Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Nightcrawler – The Book of Wagner – MK Stangeland Jr.


(6 Panels)

Panel 1: NIGHTCRAWLER sits on a cliffside overlooking an ocean, while MAGNETO floats above the ground behind him – the location is probably on UTOPIA.

MAGNETO: Tell me, Nightcrawler, how do you do it?

NIGHTCRAWLER: Was?

MAGNETO: Your faith. In spite of all you face, even from those of the same beliefs, how do you maintain it?

Panel 2: NIGHTCRAWLER ‘bamf’s so that he’s standing next to MAGNETO, with one hand on MAGNETO’s shoulder. MAGNETO has turned his head a little – the impression the image should give is that MAGNETO was startled by NIGHTCRAWLER’s change in position, but is doing his best to hide this.

SFX: BAMF

NIGHTCRAWLER: It is because my beliefs and my faith are not in those who follow it, but in who I follow.

Panel 3: NIGHTCRAWLER backs off a little as MAGNETO brushes NIGHTCRAWLER’s hand off his shoulder.

NIGHTCRAWLER: Who am I to let misguided followers of my religion dictate what I believe?

Panel 4: NIGHTCRAWLER, upper body.

NIGHTCRAWLER (1): Who knows, perhaps they even have it backwards.

NIGHTCRAWLER (2): Rather than being an affront to God, perhaps Mutants are instead meant to be agents of God.

NIGHTCRAWLER (3): Is it truly any greater stretch of faith to believe that our powers come from God than to believe that humanity has grown from Neanderthal to Human to beings with such amazing and vast powers simply by genetic mutation?

NIGHTCRAWLER (4): Nein, sage ich.

Panel 5: Panel is positioned behind NIGHTCRAWLER and MAGNETO as they look out across the ocean.

NIGHTCRAWLER (1): The Old Testiment speaks of Judges, humans gifted as to protect God’s people from harm.

NIGHTCRAWLER (2): Perhaps, in truth, we Judges for the modern era – sent to protect others.

Panel 6: Close up on MAGNETO’s head as he contemplates what NIGHTCRAWLER has said.

MAGNETO: Not entirely unlike what Charles believes.

NIGHTCRAWLER (1): (Off-panel) Ja.

NIGHTCRAWLER (2): (Off-panel) Perhaps.

END PAGE

(My apologies if Kurt comes off as off-character and getting too philosophical here. Admittedly, part of this script was me taking advantage of part of Nightcrawlers character - specifically his own faith - to write about some of my own philosophical thoughts on the whole matter of mutants and other science-based heroes and how they relate to religion. And if any character were to present such an opportunity, Nightcrawler seemed like the best opportunity to do it/the character who such thinking would seem most natural to come from.

But again, apologies if Nightcrawler's character seems to suffer and the script seems too 'preachy' as a result. Believe me, I try and will try not to make this a regular thing.)
Written by at
Labels: , ,

7 comments:

  1. I don't know much about Nightcrawler, but this seemed very appropriate to me. I love a good philosophical take on superheroes.

    ReplyDelete

  2. This felt perfectly in character to me, Nightcrawlers has these moments of inner thinking where we can see what an intelligent and deep character he is, despite the outward happy go lucky nature.

    The use of Magneto as his counter character for this concept was a great move and the interplay between them really sold the idea.

    As a reader I did find the switch from panel 1 to 2 a little confusing. You went from Magneto floating off the ground to Bamf Nightcrawler stood next to him with a hand on his shoulder. It's only a small thing but it took me out of the moment a little.

    Overall awesome page though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. The switch from panel 1 to panel 2 confusion would be my fault - I completely forgot that I had Magneto floating in the air in panel 1 until you reminded me about it now. I suppose that's one of those things that gets missed by not having an editor/proofreader for my thought balloons scripts.

      Delete

  3. No apologies necessary; you definitely nailed Kurt's faith and philosophy, as well as his character. Frankly, I wish writers used him in this manner more often, as, I believe, he is the most approptiate character for doing so.

    My only quibble is that the "banf"ing felt tacked on, just to illustrate the ability. Didn't need it. Your dialogue can stand on its own without it. The "Judges" lines were perfect, particularly in that the listener is Magneto.

    Fantastic page, dude. Spot on.

    ReplyDelete

  4. I'll echo Ray's sentiment that this page would have been find without Nightcrawler's teleporting here, and I'll echo everyone's comments that this is a solid page. Pairing Nightcrawler with Magneto for this conversation was a great choice, with many of these lines feeling stronger due to who Kurt's audience is.

    ReplyDelete

  5. He actually sounds kinda like the X2 movie version of the character, which I loved. Also, it is quite an impressive take on the character, adding much depth to him. And your view on the whole mutant gene thing is quite interesting.

    A great page!

    ReplyDelete

  6. The dialogue and the characters are both spot on here. I can't really add much that hasn't already been said. You nailed this one.

    ReplyDelete

Feedback is what every good writer wants and needs, so please provide it in the white box below
-OR-
If you want to play along at home, feel free to put your scripts under the Why? post for the week.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)