It's a bird... It's a plane... It's Superman!
Our next character is none other than what is arguably the very first super hero ever, and one of the most popular and recognizable characters in all of not just comics, but fiction in general. Why did I pick him? Various reasons. He's not what I would call my favorite character, heck, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't even make my Top 5. One of the main reasons I chose him is that we needed a change of scenery. So far we've had mostly villains, and all Marvel characters. We were due for a DC character, and someone that was unequivocally a hero.
Above all, I wanted to pose a challenge. Superman is a really hard character to write, and a polarizing one among fans and writers, who see him as just a big blue boy scout. To write a compelling Superman story, one need to perform a balancing act of epic proportions. And judging by the emails I got after informing my fellow ThoughtBallooners, half of them loved my choice, and the other half now hate my guts. In any case, I think it will make for an interesting week.
Note from the author: We may still have a Doctor Doom entry coming in after this goes live. Damn you, Time Zones!
Superman is a character owned by DC Entertainment
Wow, Superman? Now I have to write something even if I neglect work to do it.
ReplyDeleteHere it is, guys. I just couldn't pass on the chance to write possibly my favourite character.
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy! And hope you find it even though it's a bit below at the page. :P
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgvc7mcg_4cdhrk5gs
Well, here it goes anyway in case someone doesn't wan to follow the Google Docs link for some reason.
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“Superman: Afraid”– script by Ivan Antonio
Context: Not any specific time. Clark and Lois are married.
This is an 8-panel page. The first three panels are pretty small, for showcasing small details, with the same size, side by side on the top of the page. The fourth panel is wide, on the middle of the page. The next four panels are the same size, forming a 2x2 grid.
Panel 1.(Lois) Close-up on Lois Lane’s face. Give her some slight bruises.
Caption 1: I ADMIT IT.
Caption 2: SOMETIMES, I’M AFRAID OF HIM.
Caption 3: OF SUPERMAN.
Panel 2. (Superman) Close-up of Superman’s arm/chest area. Make it so we can see a bit of the “S”, which I like big, like Alex Ross’. His biceps is completely clenched, don’t be afraid to get a bit over the top here.
Caption 1: WHEN HIS MUSCLES ARE RUBBING AGAINST EACH OTHER SO HARD YOU CAN HEAR IT.
Caption 2: AND FEEL IT.
Panel 3. (Superman) Close-up on Superman’s eyes. They are bright red.
Caption 1: WHEN HIS EYES ARE SO HOT THAT BEING AROUND HIM IS LIKE BEING NEXT TO A FIRE.
Panel 4. (Superman, Bizarro, Lois, Random people) Now we can see that Superman and Bizarro are duking it out at the streets of Metropolis. Go with whichever angle you want, as long as we can see the Daily Bugle in the distance, Lois propping herself up from the ground, and an irate Superman punching Bizarro, who goes down. Give Superman a weird aura of movement lines to the best of your abilities. Maybe some ghost images of his limbs and head.
Caption 1: WHEN HE WANTS TO LET HIMSELF GO, BUT HOLDS BACK AT THE LAST MOMENT.
Caption 2: THIS MAKES HIS SUPER SPEED SEEM…ODD. ERRATIC.
Caption 3: THE FACT THAT HE LOOKS PERFECTLY HUMAN MAKES THE WHOLE VISAGE ALL THE MORE BAFFLING.
Superman: STAY…DOWN!
Panel 5. (Superman) Superman with his back to us, looking over the shoulder in a startled way. He’s actually looking at Lois. In the background, we can see Star Labs of Cadmus personnel taking Bizarro away.
Caption 1: AND THEN, IN A SECOND, IT’S ALL OVER.
Panel 6. (Superman, Lois) Superman is picking Lois up and jumping with her to the top of the nearest building.
Caption 1: THE BLUE EYES ARE BACK. SO IS THE GENTLE TOUCH, AND THE CAREFULLY CALCULATED MOVEMENTS.
Panel 7. (Superman, Lois) High atop the building, we see them in profile. Superman’s hands are on Lois’ shoulders, he has a concerned look on his face.
Superman: LOIS, ARE YOU OK? I…I WAS SO AFRAID THAT I…
Panel 8. (Superman, Lois) Same view from the previous panel, only this time we only see their silhouettes, kissing.
Caption: BUT WHEN CLARK HOLDS ME IN HIS ARMS, I’M NOT AFRAID.
Oh, Ivan, I completely forgot to comment on this, sorry man. I read it and loved it. I get the vibe at the start that Lois is shying away from Supes, that she fears him and we almost feel like maybe he hit her. I hope that's what you were going for because it works really well. I like that juxtaposition and end pay off completely.
ReplyDeleteI was almost hoping that perhaps Supes had been the one to hurt her, by catching her too hard and you know he'd just blame himself big time. That could be interesting.
Great work man, love the scripts you keep coming up with!
Agree with Ryan, there's a nice juxtaposition going on here, Ivan.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about the "muscles rubbing against each other" line though... made me feel a bit queasy!
Hey guys, thanks for the compliments!
ReplyDelete@ Ryan - you know, you got me thinking. How about this: Superman is brainwashed to hurt Lois. Ever since he almost killed Batman he set up a plan to stop himself in cases like that, and that plan is...Captain Marvel! Only it's no longer Billy Batson, but Freddy Freeman. So we have a less-experienced Captain Marvel vs. an mind controlled Superman. Earth shattering possibilities.
@ Rol - Haha, sorry about that. I'll try to keep the innuendo at bay next time. :P
My friend will be kicking himself that he missed this one. Superman is his favourite comic character, and I'm sure he would have loved to try his hand at a script.
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