Deadpool - Serious - Arby Moay

Panel 1

We look at the back of a man, standing, whose head had just been sliced clean off with a sword. In the space between where the neck and head split, we see Deadpool's eyes. He is pissed.

CAPTION (Yellow): Life, sometimes, is terrible...

Panel 2

Deadpool stalks towards a dude leaning on the closed doors of a car. The dude is pointing a pistol at Deadpool and shooting. Deadpool just shrugs off the bullets entering his body.

CAPTION (Yellow): Even I'm sane enough to realize that sometimes.

SFX (gunshot): BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

CAPTION (Yellow): And sometimes, the monsters of this world don't need super powers. 

Panel 3

Deadpool sticks his sword through the dude's head.

CAPTION (Yellow): Sometimes, the most ordinary human can do the shittiest thing...

Panel 4

Deadpool opens the car door at the back seat and takes out a baby whose eyes glow red, and have glowing patterns in his arms. A half-eaten chimichanga rests in the dashboard of the car that Deadpool hasn't yet noticed.

CAPTION (Yellow): ...to the most innocent.

CAPTION (Yellow): It's times like these where I just --

Panel 5

Deadpool notices the chimichanga and perks up, baby is in his left arm, while his right arm reaches for the food.

DEADPOOL: OOOHHH! CHIMICHANGA!

CAPTION (Yellow): Wait. What was I thinking about?

CAPTION (White): I don't know, but you sounded so serious about a panel ago.

Why Thought Balloons? - Arby Moay

I spent only a brief moment here on Thought Balloons, but, nevertheless, I had a wonderful time here. I was fresh out of college and searching for work when I came on board, and, honestly, as the weeks turned to months, I had been feeling purposeless and useless. That's what Thought Balloons gave me -- a sense of purpose. Sure, it wasn't actual work, but it had been a thing that I had to do. And there were people actually reading what I'm too, and criticizing me as well, so that was very exciting.

I'll keep this post brief as well, but let me just say that Thought Balloons definitely revitalized my desire to one day have a comic published. I'm still looking for money and artists, but with Oni Press' open submissions...

Anyways, congrats to the site for five years of history! Here's to hoping for five more! And may all of us here, not just the past and present tenures, but for those participating in the comment sections as well, may all of us be one day get a publication.

Huzzah!

- Arby Moay

Harry Dresden - Fuego! - Arby Moay

PANEL 1
POV is a laptop's webcam. We see a young man with thick silly hair and a thin moustache, let's call him ARBY, typing on the keyboard viciously.

(Captions should be as if it's what Arby is writing on the screen)
CAPTION: Harry
Wherever there’s darkness, there is always light. Even if you close your eyes tight, light will always seep in even for just a little bit. Isn’t that beautiful?


PANEL 2
Same. But Arby is now smiling as if he'd just written something very clever.

CAPTION: Harry
We, as a species, have long combatted the darkness with our light. Just go outside during the night time, and you’ll notice it.


PANEL 3
Same. But Arby is now shocked. There is smoke coming out of the laptop, maybe even a little fire.

CAPTION: Harry
We are supposed to be enveloped with our own planets shadow, starved from the light of --

ARBY: What the --


PANEL 4
Zoom out and we see Arby's messy bedroom. He has his hands on his head still shocked and angry about what just happened. With him in the room stands Harry Dresden looking at the computer.

ARBY: WHY?!
DRESDEN: See, I told you this would happen.
ARBY: I thought it'd be inspiring to have you here.


PANEL 5
Dresden points at the laptop, which is now in bigger fire.

DRESDEN: Yeah, well, that's generally what I inspire.
ARBY: Well, can you magic the fire out?
DRESDEN: Sure, I can.
DRESDEN (small): I'm not very great with putting out fire though.
ARBY: What?
DRESDEN: Nothing.


PANEL 6
Close-up on Harry Dresden with a questioning look.

