I know, right!

I revieved an email from a year 12 sudent in Adelaine at the weekend.  In it, she explained that she is undertaking a research assignment in which she looks at writing a graphic novel.  A part of said assigment deals with local creators, of which she chose me.  AParrently she say the Pun-Isher one page that was a part of the Fist Full of Comics a few months back.

Me being the ever obliging and ego-centric person that I am, decided to help the little tacker out and answer her questions.  Did I help at all?  I shall let you decide.

1.            What type of artistic techniques do you employ to make your comic appealing to your target audience?
Being a writer I try and think of the best angle/way to display my point.  I feel it’s important to let the artist know what you are going for in a particular panel or scene, and that the art reflects those subthemes, even sometimes sub-consciously.  Depending on the writing style and the general feel of the story, I try to find an artist who I feel can mimic the theme of the book.  The Pun-Isher was a silly, nonsense script that did not really have any deep meaning.  It was just a bit of fun.  Hence when Danial simply drew the comic without any major stylistic techniques, it worked.  If the comic had more of a super hero feel, I’m sure Danial would have accentuated muscle definition.  If it was grittier, more shades would have been used.  It is important that a writer makes sure they clearly show the artist the theme and feel of the book.

2.            What drawing style do have/ how did you acquire this style?
I cannot draw to save your life.  Don’t ask me to do so.  It is for this reason I seek actual talent people who can make my words look pretty.

3.        Do you believe graphic novels/ comics  are a gateway to reluctant teen readers? If so why?
A gateway to what?  I would say comics and graphic novels are a more visual medium to escape reality.  The idea of reading a book can be daunting to many people, especially some younger readers.  Therefore if they have some pictures to aid them with the narration, it allows them to be transported to another reality.
4.            Any tips for aspiring graphic novelists/comic artists?

Write.  A lot.  Try and write something every day.  Even if it is just a simple conversation between two imaginary people.  A GREAT site to practice comic book writing is http://Thought-Balloons.com.  Each week a comic character is chosen, and each week the tenured writers churn out a one page script starring that character.  Visitors to the site are encouraged to play along at home, posting their scripts in the introduction post of the character, or the ‘Why’ post as we call it.  This site keeps your ideas fresh, and hones your skills.

Read.  Read comics that you enjoy and would like to write in a similar vain to.  Read interviews by writers you admire.  Scour the internet for samples of their scripts to give you an idea on how they do it in the real world.
Twitter.  Seriously.  140 characters does not give you much room to fluff around when trying to get a point across.   It teaches you to be concise and straight to the point – something that all writers should constantly practice.
Socialise.  Not just with friends or other comic readers, but on twitter.  Start following people who are in the industry, or any up and comers.  Visit webcomic sites and follow the creators on twitter.  If it were not for twitter, I would not be involved with Thought Balloons today.  If it were not for Though Balloons, I would not be the writer I am today.

Pizza.  As in get me some.  Won’t help your writing, but boy am I hungry.

5.            How do you develop an effective preliminary  script for your graphic novel/comic ?

It all starts with an idea.  My current graphic novel is a culmination of real life events that I was privy to, re-organised into a narrative and put together with some sci-fi fun.  The old adage of ‘write what you know’ is one of the truest statements you could ever come across.  Start with an idea – a central theme.  Then expand.  Invent the characters you need in order to convey that theme.  Concoct the surroundings and the happenings which get the reader and/or the main protagonist to learn this theme.  Writing is your way of telling the world your story.

6.            Do you think my research project  question “Construct a modern graphic novel based on a chapter from a classic narrative using artistic and literary techniques to render it appealing to a ‘new visual generation’ is relevant  to today’s society , if so why?
Absolutely.  These books are classics for a reason – the way they are written compliments the characters to make them timeless.  With the focus on social and new media, these creations need a new lease on life in the hope of reaching an entirely new audience.  Marvel Comics has in the past few years released comic book adaptations on classic literature, such as The Wizard of Oz, Ender’s Game, Emma at al.

7.            Hitherto the 1980ʼs the graphic novel/comic was dismissed by literary critics as pure entertainment, without any intellectual stimulation comparable to ʻrealʼ novels, what do you think sparked the change of opinion?

