chin. In the background, two doctors interrogate Jacob, who is sitting up in a bed.
DOCTOR 1: What did you do to (Bane guy)?
Panel 4:
On Jacob and the doctors, with (Bane guy) still visible in the background.
DOCTOR 2: How did you bypass your neural inhibitor?
JACOB: The same way he did when he knocked down the wall, I'd imagine.
Panel 5:
Zoom in on Jacob. His lips are sealed.
DOCTOR 2: How's that?
DOCTOR 1: Why did you do it?
Panel 6:
Close-up of Simon's smirking face.
CAPTION: Son, no one retires from this.
CAPTION: You're in it, or you're dead.
END
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, November 13th, 2008
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10:32 am - Villainy: Simon says, Issue Two: Before a Fall (the end)
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This is one page longer than intended. This error will be rectified. But not right now.
PAGE 19:
Panel 1:
Break room. Close-up on Page's face as she peeks through the open door, smiling in anticipation.
Panel 2:
Page's expression softens.
Panel 3:
Page turns away, heading back into the main area. Behind her, we can see what she was looking at: Simon, asleep on a hideous orange leather couch.
PAGE: Let's go to the art museum. 'Oh, good, Bookworm! That's the best idea I've ever heard!' Yes, I know.
Panel 4:
A little sandwich shop near the park (which can be seen through the window in the background.) Danny sits down to lunch, deliberately ignoring the nondescript man who stands looking down at him. (We'll call him Faceless Mook.)
CAPTION: Nothing like keeping busy to chase away the blues.
Panel 5:
FM, uninvited, takes a seat across from Danny.
DANNY: What?
FM: You know.
DANNY: No.
Panel 6:
They face each other, both getting angry.
FM: What do you mean--
DANNY: 'Control your powers, or someone else will'? Haven't you done enough?
FM: Dan.
Panel 7:
FM leans forward. Danny has abandoned his lunch, face impassive.
FM: He's dangerous. We're serious. The guy has to know that. This isn't Luke's party. His childishness is the reason we have to do this again.
FM (cont.): We don't want him dead, Danny.
Panel 8:
FM sits back, satisfied that this is a battle he's going to win.
DANNY: He's been warned. Leave well enough alone.
FM: We didn't have to ask for your help. We can get to him. We can go through you. Or we can offer you a very generous deal. Your choice.
PAGE 20:
Panel 1:
The garage. Page is stretching rather suggestively while Simon watches. (He is looking much better.) On a table behind her are the notes she's made planning out the next robbery.
PAGE: And then when we--oooh--finish with the guards...
SIMON: You like messing with guards.
Panel 2:
In the background, Danny enters. Page is not happy to see him.
PAGE: I'm good at it.
DANNY: No question there. What's going on?
Panel 3:
Danny comes closer. Page pouts at him, resenting his intrusion into her control. Simon is oblivious, but at least he's cheerful.
PAGE: We're planning a job. Make yourself useful and get the gang together.
DANNY: We doing it tonight?
PAGE: No.
DANNY: Then no.
Panel 4:
Page's temper flares. Danny ignores her, pushing past her to talk directly to Simon.
PAGE: How dare y--
SIMON: What is it?
DANNY: Council's not done with you.
Panel 5:
Simon looks worried, but not as much as he would have been a few pages back. Page flails for their attention, and is ignored.
PAGE: What?
SIMON: What else do they want?
DANNY: To make it stick. They asked me to get you alone for them.
Panel 6:
Page flails more insistently. Danny finally turns to look at her.
PAGE: What?
SIMON: Then I'm not going home.
DANNY: Good plan. Page, if you don't want your very annoying big brother showing up, you might want to give him a call.
Panel 7:
Page pushes Simon out of the way to confront Danny.
SIMON: Hey--
PAGE: Half-brother. And if you think I'm leaving him alone with you--
Panel 8:
Simon takes Page by the shoulders and turns her around to face him.
SIMON: Page, it's okay.
PAGE: You trust him?
DANNY: I have no reason to trust them.
PAGE 21:
Panel 1:
Page frowns rather severely at the boys, backing away. Danny moves after her.
PAGE: Typical male attitude. You think you can punch each other a couple of times, and everything's hunky dory.
Panel 2:
In the background, Page storms out. Foreground, Simon and Danny watch her go, Danny with a raised eyebrow.
PAGE: You want to get yourself killed, fine.
DANNY: She'd better be damn good in the sack.
Panel 3:
Simon looks all embarrassed. Page is gone.
DANNY: I think I need a smoke break.
SIMON: I'll, um...yeah. Thanks...for sticking around.
Panel 4:
Outside--dusk--skulker's eye view. The garage lets out into everybody's favorite place, a dark, run-down alley. Danny comes out the door, reaching into his pocket for cigarettes.
Panel 5:
The skulker (no point keeping secrets here; it's our old friend, Faceless Mook) moves closer. Danny looks startled, fumbling his cigarettes and lighter.
FM (o.p.): Those things will kill you.
Panel 6:
Close-up of the cigarettes scattered on the ground, partially obscured by a sound effect which seems to indicate that Danny has just been done some sort of bodily harm.
PAGE 22:
Panel 1:
FM's POV, inside, creeping up behind Simon, who sits studying Page's notes with his back to the door.
Panel 2:
Close-up, Simon's face. His eyes are wide, taken by surprise by FM's hand clamping down over his mouth.
FM (o.p.): Hold him.
Panel 3:
Shot widens, revealing FM's two helpers coming at Simon from the sides. Simon bites down on FM's hand and rams an elbow into his stomach.
Panel 4:
FM is knocked back, allowing Simon the chance to try for a daring escape, which might even have been successful if not for the two Councilmen. Right-side Councilman (Simon's right) throws a punch that breaks Simon's jaw and knocks him off his feet. Left-side Councilman reaches out to catch him as he falls.
SIMON: Get aw--
Panel 5:
Simon goes down hard. His left hand is near his mouth to catch the blood and two or three teeth he is dismayed to see falling out of his face. RSC and LSC hold his arms, in the process of pinning him to the ground. His legs curl up toward his chest, trying to pull away from FM, who is down on one knee, the better to loom and menace.
FM: Simon Says, on behalf of the Council...
Panel 6:
Simon kicks FM away with both feet. LSC reaches over to cover Simon's mouth.
SIMON: No!
FM: Oh, screw this.
Panel 7:
FM settles into a nice comfortable position, one knee on Simon's chest. He produces a little knife, which he holds about even with Simon's nose.
FM: The warning was delivered. The target declined to cooperate.
RSC/LSC: Witnessed.
PAGE 23:
Panel 1:
Tight on Simon's face. LSC pulls back, giving FM room to jam a hand into Simon's mouth and hold it open.
FM: Terminating threat.
SIMON: Huh?
FM: That would be the tongue.
Panel 2:
Simon panics, struggling uselessly against the men holding him down, looking toward the exit as if he expects Danny to come running to the rescue.
FM: He's not going to save you.
Panel 3:
Simon looks up at FM with PUPPYDOG EYES.
SIMON: Ooh kih hih?
FM: You are naive.
Panel 4:
Long shot, from the door. Discretionary silhouette as FM starts to make the cut.
SFX: Screaming from Simon.
Panel 5:
Outside. Danny, unharmed, leans against the wall, eyes in shadow, lit only by the cigarette's glow.
SFX: Fainter screaming.
Panel 6:
Same angle. Danny's head droops.
SFX: Continued screaming.
DANNY: Jesus.
Panel 7:
Inside. On Danny as he bursts through the door, looking determined and almost sheepishly heroic. The screamy SFX dominate the panel, forcing him to shout.
DANNY: That's enough.
Panel 8:
On FM, drawing back his blood-slick knife as he looks over his shoulder at Danny. Even with the mask, it's obvious he's wearing an "are you kidding me?" expression. Simon, out of frame, is no longer screaming.
Panel 9:
FM turns his attention back to Simon. In the background, Danny looks horror-struck as, in the foreground, FM buries his knife up to the hilt in Simon's throat.
FM: Okay.
FM (cont.): Done.
END ISSUE TWO
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(comment on this)
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| Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
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3:13 pm - Villainy: Simon Says, Issue 2: Before a Fall, part something
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PAGE 13:
Panel 1:
Underwater, on Simon. He's surrounded by bubbles, the water disturbed as he crashes through the surface. The bottom of the boat is just above him.
Panel 2:
Simon sinks, fighting his duct tape restraints, face straining toward the surface.
Panel 3:
The boat is now off panel. Simon is surrounded by nothing but darkness. He droops, defeated.
Panel 4:
A bare, manly type arm breaks the surface, reaching for Simon. He looks up, hardly daring to hope.
Panel 5:
Above the water. Danny lies on his stomach on the boat, sleeves pushed up, leaning out over the water. His left hand holds tight to Simon, whose head has just broken the surface. His right hand pulls the tape away from Simon's mouth.
SIMON: Help!
DANNY: I got you.
Panel 6:
Page enters panel, kneels to help Danny pull Simon onto the boat.
PAGE: They're gone.
Panel 7:
In the boat, Page and Simon kneel, face to face. Page holds Simon up with her hands on his shoulders. His head is down, face obscured. Behind him, Danny holds a pocketknife in prime backstabbing position.
Panel 8:
After Danny cuts Simon's hands free, he falls forward on his hands and knees. Page touches Simon's face gently, concerned. Danny cuts his feet free.
PAGE: Oh, Simon. Are you okay?
Panel 9:
Close-up on Simon's face as he looks at Page, hurt and anger in his eyes.
SIMON: You should know.
PAGE 14:
Panel 1:
Page draws back a bit from Simon. Her hand still rests on his cheek, just below the swelling bruise of his eye.
PAGE: Oh. This is why I don't talk about my brother.
Panel 2:
Looking angry, Danny drags Simon to his feet. Page follows, subdued.
DANNY: This isn't the place.
PAGE: Yeah. Let's go home.
Panel 3:
Inside the garage hideout, the Bookmobile has pulled into its accustomed space. Danny is getting out, shooting a nasty look toward the back of the van.
DANNY (muttering): Home. Sure. Come on out of there when you're done 'warming him up.'
Panel 4:
Danny continues complaining to himself as he stalks off to a side room off the main area, which was a break room when this was a functioning garage.
DANNY: ...just about enough of this. Can't even get a good night's sleep...
Panel 5:
Inside the back of the van. Contrary to expectations, Simon and Page are asleep in each other's arms, both looking quite peaceful.
Panel 6:
From the other room, Danny turns on the TV. The sound of it wakes Simon, but not Page.
TV: It's not the size of the boat...
Panel 7:
Outside the van. Simon climbs out the back, moving carefully and holding his side.
TV: It's the motion...
Panel 8:
Over Simon's shoulder, (having crossed the room) looking at Danny, who is trying to turn down the volume on the TV. On the screen, a woman in a bikini slathers suntan lotion over herself, leaning over to display her cleavage.
TV: Of the lotion...
PAGE 15:
Panel 1:
Danny notices Simon's presence.
DANNY: Oh, hi. Feeling better?
SIMON: A little stiff. That's normal, isn't it?
Panel 2:
Simon and Danny are both very much on edge. Simon is (understandably) upset, and Danny isn't quite sure how to handle another man's emotional turmoil.
DANNY: I take it you didn't get into much fights as a kid.
SIMON: I never...
DANNY: Huh. I thought every dad taught his son to fight.
Panel 3:
Simon shrugs uncomfortably.
SIMON: Nuns.
DANNY: Ah. Well. You did...I mean, when Page said it was the Council...They have most guys begging for mercy by the time--
SIMON: What? Does this happen to everybody?
Panel 4:
Danny tries to back off, realizing he's said something he shouldn't.
DANNY: No! Um...you didn't hear this from me. They're just an urban legend to most people. A bedtime story to remind the Powers of the future not to do anything that's bad for business.
SIMON: The mob?
