Loki - The Best Idea - Matt Duarte

Loki in "The Best Idea" by Matt Duarte

Layout: First four panels are equal in size, taking up about half a page in a 2 x 2 grid. The last one is the biggest one, horizontal across the bottom of the page.

Panel 1

Loki (Ikol, Agent of Asgard version) is running through Hel, with a visibly angered Hela chasing after him. Hordes of the dead follow as well, ready to ravage their Asgardian prey.

CAPTION (LOKI): My name is associated with many things. Lies, destruction, mischief. Even death.

CAPTION (LOKI): I am trying to be different. I am rewriting my own story.

Panel 2

Loki is jumping in through the wellspring that leads out of Hel. The water is dark and ominous, though not nearly as dark and ominous as Hela's face, closer than ever.

CAPTION (LOKI): A little raven told me that Hela was planning to release the souls of all the creatures whose death I inflicted. Or rather, that the Old Loki inflicted.

CAPTION (LOKI): Obviously, something had to be done. She isn't very happy about it.

Panel 3

Loki is is trying to crawl out of the water. The dead are grabbing at him, pulling him back to the spring and back to Hel.

CAPTION (LOKI): As much as I hate those old stories that she is trying to bring back...

CAPTION (LOKI): You have to admit that the best idea I ever had was in them.

Panel 4

A close up on Loki, a knowing smile on his face. The well is behind him, the hordes of dead cannot come out of it.

CAPTION (LOKI): And as any good storyteller knows, good ideas are worth using again and again...

LOKI (dialogue) : Oh good, you are finally here.

LOKI (dialogue): Hela is still intent on releasing those souls. Time to stop her.

Panel 5

Loki is standing in front of The Avengers. Cap, Thor, Iron Man, etc. He is pointing forward, shouting.

LOKI (thought balloon): This might be my only chance to say it...

LOKI (dialogue): Avengers... ASSEMBLE!

Next: With Loki as their leader, the Avengers go to Hel!

ZOD – Kneel Off – MK Stangeland Jr.

(3 Panels)

Panel 1: Large panel – not splash page size, but should occupy the majority of the page.

ZOD is facing off against LOKI – a large number of LOKIs. These are illusions being created by the real one, and as such are mostly just standing around, looking intimidating, and shouting at ZOD.

ZOD, on the other hand, is attacking the illusions in an effort to get LOKI to kneel by force.

ZOD (1): KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!

LOKI ILLUSION 1: You first, you contemptuous brute.

ZOD (2): You will kneel before me!

LOKI ILLUSION 2: I’ll remember that once I have you on your knees.

Panel 2: A long-distance view of the events from PANEL 1 as being viewed through a pair of opera glasses.

ZOD: KNEEL!

SFX: *munch*munch*

LEX LUTHOR: (Off-panel) I must admit, Loki…

Panel 3: LOKI and LEX LUTHOR are in an office building, looking through the window at the scene from PANEL 1. They are sitting in high-class executive chairs and LOKI is viewing the scene through opera glasses while LEX LUTHOR is using some standard binoculars.

LOKI is busy chewing on some popcorn, but holds the bowl he’s been eating out of to the side as he offers some to LUTHOR.

LEX LUTHOR (1): …you certainly know how to entertain.

LOKI: *munch*Popcorn?*munch*

LEX LUTHOR (2): No, I’ll pass.

(END PAGE)

Mjolnir - Hammer To Fall - Rol Hirst

Panel One.

Thor sits alone in a darkened room, huddled and slumped and drained. He is weak and thin, withered. His helmet is slipping down to one side, his gold locks desiccated, his chain mail armour hangs off him, baggy and oversized. He is a shadow of his former self. As he leans forward, he holds the strap of Mjolnir. The hammer itself stands upright (head on the floor) before him.

The only illumination in the room comes from a doorway to Thor's left. Shadows fall across him as three men enter (off-panel).

Strange (O/P): Thor…?

Panel Two.

Thor lifts his head wearily and stares at his comrades. Iron Man, Captain America, Dr. Strange. We can see a little more of the background now: we are in Stephen Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Thor is putting on a brave smile; his friends look grim.

