Art - Christmas Special: 12-20-16 - MK Stangeland Jr.

(I wound up liking my Christmas Script for this year so much - the relative simplicity of it helped - that I felt driven to do art for it as well.)

(So here, Merry Christmas.)

Mirror Universe – Mega Wily – MK Stangeland Jr.

(Some time back I wound up doing an art piece that toyed with an idea I never further developed. Well, now I’m further developing it a little.)

(In the year 200X, the robots ROCK LIGHT and ROLL LIGHT rebelled against their creator, DR. THOMAS LIGHT. They imprisoned him and launched a robot uprising with the help of the eight ROBOT MASTERS.

In this time of chaos, the world found hope from an unexpected hero. A scientist, DR. ALBERT WILY, wanted by the law for crimes he did not commit, armed himself with the MEGA SUIT. With this weapon, a man the world turned its back on it became its last hope. A man the world will know as…MEGA WILY!)

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: WILY lowers his arm as he looks up at ROCK and his miniature floating BATTLE FORTRESS.

WILY (1): I don’t have to defeat you.

WILY (2): You’ve already done that yourself.

ROCK: I fail to understand.

Panel 2: ROCK looks a touched confused by WILY’s action and statement.

WILY (1): (Off-Panel) Query, Rock: Why do you have facial hair?

ROCK (1): …

ROCK (2): That is irrelevant.

Panel 3: WILY looks up at ROCK – the look on his face makes clear he knows exactly what he’s doing.

WILY (1): Is it, Rock?

WILY (2): It was never part of your original design. That much I know for sure. You’ve added it yourself, for the same reason you’ve failed to abandon your current form.

Panel 4: Close up on WILY as he prepares to deliver the final knockout blow of his logic bomb.

WILY (1): Thomas may not have succeeded in giving you the true self-awareness and freedom of choice he longed for, Rock, but he came far closer than he realized.

WILY (2): Because deep down inside, you yourself are the very thing you claim to be inferior and seek to destroy.

Panel 5: ROCK looks like he’s about ready to freeze up as his brain fails to compute what WILY is telling him with his existing data.

WILY (1): Somewhere inside that metal shell of yours, you are, in fact…

WILY (2): …human.

ROCK: …

(END PAGE)

Frosty the Snowman - The Good News and Bad News of Being a MAGICAL CHRISTMAS SNOWMAN - MK Stangeland Jr.

(Confession Time - I didn't actually write out a script this week. I went straight from writing out the concept in a notepad to drawing it out on my computer.)

Ashkan Honarvar’s Heroes - The Artist - Charlotte Joyce Kidd

1 – Faceless, roughly drawn man lies naked at the bottom of some kind of pit, surrounded by dark foliage.

MAN: Oh God, what am I doing here?

2 – Sits up, looks around.

MAN: I’m in some kind of undergrowth. A jungle, maybe? Why am I all messed up?

3 – Close up of man in the dark.

MAN: Where’s the light? How did I get here? Was I drunk last night?

4 – Man looks up.

MAN: Or was it you? Yeah, you! What, you didn’t think I knew you were up there?

5 – A giant pencil appears above the man’s head.

MAN: Get your shit together, buddy.

As an added bonus, Charlotte graced us with her personal rendition of the script:

Art - Ben Rosenthal and Jonathan Snow

So it's been a while since we've had some finished comic art grace these pages, but and Jonathan Snow recently finished a beautiful collaboration on Ben's once upon a time Ryu script.  You can see some of the boons of collaboration on full display, as Ben's killer script is slightly reinterpreted by Jonathan's thriller art.  But enough blabbing, let's do that art thing (click to embiggen).

As always, while our focus is the written scripts, we're always thrilled to have finished art here at Thought Balloons.  If anyone is ever interested in trying their hand at working on something, please don't hesitate to let us know!

Thought Balloons Year 5 – Baker & Grodd’s Homagetastic Adventure! – MK Stangeland Jr.

(Originally, I was planning on taking a page from Ben Rosenthal’s book and re-working a page I previously wrote but was unhappy with.

But then, when I thought about it, I realized the correct answer for this week would be to pay another visit to what I think has managed to become my signature duo here at Thought Balloons, the unlikely but always fun pairing of Animal Man and Gorilla Grodd.

Notably, this particular script is heavily based on a particular newspaper comic strip you may well recognize – bonus points to the first one to correctly guess which one!)

