1 - Golden-Age style panel of Rex Tyler in his lab working with chemicals and the like.
REX (1): Gee whiz! I really want my date with Wendi to go well, but I get so tongue-tied around her.
REX (2): Maybe there's some way to focus my brain's control of language...
2 - Present day. A grandfatherly Rex Tyler sits on an easy chair in his living room, regaling two grandkids with his fantastic tale. Rick Tyler sits on a couch in the background, smiling. Wendi looks in at the living room doorway, smiling. The grandkids look over to her interjection.
REX: And so I--
WENDI (interrupting): Are you telling that Lyriclo story again?
3 - Wendi walks in and kisses the top of Rex's head. Rex is somewhat embarrassed.
WENDI: I seem to remember you admitting you were actually hoping to create Desirablo.
4 - Wendi walks back towards the doorway, smiling to herself. Rex covers his face a bit to try to hide his blush / embarrassment. Rick and the grandkids laugh heartily.
WENDI: You're lucky you have such a winning personality...
Monday, February 29, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Hourman--“Hourmen vs the Hour-Killer” --David Press
PAGE ONE.
1.1: RICK TYLER and his partner MATTHEW TYLER, the android Hourman, step out
of their beater police car into a deserted Grain silos plant on the edge of the
docks in HAPPY HARBOR. They’re walking towards a crime scene.
What I mean by mill-worker’s dock is
similar to what is a deserted part of downtown Buffalo—here’s what I mean.
It’s mostly a tourist spot for geo-cachers
and is almost always deserted. In the far bottom corner of the panel there is a
taped off-area.
1. CAPTION [TIME/LOCATION]: Happy Harbor, NY. 08:32am.
1.2: RICK and
TYLER step through the police tape and regard the body of a young woman.
There’s a PATROL OFFICER next to the Android Tyler, scratching the back of her
head.
2. OFFICER: Third
one in as many days. With the same tag--
1.3: The officer
points up towards the cement wall of a grain silo right next to the crime
scene. Rick is in the panel making an uncomfortable face. I think we should
have the Hourmen in plain-clothes. Android Tyler is more formal—in a suit, and
Rick is the less-straight guy, the sarcastic, constantly hungover, perhaps
substance-abusing sidekick.
3. DISPLAY LETT [Graffiti]: Time is running out, Hourmen.
1.4: Android Tyler
crouches down to look at the body. He’s scanning it.
4. TYLER: Perished
little more than an hour ago; strangled. Name is Bethany Navarro. 22 White Oak
Lane. DOB: 9.19.85.
1.5: Android Tyler
looks up at Rick who checks his watch. It’s a funky large format watch, think
of a slightly souped-up Apple Watch but this one injects Miraclo into his veins
and gives Rick his hour of power. Rick’s tapped it and it displays the time as
07:22am in digital format.
5. RICK: Scumbag
is killing morning joggers.
Why Hourman?

There are so many
variations of the character and I love variety. In my previous attempts on why
posts I’ve always liked legacy characters because they breathe new light into heroes
who have been around for a while. I love the fact that Jane Foster is Thor now,
and Miles Morales is Spider-Man, and generally feel sad when we go back to the
same-old same-old characters like Barry Allen and Hal Jordan. Part of it is I
didn’t grow up with those Silver-Age iterations of the characters, and I like
new takes and new characters occupying a similar look.
Here’s some background for those of
you not familiar with Hourman: The original Hourman was Rex Tyler, a
pharmaceutical executive who developed the drug Miraclo, the drug gives Tyler
an hour of strength, speed, and invulnerability. Sound familiar? For those of
us who are baseball fans, this character presents a unique opportunity to talk
about doping.
Then there’s Rex’s son Rick,
who—well—he’s had a pretty complicated history. And I’ll just leave hisWikipedia entry here to give you the scope of it.
Probably the most significant take
on the character for me was the Hourman of the 81st century. Created
by Grant Morrison during the DC One Million event of the early 2000s this
Hourman has the ability to manipulate time itself. But that’s not why he’s
interesting. He got his own series—the only one that ever happened for the
character—written by Tom Peyer and drawn by Rags Morales. The series only
lasted about a year, and it was about the near-omnipotent android reducing his
power just so he could try to connect to his human side. It was a beautiful,
weird, series that is hard to find. I still have the original issues and I
treasure them. Mostly because between that and Transmetropolitan—they were the
only comics I had access to in college.
