The Profile in “From The Bottom” by Matt Duarte
This page is to be set up in six panels. The first two are on the first row, the third one is a long page-wide panel. Fourth and fifth are like the first two, and the sixth is like the third one.
Panel 1
Description: An Iranian old man is sitting inside a yellow car, which happens to be the taxi he drives. He is wearing a turban and he has a rather long and full white beard. He is annoyed, almost shouting.
(OFF-PANEL VOICE): Give me your license and registration.
DRIVER: I have been driving in New York for twenty years. Taking people all over the city, but the moment I park in a nice neighborhood to rest, some police man immediately thinks I am some terrorist waiting to explode!
(OFF-PANEL VOICE): Uh-huh, right. Step out of the vehicle.
DRIVER: [And why don’t you f&*# a goat and call it Farah?]*
*Translated from Persian
Panel 2
Description: The man has stepped out of the taxi, and he is angrily pointing at the other person (who has his back to the reader), who is wearing a long trench coat, the kind a detective would wear, and sunglasses, even though it’s the middle of the night.
DRIVER: Do you think I am stupid? I know exactly what this is and it is illegal too!
Panel 3
Description: We can now see the man from earlier, he’s pulling his sunglasses down, slightly below his eyes. The glasses are a deep red, and this is obviously The Profile. He is cracking a dastardly smile.
DRIVER (Off-panel): This is profiling!
THE PROFILE: You have no idea how right you are.
Panel 4
Description: We can now see the taxi driver through The Profile’s view and everything is tinted red. The driver is visibly worried, and around him there are all kinds of words like “Unpaid parking tickets”, “four children”, “escaped Iran during 1979 Revolution”, “secretly loves bacon”, etc.
DRIVER: Wait a minute... you are not a police man, are you?
THE PROFILE: No, but I play one in movies. Now, here’s how things are going to play out...
Panel 5
Description: Same as previous panel, except that now there’s one set of words that is looking bigger than all the others, it says: “HIT AND RUN LAST SATURDAY”.
THE PROFILE: You are going to tell me everything you know, and I won’t inform the REAL authorities that it was you that ran over that boy last week in 53rd and Park avenue. He’s still in critical condition, did you hear?
DRIVER: Wh-what do you want to know?
Panel 6
Description: Close up on The Profile’s face. He is grinning through his teeth, with the sunglasses now completely covering his eyes.
THE PROFILE: You worked with a man, years ago, and let’s just say we have unsettled business...
THE PROFILE: What can you tell me about Jake Lockley?
*Translated from Persian
Panel 2
Description: The man has stepped out of the taxi, and he is angrily pointing at the other person (who has his back to the reader), who is wearing a long trench coat, the kind a detective would wear, and sunglasses, even though it’s the middle of the night.
DRIVER: Do you think I am stupid? I know exactly what this is and it is illegal too!
Panel 3
Description: We can now see the man from earlier, he’s pulling his sunglasses down, slightly below his eyes. The glasses are a deep red, and this is obviously The Profile. He is cracking a dastardly smile.
DRIVER (Off-panel): This is profiling!
THE PROFILE: You have no idea how right you are.
Panel 4
Description: We can now see the taxi driver through The Profile’s view and everything is tinted red. The driver is visibly worried, and around him there are all kinds of words like “Unpaid parking tickets”, “four children”, “escaped Iran during 1979 Revolution”, “secretly loves bacon”, etc.
DRIVER: Wait a minute... you are not a police man, are you?
THE PROFILE: No, but I play one in movies. Now, here’s how things are going to play out...
Panel 5
Description: Same as previous panel, except that now there’s one set of words that is looking bigger than all the others, it says: “HIT AND RUN LAST SATURDAY”.
THE PROFILE: You are going to tell me everything you know, and I won’t inform the REAL authorities that it was you that ran over that boy last week in 53rd and Park avenue. He’s still in critical condition, did you hear?
DRIVER: Wh-what do you want to know?
Panel 6
Description: Close up on The Profile’s face. He is grinning through his teeth, with the sunglasses now completely covering his eyes.
THE PROFILE: You worked with a man, years ago, and let’s just say we have unsettled business...
THE PROFILE: What can you tell me about Jake Lockley?
I like where this ended up, Matt, and the title of the next episode made me smile. I also think that Jake Lockley is the most neglected Moon Knight personality and there's a lot of untapped potential there.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a lot of untapped potential with Moon Knight in general. Here's hoping Bendis can do something with him.
ReplyDelete