Thor: So, gentlemen. Your learned diagnosis…?

Captain America: There’s no easy way to say this, old friend.

Iron Man: It’s the hammer, Thor.

Strange: A grave enchantment is upon it. Dark magics even I can’t combat…

Panel Three.

Cap crouches before Thor and rests a hand on his old friend's shoulder.He holds tight onto his own shield as he does so.

Captain America: You need to relinquish your hammer, Thor. You need to send it far, far away...

Captain America: Before it kills you.

Panel Four.

Close on Thor, weak but determined.

Thor: Nay, Captain. If Mjolnir and I are destined for Valhalla, we shall journey there together.

Panel Five.

It’s a struggle for him to even lift Mjolnir now, but somehow he manages it. Holding it with both hands, the Thunder God staggers to his feet. Defiant.

Thor: Shortly... after... we have slain my damn'd brother...

Thor: Loki...

Loki- The Circle- Dan Hill

Apologies about the delay on this one. My net connection has been a fickle child today.

The Circle

Panel 1

1.1
We OPEN on a CLOSE UP of a decaying SNAKE on a cracked desert floor.

The corpse is dessicated-- the slightest breeze looks like it could turn it into confetti. In its death throes the snake tried to swallow itself.

LOKI (CAPTION): I think this is the end.

1.2
FIXED PANEL. A shadow falls across the snake.

LOKI (CAPTION): I’m not entirely sure.

1.3
Wide panel. Cut to the source of the shadow; Loki stands in the middle of a seemingly endless desert. He’s wearing his dark green robes but they’re wrapped around him Arabian style. This is the ‘classic’ version of Loki, not a child or woman.

He squints at the relentless sun. His trademark helmet is battered and worn, one of the horns has been snapped off.

The sky is cloudless and blue. No life, no plants, no water. Just desert.

LOKI (CAPTION): It’s happened so many times before.

LOKI (CAPTION): Now there’s no-one left.

LOKI (CAPTION): No tricks left to pull.

LOKI (CAPTION): No pieces left to move.

1.4
Wide panel. A CLOSE UP on Loki’s eyes, peering into the distance.

LOKI (CAPTION): Just me and him.

1.5
Wide panel. From Loki’s POV we can see a sand dune about a mile away. A FIGURE has appeared at the top of it, walking towards us. The sky has darkened. Storm clouds gather.

LOKI (CAPTION): Here he comes.

1.6
Wide panel. A CLOSE UP on Loki’s hand as he grips the hilt of his drawn sword.

NO COPY

1.7
Inset panel. A CLOSE UP on Loki’s smile.

LOKI (CAPTION): I think this is the end.

Loki – In The Hall Of The Mountain King – Shaun Richens.

Ok so this is only my fourth tenured piece for thoughtballoons and I am already going maverick and doing a two page splash. However I am going one long form story for our Avengersthon and having this two page splash here sets me up for all the page turns I want to hit and makes for an explosive first page turn in itself from my Fury page so I hope you will allow it for the sake of a better overall script and story.

PAGE 2 AND 3

A two-page splash. With two smaller panels inlaid. 1 is in the upper left hand side of page 2 and Panel 3 is inlaid in the bottom right hand side of page 3. With Panel 2 making up all of the other space.

1. Full length shot of Loki. He stands atop the balcony section of the statue of libertys torch. He is looking out towards the city of New York, although we can’t see this yet.

LOKI: Dawn breaks, and I take this city for my kingdom.

2. This is the money shot. This is the gut punch of the splash. We pull back to a shot from behind Loki as he looks out towards the famous cityscape of New York City. It stretches out before us, buildings crumble, smoke and fire billow into the sky, mechanical beasts made from gold and silver in the shapes of mystical creatures of legend rip at the very heart of the city. Loki has brought Norse God like destruction to the mortal realm and it looks horrifically beautiful.

3. A tight shot on Loki, he has a menacing grin playing across his face.

         LOKI: By this evening these mortals shall call me god.

Loki – Loki On Trial – MK Stangeland Jr.