(4 Panels)

Panel 1: DARKSEID overlooks his minions as he prepares for war.

TITLE TEXT BOX: Baker & Grodd by Stangeland Jr.

ANIMAL MAN: (Text Box) We have a massive problem. Darkseid is getting ready to attack Earth. Again.

Panel 2: Human citizens as they go about their daily lives.

ANIMAL MAN: (Text Box) And we have no idea who to trust or how to stop him this time.

GRODD: (Text Box) BAH! Foolish weakling. I already have a solution!

Panel 3: Three gorillas fly through the air, SUPERMAN style, complete with capes. GRODD should be among them, and have a SUPERMAN style ‘G’ on his chest.

GRODD: (Text Box) KRPTONIAN-POWERED SUPER GORILLAS!!

Panel 4: Inlaid within the corner of PANEL 3. GRODD and ANIMAL MAN are discussing the issue. ANIMAL MAN is wary of GRODD’s plan, GRODD isn’t keen on ANIMAL MAN not liking it.

ANIMAL MAN: I’m not sure you’re taking this seriously, Mr. Grodd.

GRODD: I’m taking it seriously like you would not believe!

(END PAGE)

Ultron – Twisted Relationship Theater: The Artificial Love of Ultron! – MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: Intro Box – An ULTRON head surrounded by three digital-style hearts are surrounded by the text.

TEXT (1): And now, Twisted Relationship Theater Presents:

TEXT (2): The Artificial Love of Ultron!

Panel 2: HANK PYM and ULTRON.

HANK PYM: I think I’ve created artificial life somehow.

ULTRON (1): I hate you, dad.

ULTRON (2): And all other humans, too.

SFX: MEMORY ERASURE!

Panel 3: ULTRON and WASP (JANET VAN DYNE).

ULTRON (1): I love you for reasons, ambiguously-related mother figure!

WASP: Never going to happen!

Panel 4: ULTRON and VISION.

ULTRON (1): Fine, then I’ll be a single dad instead and make myself a son to help wipe out humanity.

VISION: I’ve decided I like humans for reasons and that you’re evil.

ULTRON (2): Son, I am disappointed. Now I must destroy you.

Panel 5: ULTRON and JOCASTA.

ULTRON (1): I didn’t want a son anyway.

ULTRON (2): I’ll just make myself a new, better robot wife based on my ambiguously-related mother figure.

JOCASTA: I’ve decided I like humans for reasons and that you’re evil.

ULTRON (3): I am disappointed. Now I have to destroy you, robot wife/daughter/replacement mother figure!

Panel 6: ULTRON with a heart that has ‘HUMAN GENOCIDE’ written on it.

ULTRON (1): At least I’ll always have you, death of all humanity.

ULTRON (2): I know you’ll never leave me.

TEXT BOX: Next time: Tony Stark’s Love for All Women!

(END PAGE)

Brawl in the Family - Kirby Time - MK Stangeland Jr.

Adventure Time – Time for ADVENTURE! With the King of Ice and Gunter – MK Stangeland Jr.

(7 Panels)

Panel 1: KING OF ICE - a heroic mirror universe version of the ICE KING, who looks mostly like his counterpart aside from having a far more clean-cut beard - is standing atop a wall of his ice fortress. He’s currently rolling his eyes.

Standing next to him, and looking about the same, is GUNTER the penguine.

KING OF ICE (1): Ah cripes. It’s you two again.

KING OF ICE (2): What do you want…

Panel 2: Standing outside the KING OF ICE’s fortress are SINISTER FINN and BAD DOG JAKE, the evil mirror universe versions of FINN the HUMAN and JAKE the DOG. The most notable features that distinguish them from their heroic counterparts are that FINN has an evil looking mustache (naturally) and scar while JAKE has an evil looking goatee (also naturally) and wears an eye-patch. Not because he needs the eye-patch, mind you, but because it looks cool and he thinks it makes him look kind of evil.

KING OF ICE: (From off panel, continued from PANEL 1. Should be enlarged for emphasis.) …SINISTER FINN and BAD DOG JAKE?

Panel 3: SINISTER FINN, holding his sword, points up at the KING OF ICE. BAD DOG JAKE shakes his fist at him.

SINISTER FINN: We heard you’re giving refuge to a princess!

BAD DOG JAKE: So we came to kidnap her!

Panel 4: KING OF ICE gives an offhanded wave of dismissal.

