Masks & Mobsters - Whatever Happened to the Sidekick? - R.A. Wonsowski

(I beg forgiveness - I am completely unfamiliar with this property, but based on what I saw from my fellow Thoughtballooners, I offer this...)

Layout:
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Panel 1 - We are inside the large elevator of a luxury hotel.  The paneling is dark, rich wood, brass fixtures include the floor counter above the doors.  On the left, with two large,well dressed gunsels behind him, is the SIDEKICK - his hands are bound behind him, and the gunsels are holding him by the upper arms with their meaty hands.  The SIDEKICK looks about 16 or 17 years old - his blond hair is styled in a James Dean-style ducktail.  His costume is reminiscent of Robin's during the 1970's, but the color scheme should be yellow and blue, with a blue domino mask to match his cape.  His face is a combination of anger and fear as he struggles.  On the right, smoking the last of a cigarette, is the BOSS MAN.  His hair is slicked back with pomade, and he wears a black pinstriped Italian suit.  He has a pencil thin moustache, and he is smoking an expensive cigarette.  He stands a head taller than the SIDEKICK.

BOSS MAN:  Y'know, kid, I've had enough.  Enough'a you, and the Big Guy, and your Teenage Hero Crew.

BOSS MAN:  Thing is, you and your Cape'n'Mask pals just don't get it.


Panel 2 - Same as above, except BOSS MAN's grinding out the cigarette on the bottom of his shoe.  The SIDEKICK's sweating.

SIDEKICK:  Oh, we get it, alright...

BOSSMAN:  No, I don't think you do.  You're not listening...


Panel 3 - Same as above, except the floor counter has hit the top floor.  Everyone looks at the door: the thugs calmly, the SIDEKICK nervously.

BOSSMAN:  So now, I gotta send you a message...

SoundFX:  DING


Panel 4 - Big panel.  From inside the elevator, our point of view behind the BOSS MAN and the SIDEKICK, we see the doors open to reveal an exclusive bordello.  The interior is all red velvet and gold embroidery, and the women are all voluptuously, ridiculously cheesecake-bad-girl gorgeous, dressed in near-see-through tiny silken negligée.  A couple of girls drink champagne, and a redhead in the back reclines on a pile of money.  The girls are all seductively eyeballing SIDEKICK.

NO COPY


Panel 5 - Two-shot close up, the faces of BIG BOSS and SIDEKICK.  BIG BOSS is smiling closed-mouthed and one-sidedly to himself, SIDEKICK is slackjawed in disbelief.

NO COPY


Panel 6 - Same as Panel 5, but now BIG BOSS and SIDEKICK share the same smile.

SIDEKICK:  Message received...

Masks and Mobsters - Investigative Reports - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: A trio of bank robbers in domino masks, pinstripe suits, and hats to match are holding up a bank. One, black-haired, has a full beard, one, a redhead, has a John Waters moustache, and the third, blond, is clean-shaven. The one with the full beard is threatening the teller while the other 2 keep watch.

Caption(Newspaper): "THE DIMELLO CRIME FAMILY OPERATES ON A TIGHT OVERHEAD. CHEAP SUITS, CHEAP MASKS, FAKE GUNS. LUCKILY, WE NEVER NEEDED TO FIRE A SHOT, AS THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE WAS ENOUGH TO PREVENT IT."

Panel 2: The three divvy up the loot into four piles, one for each of them and a larger pile for the boss. A black Packard burns in the background.

Caption(Newspaper): "WE DESTROYED THE EVIDENCE, SPLIT THE TAKE, AND WENT OUR SEPARATE WAYS. WE MADE SURE TO LEAVE WELL MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR THE BOSS. WE'RE GOONS, NOT FOOLS, YOU KNOW."

Panel 3: We see the redhead in his office, typing away on a typewriter. The suit, hat, and mask are on a coatrack, and the false moustache is laid on his desk next to the typewriter. He has a hand-rolled cigarette in his mouth, and a thin trail of smoke fills the air. A small audio recorder has been taken from a pocket in the suit and lays on the desk.

Caption(Newspaper): -EXCERPTS FROM "I WAS A MOB TRIGGERMAN--FOR A DAY", PULITZER-WINNING EXPOSE FROM GOLDEN CITY SENTRY REPORTER JAMES OLSEN.