Loki (current kid Loki) is being sued/put on trial. Acting in his defense are Matt Murdock – who doesn’t believe the child version should be held accountable for the actions carried out by the previous, adult Loki – and She-Hulk, who’s simply doing it in order to make use of her extended knowledge of the legal system to draw the trial out for as long as possible to give the Avengers enough time to get to the bottom of what’s really behind the situation.

(1 Panel)

Panel 1: SPLASH PAGE.

LOKI sits at the witness stand, but the page surround him should be a mural of some kind staring in the top left corner with LOKI’s first encounter with the AVENGERS when he inadvertently formed them. The rest of the mural should be various moments when the AVENGERS have saved the planet from some of their most dangerous foes.

LOKI (1): I believe it’s well documented that I – or if you prefer, my predecessor – was responsible for the event that first brought The Avengers together.

LOKI (2): And while it’s not unlikely that they would have formed eventually,

LOKI (3): With all the disasters your pitiful planet has encountered over the years,

LOKI (4): Would there still have been a planet worth saving?

(END PAGE)

Loki - Hickory Dickory Dock - Grant McLaughlin

Page 2

One big panel to start, followed by three small panels below.  Please excuse the lengthy panel description to open.

1 – A wall full of clocks. While there are plenty visible on panel, it's clear that there are many more off-panel. The interesting thing about the clocks is that each one is thematically linked to one of the Marvel Universe's superheroes. Have of fun with this – an orange stone sundial, a transparent wall clock, a stretchy clock not unlike Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory – that kind of thing. Each clock displays a different time, although some times are closer than others. One clock in particular is actually ringing. It is a classic alarm clock, with the hammer swinging madly back and forth between the two bells. The clock is coloured like a SHIELD uniform, the left bell is black like Nick Fury's eyepatch, and the right bell is his eye colour. This clock's time bizarrely reads “13:00”, despite the fact that it is a 12 hour analog clock. It is located towards the top rightish corner of the panel and has a black panel around it (both to emphasize it and to reinforce its link to Nick Fury).

SFX: brrrrrrrrrrrrng!

2 – Loki has taken the clock from the wall and holds it at arm's length. Think the classic “Hamlet holding Yorick's skull” pose, except Loki wears a knowing, almost smug, look.

SFX: brrrrrrrrrrrrng!

LOKI: There we are!

3 – Completely different scene.  A shot of Nick Fury lying on a lounge chair, soaking up the sun on some warm beach.  He's still wearing that shirt.

LOKI (caption): The final piece of my plan has fallen into place.

4 – Back to Loki. He's in the same pose, but now he is looking up from the clock and gazing directly at the reader. He wears a mischievous grin.

SFX: brrrrrrrrrrrrng!

LOKI: It's about time!

Loki - Who Wants To Live Forever? - Rol Hirst

An old woman has visited Avengers Mansion with what she claims to be incontrovertible proof that the team has been fighting evil for far more years than they believe. She has shown them evidence that the Avengers actually formed shortly before the Kennedy assassination in 1963. Photographs of Captain America and Iron Man shaking hands with JFK. A rare television chat show in which Hawkeye and the Black Widow appear on the same stage as The Beatles.

Steve Rogers, respectful of the lady’s advanced age, listens while many of his team-mates dismiss her as senile or insane. But as the old woman continues, her evidence begins to contradict itself. Now she shows Captain America pictures of the original Avengers forming in the Reagan era, and later Hawkeye and the Widow taking to the stage alongside Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, as part of their first official duties as active members. The woman becomes confused, angry, bitter and finally she leaves… unable to convince the Avengers of anything. Uncertain even of her own mind.


Page 22.

Panel One.

The old woman walks away from Avengers Mansion, head down, defeated. Captain America stands at the gates with Thor, watching her go.

Captain: It makes me so think... If I myself hadn’t been trapped in the ice all those years… would I too be so old and confused now?

Thor: Mayhaps, Captain...

Panel Two.

The old woman continues to walk along the street. Up ahead, a black cat watches her from an alleyway.

Cap (Thor): Time, as you mortals live it, is a harsh mistress, indeed.