DANNY: These are the people the mob pays their protection money to.
Panel 5:
Simon moves to take the seat next to Danny, suspicious, but curious.
SIMON: If they're such a big secret, how do you know about them?
DANNY: Everybody has to start somewhere. There's more room for upward mobility as a freelancer...but it turns out they didn't want me moving past Dragon, so here I am.
Panel 6:
Danny, frowning, rubs his knee, a hint as to how he knows he's not allowed to move up in the world.
DANNY: They only go after the ones they see as a threat. Me, I knew too much. You...well, they must think you're dangerous. Maybe...
Panel 7:
Simon, not content with just not meeting Danny's eyes, physically turns away.
SIMON: I...learned the expression 'go to hell' when I was six. Thought it would be a cool thing to say.
SIMON (cont.): She just wanted me to clean my room...
Panel 8:
Danny's hand hovers over Simon's shoulder, hesitant to actually touch him.
SIMON: Didn't talk for three years after that...
Panel 9:
Danny pulls his hand back, looking troubled.
DANNY: That's...some power.
SIMON: Yeah, real useful. I'd rather be able to fight them off.
DANNY: Do you really think she's worth it?
Panel 10:
Simon whips around to glare at Danny, who puts his hands up, palms toward Simon.
SIMON: Yes! I'm not leaving her.
DANNY: Then you'd better learn to fight.
PAGE 16:
Panel 1:
In the back of the Bookmobile, Page sits looking out into the garage. She holds her cell phone to her ear, and is looking rather stern.
PAGE: Daddy? Did you send your son after my boyfriend? I swear, if you're cleaning the shotguns again...
Panel 2:
Hardin. Jacob Turner, the original Bookworm, sits in a plastic chair, holding a phone. He is in his sixties and not particularly robust, having been more the evil genius type of supervillain. He wears a slightly oversized prison uniform, and a neural inhibitor over one ear to block his telepathic powers. (Similar devices will be seen on many other Hardin inmates.) A cane rests against the wall behind him, and an armed guard stands over him.
TURNER: You have a boyfriend? Why haven't I met him yet?
PHONE: Dad!
Panel 3:
Turner leans back in his chair, all nonchalance.
TURNER: No, sweetheart, I didn't send your brother. What kind of pull do you think I have from in here?
Panel 4:
Bookmobile, over Page's shoulder as she watches Simon and Danny circle around the open floor. Danny holds up his hands as targets. Simon throws a punch.
PAGE: With the Council? None. With Luke...
Panel 5:
Over the shoulder. Danny demonstrates a right cross in the air above Simon's head.
DANNY: Don't just use your arms. Put your whole body behind it.
Panel 6:
Page turns, her face visible in profile. The lesson goes on in the background.
PHONE: How's Mom?
PAGE 17:
Panel 1:
The City Dump. Page enters, looking slightly more presentable, having thrown on a coat over last night's clothes. The open door throws afternoon sunlight onto the few patrons, mostly clustered around the pool table. Behind the bar, the Broker watches her approach without obvious interest.
CAPTION (Page): How should I know? She doesn't consort with the criminal element.
CAPTION (Turner): Guess that means I'll be spending another Christmas alone.
CAPTION (Page): I'll be with you.
Panel 2:
Page sits down at the bar. Broker faces her, a glass in one hand, a rag in the other.
PAGE: All right, where is he?
CAPTION (Turner): On the other side of the glass, I hope.
Panel 3:
Keeping the glass in one hand, the Broker holds out a small paper-wrapped package toward Page.
BROKER: Am I my Limey's keeper? He left this for you. He says if you ever want to rethink the partnership, he can do better than trinkets.
Panel 4:
Page unwraps the package, revealing the Mordanian necklace. She doesn't appear impressed.
PAGE: That's nice. Any idea where I can pick up something to wear with this at a party?
BROKER: Page. Don't you think your friend has had enough?
Panel 5:
The lair. Simon stands in front of a folding table, studying a map. In the background, Danny fills two paper cups with water from the bathroom sink.
CAPTION (Page): No, I think working would take his mind off his problems.
DANNY: You're picking this stuff up pretty quick.
Panel 6:
Simon slumps over the map. Obviously, he doesn't think that's good enough. Danny approaches from behind with the water.
DANNY: It's probably time you went home and got some rest, though.
Panel 7:
Simon whirls around to face Danny, eyes wide with sudden panic.
CAPTION (Broker): They're not just going to go away.
DANNY: What?
SIMON: It's just...they know where I live.
Panel 8:
They are both uncomfortable enough to avoid each other's eyes.
CAPTION (Page): They will. I'll make sure.
DANNY: Actually, it might be quicker to catch some Zs here. I was thinking of doing the same thing myself.
PAGE 18:
Panel 1:
Outside the lair, later. Page lets herself in. She is wearing her necklace, mostly hidden under her jacket.
CAPTION (Broker): Page, honey, you don't give the orders.
CAPTION (Page): I will.
Panel 2:
Inside. Page crosses the garage floor as Danny emerges from the break room.
DANNY: Oh, it's you. Boss is resting.
PAGE: You can head out now.
Panel 3:
Page and Danny face each other, neither willing to back down.
DANNY: Thanks for the permission, but I've got nothing to do.
PAGE: Go see a movie or something.
Panel 4:
A staring contest commences.
Panel 5:
A highly irritated Danny shoulders past Page, heading for the exit. In the background, Page watches him go with a triumphant smirk.
Panel 6:
Danny exits the building. In the background, Page heads for the break room.
DANNY: I hope she's worth it, man. I really do.
Late for work!
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
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3:26 pm - Villainy: Simon Says: etc.
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Hum. This doesn't seem as whumpy as it originally was in my head. Oh well, probably better this way.
PAGE 9:
Blackness, flled with the following scattered captions.
CAPTIONS: What was that?
Are we stopping?
Where are we?
Who are these people?
What did I do?
What do I do now?
Page would know.
I should be able to get out of this!
Ow.
I hate duct tape.
I really hate duct tape.
What was that?
Don't panic.
But I feel like panicking!
What am I supposed to do?
I want to go home.
PAGE 10:
Panel 1:
Simon's POV, looking up. The trunk opens. Nothing is clearly visible except for a very bright light, partially blocked by the body of the man who will be revealed as the Council's lieutenant. There is also the suggestion of more people standing off to the sides.
DISEMBODIED VOICE: Grab him.
Panel 2:
Lieutenant's POV, looking down. An assistant reaches for Simon, who shrinks away, squinting against the brightness of the light. That roll of duct tape has been put to good use, binding his ankles together and his wrists behind his back, in addition to the strip across his mouth. The tape on his wrists and ankles shows that he's been trying to work his way free, but hasn't been very successful. His right cheek is scraped raw from his attempts to get rid of the tape over his mouth, but while that end is peeling up, he is still not able to speak.
LT: Simon Guillory, alias Simon Says--
Simon: HMM! HMM-MMM!
CAPTION (SIMON): WHAT?! WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?
Panel 3:
The mook manhandles Simon out of the trunk. The scene becomes clear--they are at the dockyards, on the river. The place is shut down for the night.
The lieutenant and his mooks wear uniforms and masks in the traditional spandex style, mostly grey, shading to white on one side and black on the other, with one black boot and one white, same for the gloves. This only matters for the LT and his main mook, as the others are never clearly seen, giving no real idea of their numbers. Even those two mostly appear with their faces out of frame so as to avoid any hint of humanity (as even full face masks are rather expressive in a comic book panel.)
LT: I'm here to deliver a warning. And there's no need to shout. I'm telepathic. It runs in the family.
Panel 3:
Simon levels a death glare at the LT. Unfortunately, in his current predicament, it's not very effective.
CAPTION (SIMON): Let me go.
LT: Oh, no. It's not that easy. That power of yours is pretty handy, but you've been using it all wrong. You've got a whole lot of people who want you silenced.
CAPTION (SIMON): What?
Panel 4:
LT slaps at the tape covering Simon's mouth, knocking his head back and to the side, and incidentally pressing the peeled-up edge back down.
LT: It doesn't take much to cancel out what you can do.
Panel 5:
LT's hand drops down to settle around Simon's throat. Looking scared again, Simon tries to pull away, but is held in place by the faceless mook.
LT: Whether we need a temporary solution, or a permanent one.
CAPTION (SIMON): Hey...please...
Panel 6:
LT's right hand remains in place. With his left, he punches Simon in the stomach. Simon tries to double over in pain, but is held mostly upright.
LT: Go on, stop me. Use your power.
CAPTION (SIMON): I can't...
Panel 7:
LT shoves Simon away. He stumbles back against the mook. The suggestions of others converge around them.
LT: Pathetic.
LT (cont.): See that you have his full attention.
PAGE 11:
Panel 1:
Page's bedroom. Dawn is breaking. Page (sans jewelry) lies facedown in bed. On her bedside table, a cell phone is ringing. She fumbles for it.
Panel 2:
She manages to get the phone to her ear.
PAGE: Hmwhuh?
Panel 3:
Page is obviously still asleep.
PHONE: We have your boyfriend.
PAGE: Quit calling here.
Panel 4:
Eyes closed, she drops the phone over the edge of the bed, out of sight.
Panel 5:
Page's head comes up, more awake now.
PAGE: Wait, what?
Panel 6:
She dives off the bed after the phone.
PAGE: Hello? Hello?
PAGE 12:
Panel 1:
On Simon, from above. He lies on the ground near a pier, at the end of which a small boat is tied. Simon is curled up, protecting his face behind his knees as best he can. It's clear that he's been kicked around quite a bit, but not permanently damaged. LT crouches half in panel, reaching for Simon's shoulder.
LT: Guillory.
Panel 2:
Simon kicks out at LT's knees, knocking him back and revealing his own face. (Black eye, bloody nose, smoldering fury, various cuts and scrapes.)
Panel 3:
Simon throws himself at LT, trying to ram him with his shoulder. It's obvious he isn't going to be able to do any damage, but he's determined to try. LT sidesteps, reaching down to catch the back of Simon's shirt as he careens past.
LT: Still got some fight in you? Nice.
Panel 4:
LT pulls Simon up and, walking backwards, drags him toward the wooden pier.
LT: Doesn't say much for your self control, though. Remember, if you can't control yourself, we will.
CAPTION (SIMON): Who are you?
LT: Somebody who loves his job.
Panel 5:
Simon twists around to see where they're going, and panics.
CAPTION (SIMON): What are you doing?
LT: Leaving you for your friends to find. If they're even coming. They didn't seem too enthusiastic to me.
Panel 6:
Simon jerks his head up and back, barely missing LT's face. (LT turns his head.)
CAPTION (SIMON): No! Don't! Please! I won't do it again, I swear!
LT: What's the matter? Big bad supervillain afraid of a little water?
Panel 7:
LT drags Simon off the end of the pier, onto the boat. Simon fights back uselessly. He seems on the verge of tears.
CAPTION (SIMON): I'm not a supervillain! I only did it to impress a girl!
Panel 8:
Closer shot. LT swings Simon around, holding him by the shirt so they're face to face, Simon leaning out over the water, his feet barely holding him anchored to the boat.
LT: You picked the wrong one.
CAPTION (SIMON): Why? Because she's somebody's daughter?
Panel 9:
LT pushes Simon away, fingers splayed in an exaggerated letting-go gesture, leaning forward to whisper confidentially even as Simon starts to fall. Off panel, despite LT's prediction, the cavalry has arrived.
LT: Somebody's sister.
PAGE (o.p.): Wait!
Panel 10:
Long shot, the first true full shot of LT. Page and Danny run down the pier toward LT, who has his hands out in an overly careless shrug.
SFX: Splash
PAGE: Luke!
LT (Luke Turner): He slipped.
PAGE 13:
Panel 1:
Coming soon. Later tonight soon. After work soon. And lo, it will go all the way through page 18.
The real hurty doesn't happen until about page 21.