Masks and Mobsters - Union - J.D. Coughlan

SET-UP: I essentially had a similar idea to MK's, but further along. Various gangster supervillains have now rose up and now rival the amount of regular mob bosses. This is their first ever meeting together.

Panel 1: Wide shot, the usual crime boss meeting. Long table, bodyguards behind each boss. Descriptions of each boss to follow, but they should all be moody, cautious and tense. At the head of the table, a man in an all white suit and face-covering mask stands. This is Mr. Monochrome. His bodyguards are dressed in all black suits and masks.

MR. MONOCHROME: I won't waste time with pleasantries. You all know why we're here.

MR. MONOCHROME: We're more powerful now than when we started out, sure, but we still got the "heroes" on one side and the old bosses on the other, squeezing on us.

MR. MONOCHROME: The answer is obvious and you all know it. We need to join forces; pool our resources. Create our own Mafia -- get unionised.

Panel 2: Going round the room now. Close on Blackbeard. He is a pirate-themed villain. He is dressed in piratical gear, but nothing flamboyant; more dignified and dashing. Like an evil Errol Flynn. His clothes are mostly black and his beard (also black, obviously) is quite trim. He does have an eyepatch. He grins confidently. His bodyguards are dressed more like conventional pirates.

MR. MONOCHROME (O.P.): So, who's in?

MR. MONOCHROME (O.P.): Blackbeard?

BLACKBEARD: It's a bold venture, Mr. Monochrome. You have me and my crew.

Panel 3: Close on Dr. Robot. An eccentric mad scientist wannabe (really just a moderately smart science teacher turned to crime). He wears a labcoat and goggles, and his hair is unkempt. His bodyguards are dressed like old-school robots (they most definitely are not). He grins and gestures wildly.

MR. MONOCHROME (O.P.): Dr. Robot?

DR. ROBOT: Of course! Of course! MWAHAHAHAHA!

Panel 4: Close on The Duchess. She is a very upper-class older lady, dressed like royalty in extreme finery. Her bodyguards should be wearing something resembling Royal Guards. She turns her nose up snobbily.

MR. MONOCHROME (O.P.): Duchess?

DUCHESS: Hmph. We approve.

Panel 5: Close on the Russian Bear. A large, muscular man in a fur coat, with an old-fashioned boxer's moustache and bald head. His bodyguards are shirtless and of similar build. The Bear sits with his arms folded and a scowl on his face.

MR. MONOCHROME (O.P.): Bear?

BEAR: ...Da.

END OF PAGE

This would continue until the inevitable "Why should we trust you" who then gets made an example of, but I didn't want to pack too much in. Really, this is just an excuse for me to use some supervillain ideas I had floating around.

Masks & Mobsters – The New Kings of Crime – MK Stangeland Jr.

[Note: I’ve only seen the previews of the comic, so anything that doesn’t fit or is similar to what’s already happened in the comics is purely by coincidence.]

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: Location – the offices of the crime lord known as SICARIO. The place has just seen the conclusion of a shootout between SICARIO’s men and the members of gang calling itself THE NEW KINGS OF CRIME. The panel faces outwards towards the doorway, where in addition to a small team of the gangs minions – individuals wearing faceless masks and simply known as MINIONs – the three leaders of the gang are standing.

To the left is MR. CRIMINAL, a strong tough-looking man wearing a black suit, a fedora, and wearing a mask with a ‘?’ on it while wielding a shotgun; to the right is CRIMINAL DARWIN, who in addition to his white suit and top hat wears a mask that resembles the face of Charles Darwin and wields a tommy gun; and in between the two directly in front of the door stands their ringleader, THE NEW FACE OF CRIME (FACE), who wears a grey suit and bowler hat, holds a revolver in one hand, and wears a mask designed to have an array of simple faces on it that can quickly change when he turns a nob located on the side of the mask. At present, this mask has a simple smiley face on it.

FACE: Mr. Sicario! Just the man we were looking for!

Panel 2: SICARIO pokes his head up from behind the desk he hid behind during the shootout. A bullet passes by his head, far enough away to make it clear it was a warning shot.

SICARIO: Just who the **** do you think you…

SFX: Bang!