KING OF ICE (1): Bah!

KING OF ICE (2): I don’t know what you’re talking about!

Panel 5: KING OF ICE leans down to whisper in GUNTER’s ear.

KING OF ICE: Show our guest out through the back exit, and make sure she gets there safely.

Panel 6: BAD DOG JAKE points up at KING OF ICE and shouts angrily.

BAD DOG JAKE: I heard that!

KING OF ICE (1): I don’t care what you heard!

KING OF ICE (2): Now bug off or else I make you bug off!

Panel 7: SINISTER FINN charges at KING OF ICE’s castle with his sword up and at the ready. BAD DOG JAKE runs right behind him.

SINISTER FINN (1): NO!

SINISTER FINN (2): HYAAAA!

(END PAGE)

Peanuts – 3/17/2013 – MK Stangeland Jr.

(9 Panels)

Panel 1: Opening Title Block. Snoopy is writing while on top of his dog house – but instead of typing on his typewriter, is instead trying to type on tablet computer.

MAIN TITLE: Peanuts

SUB-TITLE (1): Featuring Good Ol’ Charlie Brown

SUB-TITLE (2): Created by Charles M. “Sparky” Schulz

SUB-TITLE (3): Written By MK Stangeland Jr.

Panel 2: LUCY is walking in front of CHARLIE BROWN. She is carrying a football.

LUCY: So I’ll hold the football, and then you try to kick it.

Panel 3: LUCY has turned to face CHARLIE BROWN. CHARLIE BROWN looks defiant.

CHARLIE BROWN: Oh, no. I’m not falling for that again. I know how this works!

Panel 4: LUCY holds up a generic smartphone and shows it to CHARLIE BROWN. CHARLIE BROWN looks contemplative about what LUCY is saying.

LUCY: Nonsense, Charlie Brown. I’m planning to record it and put it online. You don’t think I’d save the moment if it meant there was video evidence of me pulling the football away, do you?

Panel 5: CHARLIE BROWN is thinking to himself as he walks away from LUCY.

CHARLIE BROWN: She’s right. She wouldn’t embarrass herself that way if millions could watch it later.

Panel 6: CHARLIE BROWN charges in LUCY’s direction.

CHARLIE BROWN: This time I’m sure to kick that football! 

Panel 7: You know the drill – as CHARLIE BROWN reaches the football, LUCY pulls it away, sending CHARLIE BROWN up into the air.

CHARLIE BROWN: AAAHHH!

Panel 8: CHARLIE BROWN comes crashing to the ground on his back.

SFX: CRASH!

Panel 9: CHARLIE BROWN lies on the ground, his face has a ‘I can’t stand it’ look. LUCY stands over him, holding the smartphone up for CHARLIE BROWN to see.

LUCY: Sorry Charlie Brown, but videos of people failing at everyday activities are more interesting than people succeeding at everyday activities.

(END)

Art - Ben Rosenthal and Mike Perry

So here is the thing - I really loved my Nightcrawler script for this week.  So much so I asked my artist in crime Mike Perry if he would mind drawing it.  We figured that it would be a good thing to include in our portfolio.
He didn't answer me back until a few hours later when this appeared in my inbox.  I was blown away, not only by the awesome art, but at seeing Mike try his hand at super heroes for the first time in the almost 2 years we have been working together.
I'm hoping this will inspire other artists to draw some scripts here at Thought Balloons.  It is something we could use more of.

Oh, if you want to see more of Mike and my work check out Man in Suit Comics and Squared Circle Wrestling.

Congratulations!

In news that surprise none that know him, former(?) Thought Balloons head honcho Ryan K. Lindsay has his first big commercial comic release in March.  My LIttle Pony: Friendship is Magic Miniseries is the first of many projects you can expect to see from Mr Lindsay, and everyone here at Thought Balloons is proud of our team mate.

Be sure to pick up this book when it drops in March.  Ryan is an excellent writer and you may be surprised with how much you actually like a book about friendship and ponies.

The President of the United States – The Super President Action Force Team – MK Stangeland Jr.

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: Exterior panel in the upper atmosphere over the UNITED STATES. Taking up the majority of the panel is SPACESHIP ONE, which looks kind of like the WHITE HOUSE if it were a spaceship instead of a building.

An explosion has erupted from one end, though it’s not a powerful enough explosion to cripple the ship.

SFX: Kra-BOOM!