Quite simply – Frank Millar and Alan Moore.  Frank Miller was the first to introduce the world to the concept of a graphic novel with The Dark Knight Returns.  It was a self contained story which spanned more than your usual 20-22 pages.  Alan Moore pretty much perfected it with the brilliant Watchmen.  Again, the themes, storyline and characters shone through and made it a classic.

8.            Why do you think visual mediums appeal to this generation more so than previous generations?

I think the current generation focus on their desires more than they use to.  As such, they want things straight away.  Does this stretch to their imagination?  Do they wish to have the pictures bought to life through the art of comic books rather than playing out a scene which they are reading in their head?  Sorry I forgot you were the one asking the questions.  To answer my own questions, yes I think they do.  With the new wave and same day release of digital comics, I believe that the medium will only get stronger.

9.          Name the greatest influences on your work?

I have many, many influences.  Anyone who has a story to tell influences me.  Not just your Neil Gaiman’s or Garth Ennis, but a web comic creator.  A movie writer or director.  A little girl telling you the story of how her fish swallowed a barbie doll head.  They all give me ideas, and all influence my writing.  As for the writer’s whom I would do anything to be able to write like – Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis, Robert Kirkman, Peter David, Ed Brubaker, Dan Slott, Naoki Urasawa, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Brian K Vaughn, Alan Moore, Joss Whedon, J.K Rowling, Brian Michael Bendis and many many more.

I should also point out that my fellow Thought Balloon writer’s also inspire me constantly.  Reading their work makes me want to be a better writer.

As originally written for retropekt.com.au.

Street Fighter The Complete History – Chris Carle.

How hot is Megan Fox?

Pretty damn hot, right.  You could just look at her for hours.  However, upon reading some of her interviews, it dawns on us – there may not be much substance to her.  While she may be very pretty to look at, there just isn’t a lot to her.  The same goes for Street Fighter The Complete History.  And I would not have it any other way (this also includes Megan Fox).

The first thing that strikes you about Street Fighter the Complete History (SFTCH cos I’m lazy) is its look.  It is not an extravagant, over sized and over priced publication but a neat book with a heap of great artwork throughout it.  You would be hard press not to look at some of the pictures displayed within and not have a flood of memories come washing back.  These pieces of art range from official artwork to fan drawn paraphernalia.

As for the writing itself – it is an easy read.  You could finish this book in one sitting, with the prose flowing smoothly and orderly.  There is not a great deal of heavy insight within the pages, as the author opts for a simple retelling of the video game franchise’s beginnings.  It begins with the story of the first street fighter, and the creative idea behind it.  It then talks at length about the first Street Fighter II arcade machine, and not only of it’s mass appeal, but WHY it had mass appeal.  Interviews with creators allow us to see what exactly took the creators by surprise, for example, players using a glitch in the game mechanics to begin performing combos.

Much like how today’s modern home console controllers borrow heavily off the Super Nintendo controller, the author shows us how pretty much every fighting game released exists in its current form due to Street Fighter II.

I am happy to inform you thought that SFTCH does answer one of the questions that has plagued gamers for years.  Many have tried to attain the knowledge, but have fallen short. It is a manoeuvre so difficult, that to achieve it will garner you instant ultimate gamer cred.  To try and fail, is to be laughed at, ostracised and wedgied by the larger community.  I talk of course of styling your hair to resemble that of Guile’s do.  Over two glorious pages, the author takes pictures show simple step by step instructions on how you too can walk around with a brush head.  Warning: There is a chance of awesome overload if you indeed manage to pull this off.

As for the negatives, which I am happy to report, there are only a few.  There are way too many pictures in this book.  While they are gorgeous to look at, more often than not they break up the flow of the writing.  At times you have to turn 3 pages in order to continue your sentence.  I hate that!  Less is definitely more, and I cannot help but think that if there were less pictures, we may have been privy to more of the interviews the author conducted with the games original designers.  Instead we get a few quotes, and a summary of the interview.