Panel 3: FACE has his weapon aimed out, with smoke coming out the barrel. His open hand is on the knob on the side of his head, and his ‘face’ is now one that’s a mix of neutral and annoyed.

SFX: flip

FACE: Now, now, Mr. Sicario. You don’t get to be a crime lord by being stupid, so I know you’re smart enough not to talk sass to a criminal with a loaded gun.

Panel 4: SICARIO hides behind his desk with just the top of his head poking up. He’s clearly been startled, moreso than before.

SICARIO: What…what are you doing?

FACE: (Off-panel) You can call it whatever you like, for all I care.

Panel 5: FACE grabs a chair and puts it down in front of SICARIO’s desk. His ‘face’ has been flipped back to a simple smile.

FACE (1): Hostile takeover, change in management. Whatever. Makes no difference to me.

FACE (2): All that’s really important is that you are being replaced.

Panel 6: FACE is sitting down, with CRIMINAL DARWIN standing over FACE’s right shoulder.

FACE (1): I’ll give the masks this much – they may be a pain in the ***, but they’re really on to something with the whole secret identity thing.

FACE (2): Tell him, Mr. Darwin.

(END PAGE)

Masks & Mobsters -Aftermath & Beginnings -Dan Hill

PAGE ONE

1.1

Day. THE TOWER (from issue #4) throws a devastating right hook towards one of the ROBOTS from Issue #2. The ROBOT’s back is against the side of a building. He’s got nowhere to go.

1 CAPTION:            Golden City was never the same after the masks made their mark.

1.2

FIXED PANEL: The ROBOT swerves out of the way, THE TOWER’s punch connecting with the side of the building, smashing a hole in the side of it.

    2 CAPTION:            It was like dropping a boulder in the middle of a pond.

1.3

WIDE PANEL: Night. The aftermath of the fight we saw in the previous two panels. The building the two adversaries were fighting by has collapsed, leaving only a pile of rubble.

The scene is surrounded by police officers and fire crews and circled by portable lights as they try and pick through the debris for any survivors.

3 CAPTION:            The ripples would be felt for decades, the course of history changed forever.

4 POLICE OFFICER 1:    Hey, buddy, can we get some light over here!        

1.4

We ZOOM IN on the destroyed building, focusing on a pair of POLICE OFFICERS frantically pulling debris from a particularly large pile.

    5 CAPTION:            In these, my twilight years, I often wonder how things might be if they hadn’t come along.

    6 POLICE OFFICER 2:    I think I see someone.

    7 POLICE OFFICER 1:    Jesus Christ, he’s still breathing.

1.5

ZOOM IN some more, a hand is now visible emerging from the same pile, the officers doubling their efforts to get to the poor soul before it’s too late.

    8 CAPTION:            Would the streets still have run red with blood?

    9 POLICE OFFICER 1:    I need more men over here!

    10 POLICE OFFICER 2:    Oh God, I know this guy.

1.6

ZOOM IN, now a CLOSE UP on the face of the man beneath the rubble. His face is criss crossed with a latticework of vicious, deep cuts.

    11 CAPTION:            Or would the tides of fate have washed us all to different shores?

    12 CAPTION:            Excerpt from ‘Golden City: My Time in Purgatory’ by Eliot Ness.

   

    13 POLICE OFFICER 2:    Hang in there Al, you hear me?

Masks and Mobsters - If It's Broke - Grant McLaughlin

1
The front page of the Golden City newspaper (I don't think there's an established name, so let's go with "The Golden City Reflection").  The headline reads "Towering Over Crime!".  There can be a picture of Tower punching out some criminals or something similar.

(1) CAPTION: Golden City has embraced a new type of hero.

2
Night time.  A group of mobsters are unconscious and tied up in front of a police station in Golden City.  Some police officers are standing around them.  One scratches his head in surprise, another starts cuffing the crooks, etc.

(2) CAPTION: They're seen as the new way to fight back against crime.  A better way to clean up the streets.

3
Day time (the next morning).  The mobsters are walking out of the police station, a police officer holding a door for them.  The mobsters are smug; the police officer deferential.

(3) CAPTION: But while their capes and bright costumes are new, the results are the same.