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
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12:43 pm - Villainy: Simon says, Issue Two: Before a Fall (part two)
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PAGE 3:
Panel 1:
Inside the Bookworm's lair. Everyone sits around, pawing over stolen jewelry, sorting out what can be sold to ordinary sources or kept, and what will need to go to the Broker. Page holds out her hands; she has rings on every finger, but she looks bored.
FRANK: What's the matter?
PAGE: It wasn't as much fun as last time.
Panel 2:
Frank and Page shoot each other dirty looks, to everyone else's discomfort.
FRANK: Cheer up. Maybe next time the tights will show up and hang you from a streetlight by your spandex panties.
Panel 3:
Simon gets between the two of them in an attempt to diffuse the tension.
SIMON: Hey, success is success. Shouldn't we be celebrating?
Panel 4:
The gang agrees. Even Page is happy with the idea.
FRANK: Exactly. Any job the whole gang walks away from is worth a pint or two.
Panel 5:
Page giggles at Frank, enmity forgotten.
PAGE: I warn you, I'm a mean drunk.
PAGE 4:
Panel 1-2:
Inside the City Dump, surrounded by henchmen for hire and a couple of name villains, Page (showing signs of being a very giddy drunk) retells Issue One's encounter with the Steel Sentinel, to Simon's dismay. One of those in the crowd is Holly Hawk, who Page seems to have adopted as her new gal pal. Also present, far in the background, is the Gentleman Thief.
Panel 3:
Page has her arm around Holly, both of them giggling and raising glasses to Simon, who is blushing. Danny sits on one side of him, Spence on the other. (The rest of the gang is around, but not paying any attention to them.)
PAGE: Bam! Pow!
SIMON: Uh, Page?
Panel 4:
Danny puts his hand on Simon's shoulder. Spence downs his beer. It's obvious they're all pretty tipsy by now.
DANNY: Aw, let her go.
SIMON: But...
SPENCE: She's just spreading the good news. And, you know, drunk.
Panel 5:
Simon slumps over, face buried in his arms.
DANNY: You're not exactly a heavyweight, are you?
SIMON: Don't...drink...nuns...said...
SPENCE: Nuns?
Panel 6:
Simon raises his head just enough to show one bleary eye. Danny and Spence hit the melancholy stage simultaneously.
SIMON: My mom died. Then there were nuns.
DANNY: I had a mom once.
SPENCE: I love...everyone should have...this cool hat.
Panel 7:
Simon sits up, having passed through the melancholy stage back into "everything's a good idea."
SIMON: You think?
SPENCE: Yes!
SIMON: Then let's rob a hat store!
Panel 8:
The three stand up.
SPENCE: You're the coolest boss there is.
PAGE 5:
Panel 1:
Outside a random two-story shopping center, the Bookmobile pulls up in front of a hat shop. (Right above it, the sign visible but unobtrusive, is a run-down computer repair shop.) No one else is around, but visible in the background is the Ghost in the Machine's vehicle (design pending.) Jackson can be seen through the driver's side window of the Bookmobile, looking perhaps a bit more unimpressed with life than usual.
Panel 2:
Simon and Danny are out of the Bookmobile, surveying the (minimal) security system. Spence, in the process of climbing out after them, is looking down at the broken curb.
SIMON: Think we should've brought Reese?
DANNY: Nah. I can bypass this, no problem.
Panel 3:
Spence hurls a chunk of concrete through the window, shattering it. Simon and Danny both stare at him. Inside the Bookmobile, Jackson slams his forehead against the steering wheel with the frustration of the only sober man at a frat party.
SIMON: Spence! What the hell?!
SFX: Extremely noisy alarm (continues throughout)
Panel 4:
Spence backs up, toward the Bookmobile. Above them, out of frame, the window of the computer store upstairs shatters outwards, noticed only by Danny, who is just starting to look up.
SIMON: We could have done this without calling the cops on ourselves!
SPENCE: Breaking windows is fun...
Panel 5:
The body that was just thrown through the window (henchman: kidnapped scientist model) hits the ground. They all stare at it, edging away from the broken glass still raining down.
JACKSON: Huh. There's something you don't see every day.
Panel 6:
Two more henchmen (heavy lifting models) jump down from above, landing next to the body. Hench A looks down at the body, Hench B at Simon and co. Spence carefully climbs back into the Bookmobile. Simon and Danny stand their ground.
HENCH A: Guess it really wasn't his fault.
HENCH B: Let's kill 'em.
Panel 7:
Hench A and Hench B loom at Simon in a way that really should be intimidating.
SIMON: Pfft. Knock yourselves out.
PAGE 6:
Panel 1:
Spence re-emerges from the Bookmobile, shotgun in hand. Hench A and Hench B, holding each other by the shoulders, bang their heads together as hard as they can. They Ghost in the Machine jumps down from above, landing hard enough to do catastrophic anime-power-up-style damage to the sidewalk.
GitM is a massively heavy steampunkish robotish thing with an unwieldy body, a head reminiscent of a glowing version of the T-800's metal skull, a humanoid left hand built for dexterity, and a big-ass grabbing claw for a right hand.
GHOST: Who are you svolochi, and what have you done?
SIMON: Um...who are you?
Panel 2:
Ghost moves toward Simon. In the background, Hench A and Hench B collapse.
GHOST: You have interrupted my work, disabled my assistants, and alerted the authorities. By what right should you be allowed to survive this encounter?
SIMON: Oh, piss off. Drama queen.
Panel 3:
Tighter shot (it's a pun!) on Simon and the Ghost, as the grabbing claw clamps itself around Simon, pinning his arms at his sides and lifting him up about a foot off the ground, to his surprise.
GHOST: Would you care to rethink that statement?
Panel 4:
Danny to the rescue!...sort of. He tries to knock the Ghost aside with a powerful shoulder blow, but bounces off harmlessly. The Ghost doesn't appear to notice.
SIMON: Does that mean you lack the proper equipment?
Panel 5:
Simon squirms as the claw squeezes him tighter. Spence steps into frame to fire off a point blank shotgun blast at the back of the Ghost's head. This does about as much good as the body slam.
SIMON: Okay, okay! I'm sorry. Help?
SPENCE: Trying to!
JACKSON (o.p.): For crying out--do you realize the cops are coming?
Panel 6:
Wider shot--Simon, Ghost, and the supremely irritated Jackson, who is the focus of everyone's attention.
JACKSON: You, elephant-feet. I'm betting you need someone to drive your car for you. Well, that's what I do. You could hire me for the night, if you think you can afford me. Then again, if you decided not to crush my employer in your metallic grip of death, I'm sure he'd cover my extravagantly high bonus pay out of gratitude.
Panel 7:
Close-up as the Ghost pulls Simon in so they're face to face.
GHOST: If you ever get in my way again, I will not hesitate to swat you like a fly.
Panel 8:
Ghost drops Simon on his ass. Jackson glares at his boss.
JACKSON: You owe me.
JACKSON (cont.): Designated driver, my ass.
Panel 9:
Simon, Spence, and Danny stare at each other, bemused, as Jackson and the Ghost exit panel.
Panel 10:
Same shot. They burst out laughing.
PAGE 7:
Panel 1:
Long shot, outside Simon's apartment. The Bookmobile drives up, rather unevenly. The three men inside are singing at the top of their lungs.
SPEECH BUBBLE (three): So let us go a-wassailing and something-something-thing! And something-something waffling, and waffle, waffle, waffles!
SPEECH BUBBLE (one): Wassail.
Panel 2:
Closer shot, revealing Danny in the driver's seat. The Bookmobile has stopped in front of the building, after running over the curb. Simon is getting out, badly off balance.
SPENCE: I thought you said you were okay to drive.
DANNY: No, I said you were very not okay.
Panel 3:
The Bookmobile drives away. Simon staggers up the front steps. Due to his bad balance and the lack of a railing, he falls over the side right away.
SIMON: Whoa...
Panel 4:
Closer. Simon has landed on his hands and knees, and is looking pretty dazed. A shadow falls over him from behind.
SIMON: Ohhh, that's not good...
Panel 5:
Closer. Eyes closed, Simon leans forward, resting his forehead against the brick wall. A hand enters the frame, near his face.
SIMON: Okay, Simon...don't throw up on the sidewalk...
Panel 6:
ECU. The hand clamps down over Simon's mouth, jerking his head back. His eyes are wide with surprise. He starts to reach up to try to pry the hand away.
SIMON: Fmmp! Hmmp!
Panel 7:
The unknown assailant's left arm wraps around Simon's torso, holding his arms down and pulling him away from the wall. No more than that is visible of the stranger, who keeps a tight hold on Simon in spite of his attempts to fight free.
Panel 8:
The stranger, whose face is out of frame, has dragged Simon well away from the apartment building and is now standing with his back to the open trunk of a car. In his left hand is a roll of duct tape with a length pulled free, which he is preparing to slap over Simon's mouth. Simon, pulling with both hands--to no effect--on the arm preventing him from speaking, has gone from surprised to downright terrified.
PAGE 8:
Panel 1:
Page's apartment. Page, very drunk, has just gotten home, accompanied by the Gentleman Thief, who seems to be the only thing keeping her from falling over. She is glaring at the ringing phone.
CAPTION (SIMON): No!--
NIGEL: Bet that's your boyfriend.
Panel 2:
Page lifts the receiver and drops it.
PAGE: He ran off and left me.
NIGEL: You seemed to be having a good time without him.
Panel 3:
In the interest of efficiency, Nigel picks Page up and carries her into the bedroom. She clings to him, to his amusement.
PAGE: You staying tonight?
NIGEL: You wouldn't respect me in the morning.
PAGE: I don't respect you now.
Panel 4:
Nigel deposits Page on the bed. She reaches for him, barely conscious. He looks down at her, clearly torn.
Panel 5:
Page is already out cold. With an ironic smile, Nigel places a garbage can within easy reach.
Panel 6:
He turns to go.
Panel 7:
He stops in the doorway and turns back, eyes cast heavenward.
NIGEL: Who am I kidding? Honor is for the birds?
Panel 8:
Nigel sits on the edge of Page's bed and, holding her hand in his, slips the rings from her fingers.
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, October 19th, 2008
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4:26 pm
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From Batman's Wild Mass Guessing page on tvtropes.org:
"The Joker is more than one person, both sequentially and simultaneously. The DC Universe is bordering on insane - normal people just can't cope with alien invasions, gods and demons, superhuman battles on a daily basis - and it needs a safety valve. The Joker exists to bleed off insanity, and is more of a psychic entity than anything else. Everytime he "dies", a new manifestation emerges, either full-blown out of nowhere, or perhaps possessing someone and transforming their body. This explains how he never stays dead for long, his wild variations in sanity, stated origin, methodology, purpose, appearance, motivation, and attitude. This also explains how sometimes, very different versions of him can appear simultaneously in different storylines in a short period of time. Either that, or it's just Gotham City that's insane, and the Joker's how it manifests."
I want a villain like this. Possessing and transforming someone new after each death. Yes.
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
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1:48 pm
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Best thoughts come from shower. And sleep.
In bed last night, was thinking about Ghost in the Machine, suddenly rocketed out of bed to write down notes for the half-formed story in my head. Promptly collapsed. Need to do something about that wonky blood pressure.
In the shower just now, was thinking about Cardinal. Thoughts progressed to Talon. Suddenly pictured Cardinal as a brother/sister team, one of whom would die, the other of whom would grow up to be Nightwing. Call them Tooth and Claw. Will babble more later. Must go to work.
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(comment on this)
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| Saturday, October 11th, 2008
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8:30 pm - Villainy: Simon says, Issue Two: Before a Fall (part one)
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ISSUE TWO: Before a Fall
PAGE 1:
Panel 1:
The Whatever I Named It In Issue One Museum, night. The main hall is filled with beautifully dressed men and women, all sparkles and jewel tones. A banner stretched between two pillars proclaims this to be the "ANNUAL FUNDRAISING GALA."
