Three Years - Influences - R.A. Wonsowski

Panel 1 - WARREN ELLIS, STEVE DITKO, and JIM STARLIN are walking out of an art-house movie theatre.  The posters and the marquee advertise Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (Now Playing) and Blade Runner (coming soon).  It's starting to rain, so while STARLIN flips up the collar on his jacket, DITKO puts on a snap brim fedora and ELLIS lights a cigarette.

DITKO (looking up the street):  Say, there's a Dunkin' Donuts up the block.  Anyone up for a cup of coffee?

STARLIN:  Perfect.

ELLIS:  I could do with a spot of tea m'self...


Panel 2 - Suddenly, as the trio walks up the street, the sidewalk rocks and buckles before them, rubble and a flash of lightning causing them to shield their eyes and faces.  ELLIS, cigarette in his teeth, tries to protect DITKO by jumping in front of him.

SoundFX:  DOOOM!

ELLIS:  Oh, very Simonson...


Panel 3 - In the sidewalk crater, the AMERICAN ZOMBIE (me) and SAMMY HAGAR THOR are holding each other up, both of us barely standing, scratched and smoke smoldering from our skin.  The trio look on in surprise.   SAMMY HAGAR THOR is holding Mjolnir by the strap, and is a bit delirious.

A.Z.:  Guys!  You have to help!  We barely escaped R'yleh - -

HAGAR THOR:  ...'s like a Roger Dean album cover on Heisenberg meth, man...

A.Z.:  Cthulhu is heading right for us!!


Panel 4 - ELLIS, DITKO, and STARLIN quick glance at one another, sharing a secret smirk.

NO COPY


Panel 5 - The AMERICAN ZOMBIE and SAMMY HAGAR THOR look on as ELLIS, DITKO, and STARLIN power-up anime style:  ELLIS, has drawn a pair of blue steel .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistols (and has somehow got three lit cigarettes between his teeth); DITKO levitates cross-legged in the air, his hands gesturing and crackling with magic, a third eye dead enter in his forehead; STARLIN stares down the barrel of a ridiculously large laser rifle, Kirby krackle seeping from his eyes.  In the crowd, we can pick out BILL HICKS, GREGORY PECK, STEVE McQUEEN, and DOROTHY DANRIDGE.

SoundFX:  co-MIX!!!

STARLIN:  Once again, my allies, Creation itself is on the brink!

DITKO:  Who is John Galt?

ELLIS:  ...wankers...

CAPTION:  Next - CHARGE of the WRITE BRIGADE!

Three Years - Influences - Niel Jacoby

Inset Panel 1: A younger Niel Jacoby pulls a copy of the Fourth World Omnibus from his library's shelf. He is curious.

Niel: THE FOURTH WORLD? HUH...

Full Splash: A collage of the sheer visual splendor of the Fourth World comics. Mister Miracle #1's cover, the double splash introducing Glorious Godfrey, The Glory Boat, etc.

Inset Panel 2: The younger Niel Jacoby has been blown back through 3 of his library's bookcases and lies frazzled in a pile of books. Think the opening scene of Back to the Future. The first volume of the Fourth World Omnibus has fallen to the floor in front of the bookcase, Kirby Dots emanating from it.

Niel(dazed): WILD!

Caption: AND A LIFELONG LOVE WAS BORN!

Three Years – Influences – Down The Rabbit Hole – Shaun Richens.

ONE PAGE – 6 PANELS.

1. Ext. My small country primary school on a hot summers day.

CAPTION ME: I could tell you so many stories of how my passion for writing was sparked.

CAPTION ME: But like all good tales it’s worth starting at the beginning.

2. Int. Classroom a substitute teacher, who looks a heck of a lot like Captain Haddock from Tintin stands before his class in front of the white board. He is broadly smiling and clearly so very happy to be teaching.

CAPTION ME: He told us a tale that ended…

TEACHER: … You stumble and fall down the hole in your back garden.

(Linked)

TEACHER: Now what happens next? I want you tell me.

CAPTION ME: Anything could happen next…

3. A young me walks down a dark tunnel.

CAPTION ME: I remember the thrill of my pen on paper. My words could make anything appear at the end of this tunnel.

4. A young me sits a top a dragon, a long cloak around my shoulders blowing in the wind a crown on my head, a wooden short sword in my hand.

CAPTION ME: I made a lot of things appear.

5. The large old hand of my substitute teacher holds a copy of the Hobbit and hands it to me.

CAPTION ME: My teacher read my story. He told me I’d like a book of his.

CAPTION ME: So he lent it to me.

6. Close up on a computer screen.

The screen reads: And here I am still falling down that hole.