Armour – Omega – Brian Manton

1.

Japan - a pink forcefield covers one third of the country. The field is similar in shape to the “head” of Hisako’s armour.

2.

The command centre of the tactical base “Jump Point Delta”. An aged Nightcrawler, blue fur tinted grey in places, suits up in military combat gear. There is a large metal implant in the side of his head. Professor Xavier sits beside him, his hand placed reassuringly on Nightcrawler’s. In the background Beast and Forge (again, both older) look over calculations on a whiteboard. Also in the background are the Stepford Cuckoos, each wearing a Cerebra helmet. We can see charts and maps on the wall with concentric circles that show the progression of the forcefield. Marked 2013 is the innermost circle, about the size of a city. The outermost circle is marked 2031.

3.

Nightcrawler stands before the vast wall of the forcefield, silhouetted in the pink light.  Rubble surrounds the edges of the field. (It has pushed everything in its path outward as it has grown. Here, most of this has been cleared away.)

4.

Nightcrawler has just teleported to the inside of the forcefield. The bodies of other teleporters (Cable, Spiral, The Vanisher, The Spot) surround him. The bodies have the same implant in the skull. Everything is bathed in a pink light.

5.

Nightcrawler kneels in the middle of the crater created when Hisako first went Omega, 18 years ago. Grass and flowers have started to grow again in places. He holds Hisako in his arms. We can see the sky is blue.

CAP (Nightcrawler):  Heavenly Father, forgive me for what I have done.

Armor - The Fault in Our Stars, 3rd Excerpt - Ray Wonsowski

(ok, I promise to make this the last double-pager...well, for a while at least...but I wanted to wrap this up in a big way)

Layout:  ...bear with me, this'll be unusual:

NOTE:  In panels 3 through 6, ARMOR will be holding an umbilical line.  This umbilical should wind its way from panel to panel and vary in size smoothly as the action shifts in pov, almost as a freely shot cable would as it unspooled in the vacuum of space.  More on that in a second...

Panel 1 - Bird's-eye-view.  Background is the deck of a Cathedral-ship.  A number of robed faithful of the Universal Church of Truth are fighting a small group of women holding their own against them.  They are small from our perspective, but we can pick out the figures of MANTIS, HELLCAT, CRYSTAL, and VALKYRIE fighting hand to hand.  In the midground, we see CAPTAIN MARVEL (Carol Danvers) delivering a winning blast of energy into the reeling MAGUS.  Foreground, the Cancerverse ADAM WARLOCK has turned his head, his attention drawn.  He is looking directly at Panel 3, but is pointing up at us, as if we were the orbiting Quinjet.

Cancerverse ADAM WARLOCK:  ...damn it all, it was a diversion...

Cancerverse ADAM WARLOCK:  NOOO!!!


Panel 2 - Close-up, the head and hands of CLEA.  She is gesturing, her fingers aglow with dark magic.  Her hair is blowing wildly, but her face burns with the Faltine Flames, just like her father, Dormammu.

CLEA:  Aim well, Kate Bishop, it must be...NOW!!!


Panel 3 - The airlock of the Quinjet.  Behind what looks like a harpoon cannon with an oversized rifle scope attached that looks like it was designed by Kirby, we see KATE BISHOP, one eye to the scope, firing the huge gun.  From out the front, an umbilical unspools into Panel 4.  CLEA stands behind KATE, siphoning her magic into the umbilical.

KATE BISHOP:  Shark cage away!

CAPTION:  A haiku.  For Logan, my teacher...


Panel 4 - Foreground, ARMOR, in her space suit, flying out of Panel 3, gritting her teeth and holding tight to the umbilical, magic flowing into her hand.  In the background, Cancerverse ADAM WARLOCK is kept from giving chase by STARDUST and the SILVER SURFER, who restrain his arms.  The umbilical continues to flow into Panel 5.

CAPTION:  I won't fear, master...


Panel 5 - Still holding the umbilical, ARMOR flies right at us, upside down and arms wide, her free hand open toward us as if to grab something.  Through the faceplate of her helmet, we see her face grimace as she braces for impact.  The umbilical recedes as it unspools into Panel 6.

CAPTION:  ...I'll honor my ancestors...


Panel 6 - From a distance, we see ARMOR slam into the chest plate of GALACTUS.  An inset shows two eyes (we are not sure if they are hers or CLEA's) wide with the Flames of Faltine.

CAPTION:  *hh*


Panel 7 - Background, at the top of the panel, the stars.  Foreground, GALACTUS, now magically fed by the umbilical that ARMOR carried, is rejuvenated, aware, and very angry.  Though ARMOR is too small to see from this pov, we do see the umbilical, leading off to the unseen Quinjet, surging with energy into his chest plate.  He is surrounded by ARMOR's orange protective aura, which, though completely surrounding the form of GALACTUS, has taken on the features of Japanese samurai armour, making GALACTUS appear more monstrous and fearsome than ever.