Panel 2:
A bored ticket taker at the door is approached by everyone's facorite band of villains: Simon Guillory (Simon Says), Page Turner (the Bookworm (II)), Danny West, Spence and Beau McKinney, Frank Fontaine, and Reese Charles. (Member number eight is waiting in the car.)
Page now wears a costume reminiscent of her father's, but more streamlined and far less gaudy. Spence wears a fedora just like Simon's.
TICKET TAKER: Tickets, please?
SIMON: You're tired. Take a nap.
Panel 3:
Danny catches the ticket taker as he slumps forward, eyes closed.
REESE: Can I say it?
DANNY: Fine.
REESE: These are not the droids you're looking for.
Panel 4:
Danny stows the unconscious mean in a shadowed cul de sac while the others disperse throughout the crowd.
Panel 5:
Simon has found an elevated area. All eyes are on him.
SIMON: Attention, museum guests! Eat, drink, and be merry! And don't mind us; we're only robbing you.
Panel 6:
Simon hops down from his makeshift podium. The partygoers turn their attention back to each other, their h'ors d...*mumble*, and their champagne, ignoring the criminals entirely.
SIMON: Carry on.
PAGE 2:
Panel 1:
Simon and Page make their way through the crowd toward Reese, who is busy disabling the security on a display case that holds the Mordanian crown jewels. Other members of the gang are visible in the background, relieving civilians of their valuables. Beau approaches an older woman.
BEAU: Ma'am, can I have that bracelet?
WOMAN: Hmm? Oh, of course.
Panel 2:
Reese has gotten the case open and is tossing jewelry into a sack. Simon is reaching for a particularly interesting piece. Page looks a bit pouty.
Panel 3:
Reese finishes filling the sack as Simon fastens a gorgeous god and sapphire necklace around Page's throat. She smiles at him over her shoulder, but her heart isn't in it. Frank comes up from behind.
FRANK: We're all done here.
Panel 4:
Outside the museum as the gang exits, long shot. The Bookmobile is parked in the lower left hand corner, outside of the warm circle of light haloing the museum from its many windows.
PAGE: That was...anticlimactic.
Panel 5:
Same angle. The gang gets into the van.
Panel 6:
Same angle. The van drives away.
Panel 7:
Same angle. Perfect stillness.
Panel 8:
Same angle.
SPEECH BUBBLE (from museum): What the hell just happened?
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 9th, 2008
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3:34 pm - Villainy: Simon Says: Issue One, Summer Love (part four)
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Page 12-13 is now simply page 12. Page numbers are stepped back as a result.
Page 15:
Enter the Steel Sentinel in all his heroic glory. There is a brief scuffle, ended when Simon simply tells the Sentinel, "Stop." Though urged by Page to kill him, he orders the hero stay behind and stop the cops from coming after them instead. Our little crew of criminals escapes.
Page 16-17:
The cops arrive and are surprised to be held off by the Steel Sentinel. (This will do some damage to his reputation.) After pounding the crap out of them, the effects of Simon's suggestion wear off and, seriously pissed off now, the Sentinel takes off after the gang.
Meanwhile, Frank spazzes out a bit, remembering all the times he faced the Golden Age Sentinel. Someone remarks that he must be about a hundred years old by now. Page reveals that this isn't the "real" Steel Sentinel.
Page 18:
The car chase. Sentinel catches up in whatever fancy vehicle he must own. Jackson displays his spectacular driving skills, narrowly avoiding death in every panel, doing massive amounts of damage to the city, and undoubtedly putting the fear of God into the Sentinel, who decides to shoot out a tire (right in the middle of the Pitt Point Bridge.)
Page 19:
The fight scene (in the background of which, Jackson can be seen calmly changing the tire, occasionally ducking when something comes close to hitting him.)
The villains come spillingout of the van. The Sentinel comes out to meet them. Again, Simon orders, "Stop." When that doesn't work, he panics, yelling, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" as the Sentinel disables the henchmen in quick succession, except for Jackson, who is overlooked as the fight works its way around to the opposite side of the van. It looks like Simon is about to get the beating of his life, until Page realizes that the Sentinel isn't responding to the orders because he can't hear them--he's temporarily deafened himself somehow, a clever plan with one fatal flaw. She shouts out this information to Jackson, who comes around and hits Steel Sentinel from behind with his tire iron (but only after he finishes changing the tire.)
Page 20:
With the Steel Sentinel unconscious and at their mercy, the obvious villainous instinct is to kill him (though Simon is still uncomfortable with this.) When someone spots perky little sidekick the Cardinal coming toward them, they elect to dump the Sentinel in the river to keep her busy. Maybe he'll drown and maybe he won't; either way, they're done with superheroes for the day. They high tail it for the lair.
Page 21:
Panel 1:
In the garage lair, similar to the one from before, but not the same one. Page sits on the hood of the Bookmobile, counting out the money. Simon stands next to her, grinning like an idiot, riding high on his first success. The gang is lined up to get paid, starting with Reese. Next are the McKinneys, who have stopped to talk to Simon.
Beau: I can't believe it. We just beat the Steel Sentinel!
Spence: Not the real one.
Beau: He looked real enough to me.
Panel 2:
The brothers move aside to accept their payment from Page. Danny steps up to congratulate Simon, who looks to page for support, not yet confident as a leader, but getting there.
Danny: So what's next?
Simon: I don't know. Museum?
Page: Sloss has the Mordanian crown jewels on loan.
Danny: I'll be there.
Panel 3:
The brothers leave, Danny gets paid, Frank steps up, the dance continues.
Frank: You did real good, son. Keep it up. Things won't always be this easy.
Simon: Easy?
Panel 4:
The line moves on. It's Jackson's turn. He looks as unconcerned as ever.
Simon: That was some fancy driving. And what you did to the Sentinel--you deserve a bonus.
Jackson: I'll move the Bookmobile back to the main base once the heat's off. We keeping that name?
Page: Yes!
Jackson: Your call...
Panel 5:
Page looks at Simon, clearly thinking amorous thoughts. In the background, Jackson is going out the door, half turned to call over his shoulder.
Jackson: Hey, boss.
Jackson (cont.): You're all right.
Panel 6:
Alone at last, Page takes a flying leap at her sweetheart.
PAGE 22:
Panel 1:
Outside Simon's apartment building as he goes in the front door, alone.
Panel 2:
Inside, going up the stairs, he meets his landlord in the same spot as before.
Landlord: Guillory! Rent was due at noon. I ain't running a charity here.
Panel 3:
Much to his landlord's surprise, Simon hands over his rent check without a pause.
Simon: Go fly a kite.
Panel 4:
Inside Simon's apartment. The phone is ringing as he comes in the door.
SFX: Ringing phone.
Panel 5:
Simon answers the phone. In the background, out the window, the corner of a kite can be seen fluttering merrily on the wind.
Telephone (Deke): Simon, where've you been? We got Ocean Potion suntan lotion! Think of it. It practically writes itself.
Simon: Deke?
Panel 6:
Close up on Simon's face as he smiles like a little boy who knows he's being naughty and is enjoying it immensely.
Simon: I quit.
END ISSUE ONE
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(comment on this)
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| Monday, October 6th, 2008
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6:15 pm - Villainy: Simon Says, Issue One: Summer Love (section three)
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I think I left off at:
Panel 5:
Simon looks after Nigel, guilty now that he's realized what he's done.
Panel 6:
Simon starts to get up. Page holds him back.
PAGE: Stay. Danny's coming over.
SIMON: Who?
PAGE 12-13:
Splash page. Nondescript villainous lair, garage type. This place belonged to Page's father, and hasn't been used in years. The dust is thick, the equipment outdated, but the Bookmobile (a big, tanklike van) in the middle of the room is in good shape except for some dents and a garish paint job. (It looks like the recently disowned gay son of the Hummer.)
Page is perched on the slightly damaged hood, looking as graceful as ever, with a set of blueprints spread across her lap. Simon, Danny, and REESE are arrayed around her like worshippers at the shrine of the goddess. Off to one side, SPENCE, BEAU, AND FRANK compare the sizes of their guns while JACKSON looks on, unimpressed.
Reese looks like your average thirty-year-old Star Trek fan living in his parents' basement, perhaps a bit more fit than the stereotype, but unwashed, overweight, and apparently inept at life. Spence and Beau are brothers, youngish and cocky, but with the sort of tough but professional look of well trained soldiers. Frank is much older, someone who has been at this a long time and is a little beaten down by it all. And Jackson is just plain unimpressed.
CAPTION (on Danny): Danny's a good right-hand man. My dad says he's not bright enough to run an operation on his own, but his loyalties are strong if the money's good.
CAPTION (on Simon): You may not need him standing behind you to reinforce your orders, but he's still a good deterrent to the opposition.
CAPTION (on Reese): Reese is...well, better than he looks. I'll be conferring with him on security.
CAPTION (on Page): What? You didn't think you were the only one with a gift?
CAPTION (on Spence): The McKinneys always work together. Spencer is the best hired gun in Steel City.
CAPTION (on Beau): Beau...tries hard.
CAPTION (on Frank): Frank Fontaine used to work for my father. He's got experience on his side. Just don't ask him to do any heavy lifting.
CAPTION (on Jackson): And don't expect any excitement out of Jackson. The only thing he's going to care about is the Bookmobile.
CAPTION (Simon): Bookmobile?
CAPTION (Page): Don't say it.
PAGE 14:
Panel 1:
Later (a couple of days.) The Bookmobile, now painted a less attention-grabbing black, drives down the street. This time of the morning, there is little traffic. What there is looks awfully dinky next to the heavy van.
CAPTION (Simon): Can we at least paint it?
Panel 2:
Outside the First National Bank, the classy kind of establishment in the Old Money part of town. Page and Reese stand outside the revolving door, he in a business suit, she in conservative tweed.
Panel 3:
Inside the Bookmobile. Danny and the three hired guns sit in the open area in the back, separated by a grate with a small window from Simon and Jackson in the front. Danny leans forward to talk to Simon.
DANNY: You'll never forget your first. Just don't lose your cool.
JACKSON: And you don't want to come too early.
Panel 4:
Inside the bank lobby. The tellers sit behind gilded bars, surveying the marble lobby and their few well-dressed customers with sleepy boredom. Page and Reese smile politely at the security guard by the door as they walk past him.
Panel 5:
In the back of the Bookmobile. On Spence, Beau, and Frank. Spence is running his hand through his hair, looking over his shoulder at Danny, who is still leaning forward to talk to Simon.
SPENCE: His hat his cool. I want a cool hat.
BEAU: He doesn't even have a real theme.
Panel 6:
In the bank, security area. The hallway is dingy and harshly lit, nothing like the muted elegance of the areas on show for the customers. Reese and Page stand at the ready. He had drawn a small pistol. Ahead of them, around the corner (where they can't possibly be able to see it) is the main security terminal. No security guards are visible, but a good portion of the array of monitors and equipment can be seen by the reader.
PAGE (whispering): One.
Panel 7:
In the back of the Bookmobile. Spence and Beau are facing each other, argumentative as only siblings can be. Frank checks his gun, contemplating blowing one or both of them away just to get a little peace and quiet.
SPENCE: It would be a theme if we were all wearing cool hats.
BEAU: It's a fedora, and that's not a theme. Right, Frank?
FRANK: Long as we get paid, what difference does it make?
Panel 8:
In the security terminal. Reese leans over a keyboard, typing, intent on the monitor in front of him, which flashes the message "ERASING DATA" in red. His gun rests close at hand. Page looks at the other monitors with a dreamy expression, one hand raised to point at the monitors, four of which show guards going about their business (including the one by the front door.) Both are apparently oblivious to the security guard sprawled facedown on the equipment, still seated in his swivel chair, who has been shot in the back of the head.
PAGE: I'll get the two in the halls. The one outside the president's office is all yours. Reaction time should be down. He hasn't been sleeping lately.