Ok, now here’s the big one.  Here is the one thing that annoyed the hell out of me throughout the book.  I’m a fan of Street Fighter, hence why I purchased the book.  For that reason, I probably do not need to be told how influential it was on every second page.  Sure, explain to me why it is influential in regards, show the evidence which backs up this claim, but do not just keep saying it to finish off a paragraph!

The History of Street Fighter is a great, light read with a few little facts tossed in the abundance of concept art and promo material.  It lightly goes over the history of the games, focusing mainly on the impact of Street Fighter 2.  A great book to sit down and kill a few hours, and because of its size pretty reasonably priced.  Pick it up, so that you may learn how much of an influential game Street Fighter 2 is.

As a special treat to the two of you who read my blog, here is the first 6 pages of my manuscript for a kid’s book.  Can you draw?  Want to draw this?  Awesome, we should make out.  I mean make a book.  Then make out.  Maybe.

1. I don’t like the night time, cos I have to go to bed.  I ask my Daddy if I can stay up – he asks me why I am scared.

“Because there’s a monster there,” is what I tell my Dad.  “He growls and grumbles and makes funny noises.  And I think he wants to be fed.”

2. “Don’t you worry, Little Bit” my Daddy smiles and says.  “He is probably just lonely and bored, and wants for you to play”.

3.  Then I finish my bubble bath, and Daddy puts me to bed.  He reads my stories, gets my drink, and kisses me on my head.

“If that monster talks to you, you should say hello.  If he is still too scary, just ask for him to go”.

4.  As my Daddy walks out, he tells me “I’ll be right here”.  Off goes my light, my door left open, then Daddy disappears.

I lay in my bed, my sheets pulled up, trying to get to sleep.  I close my eyes, hug my teddy…. then I hear a ‘creak’.

5.  It’s the monster!  He’s coming out! I quickly hide my face.  Under my sheets I will be safe until he leaves my place.

But then I remember what Daddy said, and I say a little “Hello”.  I poke my head out, look around while hugging my pillow.

6.  There he stands, large and tall, the monster looking at me.  His eyes are round, his fur all green – and smiling with a “tee-hee”.

“Hello little girl,” the big-eyed monster says. “Sorry if I scared you at all, but I’m lonely. Would you like to play?”

What comes next?  Pages 7-12.  Then hopefully a publishing deal.  But first, I need pictures to make my words pretty.  Contact me via the email thing on the side over there.

Two hundred and fifty words.  Two hundred and fifty words in which I can tell you fine people out there on the World Wide Website how you may spot a non-gamer within the gerenal populus.  A hard task, I hear you think. No so.  For you see, there are 5 sure fire ways you can tell if a person you pass in the street is a non-gamer.  5 easy ways, and only one way to tell you about them.  That’s right lady (I’m sure there is at least one of you) and gentlemen, this is the Top 5 Ways to Spot a Non-Gamer:

Number 5.  ‘Playing online’ means visiting porn sites.

Number 4. They aren’t throwing a tennisball at a small animal in an attempt ‘catch them all’

Number 3. Direct sunlight does not cause them to hiss, and slink away into a dark alley.

Number 2. They don’t huddle around the local gaming retiler trying to discreetly download the latst Pokemon giveaway…and neither do I.  Shut up man.

Number 1. They’re female.

Well, it had to happen.

A few weeks back now out Thought Balloon choice was that of the popular indie comic sensation, Atomic Robo.  Having not read any of said Robo, I decided to do my usual research.

After finding that he was a very science minded individual (cos you know…robot), I toyed with the idea of once again of writing a coffee-based page so I could bore reader’s face’s off once again.  But then it hit me – why not do something a little more fun.  Why not play off one of the most bitter and unaswerable feuds?  Why not tackly the political hot potato of Science v Religion?

Yeah, I should have stuck to the coffee idea.

What was meant to be a playful, tounge in cheek look at the Science v Religion mark didn’t go down so well.  I mean, I knew bringing religion into it would be somewhat touchey but had hoped the the nature of the script would get across the point I was jokingly making.  It did not.  At all.

Have a read of the page of script I wrote first -

All panels take up the width of the page.  Each panel appears underneath the proceeding one.

1.  We can see Atomic Robo from chest up, however he is on the far left hand side of the panel, only taking up about a third of it.  The remainder of the panel is background.  Atomic Robo is staring intently to the right of the panel, but is facing the reader.