As always, feel free to leave your
scripts in the comments below and I look forward to reading your take on the
character. There’s a lot of fun to be had.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
The Good Brothers - The Rabbit - P. A. Nolte
1/ Close-up on a scruffy man in his early 30's taking a big hit off a joint. He's sitting in the passenger seat of a 1972 Gremlin, but there shouldn't be enough background visible to tell that just yet.
Chaz (OP): Is it any good?
2/ The Gremlin tools down a quiet country road. There's farmland and pastures on either side, punctuated with trees. Up on the left is a larger plot of untouched land. That's where the car and its passengers are headed.
Jesse (OP): I dunno. You're smoking some of it now. Is it?
Chaz (OP): Guess so.
3/ The first man, Jesse, is joined by a second, Chaz, in his walk down to a particularly secluded field. They've parked the car by the side of the road and followed a worn dirt path down the hill and almost out of sight.
Chaz: Whose land is this?
Jesse: Dunno. Couple plots down from my aunt's.
4/ They stop walking. Jesse has his hands on a large clump of tall grass, like he's about to pull a curtain. He's excited to show his friend the fruits of his labor.
Jesse: Wait for it, ...
5/ An inset of a small, grey rabbit perking up.
6/ Jesse and Chaz stumble into an open patch of field expecting a large crop of marijuana, but a significant number of stalks have been stripped a few feet off the ground. Small woodland creatures, primarily rabbits, but also a raccoon, a few squirrels, and maybe some birds, scatter in every direction. They drop tiny pipes carved from mushrooms and corncobs and whatever else. Rolling papers go flying. The scene is a drug bust where Beatrix Potter characters meet Cheech and Chong and everything is charmingly chaotic.
Jesse: AGAIN?!
Jesse: I HATE THAT RABBIT!!!
Friday, February 26, 2016
The Good Brothers--David Press.
PAGE EIGHT.
8.1: The brothers climb out of the car and start advancing towards the
building. Brian has a mic stand, Bruce has his acoustic guitar, and Larry has a
banjo. The queued up crowd have their hands raised cheering the brothers on.
1. CROWD: Woooo!
8.2: The main
lobby to the building is filled with PEOPLE all wearing Good Brothers t-shirts
and hats and selling merchandise.
NO DIALOGUE.
8.3: They make
their way through the crowd; people are reaching out to touch them.
NO DIALOGUE.
8.4: The brothers
enter the THEATER. It’s picturesque—it’s an old OPERA HOUSE they’re in. There
is an announcer on the main stage.
1. ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the
GOOD BROTHERS!
8.5: The brothers
are on the stage now and BRIAN is speaking into the microphone.
BRIAN: Why
thank you for having us. It took a lot for
all three of us to get here, and there are some party crashers—
8.6: The cops try
to get into the building but the people in the line are blocking the door and
it’s hard for cops to push through the crowd.
CAPTION [BRIAN]: --So
it would be great if you could prevent them from entering the building and
disturbing us!
Thursday, February 25, 2016
The Good Brothers - Tracking Him Down - Perry Kent
Panel
1
Exterior,
day. A beat-up old camaro pulls into the gravel parking lot of a
rough looking road-side diner.
Panel
2
Interior,
day, diner. Two brothers around the same age, one wearing denim and
the other flannel and a cowboy hat, walk quietly through
the double
doors of the
diner. The manager, a middle-aged man wearing a short sleeve
button-up and a tie, walks towards the brothers. The diner is a giant
mess with waitresses cleaning broken dishes
and food off the ground, though it doesn't look like it's helping.
1.
MANAGER: Sorry, no service right now.
Panel
3
The
brothers talk with the manager as the denim-brother holds out a photo
to the manager.
2.
DENIM-BROTHER: You seen this man?
3.
MANAGER: Yeah, that's the bastard who did all this then ran the hell
outta here.