DRESDEN: Hey, I'm still getting paid here, right?

Why Harry Dresden?

...because there was a building on fire and it wasn't his fault.

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden (conjure that name at your own risk) works at an office in midtown Chicago. He may or may not be the only practicing wizard in the country. While the others tend to hide their identities, you can find Harry's name in the yellow pages, under the "Wizards" section. Unsurprisingly, he's the only one there. For the most part, people call him to ask if he's serious.

This, minus the image, is his yellow pages ad.

Harry is a powerful wizard who works as a private investigator for the supernatural, and often times works as a consultant for the Chicago PD. While he is quite a strong wizard, he does lack some fine control and magical manipulation displayed by the others. He usually blasts enemies off with fire and wind spells during battles, though he has displayed abilities using the different elements as well, even channeling lightning from an oncoming storm. He is also skilled with tracking spells, which helps quite a lot in his profession, along with summoning and entrapment spells, allowing him to consult with various supernatural creatures, like demons and faeries. He can create magical circles that'll prevent supernatural creatures from going in (defensive), or going out (imprisonment). His magical aura is actually so strong, in fact, that the energies associated with it disrupts electronic devices around him, causing them to fail.

Fighting a frog-man using lightning while naked.

Because of his lack of finer control in magic, Dresden usually relies on magical items to help focus and channel his magical energy, such as his rune-carved staff, his blasting rod (which is just a wooden stick that he uses to blast fire and kinetic energy), his shield bracelet and protective rings. He also wears a duster with a protective aura. He also carries with him a revolver, sometimes a shotgun, because he's not dumb. Lastly, though he never carries it with him, he also has Bob, a talking skull ghost who possess great knowledge about everything magic/supernatural.

Created by novelist Jim Butcher to be the protagonist of The Dresden Files series (a blend of magic and hard-boiled detective fiction), Harry Dresden has appeared in 15 novels (main medium), a number of limited and unlimited comic series, and even a TV adaptation.

Uhm....

Ms Marvel/Kamala Khan - Fantastic! - Arby Moay

Panel 1
A cat is comically hanging on a tree with her two front paws, ready to fall down. Luckily a big stretchy hand (Kamala's) is there to catch her.


Panel 2
Cat falls and is caught by the big stretchy hand.


Panel 3
Ms. Marvel hands the cat to a little girl with a big smile.

Kamala: Well, here you go, kid!
Little Girl: Thanks Ms. Fantastic!


Panel 4
Close-up of Kamala's face. She is still holding her smile, amused at being called Ms. Fantastic.

Kamala: You're welcome! Though, my name's Ms. Marvel.


Panel 5
The little girl points at Kamala. Meanwhile, the cat is back trying to climb the tree it was just on.

Little Girl: You have stretchy powers.
Kamala: That is true. You are very perceptive.
Little Girl: Kinda like Jake.


Panel 6
Kamala has her hands in her waist, a little bit disgusted at the comparison. Little Girl is amused. Cat is hanging for dear life in the tree again.

Kamala: Kid, I am not a dog.
Little Girl: What time is it?


Panel 7
Kamala has stretched her legs to move out, meanwhile her big stretchy hand is back trying to save the cat. Little Girl has her fist victoriously in the air.

Kamala: Nope!
Little Girl: ADVENTURE TIME!

Invisible Woman - Villain's POV - Arby Moay

Panel 1
We are in the POV of some random villain whose identity is not really all that important. We see a street in New York that has been completely devastated. Rubble everywhere, and some burning buildings. The Fantastic Four are lying unconscious in the middle of the street. Mr. Fantastic looks like he's been flatened. Johnny does not have his flame on. Ben's left leg has collapsed and become rubble. Sue is lying on her stomach.

CAPTION: If you are a villain, then there's a chance that you might've been lucky enough to see something like this.
CAPTION: You've given it you're all, and you've finally defeated the superheroes.Victory is at hand.