Panel Three.

As the old woman reaches the cat, she steadies herself against the wall. Exhausted, emotional. The cat looks up at her… and speaks.

Cat: Cease your snivelling, foolish woman. I’ve told you before…

Panel Four.

Before the woman’s shocked eyes, the cat grows and transforms into Loki.

Loki: …it will do you no good.

Panel Five.

Close on Loki, grinning mischievously.

Loki: Imagine – if I’d really let time run its natural course? How old and decrepit they would all be by now. No fun at all.

Loki: You must understand, Uror. I have to keep them young and strong. Them and all their kith and kin on this branch of the world tree.

Panel Six.

Loki puts his arm around the old lady and leads her away down the street.

Loki: As long as we gods remain immortal, so must our favourite toys. Eternity would be so very, very dull without them.

Loki: Now let us see you home. Your Norn sisters will be looking for you…

Loki – Some Assembly Required, Page 2 - Ben Rosenthal

PAGE TWO

1. This is same panel as 2d from my last script, showing Loki in exactly the same position. However it is not being shown through a monitor. This is shown at the battle.

CAPTION (Loki)

Hmph. Fools.

2. Tony Stark lays beaten and bruised on some rubble. He is unconscious and sans armour.

CAPTION (Loki)

Science and magic. When will they learn that these are but one and the same.

3. A shot of Captain America also lying unconscious on the ground. He too is beaten badly, his suit torn. His shield is nowhere to be seen.

CAPTION (Loki)

And if one has the power of Odin at his disposal –

4. A shot of what has been causing all of the mayhem and destruction. Iron Man’s armour stands in the middle of Times Square, rubble surrounding it. Behind the armour, Loki floats looking on. Just behind the armour lie an unconscious Tony Stark and Captain America. In front of the armour lies a barely conscious Thor, Mjolnir laying a short distance away from him, handle up in the air. The Iron Man armour is reaching for it with one hand, while the other holds Captain America’s shield.

CAPTION (Loki)

-both are easily controllable.

Loki - The Long Con - Ryan K Lindsay

PAGE 22 - PANELS

1. Loki sits atop a throne. He sits comfortably, casually. He's at home. Here we only see his right hand draped over the front of the arm rest. His nails are black.

Caption-Loki: How will you ever truly know you have won?

2. We have now moved our view out a bit to see Loki's right hand in the bottom left of the panel and his face up toward the top right. He looks up at us with his face cast slightly down. His helmet is off, his hair is tussled.

Caption-Loki: Which of your actions were really your choice?

3. We have moved completely back, this is the large panel of the page. Loki sits atop a throne that is positioned alone atop a thrust up and thin island mountain made of clumps of earth and broken ships and other debris. Behind and all around him sits a vast ocean. Waves bash against the base but that is far below Loki.

Loki: When and where does my long con end?

Why Loki?

Because every hero needs someone to stand up against and as such every heroic team needs someone massive to stand up against.

Is Loki ‘massive?’ Actually, probably not, but he certainly opens the flood gates for massive. Loki is a schemer, a talker, a conniver. Loki is the guy who unwittingly brings in the massive. Or makes you think it was unwitting when in fact he planned it all along.

That’s another reason why. To write Loki, you have to become a planner. You have to be ten steps ahead. If you’re good, you’ll be ten issues ahead. I respect a character where he forces the creator to lift their game in order to keep up. You can’t be lazy with Loki.

Ultimately, we want Loki because he’s fun to write. He’s fun to plot. He’s just fun to have around.

And possibly most importantly, he’s a big reason for bringing us the Avengers. He was the initial villain in the debut issue and now he’s the reason for the season this year as The Avengers hits screens everywhere and drops a superhero team movie to end them all. The comic reading teen inside me still hasn’t shut up about it. And I hope he never will.

This is the second week of our amazing AvengersThon on the site here. We started last week with Nick Fury, and now we're only Loki. I wonder who will come in the next few weeks...

This is also our second week in a four week venture to find the next two thoughtballoons Tenured Writers!

Write your LOKI scripts in the comments below and enter the fray.