2.  A man who is clearly a priest (your traditional black robe with the white thingy in the collar should convey it easily enough) is seen on the extreme right of the panel.  Again, he takes up a third of the panel with the remainder being background.  The priest is looking to the left of this panel, but like Atomic Robot is square on to the reader.  He looks stern.

3.  Same framing as Panel 1, with Atomic Robo not having moved much since the first panel.

4.  Same framing as Panel 2, but the Priest is looking slightly concerned.  Only slightly.

5.  Same as Panel 4, however Atomic Robo’s hand is slapping the Priest.  Hard.  There’s spit and everything coming from the Priest’s mouth.  It’s the greatest bitch slap ever.

The following is some of the comments that the script recieved from Thought Balloon writer’s and visitors:

I’m kind of on the opposite side of it. I understand the idea behind the page, of course. But all I get out of it is Atomic Robo slapping a priest for some unknown reason and I’m left wondering ‘Is he going somewhere with this?’.

It’s disappointing, because with all the options that Robo opens up, we’re left with a page that has a man of science slapping a man of faith for no apparent reason other than the priest is a religious figure, a page where I think you could swap out Robo for any number of other characters and the page really wouldn’t be all that different.

To which I replied:

I agree with you. It is a luck lustre script when read purely what is on the page. However, I would like to think that when you re-read it and think about the subtext it becomes a little more apparent what the script is saying.

As Ryan said, it’s a commentary on the old Science v Religion debate. For that reason not other character could take Atomic Robo’s place. He’s a freaking Robot – he exists purely to science. From the limited amount I have read of Robo, he clearly lives FOR all things science as well.
On the flip side we have a Priest, who lives only for their faith in religion and God.

Before I start, I just want to point out that these are my opinions on the whole Science v Religion debate, so if there is to be any flaming direct it to me and not the awesomeness that is Thought Balloons.

The first two panels represent the stalemate that the two beliefs are in – Science believes it is right because it believes in fact, where as Religion believes it has the answer due to their unyielding faith. Hence why both characters which represent their beliefs are stoic, and simply staring each other down.

Here is where my own person views kick in.

Panel 3 is Science unmoved. It is right, and it knows it.

Panel 4 is religion hesitating…only slightly. It knows that it’s time of dominance is running out. No longer can it claim all that it has claimed as Science is there to question its every move. It flinches, ever so slightly. This gives Science the move it has been waiting for, which is Panel 5.

The bitch slap is the KO punch to Religion from Science. Religion faultered, and Science came in and took it down. Science is the winner.

It being a slap is again my own little personal view thrown in – it’s a degrading knock out punch. Not much was needed. Religion was on it’s last legs.

So, after that rambling I hope I have made it clear why no other character could have appeared in this page other than Atomic Robo. Either way thanks for the feedback :)

To which I got this reply:

Part of it does boil down to having grown up in a religious household (my dad’s a pastor, no less). However, most of my distaste for the page comes from HOW you went about taking a jab at religion, rather than just that you decided to make it a science > religion page.

As you’ve said in your explanation of the scene, your personal views on the religion vs. science debate comes heavily into play here. Based on what I’ve read of Robo (I own the first four TPBs and have the 5th reserved for when it comes out), what you have Robo do in this scene in order for it to match your personal views doesn’t match up with the characterization I’m familiar with.

Robo does not strike me as the kind to go about hitting priests just because they happen to represent religion, let alone slapping them with “the greatest bitch slap ever”. Based on the page as we see it without any kind of background information explaining why these two are here or why Robo might be upset with the priest from an in-universe perspective, that’s what the page comes across as.

What I COULD see Robo doing is verbally berating the Priest if the two were in an argument, or mocking the priest if the priest got on his nerves, or even giving him a dope slap if he were really ticked off or thought the Priest did/said something incredibly stupid. But unless the priest were to deliberately insult Atomic Robo or someone close to him in an overly obscene manner or threatened Robo with violence in a way that made the threat credible, I don’t see Robo using that level of violence on a priest.