PAGE (cont.): Newlywed.
Panel 9:
In the back of the Bookmobile. Spence and Beau follow Frank's lead in checking their weapons.
BEAU: You think this will work out?
FRANK: I'll believe it when I see it.
PAGE 15:
Panel 1:
In the bank lobby. Page and Reese can be seen in the hall behind the security guard, coming toward him. The guard has a polite smile for Simon, who is coming in the non-revolving door holding a briefcase, with the rest of the gang just barely visible behind him. None of the customers are aware that anything is amiss.
Panel 2:
Danny, Frank, Spence, and Beau burst into the lobby behind Simon. Danny fires off a shotgun blast at the ceiling while the others level their weapons at the customers and tellers. The startled guard reaches for his holstered radio, but is obviously too late to do any good, as Reese's gun is already aimed squarely at his back.
SIMON: Noboy move! This is a robbery!
Panel 3:
Simon strides forward toward the tellers. Everyone else stands frozen in the same poses as the last panel, gang included.
Panel 4:
Everyone is still frozen. Simon looks back at his new employees uncertainly.
SIMON: Except you. The gang can move.
SIMON (muttering): Gotta work on that.
Panel 5:
Simon approaches one of the tellers, a very young, pretty redhead whose nameplate identifies her as Vanessa Kershaw. (Anyone with too much knowledge of lepidopterans will recognize from the name that she is going to be popping up as a hero or a villain sooner or later.) In the background, Reese hits the security guard over the head while Page takes his radio and gun.
SIMON: You, Vanessa. You can move now. But don't try to call for help.
Panel 6:
On Page. She is frowning, looking toward the exit.
PAGE (to herself): That's not...
Panel 7:
On Simon, who is watching Vanessa fill his briefcase with money.
SIMON: No tricks.
PAGE: Simon!
Panel 8:
Simon looks back at Page, mystified. She looks frantic.
PAGE: We have tights!
PAGE 16:
Enter the Steel Sentinel in all his heroic glory. There is a brief scuffle, ended when Simon simply tells the Sentinel, "Stop." Urged by Page to kill him, instead he orders the hero to stay behind and stop the cops from coming after them. Our criminals make their escape.
Sadly, I can write no further. I have no idea what the Steel Sentinel's crimefighting personality is like. Also need to know if the Cardinal is around at this point. Also, don't think I like the Cardinal's name. Also, hungry.
The rest of the issue is blocked out, but can't be written until after some conversation.
Until then, will be working on Issue 2 ("Before a Fall").
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(comment on this)
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| Friday, October 3rd, 2008
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11:25 am - Villainy: Simon Says, Issue One: Summer Love (section two)
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PAGE 7:
PANEL 1:
Steel Memorial Park, the next day. About 11:00. Simon's POV, looking at Page, holding herself in a difficult yoga pose under her elm.
Panel 2:
Simon's POV, closer. She has changed position, a graceful continuation of motion. Her eyes are closed.
PAGE: You're early.
Panel 3:
Over Simon's shoulder, looking down at Page, who is now looking back up at him, her expression serene.
SIMON: What are you doing here?
PAGE: Waiting for you.
PAGE (cont): What are you doing here?
Panel 4:
Simon goes down on one knee in front of Page, who sits up to meet him.
SIMON: Why?
PAGE: Because you're special. Think of all the things you could do.
Panel 5:
They both sit cross-legged, facing each other at a bit of an angle. Simon looks down, too uncomfortable to meet her eyes.
SIMON: I can't do anything.
PAGE: You saved me. You didn't really have any work to do yesterday, did you?
SIMON: No.
Panel 6:
She leans toward him. He turns his head in the opposite direction.
PAGE: There are no slow seasons in bank robbery.
SIMON: No.
Panel 7:
Page sits up straighter, beginning to pout again. Simon looks at her as if begging her to understand.
PAGE: What are you afraid of?
SIMON: I don't want to hurt anyone.
PAGE: So don't! Evacuate the building, waltz in, take the money, and leave.
Panel 8:
On Simon, who is obviously very uncomfortable talking about his powers.
SIMON: I...I can only control people through spoken commands.
PAGE (o.p.): Even better!
Panel 9:
On Page, who is beginning to be quite passionate about her new cause.
PAGE: Do you know what causes most people to get hurt during robberies? They don't do as they're told. Come on!
PAGE 8:
Panel 1:
Long shot. Page has Simon by the hand and is leading him through the park at a brisk run.
SIMON: Where are we going?
PAGE: My apartment! We have so much planning to do. You need henchmen, a costume, a name--especially henchmen. We'll need someone who knows the security we'll be facing. You want to hit First National or Main Street? First National's riskier, but it's the better payoff.
SIMON: I haven't agreed...
Panel 2:
Somewhat closer as Page drags Simon through the front door of a tall, gleaming apartment building right at the edge of the park.
SIMON: You live here?
PAGE: There's good money in supervillainy.
Panel 3:
In a small, tasteful lobby, Page impatiently jabs at the elevator button.
SIMON: You're okay saying that out loud?
PAGE: Sweetie, this is Steel City. Villainy is an institution.
SFX: Elevator ding.
Panel 4:
Page practically shoves Simon into the elevator.
SIMON: Speaking of institutions, I'm not too eager to see the inside of Hardin. They block your powers there.
Panel 5:
Tight on Simon's face as Page surprise-kisses him for the second time.
SIMON: Do you know what they'd do to m--
Panel 6:
Page pulls back slightly from Simon. He looks gobsmacked.
SIMON: Probably not that.
PAGE: Shut up.
PAGE 9:
Panel 1:
Inside Page's apartment, much later in the afternoon. The place is light and airy, with a large window facing west, overlooking the park. Personal items are minimal, in contrast with the cheerful clutter of Simon's apartment. Page and Simon sit sprawled across a puffy white couch, physically very much at ease with each other. Page is no longer wearing the leotard, having changed into something more accessible. Simon's jacket lies crumpled on the floor, his hat tossed carelessly over a lamp. His clothes are the only real spots of color in the nearly monochromatic room.
SIMON: I came here to tell you to forget about me.
PAGE: I'd like to see you try.
Panel 2:
Close-up. Page cuddles up against Simon's side, smiling.
SIMON: I could still do it.
PAGE: Yeah, right. Like I'm ever going to forget you.
Panel 3:
She stretches, checking her watch.
PAGE: The bar should be filling up by now. Want to head out?
Panel 4:
They both stand. Simon reaches for his hat.
PAGE: Why do you always wear a suit, anyway? You don't work a desk job. You could wear whatever you want.
Panel 5:
From behind. Page and Simon move toward the front door. Simon is just placing his hat back on his head, holding his jacket slung casually over his shoulder. Visible in the background, on the wall next to the door, is a framed newspaper clipping of Page's father, the Bookworm (in a ridiculous costume) triumphant in a long-ago caper.
SIMON: It's a chick magnet.
PAGE: It is pretty hot. Pig.
Panel 6:
From behind. The front door is half open, the couple having stepped out into the hall. Page is pushing it shut behind her. They look at each other, smiling.
Panel 7:
Close-up on the lock as it turns over.
SPEECH BUBBLE (through door): You know, I don't usually give it all away on the first date.
PAGE 10:
Panel 1:
A dark, seedy-looking bar (the City Dump), all smoke and pool cues and unsavory characters (many of whom will become familiar faces in the world of Steel City Villainy.) Page and Simon sit at the bar, sandwiched between a couple of guys who easily dwarf them both in size. Simon looks around furtively, trying not to seem too out of place; Page is completely at ease, smiling at the man behind the bar (the BROKER.)
CAPTION: This isn't the first.
Panel 2:
The Broker leans toward Page, polishing a glass.
BROKER: Welcome back, kiddo. How's your pop? Still enjoying his retirement?
PAGE: Not as much as Mom is. Still, I know he'd like to be back in business.
Panel 3:
Glancing at Page, the guy sitting next to her moves aside. Simon notices this, and is quietly confused.
BROKER: Who wouldn't? Well, what can I get ya?
PAGE: Couple of tall ones. No, make that a round. And in a clean glass this time, huh?
Panel 4:
Page waves her hand at the Broker, shooing him away.
BROKER: And for your friend?
PAGE: Simon's gotta keep his head straight. Least until we get a DD.
Panel 5:
The Broker turns away to talk to another customer, making no move to bring the drinks Page (apparently) ordered. From behind, NIGEL MERIWETHER (the Gentleman Thief) approaches. He is tall, dark, and handsome, built for speed and evasion, very dashing in a way utterly unlike Simon's hopeless charm--the Don Juan of cat burglars.
SIMON: Now what?
PAGE: Wait. They'll come to us.
Panel 6:
Nigel taps Page on the shoulder to get her attention. She looks delighted to see him. A little too delighted, in Simon's opinion.
PAGE: Gent!
NIGEL: Hello again! Didn't think I'd be seeing you back in this dump. Looking for company, are you?
Panel 7:
Simon looks irritated as Page turns toward Nigel, shutting him out of the conversation.
PAGE: I doubt I could afford your services.
NIGEL: Oh, it's like that, is it?
Panel 8:
Simon rests his chin in his hand, staring at the ceiling in mounting frustration. Nigel leans close to Page to whisper to her.
NIGEL: Dr. Goldenrod had a team put together before the Sentinel put him back in Hardin.
PAGE: He's still alive?
Panel 9:
In the background, the Broker can be seen talking to DANNY, a professional henchman/bodyguard, 6'5" and built like a power lifter. He has what might, under other circumstances, be termed an honest face.
NIGEL: A clever girl would snap them up before they had a chance to find other work.
PAGE: I'll have to run that by my partner.
PAGE 11:
Panel 1:
Nigel looks past Page as if seeing Simon for the first time. He extends his hand for a handshake. Simon does the same, although his response is chilly at best. Danny watches, thinking.
NIGEL: Oh, hello. So you're the reason our Page is finally joining her own kind? And here we thought she was too good for the likes of us.
NIGEL (cont): Nigel Meriwether. Gentleman Thief.
SIMON: Simon.
PAGE: Says!
Panel 2:
Simon looks at Page in some confusion. Nigel points his thumb toward Danny, who is still watching.
SIMON (whispering): What?
PAGE (whispering): Simon Says!
NIGEL: You'll want to talk to Danny.
Panel 3:
Nigel gives Page a look that promises naughty fun, adding to Simon's frustration.
NIGEL: That is, if you can't be talked into partnering with a real criminal.
SIMON (muttering): Go fuck yourself, Thief.
Panel 4:
Nigel abruptbly turns and walks toward the exit. Page watches him go. Simon doesn't react.
Panel 5:
Simon looks after Nigel, suddenly guilty at realizing what he's just done.
PAGE (giggling): I think he heard you.
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(comment on this)
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| Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
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3:43 pm - Villainy: Simon Says, Issue One: Summer Love (section one)
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ISSUE ONE: Summer Love
PAGE ONE
PANEL 1:
Steel City, Darius Steel Memorial Park (a rather sad little place with more emphasis on manmade barriers than the sparse flora, but still the brightest spot of color one is likely to find in this grey city.) SIMON GUILLORY walks down a random path, hands in his pockets, humming to himself, looking like something out of the early 1950s in a blue three piece suit and fedora. He is short (about 5'5") and slender, charmingly handsome but not aware enough of this fact to be cocky about it, with blue eyes and blond hair worn just a bit longer than business standard.
In the background is PAGE TURNER, a very graceful-looking brunette in her early twenties. Wearing a black leotard, she sits under a spreading elm, eyes closed, apparently deep in meditation.
PANEL 2:
Simon walks past page. She opens one eye to watch him go, smiling slightly.
PANEL 3:
Stepping just past Page, Simon hesitates, looking back at the girl. Her eyes are closed, but her smile has widened.
PANEL 4:
Page leans her head back against the tree, eyes still closed. Simon looks embarrassed.
