Thursday, March 6, 2014

Lex Luthor – Spotless - Shaun Richens

PAGE TWENTY – 8 PANELS.
Layout:
1111
2345
6677
8888

20.1
Page wide panel. Int. A highly advanced Lexcorp research lab. The lab is vast and full of all manner of strange of impressive looking equipment and test stations. The lab is empty apart from Lex. He sits at the far end of the lab, his back to us.

CAPTION LEX:
To close the whole time. How could I not have seen it.

20.2
We pull in tight on the back of Lex. He is slumped over a workstation. His hands rest on the back of his head as Lex racks his mind.

CAPTION LEX:
How he must have laughed at me? Fooling me for all these years.

20.3
Still tight on Lex from behind. He now places a sleek silver helmet on to his head. A range of different coloured wires of various shapes and sizes spill from input and output inlets on the helmet.

CAPTION LEX:
I can't live with this. Not now. Not now I know.

20.4
Looking through Lex's eyes. Down at his hands that rest over the keyboard at the workstation. We can see the same types of wires coming out of the computer. The whole scene is bathed in the artificial blue glow of a monitor.

NO COPY.

20.5
FlASHBACK PANEL. All in sepia tones. Lex is on his knees facing us, but not looking at us. His head hangs low facing the floor. One of his hands strokes a tear from his cheek. Clark Kent stands behind Lex, he wears his work suit, no glasses, his shirt half unbuttoned, we see the superman 'S'. Clark reaches out towards Lex, about to place his hand on his shoulder as a sign of comfort. Clark's face full of concern.

LEX:
This can't be true. Not you Clark.

CLARK:
We're friends Lex. Superman... me, Clark. I've never been your enemy.

20.6
Back to lex in the lab. We on tight on Lex's finger, it hoovers over the enter key on the keyboard.

CAPTION LEX:
Now I see the truth. Kal-El and Kent, one and the same.

20.7
Close up on the computer screen. A text window is displayed on screen with a 100% full progress bar.

The text window reads:
All references to Clark Kent being Superman erased.

This terminal will hard reboot in ...15 seconds.

CAPTION LEX:
I'd rather be blind again.

20.8
Lex is unconscious slumped in the chair at the workstation. Superman stands at his side. A hand resting on his shoulder.

SUPERMAN:
It's just you and me old friend.

SUPERMAN:
I'll take you home.

 

2 comments:

  1. I really like the thrust of this page. The idea fits really well with Lex's character (and the resistance of comics to have any lasting change), with some quality dialogue to boot.

    That being said, I feel like, considering how much of the page revolves around it, the flashback panel should have more space. Making it the same size panel as all the others doesn't feel right to me. I'd consider growing it a bit and potentially dropping panel 6, as it just retreads what you've already said and panel 7 doesn't lose anything for its removal.

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  2. I like to imagine that this happens repeatedly. Luthor needs an excuse for why he isn't, in his eyes, perfect, and, like the Joker, if he knows his enemy's identity then the game is over. Powerfully done here, but I'd argue that the flashback is unnecessary, and the incident could just be alluded to.

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