This is in large part my problem with the script – I see it as a page where you’ve derailed a character for the express purpose of getting your opinion across on a real-world issue (one that can be touchy at times, no less) and taking a striking jab at the other side. It would disappointing to see done with any character, but I find it especially sad when it’s being done through a character I rather enjoy reading.

I also still don’t see how this is a page that could be done with Atomic Robo alone. Given the number of other science-based characters in comics, I feel like this could have just as easily done with any number of other characters that are dedicated to science. I don’t really see anything in this comic that makes it an ‘Atomic Robo’ script other than that it has ‘Atomic Robo’ written into it. There’s no real characterization, and nothing happens except a priest getting nervous before getting slapped.

And that’s what it comes down to. I feel like Robo’s character and your page for him have both been sacrificed in the name of making a statement or argument or jab at something you disagree with, which I find to be rather disappointing.

Certainly, you’re free to use your pages however you see fit, I just hope you can understand where my criticism for this particular page comes from.

Yeah, there was a lot of this point of view being expressed, both on Thought Balloons and the official Atomic Robo site.  Now I know how Bendis feels.

So while it was by no means my intention of insulting anyone, I can see that I did.  Both those of Faith and those who love the character Atomic Robo let me know I stepped over a line.

However, this script got 10 times the amount of hits of our average highest read script, created chatter on different sites about Thought Balloons and created a little bit of controversay – so you know, not all bad.

AND I STILL GOT 3 STARS FOR THE DAMN THING!

So this morning I had an urge.  A need.  Something that I had, nay NEEDED to act on.  A scratch to itch.  A metaphor to think of.

I wanted to see a boxing match between a T-Rex and a Robot.  Impossible, I know, as we do not yet have the technology to make a boxing robot the size of a T-Rex.  Oh, and that whole extinct thing.  Nonetheless, mine eyes needed to witness this epic of all battles.  As such, I called upon the artists that I knew to draw this showdown.  To my surprise, two obliged.  I give you fine people, these drawings.

Bask in their glory.  Bask.

Woah woah woah, wait one minute.  Do you notice a theme here?  It appears two (and various non drawers on twitter) artists believe that a T-Rex would lose against a robot.  Apparently its arms are too short for it to be an effective boxer.  I can understand that logic, but this is what you don’t get…..

T-Rex winning is what would make it the most awesomeness thing in the history of ever!

He’s the ultimate underdog.  He can’t reach the robot, but he is not going to stop trying until he knocks that tin foil man to the ground.  Harry Henderson Organa was kind enough to agree with me, and as such we have this;

See those rippling reptilian biceps?  That’s why this King of the Dinosaurs is the King of the Ring.  Eat it robots.  Eat.  It.

A while back one of our Thought Balloon characters was Rick Grimes, the lead from The Walking Dead.

Recently, I have been in the search for artists to help me out with some of my projects, for I cannot draw to save my life. I was put in touch with young Ms Danikah Harrison by our own Danial Carroll. To see her drawing prowess, I suggested to Danikah that she may wish to draw one of my Thought Balloons scripts, which she did. Obviously. So without my further ramblings, here is the art of my one page Rick Grimes script – A Moment.

This one….this one I’m not too sure about.

The basic premise was that Emma has just told Scott that she wiped Sebastian Shaw’s mind using her telepathy.  Scott, understandably, its outraged.  He was the one to lead the X-Men in the battle against Onslaught, an amalgamation of both Charles Xavier and Magneto.  Onslaught was created after Magneto’s ‘evil’ transferred over to Xavier whilst the latter was wiping the former’s mind.  Or something.  I dunno, seemed hoakey to me at the time too.  Regardless, I still love Onslaught, the beacon of everything that is wrong with comics in the 90’s that he is.

But I digress – here’s the script.

Emma Frost – Cold Shoulder

The following takes place after Uncanny X-Men #534.  Emma has just told Scott Summers about her wiping Sebastian Shaw’s mind.

I am not usually one to describe the sizing of panels, but Panel two should be larger than the others.  The final 3 should be all of the same size, and appear on the same line.

1. Emma sits in her bed, night ware still on.  The bedding still covers her lower torso, Emma looking very nonplussed.

EMMA

Scott darling, it’s not that big of deal.