CAPTION:  ...I will save us all...

CAPTION:  ...your Hisako.

...to be concluded!

Armor - Reach Out And Crush Someone - Niel Jacoby

Panel One: Armor is in the X-Mansion's Danger Room, and a robot is about to fire a missile at her. She has her arm extended, palm out.

Caption(ARMOR): I DON'T EXACTLY KNOW WHEN I DISCOVERED IT.

Panel Two: Her armor's arm extends out and through the robot.

Caption(ARMOR): BUT I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED.

Panel Three: Logan and Professor X are in the Danger Room observation facility. Logan is mildly interested, Professor X is horrified.

Logan: DAMN. DIDN'T KNOW SHE COULD DO THAT.

Professor X: OH NO.

Armor - The Best Offence - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: A hostage situation in some large room. Armor stands between some scared hostages and an armed hostage-taker. In the background, various other X-Men fight the other hostage-takers.

ARMOR (CAP): My powers make me feel safe.

Panel 2: Same shot, but the hostage-taker has opened fire and Armor has instinctively activated her armour, bullets bouncing off it.

SFX: BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA

ARMOR (CAP): They protect me from harm.

Panel 3: The hostage-taker now starts running away, while still shooting back at Armor. She gives chase.

SFX: BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA

ARMOR (CAP): They are purely defensive.

Panel 4: A bullet ricochets off Armor's armour and hits a hostage in the chest. Armor looks at him in alarm.

HOSTAGE: AHH!

ARMOR (CAP): But sometimes they can be dangerous.

END OF PAGE

Armor – All-New Avengers X-Treme – MK Stangeland Jr.

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: An orange, transparent truck has smashed through a wall into an AIM base – the ‘truck’ in question being ARMOR’s armor shaped into the form of a truck. Riding behind in the passenger area are KOMODO, BEAST, SANDMAN, and HELLCAT.

SFX: CRASH!

ARMOR: Honk, Honk!

BEAST: (Minimized) Oh dear…

AIM GUARDS: !

Panel 2: ARMOR disperses the truck in a way that allows the team to fall into battle positions. Behind them, flying through the hole and providing fire support, is WAR MACHINE, which is sending the AIM GUARDS running for cover.

SFX: (WAR MACHINE) Dakkadakkadakkadakka

SFX: (WAR MACHINE) bzZUU! bzZUU!

WAR MACHINE (1): Let’s move, team!

WAR MACHINE (2): Hellcat, Beast, start hunting down that signature.

WAR MACHINE (3): Armor, Sandman, cover them. Komodo, you’re with me!

AIM GUARD: $%&^!

AIM GUARD: MOVE! MOVE!

Panel 3: AIM GUARDS have entered the room through an armored door that’s closed behind them. They’re armed with heavy weapons.

AIM SUPERIOR: AIM! FI-

Panel 4: ARMOR has formed her armor into the shape of a small artillery cannon, one which has shot a shell-shaped SANDMAN out the end.

SFX: POW!

Panel 5: Panel is set on the other side of the armored door, where the shell-shaped SANDMAN, having expanded the size of his body, has burst through. On the other side of the doors, we should be able to see the AIM GUARDS that were hit, knocked out of the way, or otherwise dodged and ducked from SANDMAN being shot at them.

SFX: CRASH!

(END PAGE)

Armour -Under My Skin -Dan Hill

PAGE ONE

1.1

WIDE PANEL, a street somewhere in downtown New York. It’s early evening and rain lashes down from the heavens, neon shining through the downpour.

    CAPTION:        “I thought you’d understand.”

1.2

Push in on a doorway at the bottom of a set of steps below street level. The door lies open, with a burly looking man with some serious ink, a shaved head, a wife beater and a pair of leather pants slumped unconscious against the doorframe.

The leather pants are horrific. He probably deserved it.

    CAPTION:        “Well, I don’t. So spell it out for me kid.”

1.3

CUT TO a CLOSE UP on a worried, weaselly looking man in his late twenties. He wears a bandana and a black vest. He also has some serious ink. He looks up worryingly at three familiar blades coming in from the top right of the panel.

    CAPTION:        “I’m not a kid anymore.”

1.4

CUT TO a close up on LOGAN. He’s wearing a leather jacket and jeans. He looks angry.

    LOGAN:        Well, you’re acting like it.

    VOICE (OFF):        It’s armour okay--

1.5

WIDE PANEL, CUT TO a medium shot of HISAKO sitting in a leather chair. We can see that we’re in a dingy looking tattoo parlour. The weaselly looking guy sits nearby, a tattoo gun shaking in his hand.

HISAKO is wearing a wife beater too and is now sporting a half sleeve tattoo (something like this maybe /-fQQocoHiJBA/UXDqAxlknZI/AAAAAAAABMg/7HisKh4sr_U/s400/koi-fish-tattoos-7.webp).

    HISAKO:        Just a different kind.

Armor - A Matter of Time - Grant McLaughlin

1 - Establishing shot.  Hisako sits on a park bench looking up at birds flying overhead.