Panel
4
The
brothers turn to leave as the one in flannel shoots another question
at the manager.
4.
FLANNEL-BROTHER: Which way did he go?
5.
MANAGER: East. Wait--
Panel
5
The
two brothers respond at the same time as they walk out the double
doors
of the diner.
6.
MANAGER (OP): Who are you?
7.
BROTHERS: His brothers.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
The Good Brothers – It’s All Relative – MK Stangeland Jr.
(7 Panels)
Panel 1: Dramatic panel as THE GOOD BROTHERS enter a
large studio.
TEXT (1): A battle of MUSIC! And FAMILY!
TEXT (2): The Good Brothers!
Panel 2: A group that looks much like the GOOD
BROTHERS, but if they were an emo hip-hop rap group.
TEXT: The Bad Brothers!
Panel 3: A group that looks like a bunch of nuns
trying to be a country music group.
TEXT: The Good Sisters!
Panel 4: The CHEMICAL BROTHERS.
TEXT: The Chemical Brothers!
Panel 5: The
JONAS BROTHERS.
TEXT: The Jonas Brothers!
Panel 6: The BLUES BROTHERS.
TEXT: The Blues Brothers!
Panel 7: Wide shot, showing a number of other similar
groups that have filled the room as they prepare for a musical showdown.
(END PAGE)
Monday, February 22, 2016
The Good Brothers - Keeper - Grant McLaughlin
1 - Cain and Abel are walking together, coming down from a mountain (maybe have a little burning bush up there in the background). Abel wears a big ol' smile - like, to the degree where you might wonder if he isn't a little simple. Cain is furious, arms crossed and brow furrowed.
NO COPY
2 - Cain and Abel have arrived at their little homestead. Abel sees his sheep and waves at them enthusiastically, as thrilled with them as he seems to be with everything else. Cain continues to glower and arm cross, something down on the ground (and off-panel) catching his upset eye.
ABEL: God's pretty great, eh?
CAIN (1): Yeah.
CAIN (2): Sure.
3 - Abel bends down and gives a big hug to one of his sheep, as happy as ever. Cain leans over to pick something up.
CAIN: Hey, Abel...
4 - On Cain's hand, which holds a big ol' rock.
CAIN (tailless): Let's go out to the field.
NO COPY
2 - Cain and Abel have arrived at their little homestead. Abel sees his sheep and waves at them enthusiastically, as thrilled with them as he seems to be with everything else. Cain continues to glower and arm cross, something down on the ground (and off-panel) catching his upset eye.
ABEL: God's pretty great, eh?
CAIN (1): Yeah.
CAIN (2): Sure.
3 - Abel bends down and gives a big hug to one of his sheep, as happy as ever. Cain leans over to pick something up.
CAIN: Hey, Abel...
4 - On Cain's hand, which holds a big ol' rock.
CAIN (tailless): Let's go out to the field.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
The Good Brothers - Good Advice - Liam Meagher
Single Panel: The brothers are cowboys in the wild west standing in a jail. Two brothers are standing outside a cell, while the third brother is inside the cell in handcuffs.
Brother Outside Cell: You've got to stop just shooting everyone who walks off in a different direction on your lunch break.
Brother Outside Cell: You've got to stop just shooting everyone who walks off in a different direction on your lunch break.
Why The Good Brothers? - Liam Meagher
We had just arrived in Toronto after a
tight ride with a car full of gear on one of the coldest nights of
the year.
Two of the bandmates had to head back to the capital before
returning to Toronto the next night for the show so the posse was
down to three. After braving it back out into the city night to grab
some booze and snacks groceries, we settled in. It's
always odd being in someone else's apartment when they aren't home -
peeking around, trying to get a feel for what their life might be
like - so I headed for the record collection and pulled this one out.
The cover seemed to be an apt description of the three of us and
looked as though it might be a snapshot of the night ahead.
We didn't
listen to it.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
St. Valentine - Date Night - Liam Meagher
Panel 1: A bored couple sit on a couch.
Man: Another Valentine's Day gone. Are we lame?