2. Scott Summers is standing beside the bed, also in his bed attire (I’m guessing just wearing boxers).  He has his hands extended in outrage.  Emma is slightly more animated than in the previous panel

SCOTT (1)

Don’t patronise me Emma!  Do you remember what happened the last time someone’s mind got wiped by a powerful telepath?

EMMA (1)

Oh please Scott this is completely different.  You’re being a tad precious about it.

SCOTT (2)

No Emma.  You made a drastic decision without consulting anyone.  As your partner both privately and professionally you should have discussed this with me.

EMMA (2)

Just like you discussed the forming of a hit squad with me?

SCOTT (3)

That was a decision made to protect an entire race.  The only person protected by your decision was you.

3. Scott has turned away from Emma, his head slightly bowed as if he is finally saying something which he has known he would have to say for some time.

SCOTT

Just when I think you’ve turned a corner, you show that you’re still the same egomaniacal, self-centred person you always have been.

4.  A close up of Emma’s eye, open wide in shock

SCOTT (off panel)

I think you should leave.

5. Same as Panel 4, however a tear is falling from the eye.

6. Same framing as Panel 4, but Emma’s eye no longer looks shocked, but hurt. Her skin has turned to diamond, the tear gone because of it.

One question I have constantly asked myself since Scott and Emma first coupled up is “how long can it last….really?”  The genesis of the idea for this script came with me thinking about how they would eventually break up.  It seemed the current transpiring in Uncanny X-Men lended itself to not be the cause of a break up, but the last straw.  Which is what I tried to convey here.

I also firmly believe that Emma truly does love Scott, which is why I went for the sappy ending.  I was really in two minds as to if I should keep it or not.  When Emma is in her diamond form, she is unable to use her telepathy.  It strikes me that it would also be possible for her not to not feel anything emotionally.  The tear disappearing as she turns into her diamond form symbolises her becoming cold, detaching herself from the pain.  She is not about to beat the crap out of Scott – she’s much too proper to stoop to those levels.  No, she’d probably go bone Wolverine to get back at him.

Truth be told, this script could have used more polishing to it.  It doesn’t flow nicely, and I believe I placed too much emphasis on the dialogue.  Still, I got to reference Onslaught and therefore am awesome.

This one almost had me.  Almost.

The challenge came down from fellow TB’er Max Bernard.  A fan of the Top Cow universe, Max wanted us to write about the 13 Artefacts, which I assumed as a major storyline for that company.  I was right.

The 13 Artifacts are those artifacts in the Top Cow universe which have immense power, usually with some biblical reference attached to them (or straight out of the Bible, in some cases).  It is written that the 13 Artifacts, when bought together, would have the power to destroy the universe.  As such, they must be kept separate at all times.  Why didn’t they just ship one off to outer space?

In the comic storyline, a mysterious person (again.  This mysterious person gets around a lot) is attempting to gather the artifacts.  As we can all tell, there will be a point in which all the Artifacts are gathered, and chaos will ensue.  This will in turn force the heroes of the universe to band together to defeat blah blah blah.  This is where my story takes off – at the gathering of the 13 Artifacts of Power.

The Artifacts – Hope for the Future

1.  Witchblade’s hand lies on the ground. It looks pale, as if it has been drained.

CAPTION (Note: the ‘voice’ that we are reading should look powerful and important.)

I created you.  Created everything.

2.  The Witchblade and The Darkness lay defeated, next to each other, unconscious.  Both are of the same pale colour as Witchblade’s hand in the previous panel.

CAPTION (1)

I was loved and worshipped by all.

CAPTION (2)

But I was forsaken.  Shattered, then imprisoned by those who once did my bidding.

3. A wider shot, with the wielders of the 13 Artifacts are scattered on the ground. Witchblade and The Darkness are in the centre.  All have the pale drained complexion.

CAPTION (1)

However, my return was preordained.

CAPTION (2)

Amusing.  You thought she was the hope for my universe.

4. Hope Pezzini floats above the fallen thirteen.  She is possessed with power – eye’s cracking with raw energy, covered in a weird amalgamation of The Darkness and The Witchblade’s armour, with wings of The Angelus behind her. Hope is only 1-2 years old, so this scene should look horrifying and creepy.