Panel 2
Same. The villain POV walks closer to the Fantastic Four. Sue is now starting to get back up.

CAPTION: Unfortunately for you, it's not the end of the story.
CAPTION: You see one of your enemies get back up time and time again.
CAPTION: And you realize...


Panel 3
Same. Sue raises up her left hand towards us, and engulfs our head in a force field.

CAPTION: ...that while you were busy trying to conquer the world to impose your own ideals upon it...
CAPTION: ...she was busy trying to defend the world. But beyond that, she had people, loved ones, that she had to protect, willing her to live on. To always get back up.


Panel 4
Panel's all in black.

CAPTION: So you see all along...
CAPTION: ...you picked the wrong fight.

(Evil) Ryu - Cowardice - Arby Moay

Panel 1
External. We are in a Japanese-style garden. It is daylight, but it is dark because of a heavy rain. We look at Evil Ryu walking towards us. He is talking, angry. His eyes and aura glow red. His purple gi is torn and we can see some scorch marks on it.

Evil Ryu: You have the gall to call me a coward?


Panel 2
Zoom closer to Evil Ryu so we see only half of his body. He is still angrily talking to us (readers). The red glow in his eyes is now a darker red but more radiant, same as his fiery aura which now seems to also be burning the tiny little raindrops.

Evil Ryu: Look into my eyes and proclaim me a villain?
Evil Ryu: See where it got you!


Panel 3
Reveal Ken Masters as the person Evil Ryu was addressing. Ken is lying dead on the ground and very bloody. His gi is gone, save for the pants. He has scorch marks all over him, even burning out some of his hair. If possible, there should also be nearby lightning in the background.

Evil Ryu: Is not death the most cowardly state?

SFX: KRAKABOOM!

Andrew Bennett - I, Last - Arby Moay

PAGE 1

Panel 1
Day. We are in a forest. While the trees and grass are still green, there are now signs of rot in some places. We look over the entrance of a big cave, dark on the inside. Andrew Bennett is walking towards the cave with a dead rat in his hands. No other animal should be seen anywhere else.

CAPTION: Before all this...


Panel 2
Inside the cave, Andrew Bennett drops the rat and sits down, half of his body consumed in the shadow of the cave. He looks solemn, and a little gaunt.

CAPTION: The world's most heinous criminals, outside of Gotham and Metropolis, sentenced with the capital punishment often get to request what their last meal is.


Panel 3
Andrew Bennett picks up the dead rat and dangles it in front of himself. He shows his fangs, ready to eat.

CAPTION: I murdered the entire planet, including the masks and aliens that run and fly around it.


Panel 4
Close tight on Andrew Bennett's mouth as he bites the rat's head of.

CAPTION: And this is all I get before I starve to death...

Why Andrew Bennett?

...because FANGS, BLOOD and VAMPIRES!

Created by J.M. DeMatteis and Tom Sutton, Andrew Bennett is a 400 year-old vampire who hunts down his own kind. He is also unique in his ability to resist the urge to feed on human blood. Most of his vampiric life is dedicated to hunting down Mary, the Queen of Blood, who, sadly, also happens to be his ex-lover. And still kinda is. Tragic.

2011 was a bad time for the vampire genre, what with a certain "saga" running its rounds and making it synonymous to romance novels. And that "saga" was also actually pretty successful, money-making-wise, and so DC, being a business that wants to make money, tried to bank on that. When the New 52 came around, I, Vampire was relaunched with Andrew and Mary being younger, and more... naked. Fortunately, they hired Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino to write and art the book, and they made the book look good. They gave us blood and lots of it and they gave us a well-written, and beutifully rendered romantic and tragic story. Did I cry while reading the thing? Well, I can neither confirm nor deny that.

So what is up with Andrew Bennett?

