1. A room in an intensive care unit. Johnny Blaze lays in the bed, hooked up to various medical machines. He is gaunt – a shell of who he once was. He is barely conscious. An unknown woman is by his side. She loves him, and is with him in what appears to be Jonny’s final hours.
JOHNNY
It’s alright. I’ve served Him well.
2. A close up of Johnny’s face. His eyes closed for the last time.
JOHNNY
It’ll be.....
3. Same as Panel 2. Johnny is unmoving.
4. Same framing as Panel 2, however Johnny’s head has burst into flames, skull beginning to show as Johnny’s flesh burns away.
5. Ghost Rider is getting himself out of bed, pulling the various cables out of his body. The unknown woman is screaming at him. She knows of Johnny’s alternate identity, and is furious that he cannot let Johnny rest peacefully
WOMAN
Why can’t you just let him rest? JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE DAMN YOU!
GHOST RIDER
Your boy Johnny’s soul is owned by Mephisto. He goes to hell once he dies.
6. Ghost Rider stands tall, looking sad for Johnny.
GHOST RIDER
I am his Hell.
Panel 3 and 6 really sold me on this Ben. 3 shows a truly emotional moment and handles it with care hanging so silently in the middle of the page. Panel 6 is the mirror of this, being equally as emotional but so full of power and menace not still at all, as you release Johnny will never be free of the ghost Rider. Haunting work.
ReplyDeleteVery poignant. Good job. :)
ReplyDeleteThinking in terms of layout this is pretty nifty.
ReplyDeleteThree tiers of two panels each. Which means panels 3 and 4 are the centre or anchor of the page, and you save the most dramatic moments for those two panels.
You added to this by letting the actions speak for themselves. No dialogue or captions in those panels.
I might be overlaying my own sense of a page onto that but I thought it held together really well.
I try and do the same thing when I'm doing a nine panel grid. Always try and have panel 5 be the strongest, most important image on the page.
Yeah, I like the pacing of this page. Continuity wise, I can't remember what the deal was with Johnny's ma and I'm far too tired to google it. So you get a pass on that too! Result.
ReplyDeleteSolid page here, Ben. The concept and scene really work for me, combining loss and frustration in one tight package.
ReplyDelete