PAGE: Are you ever going to stop and talk to me?
PANEL 5:
Page opens her eyes to look at Simon, who is now visibly blushing.
PAGE: You've been walking past this spot every day at noon for three weeks. It's flattering, but I wish I at least knew your name.
PANEL 6:
Simon reaches down to take the hand Page offers up to him. He is somewhat hesitant, she more bold.
SIMON: Simon. Guillory.
PANEL 7:
Simon has helped Page to her feet. She stands slightly off balance, her hand still in his. Simon is surprised by her response.
PAGE: Page Turner.
SIMON: Page--as in--?
PAGE: It's a long story.
Panel 8:
Close on Simon's face. He looks hopeful.
SIMON: I've got time.
PAGE 2:
PANEL 1:
A sushi bar. Close on Page and Simon as they sit eating sushi and drinking sake. Page has a piece of sushi in her chopsticks. Simon holds his sticks, one in each hand, looking bemused.
PAGE: And my dad's just lying there on the carpet, so tranked he doesn't know his own name. And the Sentinel tells Mom, "Florida is nice this time of year."
PANEL 2:
Simon continues fumbling with the chopsticks as Page puts her sushi in her mouth. Both are laughing.
SIMON: Did he take the hint?
PAGE: Hm-mmm.
PANEL 3:
Page gestures with her empty sticks. Simon looks rather proud of himself as he manages to pick up a piece of sushi.
PAGE: He'd been at it for thirty years by that time. He wasn't about to quit. He was a joke. But he wasn't a quitter.
PANEL 4:
Somewhat subdued, Page looks over at Simon. His sushi has dropped from his sticks, which he holds just at mouth level, looking disappointed at the betrayal.
PAGE: So, what about your family? Any rogues and villains I should know about?
PANEL 5 (inset):
Tight on Simon. He looks down at his plate, struggling to find an answer, remembering something painful. In his eyes, visible only to the reader who is really looking for it, is the silhouette, as if reflected there, of a falling woman.
PANEL 6:
(Intimately) close on both. They face each other in profile. Simon forces a smile, showing no teeth. Page isn't buying it. She reaches out to take his hand.
SIMON: No one as famous as the Bookworm.
PANEL 7 (inset):
ECU of their hands, from above. Page helps Simon hold the chopsticks correctly.
PAGE (o.p.): Tell me about you, then. What do you do?
PANEL 8:
On both. Page guides Simon's hand up toward his mouth. He looks a little embarrassed.
SIMON: I, uh...I write advertising jingles.
PAGE 3:
PANEL 1:
Simon finally gets to eat a piece of sushi. Page has forgotten all about her chopsticks, looking interested in spite of his embarrassment.
PAGE: Really? Like what?
SIMON: Um...you know those commercials for Kurgan?
PANEL 2:
Obviously, Page knows exactly what he's talking about. He looks a little less embarrassed as they both burst into song.
PAGE: If you want to be in the clear...
BOTH: Drink Kurgan Beer!
PANEL 3:
In the background, a man can be seen leaning over the bar to order a Kurgan.
PAGE: Do they serve Kurgan here?
SIMON: Don't worry about it.
PANEL 4:
Two more patrons in the background order Kurgans.
PAGE: That's a pretty cool job.
SIMON: I guess. Not really what I wanted to do with my life.
PANEL 5:
The crowd of beer drinkers has grown to an uncomfortable size. Simon checks his watch.
PAGE: What did you want to do?
SIMON: I wanted to be a nun.
SIMON (cont.): Do you want to get out of here?
PANEL 6:
Page and Simon walk toward the exit. The other customers start shoving each other in their urgency to buy more beer.
PAGE: A nun?
SIMON: I was six.
PANEL 7:
They exit the bar and walk down the sidewalk together. They have obviously grown comfortable with each other over a short time.
PAGE: But why a nun?
SIMON: I liked them. They took care of me. Sacred Heart was a big, lonely place, but...Sister Margaret Mary was my friend.
PANEL 8:
The sidewalk is empty except for the two of them. They are approaching an ominously dark alley.
PAGE: Oh. You were an orphan?
PANEL 9:
They cross the mouth of the alley. Something metallic glints from the darkness. Simon is looking away.
PAGE: I'm sorry.
SIMON: Why? I'm hardly the innocent victim here.
MUGGER (from alley): That so?
PANEL 10:
Startled, Page and Simon turn toward the alley. Simon tries to protect Page by pushing her behind him. The Mugger steps just out of the shadows, holding a small handgun at waist height.
MUGGER: Come on, come on. Hand over the cash and no one has to get hurt.
PAGE 4:
PANEL 1:
On Page and Simon, tight on faces. Page, frightened, is hiding behind Simon, who looks irritated.
SIMON: No.
PAGE: Simon!
MUGGER (o.p.): What?
SIMON: No.
PANEL 2:
Wider shot, encompassing all three. Page is ready to make a run for it. The mugger looks confused. Simon is unconcerned.
SIMON: You don't want to shoot anyone. Put the gun down.
PANEL 3:
ECU, mugger's face. He looks like he's just been asked to calculate pi to the thirteenth decimal place.
MUGGER: Um...
PANEL 4:
On Simon, looking very stern. Page is staring at him in shock.
SIMON: And go get a real job.
PANEL 5:
Wider, all three. The mugger is turning away, the gun dropping from his limp hand. Page hangs back from Simon as if she is afraid of him.
MUGGER: Um...yeah...okay...
PAGE 5:
PANEL 1:
On Page and Simon. He watches the mugger go, looking embarrassed again. She looks up at him from behind and to the side.
MUGGER (o.p.): Real job...
SIMON: Uh...sorry, I--
PAGE: You have a power.
PANEL 2:
ECU, Simon's face. He looks like a kid caught raiding the cookie jar, if such a blatant cliche will be excused.
SIMON: Um--no, I don't--
PANEL 3:
Identical angle. Page darts into frame to plant a hungry kiss on Simon's lips, taking him very much by surprise.
PANEL 4:
Wider shot. Page clings to Simon's arm, suddenly every inch the seductress.
PAGE: That's so hot.
SIMON: It is?
PANEL 5:
Simon's POV, looking down at Page, who is flushed and dishevelled and clearly aroused.
PAGE: What do you do with it?
SIMON: Do?
PAGE: Are you a hero?
PAGE (cont.): Or a villain?
PANEL 6:
Medium shot. Simon pushes Page away, not violently, but firmly.
SIMON: No! I don't use it!
PAGE: Why not?
PANEL 7:
CU, Simon's face.
SIMON: Bec--
PANEL 8:
CU, Simon's face. He looks off to the side, hesitating.
PANEL 9:
CU, Simon's face. Uncomfortably, he meets Page's gaze.
PANEL 10:
CU, Page's face. She looks very earnest.
PAGE: Show me.
PANEL 11:
Wider shot, encompassing both. Simon turns away from Page, who stands with her arms crossed, pouting.
SIMON: I have to get back to work.
PAGE 6:
PANEL 1:
Extreme long shot. Simon approaches his home, a modest apartment building in a run-down but not too dangerous part of town.
CAPTION (PAGE): You do not.
Panel 2:
Medium shot. Simon walks up the stairs to his apartment. His landlord, a greasy-looking, middle-aged man in a stained wifebeater, leans out of an open doorway.
LANDLORD: Rent's due Monday.
SIMON: So is my royalty check.
PANEL 3:
Low angle (answering machine's POV), inside Simon's apartment. It's small but homey, sparsely furnished but brightly colored in primary reds and blues. Focus of the panel is on the bookshelf near the front door, which stands open as Simon enters the room. A number of books fill the shelves, along with a few knicknacks and a picture of a small boy sitting in a nun's lap (young Simon and Sister Margaret Mary).
CAPTION: You'll speak again when you're ready.
CAPTION: You'll find your voice.
PANEL 4:
Answering machine's POV. Simon approaches the phone, hand outstretched, eyes downcast.
CAPTION: I'm sorry.
ANSWERING MACHINE: You have one new message.
PANEL 5:
Answering machine's POV. Simon wanders into the kitchen (which bleeds into the living room area) to see what's in the fridge.
ANSWERING MACHINE: First new message: Si, baby! It's Deke. Listen, how do you feel about Zippit dish soap?
SIMON: Ugh.
PANEL 6:
Simon retreats, empty-handed, to sink into a comfy recliner, reaching for the TV remote.
MACHINE: Time we put that voice of yours to work again, babe.
CAPTION: It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
PANEL 7:
Simon turns on the TV, more to drown out the silence than out of any interest.
TV: If you want to be in the clear...
CAPTION: Never again.
TV: Drink Kurgan Beer!
PANEL 8:
ECU of Simon's hand holding the remote more tightly than is probably healthy for the electronics.
CAPTION: I can't let you do something like this again. I can't risk it.
MACHINE: Call me.
SFX: TV noise
PANEL 9:
ECU, Simon's eyes. The faintest suggestion of the earlier silhouette appears again. There is a lipstick smudge on his cheek.
CAPTION: Do you understand?
Second chunk to follow.
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(4 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, August 28th, 2008
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11:38 am - MCR: Shall I not then be stifled in the vault?
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Meanwhile, back in Freezerland, Selina was bored. She had given up on the axe, but she was still keeping it close. She was still a long way from trusting Crane, quiet though he might be.
Although, listening in the dark, she wasn’t so sure “quiet” was the right word after all. He was sitting still, and he wasn’t trying to talk to her, but the sound of his breathing was reverberating harshly off the walls, in sharp contrast to her own calm, measured breaths.
“Are you scared, Scarecrow?” she had to ask. He flinched. “Aw. Afraid the bad old Catwoman is going to crawl over there and do something to your manhood?”
“I would prefer not to talk to you,” he said stiffly.
“Really? I’m crushed. I thought for sure you would have had something to say to me. Don’t you want to teach me fear of the dark? Or tight spaces? Or is it you who’s afraid of those?”
He pushed away from the wall, leaning toward her, his glasses a faint gleam, all she could clearly see of him.
“Have you ever been buried alive, Catwoman?” His voice was little more than a whisper. She grinned a feral grin that she hoped he could see.
“If I had, I wouldn’t be here enjoying the pleasure of your company.” He made a sound that she guessed meant irritation.
“Then there’s no use telling you about it, is there? You have no idea what it’s like to come to in the dark, try to sit up, and find you can’t. An inch from your nose is a thick slab of pine. Fling out your elbows, stretch out your toes, and you’ll hit more of the same. It’s all lined with silk and padding, but you know the dimensions. You’re in a coffin, and this is your final resting place. Sooner or later, the worms will chew through the wood and cloth that some deluded fool once thought would be enough to preserve the dead. And then they’ll chew through you as you rot here, soft and putrid, until everything that was you is gone.
“The air is already hot and stale, and you waste more precious oxygen as you start to panic. You have to wriggle and bend and promise your elbows more room than they have, but you manage to get your hands up against the lid. You push. You shove. You throw yourself against it. Finally, in desperation, you claw at the wood until your fingers are raw and bloody. It doesn’t help.
“You fall back. Now all you can think about is the weight of six feet of earth on top of you. A coffin lid can’t withstand that. It’s going to crack under the strain. You imagine the dirt raining down on you, maybe just a trickle at first, then more and more as the pinewood fails. You can imagine it filling your nose and mouth. It’s not just burying you, it’s drowning you. It will get into your ears. It will creep under your eyelids. It will force you down, crushing you under its weight, and there’s nothing you can do to fight back. Against the weight of the world, your struggles are insignificant. A few minutes’ worth of air and what freedom of movement you still have become things to treasure.
“You’re dredging up long-abandoned fables of a caring God in hopes that He, in His great mercy, will grant you enough time to accept what you know is coming. Then you realize why your prison hasn’t caved in on you yet. You can’t have been buried, at least not very deep. And even though you thought you knew better, you let yourself hope that someone will come to your rescue if you just try hard enough to make yourself heard. And that stirring of hope is the cruelest part of all of this.
