Panel One.
Close on a file, in a brown folder, with a Russian emblem stamped in the top corner. A hand holds the file. A metal hand.
On the front of the file, the following words are written (though we don’t need to see them all):
О культе личности и его последствиях
Caption: February 24th, 1956.
Panel Two.
Pull out to show Bucky, as The Winter Soldier, holding the file. He’s reading it. He’s in a grim, 50s, Russian hotel room. A balcony window looks out over Moscow… we may even be able to see The Kremlin in the distance. It’s dark though so we won’t see much. In the foreground, two shadowy men are standing watching him, wearing long KGB trenchcoats. #1 is wearing a furry hat, #2 isn’t.
Man #1: [Premier Khrushchev intends to deliver the speech tonight, in a closed session of the Congress.]*
Caption: *Translated from Russian.
Panel Three.
Bucky stares at the men. Their faces are mostly in shadow. He is listening and taking in their information without judgement. He has a job to do, that is all that matters to him now. He hands the folder back to them.
Man #1: [We went to considerable lengths to find you. Comrade Stalin kept you well hidden.]
Man #2: [But we got you out of there, and we can keep you out. You can have a normal life again, James. Leave all this behind…]
Panel Four.
Bucky stands at the open balcony window. The curtains are billowing in the breeze. He’s preparing to leave. The man (#1) holding the speech has stepped more into the light. He is young (30s), dark-haired and handsome, but we do not recognise him.
Man #1: [As long as this speech remains a secret.]
Panel Five.
The Winter Soldier is gone. The first man takes off his hat as he turns towards us. The second man is staring after Bucky, facing away from us.
Man #2: You think he can pull this off?
Man #1: I think he’s the best chance we’ve got. No way we could have sent one of our own men in there.
Panel Six.
Close on the second man, his face also in the light now. We recognise him. The eye patch is the give away. He’s gritting his teeth in anger.
Nick Fury: Helms, you bastard…
Nick Fury: We just did.
Hot damn Rol I love this page. It's tense and brooding. It all feels about ready to burst.
ReplyDeleteThe silent Winter Solider just doing what he must is fantastic and the end reveal was well played and nicely handled.
Nice page. Is Helms supposed to be Richard Helms? (Or am I just reading too much into that name?)
ReplyDeleteThe panel descriptions do a good job of building mood and atmosphere and the dialogue is just the right side of terse.
Could be Richard Helms... well spotted, Dan. I wanted someone who might one day go on to head the CIA, and could theoretically have been commanding Fury on a mission behind the Iron Curtain in 1956.
ReplyDeleteI think Helms was more of an administrator at this point but that title is so nondescript that it still fits.
ReplyDeleteHe was certainly involved with soviet-centric projects at the time anyway.
Love it. The angle you picked here is so different, yet so perfect. I wouldn't have thought of taking Winter Soldier this way (as my script evidences), but I'm rather glad you did. It's a great page, and Nick Fury's appearance and line at the end only make it better.
ReplyDeleteGreat script Rol (yeah, big surprise there..cough). Echoing Grant's thoughts here, showing how to pull off having Winter Soldier visible yet a ghost at the same time.
ReplyDelete