Well, he's a vampire who hunts down vampires, but only the bad kind of vampires. The ones that can't be saved. The ones who are unable to resist the urge to feed on human blood, unlike himself. Thing is, he's the only one who can resist. He met another dude who he thought could, but that was a mistake. Oh, have I mentioned that his ex-lover, Mary Queen of Blood, is the "mother" of all the bad vampires? Yeah, there's that.

What can he do?

He can do whatever vampires can do.

He is immortal, so long as he continues to consume blood, animal blood or bottled human blood in his case,

He is invulnerable to most forms of injury, and if he does get injured, he can regenerate through drinking blood.

He has superhuman strength and stamina.

He possesses the ability to transform into a bat, a wolf, and even into mist.

He also has some form of psychokinesis, which kinda allows him to influence people into doing what he wants them to do.

He can also turn people into vampires.

He's also good with the sword, the wooden stake, and the axe.

Guardians of the Galaxy - Mudered You - Arby Moay

Panel 1
Tight on a green-skinned cyclopean alien. He just got his brains blasted by one of Rocket's guns.

Rocket (OP): Blam! --
Quill (OP): --don't say it.


Panel 2
We are in a hallway, inside a ship. Peter Quill and Rocket Raccoon are hiding behind some rubble while two other green-skinned cyclops fire on them with blasters.

Rocket: What? Why?
Quill: It's kinda bad.
Rocket: "Bad"? Quill, it's a great catch phrase!
Quill: Debatable. But what I mean is that it kinda implies that we're here to murder these guys--
Rocket: --I am here to murder these guys!


Panel 3
Same. Gamora has just dropped behind the aliens.

Quill: --instead of saving the Draekkarian dignitaries.
Rocket: What's the difference?
Quill: Well, one implies that we're heroes, the other implies that we're criminals.


Panel 4
Same. Gamora beheads the two aliens with one swoop of a sword.

Rocket: Quill, I am a criminal! --
Quill: --no--
Rocket: --and so are you!
Quill: No, I'm--Well, yeah we are. But that's not--
Rocket: --what?
Quill: It's not--


Panel 5
Same. Gamora stands before Quill and Rocket. Quill looks up at her.

Gamora: --Quill.
Quill: Done?
Gamora: Yes.
Quill: Alright. We'll continue our discussion on the next hallway full of baddies.
Rocket: Fine.

Komodo - Monsters - Arby Moay

Panel 1
We are in the West Philadelphia High School field, where a basketball game is happening between Black Jersey's and White Jersey's. A player on Black Jersey's has just scored an in-your-face dunk against a player in White Jersey's.

MELATI (OP): So... this is what you do, huh?


Panel 2
We see Melati Kusuma, a.k.a. Komodo, in her human form approaching Flash Thompson, a.k.a. Agent Venom, also in his human form. Both of them are in a wheelchair, Melati has a cloth covering her thighs to hide her missing legs while Flash does not. Flash is carrying a clipboard.

FLASH: Sometimes, yeah.
FLASH: Didn't think you'd actually come.
MELATI: Eh. I didn't really have anything better to do.


Panel 3
Back up a bit. We see Melati and Flash watch the game, with some awkward tension between them. Coach Yates, middle-aged balding guy with a mustache and Coach of Flash's school, is yelling. Some players are running across the panel.


Panel 4
Similar framing as Panel 3.

MELATI: Isn't this a little frustrating for you, "Coach"? I mean, you could easily outpace any of these guys in your... other form.
FLASH: Assistant coach. And sure, sometimes. But it's nice to feel like a normal human being from time to time.


Panel 5
Close-up on Melati. We see her full human body overlapped by her transparent Komodo form.

MELATI: Well, maybe, I dunno. I've wanted to be able to run for so long... I think I'd rather look like a monster than sit in a chair.


Panel 6
Close-up on Flash.

FLASH: You're lucky, then. Difference between you and me? You only need to look like a monster to run...
FLASH: Me...


Panel 7
Close-up on Flash's left face. It is overlapped with the transparent left face of classic Venom.

FLASH: I am a monster.