Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. in “Agent Against Agent” by Matt Duarte
Seven panels. The first one and the last one are bigger, taking up almost all of the page space. Two through 6 are a series of small panels showing a single short action.
Panel 1
Description: The Agents of Atlas (Jimmy Woo, Venus, Gorilla-Man, Marvel Boy, and M-11) are walking through a hallway, filled with computers and other machines. This has a green-ish hue, because it is being seen through a video feed. There are several people talking outside of the panel, but we can’t see who’s who.
CHARACTER (out of panel): OMG! They have a talking monkey!
CHARACTER (out of panel): You are all talking monkeys to me...
CHARACTER (out of panel): They even have their own murderous robot. I propose we make a trade.
CHARACTER (out of panel): I like the half-naked chick.
CHARACTER (out of panel): Quiet, all of you! On my mark...
Panel 2
Description: Monica zapping M-11.
MONICA: Nextwave, kick their butts!
Panel 3
Description: Tabitha pointing at Marvel Boy’s helmet and making it explode.
TABBY: Nerd!
Panel 4
Description: The Captain kicking Gorilla-Man in the testicles.
THE CAPTAIN: Throw ☠☠☠☠ at me now, will you?
Panel 5
Description: Elsa Bloodstone shooting at Venus.
ELSA: Put on some clothes, dear.
Panel 6
Description: Machine Man is headbutting Jimmy Woo.
MACHINE MAN: I’ve got the mongoloid.
Panel 7
Description: Nextwave stands triumphant over the bodies of the Agent of Atlas, sprawled all over the floor. This is seen through a very hazy sort of filter. Marvel Boy is reading Nextwave’s mind and this is what they are seeing. At the bottom of the panel, there’s a series of thoughts by the Agents of Atlas.
ELSA: Aaron, that’s deeply offensive.
MACHINE MAN: Your smell is offensive to me.
TABBY: OMFG...We killed a monkey!
MONICA: These guys had it coming. The Beyond Corporation and the Atlas Foundation were planning something together on the west coast.
THE CAPTAIN: Yeah, ☠☠☠☠ these guys.
CHARACTER (out of panel): Really? That’s how they think the confrontation would happen?
CHARACTER (out of panel): I’m sensing that their memories have been tampered with, and because of that they suffer delusions of grandeur... among other things.
CHARACTER (out of panel): No way I’d go down like a chump to this Captain guy.
CHARACTER (out of panel): I’m thinking we can use it against them.
You have been reading NEXTWAVE.
Like Ayn Rand, but with even less common sense.
Next: Atlas will shrug!
Seems my Batgirl script left an impression :)
ReplyDeleteIf a Nextwave/Atlas team-up comic resembled anything like this, I would definitely buy it.
ReplyDeleteThis page is dense and convoluted and probably wouldn't be easy to read. And Nextwave probably love you for that.
ReplyDeleteI like the concept and you execute it well.
Matt, I had a huge grin on my face when reading this, but frankly you could have just written the Ayn Rand line for me and I'd have loved it.
ReplyDeleteMatt, when I first decided to go with Nextwave I knew that your script would be a stand out. You have not dissappointed.
ReplyDeleteOne minor gripe, and I could have misread your paneling directions, but the last panel is very dialouge heavy.
Other than that, you have captured the banter between the team mates perfectly (something I had a real issue with), with it reading like a Nextwave comic. Well done.
@Danial: Yeah, I realized that it had a similar vibe after I had written it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that.
ReplyDelete@Ben: Yeah, the last panel is quite dialogue heavy. The way that I envisioned it would be that the dialogue coming from Nextwave would be all at the top, and the out of panel thoughts from Atlas would be all at the bottom. Normally, this would have played out over two pages, but I tried my best to condense it all into one.
Anyway, I'm glad you guys liked it. I would write an Atlas/Nextwave comic for free. Or I would pay good money to read it.