Panel 2: Woman takes out her cellphone
Woman: Not anymore! I went on a dating app and ordered us dessert. His name is Valentino.
Panel 3: Cut to sideview of fist knock on the door.
NO COPY
Panel 4: Woman and man looking at eachother surprised on couch
Woman: Nevermind! I don't think I can do this! Tell him to go!
Man: Let's just be quiet!
Panel 5: Man is peeking out blinds through window.
Man: I think he's walking away!
Woman: That's enough excitement for one night. Let's go to bed.
Panel 6: Shot of back of Valentino walking away. His leather jacket has an embroidered image of a heart with an arrow going through it.
Valentino: Works everytime.
Man: Another Valentine's Day gone. Are we lame?
Panel 2: Woman takes out her cellphone
Woman: Not anymore! I went on a dating app and ordered us dessert. His name is Valentino.
Panel 3: Cut to sideview of fist knock on the door.
NO COPY
Panel 4: Woman and man looking at eachother surprised on couch
Woman: Nevermind! I don't think I can do this! Tell him to go!
Man: Let's just be quiet!
Panel 5: Man is peeking out blinds through window.
Man: I think he's walking away!
Woman: That's enough excitement for one night. Let's go to bed.
Panel 6: Shot of back of Valentino walking away. His leather jacket has an embroidered image of a heart with an arrow going through it.
Valentino: Works everytime.
Liam Meagher - Writer-in-Residence
After some internal membership shuffling and a week to help celebrate Deadpool's big return to the big screen, we're back on track with our very own Writer-in-Residence program, bringing you Liam Meagher in as our latest guest.
Liam is a good friend of mine and is a rather talented musician who plays with the slick group, Harea Band. We were talking storytelling a few weeks back and seeing as he mentioned wanting to check out a new outlet, Itricked suggested he come and join us for a few. He graciously agreed, and I am extremely eager to see how his guitar chops translate into our own comic book sphere. It's always about experimentation and I'm honoured Liam is coming to experiment with us for a while.
Please join me in welcoming him to our fine lab.
Liam is a good friend of mine and is a rather talented musician who plays with the slick group, Harea Band. We were talking storytelling a few weeks back and seeing as he mentioned wanting to check out a new outlet, I
Please join me in welcoming him to our fine lab.
Friday, February 19, 2016
ST. VALENTINE--"The Feast of Lupercalia"--David Press
Not exactly Saint Valentine but I read a great story (linked below), and got inspired.
PAGE ONE.
1.1: THREE super-happy
and hilarious ROMAN FARMERS trudge through the dark woods. I was thinking that
this might be a wide panel, because the key to the proceedings here is that
these Farmers are drunk. Like wasted, and they’ll need to be because of what’s
upcoming: the feast of Lupercalia. If you don’t what that is, check this out: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day
Our three
heroes are named FLAZ, KRANZ, and FIFEL. They love to drink and are single,
happy farmers, and they are ready to party and meet their mates. Let’s make
Fifel the shorter one of the two, and Franz is rather burly. No distinction on
race or style or anything—these three farmers are just happy drunken humans
about to take part in something that is NOT OKAY.
1. FRANZ: Ohhhhh!
We’re off to LUPER-CAL-IA
2. KRANZ: LUPER-CALI-A!
3. FIFEL: It’s
“Loo-per-kale-a.”
1.2: FRANZ slaps
Fifel over the head.
4. FRANZ: You
franfel it’s “LOOPER-CAL-A.”
5. FIFEL: Oi!
1.3: They stop at
a patch in the woods.
6. KRANZ: Everyone
drink!
1.4: Same as the
previous, but this time they all take a swig of their wine casks.
NO DIALOGUE.
1.5: An angle from
the back of their heads into an open field where we can see a giant CLEARING
and many more drunken Romans prancing around the field. In the center is a MAN
dressed in red robes and on a pedestal wearing a GOAT’S HEAD for a hat. This
man is the GREAT DRAGON, gathering common folk for the February celebration of
Lupercalia—a mating ritual from ancient Roman times.
7. DRAGON: Come!
Be merry and drink Dionysius’s wine! It is time
for…
7B: The
feast of LUPERCALIA!
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