Steve - Reflection - Danial Carroll

So the set up? Being a Page One, there's not really anything for me to set up. Basically, I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic tales (Fallout 3, The Book of Eli), and this is my attempt at one...




PAGE ONE (four panels)


PANEL ONE

In night tones, we see a close-up of a hand holding a dictation machine—aka a Dictaphone.

DICTAPHONE: I’m not entirely sure why I’m recording this…

DICTAPHONE: For future generations? Or perhaps just catharsis.

DICTAPHONE: Either way, I feel it’s a story that needs to be told.


PANEL TWO

We now see a darkened room with moonlight coming in through an un-curtained window. There’s a 23-year-old man (Steve) sitting in a chair, holding the recorder. He has stopped the playback.

SFX/DICTAPHONE: CLICK

STEVE: Hmpf, that’ll do.


PANEL THREE

Closer on Steve. He has started the Dictaphone recording, notable from a red LED now visible.

SFX/DICTAPHONE: CLICK

STEVE: I can still recall the events of that day--five years ago now--with the vividness and lucidity of this morning’s.

STEVE: Being the most traumatic day of my life, I guess it’s no wonder.


PANEL FOUR

Close-up on the Dictaphone again, the red LED glowing brightly.

STEVE: It was November 14, 2012…

STEVE: … which was a Wednesday.

Basilisk - Arcadia - Matt Duarte

Basilisk in “Arcadia” by Matt Duarte

Note from the Author: This is a character that I came up years ago. The whole concept strikes remarkably close to a close of Proof and Greek Street, though both series came into existence after I originally had the idea. This means that I will probably never take this story very far, but you do get to gaze at this one page teaser. Enjoy!

Panel 1

Description: A large man with a muscular upper body stands behind a bar. He has long black hair that reaches his shoulders in a ponytail, and a big fuzzy beard. Despite his intimidating appearance, he has a welcoming smile on his face and is gesturing with his arms wide open. He is the barman of a very classy and expensive looking drinking lounge, which is remarkably empty.

BARMAN: Well, well, well... if it isn’t my favorite new stranger! Back for some more after last night?

Panel 2

Description: The character known as Basilisk has just walked in through the door of the same bar. There is plenty of light coming in through the open door, since it is mid-morning, and we can see a sign on the door that says “Arcadia”. He is wearing a simple, plain black t-shirt, clearly worn jeans, and a big coat on top of it all. He has short brown hair that looks unkempt and is wearing a big set of dark sunglasses.

BASILISK: Cut the pleasantries, Argios. Where’s the girl?

Panel 3

Description: Basilisk has walked up to the bar, pointing his finger to one side where there are some stools, speaking rather loudly to Argios, the barman. Argios, meanwhile looks confused with a dash of guilt.

ARGIOS: Girl? Erm... What girl?

BASILISK: The girl that was sitting on the far end, on that last chair, last night.

BASILISK: The girl with the long blond hair, couldn’t have been more than 19.

BASILISK: The girl that you were chatting up while you kept serving her drinks.

Panel 4

Description: Basilisk has grabbed Argios, who is considerably bigger, by the neck of his shirt with one hand. Any sign of constraint is now gone and he is almost shouting into Argio’s face. With the other hand, he is grabbing the side of his glasses.

BASILISK: I just came to check out this place, to make sure you were keeping your nose clean. I stayed outside all night, and she never left Arcadia.

BASILISK: I know who you are and you know who I am, and even then, you couldn’t keep it in your pants long enough until I left.

BASILISK: So, tell me: WHERE. IS. THE. GIRL?! Or the glasses are coming off...

Panel 5

Description: Seen from behind the bar, we can see Argios being let go by Basilisk. Argios’ lower body is the same as a goat’s, as he is a satyr. Basilisk has sunken into one of the stools.

ARGIOS: Alright, fine! I’ll tell you! But you won’t like what I have to say...

ARGIOS: She is a nymph, name of Amymone. And I don’t have her. Didn’t do anything to her except pour some drinks. One of the big bosses took her, didn’t see who.

BASILISK: Shit.

ARGIOS: Exactly... Wine?

BASILISK: I have a feeling I’m going to need it.

Next: The Missing Nymph!

John Crais - The Man Who Has Everything - Sime McDonald

THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING

A JOHN CRAIS MYSTERY

PAGE TWENTY-TWO- 6 PANELS

PANEL ONE
Bradley Thorland is sprawled on the ground, staring up at the ceiling, unblinking, the detonator inches from his hand on the polished floor of his opulent penthouse. Not that the detonator's proximity matters. Thorland is dead. Blood is oozing from the back of his head. John Crais is kneeling beside the body, in the pool of blood, exhausted, slightly bruised and battered from his earlier confrontation. Nearby, where he dropped it moments before, is his cell phone. It's lit up, beeping.

SFX

Beep!

Beep!

*Panels TWO to FIVE are small and compact*

PANEL TWO

Front-on shot of Crais holding the phone, staring at the screen. He's holding back tears.

