Previously: A crazed SHADE (the Changing Man) separated JACK RYDER from his alter ego, the CREEPER, but with the wrong mind in the wrong body. Vampire ANDREW BENNETT has hinted that two DOCTORS from JACK's past may be behind it, as part of a bigger plot...
PAGE 7: (done in the Stumptown art style)
Panel 1- Skyline of Portland, Oregon. Foreground, in a grassy field, homeless men and women cooking over a trashcan fire and putting up trash bag tents.
CAPTION (Andrew): Portland turned out to be the perfect place to stage first trials. With local authorities criminalizing the city's homeless...
Panel 2- In the parking lot of a public park, a short line of homeless people wait in line to see DR. SKOLOS and DR. YATZ, who are giving "inoculations" at their white Ford panel van: a stylized logo reading "MetaCare" is stenciled on the side, and SHADE can be seen waiting behind the wheel, watching in his side-view mirror.
CAPTION (Andrew): They had a perfect supply of four thousand human guinea pigs, marginalized to the point that almost no one would miss...
Panel 3- DEX PARIOS sits at an outdoor table at a local coffee shop. The WOMAN (mid-30s) sitting across from her wipes her eyes with a tissue as she passes a photo of her brother.
CAPTION (Andrew): Almost. A local investigator was hired by a local woman looking for her addict brother among the underpass dwellers...
Panel 4- The woman's BROTHER is slumped over blankly on a graffitoed cement bench. DEX's hand is on his shoulder as she signals to PARAMEDICS in the background, who are running and carrying their kits.
CAPTION (Andrew): The brother was found in a catatonic state on a park bench. Police assumed an overdose...
Panel 5- The BROTHER is out like a light on a hospital bed hooked up to all manner of machines. Background, we see through a large observation window DEX is taking notes while talking to a DOCTOR reading from her clipboard.
CAPTION (Andrew): But a tox screen taken while he was in an induced coma showed only trace amounts of methadone, and no other medical anomalies...
Panel 6- As ANDREW describes...
CAPTION (Andrew): As the brother was being admitted into intensive care, his identical twin was found pummeling a bank security guard with a discarded length of rebar.
Small Inset Panel- ANDREW BENNETT talking to the CREEPER (standing like Jack Ryder listening during an interview).
ANDREW: Except he never had a twin brother.
Panel 7- DEX with military field glasses to her eyes. Reflected in the lenses is the MetaCare van.
CAPTION (Andrew): She turned up another fourteen cases of mysterious duplication. One twin on the edge of madness, the other comatose...
CAPTION (Andrew): ...and in each instance, a white panel van standing sentinel nearby....
...to be continued....
This is some top notch stuff here, Ray. You may be technically right in titling this page as exposition, but it's impressive how seamlessly you weave this week's pick into your ongoing tale. Dex and Portland's sudden appearance feel like a foregone conclusion by the time one finishes reading this page. The news report opener works really well in accomplishing the above mentioned elements.
ReplyDeleteAs before, I'd say that this page might be a little overfull, but I certainly won't complain about this one being hard to follow. Things are really coming together, and I like what I'm seeing.
(Finally, it's a small thing, but I really appreciate how, while each page follows the one before, they aren't necessarily immediately sequential. It's a small touch that makes all the difference. Kudos.)