Transitions - There It Is! - Hansel Moreno

One of my favorite Spider-Man villains is The Spot. His powers are ridiculous, his costume equally so. Below is a simple grid layout that I send to artist that reflects my script. This is always open to artists’ notes.

Panel One: The Spot, with a gloveless hand, paces in his current hideout. A shabby motel room with a rabbit eared tv, a dingy bed and a bathroom with a missing door

Panel Two: The Spot pauses his pacing and scratches his head.

Panel Three: The Spot turns his back to the readers and points his Portal Box/Gun to the nearest wall and projects a portal.

Panel Four: The next panel shows a Police station evidence locker enclosed by a large metal cage. The cage is filled with hand guns, knives, and several odds and ends from various crimes. The Spot pops his head in and with a quick swivel surveys the area.

Panel Five: The Spot and his portal disappear in the next panel as a cop walks by the cage.

Panel Six: The portal reopens and the hand swipes something quickly from an unorganized pile near the floor.

Panel Seven: The Spot is back in his run down hotel room holding his missing glove. He breathes a sigh of relief.

Why Transitions? - Hansel Moreno

“Why this transition?” is something I find myself asking often when reading a comic. I was a casual reader until about nine years ago. I would pick up a trade from a library or a second hand store now and then but comics weren’t staples in my life.

When I started reading comics weekly they became more than entertainment. They became charts and maps to be studied. I saw how different artists and writers crafted their stories and guided us (the audience) to the ending they envisioned. Page and panel layouts, color schemes, font choices, every little detail added so much to the book.

I’ve been writing for about two years and as much as I enjoy reading scripts, examining thumbnails and fawning over the finished art I am still getting accustomed to having others interested in my scripts. When I was invited by Grant to contribute to Thought Balloons I was beyond excited. It was difficult to narrow down my theme for the week but I looked back over my notes on the scripts I’m currently mulling over and picked out what was troubling me.

“Why this transition?”

In writing my scripts I aim for short, compact stories. I cut down my scripts to the shortest page count possible without sacrificing story quality. This is mostly out of necessity as I do not have the budget to tell a sprawling epic story. Often transitions in comics are at the page turn. Get to the end of the current page spread, turn the page and new chapter, new setting. Transitions are useful when switching between characters or locations. They can be subtle, jarring, a pause in the story or a jump into the middle of the action. Once in a while there is a chase scene or montage that requires multiple settings in one page. When these scene jumps are executed well it creates a fast pace in the story that could otherwise meander.

I hope we can show the effectiveness of transitions in these next few scripts.

Thanks to Grant and the crew for letting me explore this current obsession.

Sound Effects - Buzzing - Hansel Moreno

Panel One: Constantine rifles through his latest mark/client to be’s  desk, a slight buzzing noise fills his ears.

SFX: bzzzzzzzzzzzzz, zzzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Panel Two: Constantine pauses his search to pinch the bridge of his nose and lean over the desk.

Constantine: How can anyone properly burgle with all this bloody noise?

Panel Three:  The buzzing resumes and Constantine cringes and resumes his search.

SFX: BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Panel Four: The buzzing intensifies. Constantine doubles over, clearly in pain. The room begins to lose touch with reality, the gravity lessens sending papers and furniture into the air.

SFX: BZZZZZZZZZ, BZZZZZZZZZZZZ, BEELLLZZZZZZZZZ

Panel Five:  The buzzing reaches its peak, a flash of dark smoke engulfs Constantine.

SFX: BZZZZZZZZZ,  BEELLLZZZZZZZZZ, BEELZEBUB

Constantine: Oh for Christ's sa--

Panel Six: The room clears, the buzzing stops, there is a flaming pentagram on the floor, the smell of sulfur in the air and no sign of Constantine.

NO COPY

Hansel Moreno - Writer-in-Residence

Who is Hansel Moreno?

I'm glad you asked.

Hansel is a man who likes comics.  He is a man who makes comics.  Well familiar with the writing grind, he's been actively working away at it for the past few years, with a number of first-rate fruits for his labours.  His past (and future) projects can be found at his site, with some highlights including a couple of thought provoking stories with the talented Clare Connelly and his ongoing webcomic with Shawn Daley, Dick Whiskey, featuring the titular characters' ongoing struggles with self-destruction.

Of course, his latest jam is also well worth a look.  A successful Kickstarter with Jack Gross, Adventures in Nate's Perilous Challenge is described as "a boy trying his best to live a normal life in a world crawling with Heroes", which along with Jack's lovely art, looks to be a humdinger.

If asked what kind of stories he writes, he would respond that he often focuses on adventure, magic, detectives, and whiskey, among the many things that may pop into his head.  While this is objectively true, it's just as accurate to say that Hansel writes about people and the challenges they face.

These are all excellent reasons to know and like the guy, and they're obviously part of why we're so happy to have him join us for the next two weeks.  But the other reasons Hansel's here is that he's not afraid to try new things.  He's always experimenting, pushing himself and his work in new directions or approaching it from different perspectives.  That's an important and admirable skill to have as a creative set, and we look forward to seeing it on display here.

So please join me in welcoming Hansel as our newest writer-in-residence.  Look forward to his first script come mid-week!