“You abandon any pretense of dignity or pride and scream for help. You pound your fists on the coffin lid. You even try to kick, even though the angle is bad and you’re not doing much more than bruising your toes. So you scream away the last of your air, you break your strength on an unyielding barrier—and no one hears you. Or maybe they do hear you, and they just don’t care. You’ll never know. It’s a mercy when you finally lose consciousness, but a mercy you fight against as long and as hard as you can.
“But you wouldn’t know anything about that, Catwoman. You’ve never been buried alive.”
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| Friday, August 22nd, 2008
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2:59 am - A Body Worth Guarding
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2004, Lock-Up's origin. Not just from the Scarecrow's point of view.
When Harley Quinzel was eleven years old and just beginning to show signs that there might be something interesting under her leotard, her friend Anna’s brother, Walter, slipped her a note after gymnastics practice asking, “Will you be my girlfriend?” She put her check mark in the “yes” box. That was the beginning of her interaction with the opposite sex.
A decade later, not much had changed. The boys had learned different ways of asking, but they still hadn’t learned a thing about subtlety--except for the one who mattered. Now she had checked her box for Mistah J in permanent ink, and everybody else just had to learn to live with it. She put them off firmly, sometimes with a rubber mallet or a surprise boxing glove to the face, because even if she had somehow lost her marbles and felt even the slightest bit of interest in grubby little Regular People, she knew her Puddin’ wouldn’t like the idea of having to share.
In Arkham, she wasn’t allowed to play with rubber mallets. Still, she kept them off her, and even the stubborn ones decided she wasn’t worth it when she dropped her sweetheart’s name. So when the new security guy cornered her in the hall on the way to the rec room, naturally, she wasn’t impressed. Even when everybody else filed past, leaving her alone with him, she didn’t think much of it.
“What’s a cute little thing like you doing in a place like this?” Gee, even his lines were lame. Not that she could expect much better from a meathead like this. Mistah J had just spoiled her for the masses. Why eat fish sticks when she could have caviar?
Actually, caviar made her yak just as much as anything else fishy. Maybe she should come up with a better metaphor.
“What I’m doing,” she said calmly to the leering cretin who held her cornered, “is I’m going to the rec room for my Monday night poker game. Harv gets real touchy if I make him wait, so do you mind if I get going, um…Lars, was it?” He slammed his hands against the wall on either side of her head. Harley rolled her eyes, knowing that what he wanted was for her to flinch.
“You’re not going anywhere, doll.”
Frowning, she pushed his hands aside.
“Haven’t you heard? I’m taken, pal.”
He slammed her back against the wall, pawing her chest with all the finesse of a high school jock. And he smiled at her like he knew something she didn’t. Suddenly, she wanted a shower very much.
“That clown doesn’t scare me, girlie. Now, listen up. You’re a bright enough girl; you used to be a doctor. You know how things work. This is me giving you your chance to play nice.”
Because she couldn’t think of anything funnier, she tried to knee him in the crotch. He trapped her leg with his own, forcing her knees apart. She tried to punch him. He caught her wrist and held her hand away from his face.
“What’s going on here?”
Harley breathed a sigh of relief. She had never been so happy to see her own psychiatrist.
“Dr. Blackwell, get this guy offa me!” she screeched.
The security guy sounded unbelievably smug as he countered, “I was trying to explain to Miss Quinn the importance of good behavior. I certainly wasn’t trying to provoke an attack.”
“You liar!” She struggled to punch his smarmy face in. He calmly bent her wrist back. “Doc, can’t you see he’s groping me?” Dr. Blackwell raised an eyebrow. Harley looked down. His hand was on her shoulder. “He--he said he wasn’t scared of Mr. J,” she added. “And…he smiled at me,” she finished lamely.
“Harley, I know you have problems with authority figures,” Dr. Blackwell started in, but--” She interrupted him by slamming her own head into the wall with a loud bang. It was bad enough listening to his inane prattle in therapy. She didn’t think she could handle it in her free time, too.
“Can I please just go to the rec room?”
“Oh, no,” the security guy said smoothly. “I really don’t think she should be allowed to fly off the handle like that without any consequences.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Dr. Blackwell agreed. “Would you mind escorting her back to her cell?”
“What? But I didn’t do anything! You can’t take away my privileges when I’m being good! You wait’ll I tell my Puddin’ about this! He’ll turn your kidneys into bongo drums!”
She was still ranting when the cell door slammed shut on her.
-*-
“Harley ain’t coming. Go on and deal.”
Two-Face shook his head, shuffling the cards again, fanning them back and forth between the whole hand and the scarred one.
“The coin says we wait.” On his right, Killer Croc bared his teeth in something like a smile.
“The coin say anything about tearin’ off her head and suckin’ out the insides?” Two-Face frowned.
“I haven’t asked.”
Across the table, the Riddler was looking a little nervous. This was his first time joining their game, since Hands McGee was out early for good behavior, and Croc was going to town, scaring the fresh meat. Harley wasn’t part of their usual group either, but she made a fair enough substitute for the Joker…when she showed up.
“She really isn’t coming, you know,” the Scarecrow said without looking up from his chess board. Croc and Two-Face ignored him. The Riddler was more easily distracted.
“Why do you say that?”
The Scarecrow took a moment to put the Mad Hatter’s king in check, bringing a frown to the other man’s face.
“She would be here by now, wouldn’t she. Or didn’t you see the way our new security chief was looking at her?”
“You don’t think he’d hurt her, do you?” came an anxious voice from behind Harvey. Arnold Wesker was the man’s name, though he rarely worked up the nerve to speak to anyone in his own voice. The puppet on his hand, now, he made his opinions known, loudly and often.
“Dame like that, anyone can look. You seen the chassis on her?” His wooden jaw clacked. The Ventriloquist looked mortified. “The Dummy here’s dizzy with her.”
“Mr. Scarface!”
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| Thursday, August 21st, 2008
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3:04 am - The Other Face
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Takes place after "Genesis." Includes a rant that should probably be cut.
Poison Ivy hadn’t considered herself a supervillain until after her arrest. Yes, she had special powers beyond those of mundane human beings. Yes, she had done things that she knew were wrong according to man’s law. Yes, she called herself Poison Ivy. But she still thought of herself as Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, environmental crusader. Until the newspapers started calling her Gotham’s latest supervillain, the word honestly never occurred to her.
They brought her a newspaper every morning, though she kept telling them she didn’t want one. They took the paper back each afternoon, she begged them to at least recycle it, they patted her on the head and told her to be a good little girl, and offered no commitments. Always the same routine.
Always the same cops, too, one a dark-eyed Latina who could have been the street-tough rookie with her star on the rise in any buddy cop show, the other a blonde who wouldn’t have looked out of place in a tiara and a Miss Gotham sash if only she could learn to skip breakfast, lunch, and every other dinner. Women. They all just assumed that her kiss would have no effect on a woman, and she had done nothing to educate them. They weren’t far wrong, anyway. The powers that allowed her to control others were based around her womanhood. Someone who had never looked at any woman and felt even the faintest flush of confusion might be able to resist her.
But straight and gay were just words; she already knew that. In high school, she’d watched her best friend waffle between sexual identities for years, firmly believing with each new One True Love that this time she knew who she really was. Her best friend in college had come to her right from a nasty fight with his boyfriend, and if the taste of her hadn’t cured his broken heart, at least he’d fallen asleep on her couch with lipstick smears and a smile on his face. She’d even known a girl once who claimed she was asexual. Last she’d heard, Ken had gotten back together with Taylor, who was a woman now. Nancy was married to a fire-and-brimstone preacher; no fags allowed in their church. And Gina? Gina probably still make joking advances at anything that breathed--when she was drunk.
Even if she found someone who genuinely had no lust for her pheromones to build on, she couldn’t doubt that her kiss would have some effect. Confusion, disorientation, illness--death, if she so chose. They couldn’t hold her if she truly wanted to leave. All their clever plans would come to nothing in the end.
Which did beg the question: why was she still there?
She was there for what she had done to Harvey Dent. It hadn’t seemed like so much at the time, and it still didn’t, honestly. She hadn’t killed him, easy as it would have been to do so. She’d just roughed him up a little, held him against his will, and used him as leverage against her real target. No big deal.
But Batman thought it was a big deal. She supposed that was why she initially went along with their plans for capture and containment.
And then Harvey had come to talk. He had to build a case to put the bad, bad plant lady in prison, she knew that, but she hadn’t thought he would do it himself. She wouldn’t have thought he’d want anything more to do with her. He must have some assistants he could hire this out to, right? The men she had interacted with before had been all too happy to get away from her, to recover from their terrible ordeals on some beach somewhere. They all chose beaches. Fewer plans there. Obviously.
But Gotham’s White Knight DA actually cared about his job, to her very great surprise. He was a lawyer and a politician, but he was an honest one.
So she let him talk to her. He always called her Pamela, just as she had when he’d been wrapped in vines like a piece of modern art on her wall. He was cute, the first real gentleman she had met in years.
“How are you, Pamela?” he asked as usual on the morning of his third visit, almost disturbingly courteous. Ivy leaned forward, elbows on the table, face near the glass that separated them, giving him a good look at the heavy cuffs on her wrists.
“How do I look, Harvey?”
It flustered him, as she knew it would. Even in prison blues, she knew she looked good. Maybe the same wouldn’t be true of the bright orange of Blackgate or Arkham’s dull grey, but she could worry about that later on. They hadn’t even figured out what to do with her yet. They couldn’t send her to Arkham until they proved she was insane, and she didn’t intend to make that very easy for them. But with her powers, could Blackgate hold her? Oh, what a dilemma. And she was enjoying every minute of it from her secure cell in police HQ.
Well, maybe not every minute. But she was enjoying watching them run around.
And Harvey Dent was staring at her chest.
“Harv?”
A charming blush crept over his cheeks as he met her eyes again.
“I don’t think they intended for you to wear the uniform like that.”
“It’s hot.” She fanned herself with her hand, glancing at him sidelong. “You wouldn’t ask me to button up right now, would you? It’s so stuffy.”
His left hand twitched, as it tended to do when she had him agitated. He ran his thumb across his fingers, spinning his wedding ring. At first she had thought he was trying to manage his internal conflict as she inspired thoughts that wouldn’t have sat well with his vapid wife. Later, she learned about his lucky coin, which only rarely left his hand. Everyone had a signature, she knew. Her habit was fluffing her hair.
But she liked her first explanation better.
Ugh, this needs work.
Where the story is going: over a period of a couple of months, Pam and Harvey get to know each other. Harvey's mental state degenerates, setting him up for the Two-Face split to occur not long after the end of the story. Harvey and Gilda begin having problems in their marriage. She suspects he's having an affair, which is, in fact, not the case. But after Ivy escapes from prison, she and Harvey have a one night stand (not pheromone-induced.) This is the first thing the White Knight has ever done that's honestly bad. We're not talking moderate indiscretions here; cheating on his wife is something he's supposed to stand against, thus sending him that much closer to his coming fall.
Thus are happily married comics!Harvey and "Pam's one of a kind" TAS!Harvey reconciled.
I need a good ending, though.
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| Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
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11:07 pm - MCR, next page
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could do was take an unfocused swing at her. She let him throw himself off balance, and took a knee to his ribs.
They hit the floor together and rolled. For a moment, he was on top of her. Then a twitch of the fingers brought out the retractible claws in her gloves, and she swiped at his eyes. He turned his head fast enough to avoid being blinded, but he couldn't stop her from opening up a fairly deep gash along his temple. She threw him off, came up, and planted a knee on his chest. His fist slammed against her chin, knocking her head back. She cursed and drew back to slash him with the claws again.
"Hey, now!" Al and Techie each grabbed one of Selina's arms and dragged her away from their boss. Furiously, she kicked out at him, and managed to connect with his nose just as he was sitting up.
