PANEL ONE
Billy Batson is hunched in a foetal position in a dark, windowless room, furnished with only a mattress. His eyes are wide open, pupils dilated.
BILLY BATSON
[small]
Sha – Sha – Sha –
PANEL TWO
The memory haunting Billy Batison:
Brilliant, yellow light, crackling with the magical energy of Shazam.
Once upon a time, a radiance that encapsulated Captain Marvel’s greatness.
Now, it represents something else, something horrifying.
Within the yellow, crackling luminosity, are several skeletons, the skin grotesquely burned from their bodies.
PANEL THREE
On Billy’s wide, dilated eyes.
BILLY BATSON
Sha – sha – sha –
PANEL FOUR
Dr Thaddeus Sivana watches Billy from transparent shielding built into the door.
BILLY BATSON
[off-panel]
Sha – Sha – Sha
DR. SIVANA
Tsk tsk tsk.
There are some things children shouldn’t see.
PANEL FIVE
Dr. Sivana back's is to us as he walks down a hallway, towards the exit – towards whatever maniacal plot he’s got planned next.
DR. SIVANA
Hahahaha!
NEXT: Fractured Mind, Fractured Magic!
I don't really 'get' this one. It may just be my loopy mindset at the moment, but after reading it a couple of times all I can come up with is that Billy is being psychologically tortured by Dr Sivana? Panel 2 isn't clear to me either. Little help?
ReplyDelete@Ben. How I interpreted the piece was thus. Panel 2 highlights that during his transformation from Billy Batson into Captain Marvel, the magical thunder has killed people. This accidental death of these people who I am assuming are innocent has but Billy into a state where he fears his own powers. Dr Sivana has taken advantage of this capturing Billy who is unable to escape as he can't bring himself to utter the words Shazam.
ReplyDeleteI hope this is at least half right Simon. If this was your intension then I enjoyed the piece. If I have gotten it wrong I would love to hear the writers thoughts on the piece.
I'm not too sure on the concept here either but Shaun's theory sounds like a good bet.
ReplyDeleteNicely constructed page with a very different tone for a Captain Marvel tale.
The page has a lot of potential, but I have to echo the comments that something is a little off with the second panel. It seems like everything hinges on that moment, but based on what's written, it isn't entirely clear what exactly that moment is.
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that you haven't completely explained what's going on - the best horror always being that which we imagine rather than see before our eyes. This was a much darker interpretation of Billy Batson's transformation powers, but I could see this working.
ReplyDeleteSo Shazam created DoctorS Phosphorous? That sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad page, Sime. You've left a bit ambiguous but also just made the villain creep out the page suitably.
While I liked the concept for this page, I think the subject matter is perhaps too dark for the usually cheerful Captain Marvel.
ReplyDelete