PANEL THREE

Now looking at the phone screen. It reads:

4 MISSED CALLS:
AMY

PANEL FOUR

John holds the phone to his ear.

PANEL FIVE
Now the tears are cascading freely. He's slumped to his knees, phone clasped firmly in his hand. John Crais, the hero of our story, the man of granite we've known him to be throughout this tale, is finally broken.

CELL PHONE

(small)

Hi, you've reached Amy Crais. I can't

take your call right now...

PANEL SIX

Pull back. Just blackness; and the lifeless corpse of Bradley Thorland and the sobbing John Crais. And in a call-back to the opening page, the issue ends with the same dialogue that began our tale.

CELL PHONE
(small)

... but if you leave your name and number,
I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!

CAPTION

End.

Department of the Peculiar - Rol Hirst

As well as my ongoing short story anthology book, PJANG (People Just Ain't No Good), I'm currently working on two new comics: Too Much Sex & Violence (still in the planning stages, but it's the biggest comics project I've ever attempted) and Department of the Peculiar (which has sat in my drawer for some years before finally finding an artist brave enough to tackle it - the excellent Rob Wells).

I've chosen to post a page from Department of the Peculiar as that's currently being drawn. The book is a weird superhero title - the premise being that in the UK superpowers are treated as a disease you really need to go see a doctor about. (We must be the most hypochondriac country on the planet... except maybe Sweden.) Department of the Peculiar is the goverment taskforce in charge of finding and curing sick "peculiars". But they're pretty short-staffed, due to spending cuts, so they need to recruit new members.

On the page below, we meet one potential new recruit - Malcolm 'Viral Mal' Drake, a former US superhero now living in the UK. If superheroes really are a disease, Mal has the perfect power set... you get a clue about his special abilities below.


PAGE FIVE.

Panel One.

Manchester City Centre. Establishing shot. A tram moves quickly through the streets.

CAP (carried over from previous page - DotP member Karine has had a premonition): Bad, bad, bad – this afternoon - in Manchester.

Panel Two.

Inside the tram. Close-up on a young couple (students), passionately kissing – lots of tongue.

Panel Three.

Across the aisle from the couple, Mal watches the couple kissing. He’s not happy about this going on right in front of his face, so early in the morning. A couple of other commuters are frowning at the display also. (Mal is listening to music on his iPod.)

CAP (Mal): God, it's way too early for love's young dream...

Panel Four.

He stares at his hand, stretching his fingers, considering whether to act.

CAP (Mal): Now I don't want to seem churlish, but..

Panel Five.

He reaches out and flourishes his fingers in the direction of the kissing couple. Some kind of effect from the end of his fingers (not a major effect) as he uses his powers.

CAP (Mal): Hell with it.

CAP (Mal): They brought this on themselves.

Panel Six.

Suddenly, the girl pulls away from the kiss, a look of revulsion on her face… a look that’s echoed in the face of her boyfriend.

Girl: God - your breath stinks!

Boy: My breath--!?

Panel Seven.

As the couple glare at each other, Mal appears satisfied with his work.

Boy: You been eating catmuck or what?

CAP (Mal): Yep. Back to full strength.

CAP (Mal): Look out, world...(!)


And to finish, as a special treat for those of you who don't want to waste time reading my script directions... here's the page as drawn by Rob. Like all great comic artists, he makes it SO much more entertaining than it originally was...

(Click to see it full-size.)

Blocked - Roots - Max Barnard

The Premise: Ever spent days, weeks, even MONTHS trying to come up with an original idea, only to come up against writer's block? That dreaded thing that stops you coming up with a story or concept that you so desperately need?

Arséne Langlinais knows what it's like. He's known it for years now. A former best-selling horror writer, Arséne hit his block after announcing he would write the quintessential horror story of the 21st century. Since then he's fallen apart, unable to even move his pen or type a word whenever he as much as thinks about writing. He's tried everything he can think of, from therapy to a relaxing holiday, but nothing's coming out. His career is on the verge on being in tatters and he only has one course of action left to take: going home to Thibodaux, Louisiana.

See, Arséne hates his roots but at the same time, in his desperation, he thinks connecting with them again, in an area with plenty of supernatural sightings under its belt will help him overcome his writer's block.

As we join the story in progress Arséne has settled into his new living space and is finally trying to write again.

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

#.1
Time has passed. It is a week later and Arséne has cleaned himself up some. Where there was once an unkempt beard and shaggy shoulder-length hair is now a clean-cut face with a neatly cropped haircut. He is sat at a typewriter in his Motel room, cigarette in mouth and fingers hovering at the keys.

Caption: A week passes...

Arséne(caption): I'm sat at old faithful again, ready to see what's changed.


#.2
Close-up on Arséne's fingers shaking above the typewriter keys.


#.3
Extreme close-up around Arséne's eyes, small beads of sweat forming.


#.4
Close-up on Arséne's mouth as he grits his teeth, biting through the cigarette.

Arséne(caption): Nothing.


#.5
Arséne roaring with anger as he throws his typewriter down onto the floor.

