Batwoman - Going Native - Ryan K Lindsay

PAGE 1 - 3 PANELS

1. The Joker stands on a dock at a port and screams into a storm. He looks like he's pissed under a bright red wig and yet he's still smiling. The rain beats down hard. Joker's goons stand back by the more stable land.

Joker: Henchmen, fetch me my crowbar!

2. Batwoman flies out of the storm at the Joker whose head is just at the bottom of the frame. This is one of those middle of the page, JH Williams III moments you just love. Batwoman has a manic Joker grin and flowing green hair instead of the trademark red. The storm behind her is swirling.

Joker: It's time to get serious.
Caption-Batwoman: Three hours.

3. A long shot in profile of the Batwoman slamming into the Joker with one foot landing right on his chest and him going down hard.

Caption-Batwoman: Focus.

Kate Kane, Batwoman – The Rumor Mill - MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: Two Police Officers, OFFICER ADAMS and OFFICER SCOTT, are sitting in a cop car during the night. The panel looks inward at them from just outside the windshield. ADAMS is an older man, as veteran as one can be in a city like Gotham, while SCOTT has barely been on the force long enough to have advanced beyond being considered a rookie.

ADAMS is at the wheel of the car. He has a ‘wait, what’ look on his face and is holding a cup of coffee. SCOTT is riding shotgun. The car itself is currently parked and idle, and on the previous page SCOTT brought up the subject of a new Bat Character running around Gotham that he’s heard about - Batwoman.

SCOTT: I heard she’s a fan of the ladies, if you know what I mean.

ADAMS (1): You heard what?

ADAMS (2): Hmph. How would anyone even know that?

Panel 2: SCOTT holds his hands up defensively. ADAMS holds his coffee in front of him while he looks at SCOTT, wondering just what might be going on in the younger officers head.

SCOTT: Don’t ask me. I’m just telling you what I’ve heard.

ADAMS: Hmph. You hear anything else about her?

SCOTT: Mmmm…nope. Not that I can think of.

Panel 3: ADAMS has his coffee right in front of his mouth, not where he’s drinking it, but where the smell can pass right up into his nose. He uses his free hand to make air quotes. SCOTT is shrugging.

ADAMS (1): So that’s it? You hear there’s yet another Bat-character running around, but all you’ve heard about her is that she’s “attracted to her own kind?”

ADAMS (2): Where on earth are you getting your information, kid?

SCOTT: It just gets passed around, that’s all.

ADAMS: Hmph. I swear…kids these days.

Panel 4: ADAMS takes sip of his coffee. His eyes have a ‘it’s going to be one of those nights’ look to them.

SCOTT: If you ask me…

ADAMS: I’m not.

SCOTT: …she sounds kind of hot.

ADAMS: Hmph. That’s the problem with your generation. You all keep your brains in your pants.

Panel 5: SCOTT reacts in surprise as a JOKER GOON falls on the hood of their car from out of the sky. ADAMS simply puts his coffee down as he reacts with much more reservation, as he’s seen far stranger things before and with a great deal of frequency.

SFX: THUMP!

Panel 6: Exterior view, showing a small team of JOKER GOONS flying by in tiny one-man open-seat helicopters. BATWOMAN is in hot pursuit behind them in a self-propelled BAT GLIDER.

SCOTT: Apparently, she also knows how to fly.

ADAMS: Hmph. Just get him off the car while I call it in.

(END PAGE)

Batwoman - Consequences - Grant McLaughlin

1 – Colonel Kane is sitting at his computer, tracking mission data or whatever. He wears a neutral expression.

KATE (off-panel): Ugh. These daytime missions are killer.

JAKE: Oh?

2 – Kate is now standing behind him, wearing her Batwoman costume. The shot is angled in a way that everything above Batwoman's neck is off-panel. She is in the midst of taking off her gloves.

KATE: I spent the better part of the day on a hot tin roof staking out that warehouse.

3 – Jake looks behind him to talk with Kate. Kate has taken off her mask and wig, holding them in front of her. Jake is surprised by what he sees, stopping his speech in mid-sentence.

KATE: And let me tell you, this suit does not breathe.

JAKE: But did you manag--

4 – Shot from over Kate's shoulder. The reader still cannot see her face. Beyond the back of her head, Colonel Kane is now standing, trying to contain a grin – and failing.