4
The mobsters are in a bar, celebrating their easy release.  They all have drinks in hand and laugh uproariously to show what a great time they're having.  A shadowy figure stands in the foreground, looking at them.  We can't make out any of his details.  A few mobsters notice him, but pay him little mind.

(4) CAPTION: The masks are little more than band-aids.  Instead of making a real difference, they just cover up the ugly problems that no one is prepared to fix.

5
Close-up of the gun that the mysterious figure is holding, its hammer pulled back and ready to be fired.  He points it at the mobsters.  The mobsters are obviously surprised and afraid by this, but they don't need to be visible on this panel.  The gun is really what matters.   The final caption is a "To Be Continued" type thing.

(5) CAPTION: No one, that is, except for me.

(6) CAPTION: Next: The Fix Is In!

Masks and Mobsters - Down - Ben Rosenthal

1. Bobby from behind. He is putting his trench coat on. 

CAPTION - BOBBY 

It's down to this. Down to me. 

2. His Hand reaches for his gun on a table. 

CAPTION - BOBBY

Months I've been working on them. Gaining their trust. 

3. Bobby is putting on his hat, back still to us 

CAPTION - BOBBY

Now it's time.  

4.  A reveal of Bobby with a Domino mask on. 

CAPTION - BOBBY 

That's the thing about dominoes. You just have to topple one, and the rest fall.

Masks and Mobsters – All The Pieces - Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 5 PANELS

Layout

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1. Tight close up on the hand of DETECTIVE DON COSGROVE. The hand holds a double one domino piece between its thumb and forefinger.

COSGROVE: Domino piece again. It’s the same guy.

2. Pull out to a wide shot. Don Cosgrove stands with his partner ROGER HARRIS. They both wear fitted suits and fedoras. Don is still holding the domino piece and has a half finished cigarette in the other hand. Don has graying hair and is the much older partner, Roger being the young rookie. 

The pair stand in a large, luxurious 50’s style office. A huge window behind them looks out at Golden City at night, the lights of the big city shimmer off the rain covered glass.

On the floor in front of the detectives is a fat balding man; he wears a fine suit minus the jacket, his white shirt soaked in sweat. He is bound and gagged and is gently weeping. This is KEN ‘THE KING’ CAMPBELL, one of Golden cities biggest crime bosses.

COSGROVE: Get the gag off this big baby. Lets see if he’s singing the same tune as the others.

3. Close up on Ken Campbell as Roger pulls the gag from his mouth.

NO COPY.

4. Still on Ken Campbell his mouth now free to talk.

KEN: Take me in. I’ll tell you everything. <Sob>

KEN: Just keep her away from me.

5. Same panel set up as 2 but tighter in on the detectives and more of the window in panel.

THE Domino perches on the window ledge; she is illuminated against the bright lights of her city.

The Domino is a slim, lean but muscular African American woman. She wears a fitted black suit and a long black coat. She wears her hair in a small Afro and over her eyes rests a white domino mask. Her hands are covered with black gloves and around her neck rests a set of white pearls.

COSGROVE & HARRIS: Her?

Why Masks & Mobsters.

“The times they are a changin’ “ Bob Dylan.

These words by Dylan describe comics right now. The digital revolution has seen the comics industry shift and grow. The Internet as a platform for sharing stories in comic form has seen the rise of some truly beautiful things. Creators now have a gateway to millions of readers world wide, creators no longer need permission to tell their stories.

Masks & Mobsters is one such creation that has blossomed in this time of change.

This a crime anthology book with a superhero twist, this is a book that rewrites the rules we know about comics. Each issue tells a compelling fully realised story in 12 – 16 pages. The stories are as long or short as they need to be. Every panel matters, every page is a perfect piece of pacing. This is comics.

Now up to issue six, writer Joshua Williamson and artists, Mike Henderson, Jason Copland and Justin Greenwood have created a comic that is as good as anything on the stands in your local store.

They may not have been trained by the Pirate Ninjas of The Bermuda Triangle or The Templar Knights of Shangri-la but damn these guys make some of the best comics I’ve read so that’s why Masks and Mobsters this week.

Learn from the best if you want to be the best.

If you haven’t already, go here to grab the first 6 issues.

Then write your own Masks and Mobsters script and leave it in the comments below.