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Panel 1: Wide shot of a large desert, with a H.A.M.M.E.R. rover driving toward a large crater. The crater has been there for a while.
Cap: INITIATIVE FILE: KOMODO
LAST KNOWN LOCATION: MOJAVE DESERT--THOUGHT MISSING AFTER A.I.M. CHEMICAL BOMBARDMENT 3 MONTHS AGO
Panel 2: Commander Hill and a lackey are walking into a sizable cave-like formation in the crater.
Hill: WHAT'S THE THEORY, SOLDIER? NERVE POISON? ANTIDOTE TO THE LIZARD FORMULA? SOME NEW PATHOGEN THAT TURNS YOUR LUNGS TO SAND AND YOUR BLOOD TO GLASS?
Lackey: WELL, MA'AM, IT'S-
Panel 3: Hill and the lackey are just outside a darkened corridor in the formation, with what, from this distance, looks to be a vine coming out of it.
Hill: IT'S A VITAL MEMBER OF OUR INITIATIVE FORCES, SOLDIER!
Lackey: NO, NO, MA'AM. IT'S JUST BEEN INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT THE LOCATION, AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT WE HAD TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT THE BOMBARDMENT WAS.
Hill: AND? I DON'T JUST ASK YOU TO TELL ME ABOUT THE PROCCESS, I EXPECT RESU-
Panel 4: Hill is staring, shocked, into the corridor in the rock. The lackey is distressed, but not surprised.
Lackey: THE RESULT KIND OF SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. THE A.I.M. BOMBARDMENT HAD A PAYLOAD OF LIZARD FORMULA--
Panel 5: Wide shot of what's in the corridor: Komodo, who is incredibly gaunt due to being stuck in the desert for weeks, and covered in extra, budded limbs, growing from all over her body.
Lackey: --AN OVERDOSE.
Wow. You set up the military suspense, and switch to that chilling image in the last panel. Great change-up...
ReplyDeleteThat's a great, creepy, body-horror reveal at the end there.
ReplyDeleteGreat set up, but all I could think while reading was "why are they yelling?"
ReplyDeleteThat final image is really unsettling, with the build up to it working well to establish mood, so kudos on that.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with Ben that I find the all caps dialogue a little hard to read, but I would add that some of the back and forth between Hill and the lackey felt a bit padded out. I think the piece would be stronger if their conversation was a bit more concise.