JAKE: Kate, how long were you outside for?

5 – Switch angles. We now see Kate's face for the first time. She has a wicked mask burn. Everything that would be exposed (her face below the nose, that small space on her forehead) is badly sunburned and is a bright shade of red. The rest of her face is its normal ghostly white hue, giving the impression that she is still wearing a mask. She has absolutely no idea that this is the case and looks rather perplexed at Colonel Kane's words and smile.

KATE: Why do you ask?

Batwoman - Old Money - Matt Duarte

Batwoman in “Old Money” by Matt Duarte

I obviously imagined this would be illustrated by J.H. Williams III, but in my mind, the layout for this would be like this: the first panel is roughly one third of the page with the second one as an inset of it. The third and fifth panel would take the rest of the page, with the fourth panel acting as a small transition in the middle of those two.

Panel 1

Description: An outside shot of Kane mansion, imposing and sprawling. We can see a figure jumping around the roofs, though we can't see who it is, there are two very familiar pointy edges on the head of this person.

CAPTION: The Kanes are old money. Old money means they won't notice something is missing until long after it's gone.

Panel 2

Description: The same figure as before is jumping gracefully through an open window, boots first, and this time we can see that it's a woman. Seen from inside the room, we can see lots of expensive decoration, worthy of a mansion.

CAPTION: I'm not proud of it, but it's not the first time I've raided this family's coffers.

Panel 3

Description: The same woman as before, trying to open a safe located in the room. From behind, we can see that she has short hair and is wearing some clothes that while somewhat baggy, still show her form.

CAPTION: I normally prefer a bigger challenge...

SPEECH (out of panel): I thought I saw a pretty cat...

Panel 4

Description: Small panel connection panel 3 and 5. The woman has turned around, revealing it to be none other than Selina Kyle, Catwoman. She is wearing her Darwyn Cooke-style costume, with the hood pulled down revealing her short hair and night goggles

CATWOMAN: Who...?

Panel 5

Description: The lower bottom of a woman's face. A set of striking red lips, smirking, showing her teeth only barely. Her skin looks unnaturally pale, particularly in comparison with the long red flowing hair by her sides. We can see the pointy end of a black mask just above her nose.

BATWOMAN: I did, I did see a pretty cat!

Next: Cat vs. Bat!

Batwoman - Unmasked - Sime McDonald

BATWOMAN - UNMASKED - SIME MCDONALD

PANEL ONE

Tight on Doctor Hugo Strange, fingers steepled, his chin resting on the assemblage.

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE

I’ve made it my life’s work to understand The Bat, you see.

PANEL TWO

Pull back:

Kate Kane is strapped to a therapist's couch, tightly bound with thick rope, completely immobile. She’s been stripped of her costume, but her face remains mask.

Her teeth are clenched, she's struggling against the binds, but escape appears impossible.

Seated beside her is Doctor Hugo Strange, his fingers still steepled, leaning forward, a notepad on his lap.

Kate’s Batwoman costume is draped over his left knee.

Dressed in a suit, his expression is entirely neutral. Were we not aware of his history, we'd think him a genuine psychiatrist.

There is a person sitting nearby, on the far side of the room. Female, slender - but she's cast in shadow.

Strange is speaking not to Kate but to this mysterious woman.

KATE KANE

(small)

Hnngh...

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE (1)

To understand it…

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE (2)

… and destroy it.

PANEL THREE

The woman sitting on the far side of the room isn’t there by choice.

Like Kate, she’s trapped, forced to watch on, powerless.

It’s Vicki Vale. Reporter for the Gotham Gazette.

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE

(off panel)

Now I know.

PANEL FOUR

Standing now, Strange is stroking Kate’s face with a finger, inches from her mask.

Kate shows no sign of fear.

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE (1)

The Bat is a composite of the mask and the person beneath it.

Together, they create an otherworldly, fearless persona.

Inhuman.

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE (2)

One cannot exist without the other.

PANEL FIVE

Strange pulls the mask from Kate’s face as Vicki Vale watches on, eyes wide, fear mingling with intrigue.

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE (1)

You’re going to prove my theory correct, Miss Vale.

DOCTOR HUGO STRANGE (2)

You’re going to destroy The Bat.

Batwoman - Get Up, Stand Up - Rol Hirst

Panel One.