Arséne: RAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

Arséne(caption): Nothing changes.


#.6
Arséne kicks his chair, breaking it in two. In the corner of the room, shadows rise up.

Arséne: STUPID! *&%#ING! AAARGH!

Arséne(caption): Why would anything change in this place?


#.7
The shadows form into a demonic shape, reaching towards Arséne as he crumples onto the floor, tears in his eyes.

Arséne: Why?

Arséne(caption): In this godforsaken town.



[for those interested the next page has him catch a glimpse of the demonic shape out the corner of his eye, as the first encounter he has with the horrors lurking in the city. As he more clearly encounters these phenomena he becomes a man obsessed, driven to madness by this one dark possibility for inspiration. But that's a tale for another time. Hope you enjoyed this and HERE'S TO OUR FIRST DAMN YEAR!

Alternate - Page Eight - Ben Rosenthal

Our own creation, huh? Could not come at a better time. The following is page eight of my graphic novel script, Alternate. It’s not heavy on action (surprise), but has events which are character driven (surprise surprise!). This page sets out to do two things – firstly introduce us to Nate and Phil more; to allow us to get a grip on both their sense of humour and how they relate to each other. Second, it gives us some background on the two, as we slowly become aware of their world

The following is some banter between the lead, Nate and his best friend/housemate Phil as they try on costumes for 'A Midsummer Night’s Dream'. However, this rendition of the Shakespearean play is set in the disco scene of the seventies. Yes, this play actually did happen to me.

Finally, I have complete dot point breakdown of the entire graphic novel and the first 20 pages written in script. I would be very appreciative if anyone would like to peruse these documents and give me feedback (as some already have – you guys rock!) Also, if there are any budding artists out there, please please PLEASE do not hesitate to drop me a line.

Enough self-promoting, here’s the page.

PAGE EIGHT

1. Nate stands next to a woman with a dry smirk on his face. The woman is slightly shorter than Nate, and is dressed in a way that we know that this is the drama teacher (ie. a hippy). Her name is Ms Lisane.

NATE: I dunno Phil. I think it fits the part brilliantly.

2. Ms Lisane is ecstatic with excitement, as if Phil’s costume is the most brilliant thing she has seen. Both hands are at her mouth as she exclaims joy. Nate is still visible in the corner of the panel, enjoying egging his teacher on, and enjoying Phil’s discomfort.

MS LISANE: Nate is correct, it is BRILLIANT. The chains, the wide open shirt to the flares! Oh, it’s like I’m 19 again!

3. Phil is looking extremely unimpressed. He is pointing to a rather ridiculously large afro wig he has on, complete with a little tiara (Think Luke Cage 70’s hair...but BIGGER).

PHIL: Must have been a lot of teenagers with neck problems when you were 19. Why is Oberon’s hair this big?

4. Same as Panel 2. Ms Lisane is even more excited. Nate is still standing next to Ms Lisane, eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.

MS LISANE: Oberon is the KING of the fairies Phil. He must have a grand crown so all the other fairies know who is number one!

5. Phil is looking to the left of Ms Lisane. He is awaiting the obvious line from Nate.

6. Nate is looking at Phil, a smirk on his face.

NATE: Nah, too easy.

Irish - Heist - Ryan K Lindsay

n

1. Splash page of Irish’s car sliding sideways on the rain soaked road and slamming into the one cop at the blockade not quick enough to get out of the way. This is a gory splash, the cop is getting annihilated by the back right side of the car. His head is snapping back, his arm and legs are breaking. He’s dead.

Irish: Eat shit, you cocksucking fascist goons!
Cop: Gak!
Caption: I’m usually so much nicer. I swear.
Caption: My blood gets a little more Irish when I work a heist that falls apart like a high school fuck buddy relationship.
Caption: Usually, I’m the cool head in the group. I’m the one who doesn’t get emotional.
Caption: I’m beyond emotion by this stage. Here, I’m just surviving.
Caption: Or trying to.
Caption: …
Caption: This is what happens when a heist goes wrong.

Why Our Own Creations?

Fate #1 Cover
Written by Ryan K Lindsay
Art by Justin Greenwood

We’ve spent a whole year, 52 weeks, playing with other people’s toys in their sandboxes. It’s about time we tried our own ideas out completely.

This week we are each working with a creation of our own set in a universe of our own devices. There will be no crutches of the DCU or a supporting character from an Image comic. Every single element in our one page will be built from the ground up purely by us.

Over the past few years, I have written dozens of scripts and workshopped a fair few ideas. Some go into the pitching phase, some don’t. Some I’m still finding the nebulous heart and working to understand it. But amidst them all stand characters, people you have to understand completely. That’s half the fun of it all. You make these people from whole cloth and do as you wish.

This is possibly the scariest week for us all because we can’t rely on any tropes of prior knowledge. We have to sell a character in one page, and one page only. Every other page has been building upon something, this is pure creative fission. It’s going to be interesting but it will also show exactly who we are as writers.

Writing is a great form of creation and this week only we put that definition to the true test.