CAPTION

She’s not Hope at all.  She is but a Vessel.

The basic premise, for those who couldn’t work it out, is that the harsh creator of this universe went insane when it began to be shunned by its creations.  The heroes of that time managed to defeat this creator, and separate them into the 13 Artifacts.  This gave these Artifacts powers, which today’s Top Cow heroes wield.  When the 13 are bought together, it enables the Creator to reform, taking the heroes’ powers with it.  However, reform into what?

This is where I decided to put Hope Pezzani in.  A quick background – Hope is the offspring of The Darkness and The Witchblade.  When Hope’s mum, Witchblade wielder Sarah Pezzini, was comatose in hospital The Darkness took control over its host body, went to the hospital and ‘mated’ with the unconscious Sarah.  Why did it do so?  Apparently to make a weapon or something.  Hope had been kidnapped at the time of writing this script, by none other than that mysterious person.

This didn’t sit well with me.  The whole raping of a comatose patient aside, it seems so anti-climatic in a universe with heavy biblical references.  I therefore surmised that Hope’s birth was needed as she would act as a Vessel for the Creator when the 13 Artifacts of Power would be gathered.  It’s your old prophecy being fulfilled thing.  I’m a sucker for such stories.

I also really enjoyed the image of the innocent little 1 year old Hope having energy spewing out from her.  It would look really creepy and unsettling, also adding another angle to the eventual battle with the now powerless heroes.  Would they have what it takes to not only take on their Creator without their powers, and if they did could they do it while it inhabited the body of a small child and daughter?  This just opened up many an angle for me to think about.

I really enjoyed this script.  To me, it is reminiscent of the Dark Phoenix saga.  When I say reminiscent, it pretty much is the Dark Phoenix saga, but better.  Cos there’s no Cyclops.

I had enough trouble coming up with one idea for this character, how the hell do I have a B-Side script?

Well, to put it simply, this script was my first go at Jamie Reyes.  The third incarnation of the DC Hero The Blue Beetle, was a hard nut to crack…or beetle to step on.  That didn’t work.  Continue reading.

The following script focuses on Jamie in some down time, showing that he is still a regualr teenager who is put in regular teenage situations.  However, What I wanted to hint at is that Jamie actually prefers to go out as the Blue Beetle, rather than plod along with the rest of his ilk.  I mean, seriosuly, if you had super powers would you spend all your time hangin out with your friends?  Of course you wouldn’t, you lier.  You would want to fly around town using your super powers to smash things…for the betterment of himankind, of course.  *cough*

I didn’t choose this script to go up on thought balloons for two reasons.  The first being that it ireally isn;t a Blue Beetle script.  The role of Jamie could be played by any character.  As such, it didn;t strike me as a ‘Blue Beetle’ script.  Secondly, I had just come back from a night out with friends of mine, where exactly this happened.  I say exactly, but I didn’t leave to go play with my powers.  I came home.  Early.  To write.

Don’t judge me.

Regardless, it’s written now, and cannot be un-written (unless I hit the delete key on this keyboard.  Hey, shut up me.)  Have a look for yourself, then head over to Thought Balloons and see what you think of my other script there.  Also be sure to read the scripts by the other very talented writers there.  They put me to shame.

Blue Beetle – The Blues Beetle

1.  Jamie Reyes sits at a bar, alone.  Around him people his age are dancing and drinking around him.  Jamie sits, removed from them and with a glass in hand.

JAMIE

Take a break for one night, they said.  Come and hang out with us, they pleaded.

2.  Jamie is taking a drink from his glass.

JAMIE

So I’m here, in this pub with all of my friends.  Only they are now drunk.   And are all coupled up.  I’m neither.

3.  Jamie is looking over his shoulder at the young people having a good time on the dance floor.

JAMIE

Look at everyone.  So many gorgeous girls…and they’re all hanging off rather average, and in some cases straight out ugly guys.

4.  A shot of the dance floor.  Two teens are making out.

JAMIE

Ugh.

5.  Jamie has gotten up from his seat and is leaving the bar.

JAMIE

Wonder what’s happening in crime world.