Preliminaries:
Eric O’Grady has always struggled with the evil in his heart clashing with his desire to do good; to be a better person and a hero worthy of the Ant-Man name. But that innate malevolence has recently. It is no longer a tangible element of his psyche, merely an incorporeal characteristic. A member of the covert Secret Avengers, and finally garnering the respect of its brethren, for the first time Eric O’Grady feels like he is not only living up to the Ant-Man legacy but creating one of his own.
The Right Thing for the Wrong Reason is a two-issue tale and the following page occurs in Part One, page 21. Captain America [Steve Rogers] has been acting aloof during an operation in Latveria to commandeer Nerkkod’s hammer (from Fear Itself) from Doctor Doom. Strangely distant and non-responsive, like his mind is elsewhere, Cap is piloting the plane back to HQ. O’Grady is beside him. Both are dressed in their uniforms / armour.
PANEL ONE
Dynamic shot of the Secret Avengers plane shooming through the sky at an impossible speed just 80 feet above the ocean.
CAPTION [1]
I learned a long time ago that Captain America doesn’t make jokes. But when he told me:
CAPTAIN AMERICA
[from plane cockpit]
You’re going to jump out of the plane now, Eric.
CAPTION [2]
I responded as I thought was appropriate.
PANEL TWO
Inside the cockpit, on O’Grady, who has broken out into a fit of laugher.
ERIC O’GRADY
Hahaha!
PANEL THREE
Captain America locks eyes with O’Grady. There is no humour in his eyes.
CAPTAIN AMERICA
At 80 feet you’re not going to have time to make any corrective measures.
You have one shot at deploying properly.
Get it wrong, you’re dead.
PANEL FOUR
O’Grady’s face has paled to milk.
ERIC O’GRADY
Cap, why –
PANEL FIVE
Captain America gaze intensifies, as only Captain America’s gaze can.
CAPTAIN AMERICA [1]
Sometimes for the greater good you’ve got to do the wrong thing.
CAPTAIN AMERICA [2]
And I trust you to do the right thing, Eric.
PANEL SIX
O’Grady’s lips have become a hard line. He understands.
CAPTION
I knew what Cap was asking me to do.
He wanted me to come after him.
And, cheating slightly now:
The final page of the issue would be a full-page spread of O’Grady floating in the ocean, parachute floating in the water, looking up at Cap’s plane gaining altitude. O’Grady has keyed his intercom, linked to Secret Avengers HQ.
ERIC O’GRADY
Avengers Assemble.
"But that innate malevolence has recently." Yup, I'm picking on a typo. Bad me, bad.
ReplyDeleteA nice page with obviously a lot a thought gone into it. Only thing, for me, is that Eric really didn't sound like Eric. Or is that the whole point?
Sime, I really dig this page. There's a smooth and much more espionagy feel to it all. You're capitalising on O'Grady's new vibe of becoming the hero he should.
ReplyDeleteMy biggest problem is that I'm a little lost as to what is actually happening at the end.
I thought the dialogue was tight, and the play into the larger story was great.
I liked the overall vibe of the page and even the message the page is putting across.
ReplyDeleteEric has to step up his game now, fulfil his potential, etc. But that last panel lost me in terms of what it's supposed to mean.