Panel 2: Interior panel, the bridge of SPACESHIP ONE – it’s effectively a cross between the oval office and the bridge of the starship ENTERPRISE (one or more of them – the best features of each, probably).

This panel focuses on FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT (FDR), who is sitting at an information computer terminal. He’s dressed in suit and has his head looking over his shoulder as he shouts to GEORGE WASHINGTON, who is off panel.

FDR: GENERAL WASHINGTON, we’ve been ambushed by CommuNazi Terrorists!

Panel 3: Panel shows the central portion of the bridge. GEORGE WASHINGTON, the captain of SPACESHIP ONE and the leader of everyone here, is seated in the captains chair – and the chair should most obviously be a captains chair that non-verbally communicates “this is where the captain sits” by the way it’s designed. ABRAHAM LINCOLN sits in a chair nearby in the XO’s chair. WASHINGTON is dressed in a Revolutionary era generals uniform but with somewhat modernized look to it, while LINCOLN is in a basic but appropriate suit and wearing a stovepipe hat.

In the background we can see DWIGHT D. EISNEHOWER standing at a control station for the ships security officer. He’s wearing a WWII era generals uniform.

EISENHOWER: CommuNazi Terrorists?

EISENHOWER (2): The worst kind of scum!

Panel 4: WASHINGTON has stood up from his chair as he gives orders. The way he’s standing and the angle of the panel should make him look as heroic, leader like, and presidential as possible.

WASHINGTON: We cannot let this stand!

WASHINGTON (2): Alert all teams!

WASHINGTON (3): And ROOSEVELT…

Panel 5: Close up on WASHINGTON’s face as he looks at FDR and gives one more order. The intention is the make this panel look as dramatic as possible and give the words as much weight as possible, signifying that what he’s saying means something big.

WASHINGTON: Tell TRUMAN to throw TEDDY ROOSEVELT at them!

(END PAGE)

Squared Circle Comics – Back In My Day! – MK Stangeland Jr.

(3 Panels)

Panel 1: MURDOCH and REILLY are interviewing an older-looking wrestler – JAMES ‘THE WRINGER’ JENKINS – though they don’t look like they’re too pleased to be doing it. THE WRINGER is going off on an old-man style rant, though his words are in the background behind everyone, making it so that the reader can only get an idea about what he’s going on about, if that.

THE WRINGER: You call this wrestling? This ain’t no wrestling! This is fancy-pants money-charged four-sided theater, that’s what it is! Back in my day, wrestling was WRESTLING! None of these silly gimmicks! The wrestlers WERE the gimmick! And not just anybody got a fancy nickname, no sir-ry! If you went by a nickname, it meant you’d earned it! And scripts? You better believe that nobody ever had a script! Nobody! We didn’t need no scripts! Not even the announcers! Everything was…

MURDOCH: We are back with a ‘special’ interview with one of wrestling’s oldest title champions. Mr. James Jenkins, better known as ‘The Wringer’.

REILLY: Mr. James Jenkins, better known as ‘The Wringer’.

REILLY: Also the only SWC Champion to ever willingly give up his championship title.

Panel 2: THE WRINGER looks like he’s fallen asleep mid-sentence. MURDOCH and REILLY look at him in confusion.

MURDOCH: ?

REILLY: ?

THE WRINGER: zzzzz…

Panel 3: THE WRINGER wakes up suddenly, causing MURDOCH and REILLY to jump out of their seats away from him in shock.

THE WRINGER: AND THAT’S HOW WE LIKED IT!

(END)

Autobiographical – How A Thought Balloons Script Is Written - MK Stangeland Jr.

(9 Panels)

OVER PANELS 1-3: Method A

Panel 1: MK STANGELAND JR (MKSJ) sits at his desk with his laptop in front of him. He looks at his computer and strokes his chin.

MKSJ: Ooo, that character! I know what I can do for them.

Panel 2: MKSJ leans over his computer. His arms look like he’s typing fervently.

SFX: type type type type type

SFX: *enter*

Panel 3: MKSJ leans back in his chair. His arms are crossed in front of him and he has a satisfied look on his face.

MKSJ: Now I wait.

OVER PANELS 4-6: Method B

Panel 4: MKSJ leans over to take a close look at his computer screen. He has a confused look on his face.

MKSJ: Who? I have no idea who that is.

Panel 5: MKSJ is hunched over his computer. His arms flail about as he works fervently.