A very young Kate Kane is riding her bike down a suburban street, racing against her twin sister Beth. They’re both peddling frantically, determined expressions on their faces. They’re both wearing T-shirts and shorts, neither is wearing any cycling safety equipment. The sun is setting.

CAP (Kate): I was six years old.

CAP: The bikes were a Christmas present.

CAP: Not from Santa, Dad didn’t believe in any of that.

Panel Two.

Suddenly a cat streaks out across the road in front of Kate’s bike. She slams on the brakes, screaming.

CAP: The first thing I remember is the cat.

Kate: Ahhhh!

Panel Three.

Young Kate sits in the road, nursing a scraped and bleeding leg. There are more bruises and scratches on her arms and face. The bike is on its side behind her. She’s screeching her lungs out like kids do when they come off their bikes.

Kate: Waaaaahhhhh!

Jake (off-panel): Kate.

Panel Four.

A long shadow falls on young Kate and she stops crying to look up. We can’t see him, but the shadow comes from Kate’s father, Jake Kane. We can see Kate’s sister sitting on her own bike nearby, watching. Her mouth is a big 'O'.

Jake: Get up, Kate.

CAP: This is my earliest memory.

Panel Five.

Present day. A dark and storm-lashed Gotham City rooftop. Batwoman lies bruised and bloodied following a particularly brutal encounter with Bane. She’s trying to pick herself up.

Jake (off-panel): Get up, Kate.

CAP: And it pretty much set a precedent…

Panel Six.

Jake helps his daughter to her feet. Bane lies nearby, unconscious: beaten.

Jake: You did it. I knew you could. I knew you could beat him.

CAP: Back then, he always made me stand up on my own.

CAP: Nowadays... sometimes he actually gives me a helping hand.

Batwoman - My Heart Is The Worst Kind Of Weapon - Maxy Barnard

After smashing my head into a wall for weeks on end, I return. And with a very particular idea for a script about our delightful Kate Kane. You may recall, if you put your mind back to the mega event 52 (how appropriate considering the 'new 52' Batwoman is finding herself in now), she survived a pretty damaging knife wound to the chest.

And so a very comic-booky plot comes to mind. Because isn't it strange how she survived such a fatal wound, even considering it's a comic book or whatever? Well, RETCON! Nanites on the blade assisted in her healing, items placed into her system by a mysterious background figure, intent on delaying her sacrifice to turn her into deadly weapon!

We join the story as her implanted heart-weapon has kicked in, sucking a stream of blood from the chest of the planned target (a gang boss she was monitoring) and into her own.

----------------------------------------

#.1
Sitting on the roof now, Batwoman is patting her steaming chest, where the remnant of the blood that entered her chest has left a typical cartoon-style heart pattern dyed into her skin.

CAPTION: What in the world--?


#.2
Street level view now angled up towards the rooftop, as various gangsters both go to check on their fallen boss and look and point up to where they saw the mysterious eruption of blood go.

GANGSTER: IT CAME FROM UP THERE!

ALSO A GANGSTER: THEN GET UP THERE AND GET WHOEVER DID THIS ALREADY!


#.3
Batwoman is steadying herself and clutching her side, wincing in pain.

BATWOMAN: Damn. Have to get ahold of Dad, mission's compromised... And then some.


#.4
Batwoman with two fingers to the ear of her mask, activating her communications device.

BATWOMAN: Come i-


#.5
Overlapping panel of Batwoman, mouth wide open in pain as a loud shrieking sound comes over her comms.

SFX (comms): SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE--

BATWOMAN: AARGH!


#.6
The sound peters out, as Batwoman covers her ears in pain, teeth gritted.

VOICE (comms): EEEEE--skrsh--atwoman?--eee-- I--his-you?

BATWOMAN: Who is this?


#.7
Panel coming out of the Batwoman's ear-piece from the previous panel, of a silhouetted face leaning into a microphone.

VOICE: Doesn't matter. Just know that you have to do what I tell you...


#.8
Close-up on Batwoman grimacing.

VOICE (comms): Or you'll die quite horribly.

Kate Kane - One More Time - Ben Rosenthal

1. We see Kate Kane in her car, looking at her from the passenger’s seat. She is looking in her handbag. Outside of the car, and clearly visible through the driver’s side window is a young Renee Montoya. Renee is dressed in her patrol officer uniform, and has her note book and pen in hand. She has just pulled over Kate for speeding.