"You ____!" He threw himself at her.
"No, Squishy!" Techie let go of Selina to hold him off.
"Come on, Squishy," Selina taunted. She swiped at him, and managed to get her claws caught in Techie's hair.
"Ow!" Techie yelped. "God damn it, Al, I've had enough of this! Throw her in the freezer." At that, Crane stopped trying to get at her through the human shield. Selina took the opportunity to kick him in the shin. He gave up any idea of a truce and shoved Techie out of the way, leaving a knot of hair dangling from Selina's glove.
Al released Selina and tackled Crane instead.
"Stop it! You're acting like children!"
"Get off me, Al!" He squirmed violently, unable to get out from underneath his lackey. She stoically took an elbow to the face and continued to hold him down.
Techie grabbed Selina from behind, pinning her arms behind her back and lifting her so her feet were barely touching the floor.
"Kitchen! March!"
She kicked like an angry toddler, heels drumming against Techie's shins. The henchgirl decided it would be easier just to carry her.
She heard a grunt of exertion from Al.
"Have you been eating three squares a day? I'm so proud of you!"
"Put me down!" he protested.
"Squish!"
Something unspeakable must have accompanied the exclamation. He squawked and, if Selina heard right, started beating the hell out of her.
"Al," said Techie, "don't pinch the Scarecrow's ass."
"I--uff--spine, Squishy--need that for walking."
Selina was laughing too hard to fight back very effectively when Techie shoved her into the walk-in freezer unit wedged into one corner of the kitchen. She was delighted to see Crane slung over Al's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, held mostly immobile, kicking at her face and slamming his elbow into her ribs.
She threw him in the freezer with Selina, banging his head on the frame as she did so. If either she or Techie had noticed, they might have revised their plans. But they didn't.
"You can come out when you've resolved your differences!"
The door slammed shut, plunging them into darkness.
"The hell with that!" Selina clambered over the stunned Scarecrow, taking little care with the placement of her knees, and threw her weight against the door. It didn't budge. "You open this goddamn door and let me out of here!" She felt Crane press himself up next to her.
"Al!" He pounded his fist against the door. "Al, I swear by all that's holy,
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4:08 pm - MCR
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Selina started to smile, until she saw how hard Crane was glaring at her.
"Well, she's right," she said. He looked like he wanted to take her head off. She laughed.
"You can laugh," Crane grumbled. "Your little fleabag recovered just fine."
"No thanks to you."
"I never intended to kill it, you know. But after what you did, believe me, I wished I had."
She sniffed derisively.
"You deserve to be in Arkham, you monster."
"And you deserve the seat Elsa Schneider is saving for you in Hell."
Techie burst out laughing. Selina frowned. What was that supposed to mean?
"Indiana Jones," Al explained. "He's comparing you to the Nazis." Selina rolled her eyes. Al stomped her foot. "The Nazis! Burned! Books!"
"And people," Selina pointed out.
"It's the same! Burning books is destroying ideas, and our minds are what make us human! Oh, where's the Captain? This is her argument. Without our ability to create ideas, we're nothing more than animals."
Selina frowned.
"And that makes it okay to torture a cat?"
"She didn't say that," Crane snapped. "She said human achievement was more important. She respects the mind's power."
Al grinned broadly.
"Squishy's on my side!"
"Squishy?" Selina repeated. He sagged, covering his eyes with one hand.
"Al!"
"Sorry..."
"Squishy?" Selina said again with a delighted laugh. "And just what does that mean?"
"It means shut up, Catwoman," Techie said, evidently switching sides. "At least no one makes hot pussy jokes behind his back."
Selina smirked.
"Well, why would they?"
The girls hesitated over their response long enough for Selina to cross over to the boss. He batted her hand away when she would have reached out and touched him.
"Catwoman, get out of my house."
"Oh, really? Do you mean that? I'm hurt. That's not what you said last time. 'Come back here,'" she purred seductively. "'When I get my hands on you...'"
He grabbed her by the wrist and shoved her toward the door.
"Out!"
"Don't touch me, cat killer."
"He didn't kill your smegging cat," said Al. Techie made an argumentative noise. Crane let go of Selina and glared at his minion.
"What I did to her spoiled pet twelve years ago is no different from what I did to the drifter you brought me this morning. And what I do, I do in the name of science."
"In the name of science!" Selina mocked, and struck a pose.
"I think that's just about enough out of you." He steered her toward the door, gripping her arms hard enough to bruise. Her automatic response was to hiss and scratch.
She might have been a little more polite if it hadn't been so obvious that he wasn't carrying any toxin. She didn't enjoy the feeling of crippling terror, after all. But as it was, the best he
Left the next page at home. Sadness. It's a pretty decent fight scene.
To work!
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| Monday, June 16th, 2008
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5:15 pm - The Lilac Avenger, page 1
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Yay! Every single word of this is foreshadowing! Literally. Everything.
Page 1:
The wedding of Bruce Danforth and Margaret Perkins. It is a lavish affair, not quite the right side of tasteful, Very Expensive. The bride, a pretty blonde in her mid-twenties, is radiant in a fairy princess-like gown, very Princess Buttercup. The groom, 28, is the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome in a perfectly tailored suit. They are surrounded by friends and family, including:
- Anthony Danforth, 59, Bruce’s father, CEO and founder of DanCorp. A former military man, powerfully built, much like an older version of Bruce.
- Patricia Lionel Danforth, 53, Bruce’s mother. A graceful society woman in a plum-colored dress, old money, heiress to the Lionel Coffee fortune. She provided the startup money for DanCorp thirty years ago, and is part owner.
- Lionel (Lyle) Danforth, 25, Bruce’s brother. The best man. Closely resembles his brother, but is built like a runner, not a brawler. Lionel is a bit of a long-haired hippie type, whereas Bruce is all business.
- Marcia Barrett, 30, Bruce’s secretary. A prim woman in glasses. Her left arm is in a cast.
- Paula Miller, mid-twenties, Lionel’s date. A friend of the family, the girl next door type.
- Joanne Allyn, early thirties, the maid of honor. Margaret’s cousin. She wears a large gold cross.
- Jamie Allyn, 12, Joanne’s daughter. A bridesmaid. A petite girl with long blond hair and a cherub’s face.
Lionel raises his champagne flute, toasting the happy couple.
Lionel: “We’ve come a long way since we used to play Bruiser and the Lilac Menace in the back yard.”
Everyone laughs. Lionel grins, embarrassed.
Lionel: “Hey, I didn’t pick the name. My brother was the mastermind. He always decided how the game was going to be played. He even worked out my evil schemes for me. Remember, Bruce? You never let me be the hero.”
Margaret casts an adoring gaze not at her husband, but at her new brother-in-law. Bruce doesn’t appear to notice.
Bruce: “You can’t have heroes without villains, little brother.”
Lionel: “And somehow, the games always involved the Bruiser rescuing a damsel in distress. Even as a kid, my brother knew that the hero always gets the girl.”
The look he gives Margaret is perhaps a little more tender than propriety should allow. But only a little.
Lionel: “And what a girl. Margaret, you’re a beautiful woman. You’re smart, you’re fun to be with, and you know how to get Mr. Junior Executive to loosen up. You’re everything he needs, and he loves you. You make my brother happy. And that’s, uh, good.”
He regains confidence as he addresses Bruce again.
Lionel: “You’re a lucky man. And you deserve to be this happy. You’re a great man.”
He looks a little choked up.
Lionel: “You’re…my hero.”
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| Sunday, June 15th, 2008
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4:20 pm - Organizational Skills FTW again!
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Bold is new information. Italics are cut.
1968 - the Joker is born. (This makes him six years older than Bruce. Terry guessed the Joker's age to be about eighty-five at the time when Word of God established Bruce to be seventy-nine.)
1974, February 19 - Bruce Wayne is born. (February 19 is DC canon. Bruce, like most superheroes, is known to be "perpetually twenty-nine," but the earliest I've known his twenty-nineness to be important was when he adopted Dick, who was twelve at the time, making for a seventeen year age difference. Since we assume Dick to be about twenty in Arc 3, five-six years younger than CAT, Bruce would be about eleven-twelve years older than the girls.)
1976 - Pamela Isley is born. (This makes her a twenty-five or -six year old grad student when she becomes Poison Ivy, which is canon as far as I can remember.)
1977, November 22 - Jonathan Crane is born. (I don't remember the reasoning, but I know I worked it out before.)
1980 - Harleen Quinzel is born. (She appears as an intern during the Riddler's first stay in Arkham. Normally I would say she should have been older than this, but it only seems right to have her a little younger than Ivy, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if she got ahead of her classmates somehow. You don't want to see the gesture I just made.)
1982 - Selina Kyle is born.
1982 (winter?) - Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered. (Do we know the exact date? All I know is that it happened when Bruce was eight, and some portrayals have snow on the ground to emphasize the sudden bleakness of his future. And stuff. How much would it suck if they died on his birthday?)
1983, May - Edward Nygma is born. (Are we going to make Nashton his real name?)
1985-1986 - CT&A are born.
1991, March 21 - Dick Grayson is born. (Thus making him twenty in 2011. Canonically, he was born on the first day of Spring. That is the 21st, isn't it?)
1993 - Barbara Gordon is born. (Because I always figured she was a couple of years younger than Dick. After all, in TASverse she was still in college after he had graduated.)
2000 - Batman. (Canonically, he started at twenty-six.)
2000 - Joker. (Who else was going to be the First Villain?)
2000 - Tim Drake is born. (I think. This general time frame. I've sort of forgotten why.)
2000 - Catwoman begins at the age of eighteen.
2000/2001? - Mad Hatter. (He's already in Arkham the first time the Riddler gets caught.)
2001, Spring - Poison Ivy. (Because she should be a little more experienced than Harley. And I just think spring would be a good time to do it.)
2001, Autumn - Scarecrow. (As per previous calculations.)
2001, Winter - Riddler. (As per previous calculations.)
2002, February 22 - Two-Face. (I want it to come after Ivy, because I like their history in TAS. And, well...2002. Didn't realize what that meant until after I'd typed it in.)
2002 - Harley. (Putting an end to her internship at the age of twenty-two, the perfect age for a trophy wife type. It's better that she's not part of the underworld when Ivy's being all psycho-girlfriend to Harvey.)
2003 - Robin I. (At the age of twelve.)
2009 - Batgirl. (Canon says she started at sixteen.)
2011 - Nightwing. (Good time for Dick to have just graduated college.)
2012, Februaryish - Robin II. (He's not Robin in January for "Strays," but he dons the costume by March for "Vacation Time.")
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| Friday, May 30th, 2008
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11:55 pm - The Haunted Palace
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Halloween night, and all was quiet.
Well, how long could that possibly last in Gotham City?
There was a storm brewing outside, sullen thunder rumbling in the traditional fashion, but the rain hadn’t yet started to fall. The air was hot and heavy with the promise of things to come. It was the perfect night for gathering together to tell scary stories—or would have been, if he hadn’t been alone.
Quiz and Query had been temporarily hired away to help the Joker pass out candy—and he really couldn’t bring himself to be too upset about that. If their parents were stupid enough to let them eat what they took from such an obviously tainted source, they probably came from inferior genes and shouldn’t be allowed to grow up and reproduce, anyway. And this would serve as a lesson to other parents that would not be soon forgotten. Half the problems of this city could have been avoided if parents had bothered to teach their children proper respect for the world around them.
But what did that matter? It was Halloween night, and he had nothing to do but reacquaint himself with Edgar Allen Poe.
He hadn’t had much time for pleasure reading lately, and he had always preferred puzzles to literature, however good the story might be. But there was something about a dark and stormy Halloween that demanded something scary. And he did have the dog-eared volume Techie had thrown at him when he hadn’t responded properly to her reference to C. Auguste Dupin.
Eddie sprawled
Where was this going?
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