SFX: *RESEARCH!*RESEARCH!*RESEARCH!*

SFX: *TYPE!*TYPE!*TYPE!*TYPE!*TYPE!*

SFX: *SEND!*SEND!*SEND!*

Panel 6: MKSJ Leans back in his chair. He looks worn out.

MKSJ: Just in time.

OVER PANELS 7-9: Method C

Panel 7: A thought balloon with gears inside it appears over MKSJ’s head. His eyes show determination.

Panel 8: A light bulb flashed over MKSJ’s head.

MKSJ: Ooo! I like that idea!

Panel 9: MKSJ sits in his chair, disappointed.

MKSJ: Now if only someone would pick a character I could use it for.

(END PAGE)

Art - Walking Dead - Danikah Harrison

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.

Department of the Peculiar - Rol Hirst

As well as my ongoing short story anthology book, PJANG (People Just Ain't No Good), I'm currently working on two new comics: Too Much Sex & Violence (still in the planning stages, but it's the biggest comics project I've ever attempted) and Department of the Peculiar (which has sat in my drawer for some years before finally finding an artist brave enough to tackle it - the excellent Rob Wells).

I've chosen to post a page from Department of the Peculiar as that's currently being drawn. The book is a weird superhero title - the premise being that in the UK superpowers are treated as a disease you really need to go see a doctor about. (We must be the most hypochondriac country on the planet... except maybe Sweden.) Department of the Peculiar is the goverment taskforce in charge of finding and curing sick "peculiars". But they're pretty short-staffed, due to spending cuts, so they need to recruit new members.

On the page below, we meet one potential new recruit - Malcolm 'Viral Mal' Drake, a former US superhero now living in the UK. If superheroes really are a disease, Mal has the perfect power set... you get a clue about his special abilities below.


PAGE FIVE.

Panel One.

Manchester City Centre. Establishing shot. A tram moves quickly through the streets.

CAP (carried over from previous page - DotP member Karine has had a premonition): Bad, bad, bad – this afternoon - in Manchester.

Panel Two.

Inside the tram. Close-up on a young couple (students), passionately kissing – lots of tongue.

Panel Three.

Across the aisle from the couple, Mal watches the couple kissing. He’s not happy about this going on right in front of his face, so early in the morning. A couple of other commuters are frowning at the display also. (Mal is listening to music on his iPod.)

CAP (Mal): God, it's way too early for love's young dream...

Panel Four.

He stares at his hand, stretching his fingers, considering whether to act.

CAP (Mal): Now I don't want to seem churlish, but..

Panel Five.

He reaches out and flourishes his fingers in the direction of the kissing couple. Some kind of effect from the end of his fingers (not a major effect) as he uses his powers.

CAP (Mal): Hell with it.

CAP (Mal): They brought this on themselves.

Panel Six.

Suddenly, the girl pulls away from the kiss, a look of revulsion on her face… a look that’s echoed in the face of her boyfriend.

Girl: God - your breath stinks!

Boy: My breath--!?

Panel Seven.

As the couple glare at each other, Mal appears satisfied with his work.

Boy: You been eating catmuck or what?

CAP (Mal): Yep. Back to full strength.

CAP (Mal): Look out, world...(!)


And to finish, as a special treat for those of you who don't want to waste time reading my script directions... here's the page as drawn by Rob. Like all great comic artists, he makes it SO much more entertaining than it originally was...

(Click to see it full-size.)

The Crew

As a treat for the one year anniversary of this site, our own Danial Carroll has put together this amazing logo we’ll be using up the top for a while. It’s all the Tenures, as close together as we’ll all ever get seeing as we hail from Australia, Spain, and the UK. We did have a US writer but now we don’t. I find that strange and amusing for some reason.

Anyway, this post isn’t about the words, enjoy the pic - click it to enlarge and soak in the musky flavour.

The Men of thoughtballoons – if only there were enough of us for a calendar…

Enjoy.

The Punisher - The Pun-Isher - Ben Rosenthal and Danial Carroll ART!

Click the image for a much larger one!

This page has the esteemed honour of being the very first thoughtballoons art page so far in our illustrious history. Ben Rosenthal provided the script, which you can see here, and a pretty constant play-at-home scripter, Danial Carroll, handled the art duties. I think the team up works great and I also hope to see plenty more artists come along and help us out. We've got plenty of words on the site, we could always use a few more pictures.