CAPTION (HISAKO): Some days it's not so bad.

2 - Move in closer to Hisako.  Still looking up, she wears an expression of satisfied wonder.

CAPTION (HISAKO): If I'm being honest, that's most days at this point.

3 - A shot of the birds flying up above.  Maybe focus on one in particular, perhaps off-centre in the panel, with the possibility of other birds flying by in the background.

CAPTION (HISAKO): But sometimes I can't help but wonder what could have been.

4 - Return to a similar shot as in panel 2.  Hisako looks down, a resigned (and maybe a little tired) expression now on her face.

CAPTION (HISAKO): While most of the pain has dulled.

5 - Return to a similar shot as in panel 1.  Hisako is up and walking away from the bench and the park.  She continues to look down.

CAPTION (HISAKO): That's an ache that's never going away.

Armor - What Defines You? - Ben Rosenthal

1.  Close up of Hisako’s eyes.  They are closed.  Her armour is not up.

CAPTION - Hisako

We've heard it time and time again – “it’s not your powers that define you, but the way you choose to use them’.

2.  Her eyes are open now, with the psionic armour forming over them.

CAPTION - Hisako

I have impenetrable psionic armor.  Impenetrable.

3.  Hisako is standing in the Jean Grey School’s gardens.  She is holding a bomb looking device in her hands with the armour forming over it as well.  The bomb is on the inside with her.  The countdown reads 00:00:02.

In the background Beast is holding back Logan as he is trying to get to her.  Beast looks sad, but is accepting.  Wolverine is anguished – an arm stretched out towards her.

CAPTION - Hisako

That means nothing can get in.

4.  Black panel.

CAPTION - Hisako

Nothing can get out.

Armor – Already Home - Shaun Richens.

PAGE TWENTY ONE – 5 PANELS.

Layout

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21.1

Large panel. EXT the Jean Grey institute for higher learning. It’s a beautiful, bright day but full of destruction. The school is torn in two, floors and ceiling fall away, and glass lies shattered everywhere. Smoke and fire billow towards the crisp, clear blue sky.

Three Sentinels tower over the crumbling school. One-sentinel steps through the massive caved in section of school that was once the entrance hall.

In the foreground we see students running from the carnage. Two figures stand out though, those of HISAKO ICHIKI (ARMOR) and LOGAN (WOLVERINE) Logan lies flat on his back Hisako kneels at his side.

LOGAN:

Run girl. Get the hell outta here.

21.2

Page wide panel. Pull in on Logan and Hisako. Logan is bloody and cut to ribbons. His healing factor slowly pulling him back into shape. Blood runs from his mouth. Hisako kneels at his side. Her eyes wide and sad yet her teeth are gritted and her jaw is set, a seething rage is hidden within. 

LOGAN:

Soon as I’m healed up I’ll take care of these tin cans.

HISAKO:

You ever heard the saying go big or go home Logan?

LOGAN:

I never really know what you kids are talking about these days.

HISAKO:

Well it’s that or option I don’t care for right now.

21.3

Small panel. Tight on Hisako’s right hand has she makes a fist, her reddish armor shimmering into life around it.

CAPTION HISAKO:

See I’m already home.

21.4

Small panel. Tight shot on Hisako’s face. She is facing straight at us. Her eyes closed, her face calm. Her hair hangs long and free. The helmet of her armor becomes more solid around her.

CAPTION HISAKO:

But I’ve got to go big.

21.5

Small panel. Tight on Hisako’s left hand that appears to be gripping tightly around an invisible handle. The armor on this hand has fully formed.

CAPTION HISAKO:

Just to make sure I still have that home. 

Why Armor?

Art by Jake Wyatt

Protection. It’s a word that springs to mind when thinking about superhero comics. Superheroes are people who put themselves in danger to protect those who need to be protected. Whether that’s Captain America deflecting speeding bullets with his shield or Batman putting on a mask and cape to protect people’s lives, the way he wished he could have protected his parents. It’s a theme widely explored. It’s true escapism to read about characters that defend the weak.

Art by John Tyler Christopher.

Hisako Ichiki, the X-man known as Armor is the perfect metaphor for this entire notion. She is a brave individual. One who can literally protect anyone, including herself, with a suit of psionic armor.

Art by Kristafer Anka

Travelling to study at the Xavier Institute of higher learning, and later the Jean Grey Institute, the young Japanese teenage longed to become a member of the X-men. During her time with the X-men Ichiki has protected the lives of even hardened heroes such as Wolverine. However it was her inability to protect her long time friend Wing during his hour of emotional need that has truly shaped the on going need of Armor to protect those around her. 

Much like Armor’s creator Joss Whedons other character Buffy Summers, it is in her own human weakness and frailty that lead Hisako to greatest strengths. The will to safeguard those you love and cherish is a strong motivator.

So this week I ask you who needs protecting?

Art by John Tyler Christopher.