KATE

It’s in here somewhere. I can never find a thing in this garbage sack.

RENEE

That’s ok, Ms Kane. While you’re battling the forces of your handbag you can tell me what you do for a living.

For the ticket.

2. Kate is in the bottom left corner of the panel, looking up. She is cut out against a memory of hers. In it, she is fighting bank robbers as The Batwoman.

KATE

Um....

3. Back to the same framing as Panel 1, but Kate is looking at Renee.

KATE

Coffee trainer.

RENEE

A coffee trainer?

4. A close up of Renee. She has a cheeky little smile on her face.

RENEE

How do you train beans to become coffee?

5. A close up of Kate. She is smiling.

KATE

Cute.

6. A tighter shot of Renee through the car window. The back of Kate’s head is visible in the bottom left corner. Renee is writing on her notepad.

RENEE

I’m going to let you off with a warning, but you have to promise me to slow down from now on.

Should you have any questions that need answering –

7. A close up of the piece of paper in Kate’s hand. It reads:

Renee -

RENEE

Give me a call

With the relaunch of the DC range getting ever closer, I decided to revisit something. Specifically, a relationship. Yes, the world has changed, but there are some things which are just meant to be. If the whole universe can start again, why can't relationships.

Batwoman – Parallels – Kelly Thompson

Page 3 (of 4)

Batwoman (Kate Kane) is fighting crime two hours after a disastrous blind date that her cousin Bette forced/blackmailed her into going on. Kate finds herself drawing some parallels between her dating and crime fighting experiences in panels that alternate between “now” and “two hours ago”.

PAGE THREE (6 Panels).

Panel 1. Back on the rooftop: Batwoman, already on her hands and knees, gets punched again in the face by the villain Ms. X.

CAPTION:

Now.

MS. X:

Valentine told me you were tough...but I'm just not seeing it.

Panel 2. On the rooftop: Kate looks up at Ms. X, from the ground, and wipes a trickle of blood from her chin.

BATWOMAN NARRATION:

First of all, whether villain or blind date, they all seem to know one another.

Panel 3. Flashback to a restaurant scene: Kate sits across a dinner table from a woman (AMY) maybe 5 to 10 years her senior. Dressed in a smart power suit of sorts. She's got a Rachel Maddow look. Clean and sharp, attractive but not necessarily beautiful.

CAPTION:

Two Hours Ago.

AMY:

Wait...Kate Kane? Not that Kate Kane.

KATE:

?

Panel 4. At the restaurant: Amy has an annoyed/accusatory expression on her face, as if Kate's not so stellar reputation has preceded her.

AMY:

I didn't realize it was you. I've heard of you.

KATE:

?

AMY:

I used to date [BLEEEEP].

KATE NARRATION:

Oh. This will be fun.

Panel 5. Back on the rooftop: Batwoman kicks Ms. X in the chest.

SFX: KA-THUNK

BATWOMAN CAPTION:

It's a surprisingly small world I guess. The Gotham villain pool and the Gotham dating pool.

Panel 6. The two women, hero and villain, stand on the roof slightly apart, silently sizing each other up.

Why Batwoman?

To be honest, it all comes down to JH Williams III. Batwoman is a character I haven’t read much of but I’ve seen some gorgeous page grabs. The way Williams III draws Kate Kane on the page is a sight to behold. I have no idea how to write the good lady (and perhaps that will show) but I think I know how to set up an artist to cut loose on a page. And hopefully that page will have some semblance of coherent words on it, maybe even a story.

I’ve found the more I’ve written comics the more I love writing for an artist. I think you have to have an artist work on your words before you can truly understand what the collaborative process is like. I haven’t worked with JH Williams III before but I’m going to give it a go this week.

Oh, there’s also another reason I’ve picked Batwoman this week. Her name is Kelly Thompson. I’ve long been a fan of Kelly’s online writing. She has a column with Comics Should Be Good on CBR, she’s a voice on the 3 Chicks Review Comics Podcast (which is awesome and I urge you all to check it out), she’s a fellow CBR reviewer, and she’s just had a story approved for the media sensation, and monetary titan, Womanthology. It was through discussion with Kelly that I decided to choose Kate Kane. Now, up in a moment is Kelly’s one page script. She’s a special guest star so go make her welcome and enjoy the week.