Powers - Work's a Beach - P. A. Nolte

1/ A monitor.  Three aquatic villains stand amid sand dunes with waves crashing softly behind them.  Civilians in swimsuits and other summer clothes scatter in panic.

Walker (OP): They did what?

Jeffreys (OP): Just walked onto the beach.  Out of the ocean. Started making demands.

2/ The top of Jeffreys' head.  He's one of the forensics for the Powers division.  Detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim hover behind him watching the same video.

Walker: Demands?  Like what?  What's he saying?

Jeffreys: Keeps asking for The Unholy Diver.

Walker: Who?

3/ Deena gives Walker a smirk.  Walker tries to ignore her.

Pilgrim: Not a friend, huh?

Walker: No.

Walker: Where'd this footage come from?

4/ Jeffreys has swiveled around in his chair.

Jeffreys: Some kid with a cell phone.  You know the drill.

Jeffreys: Hell rains down and he goes for the viral video.

Jeffreys: Gotta love it.

Pilgrim: Do you?

5/ Walker.

Walker: Where are they now?

Jeffreys (OP): Who?

Walker: These guys.  The-- What'd you call him?

6/ Back to the monitor.

Jeffreys (OP): Commodore Kraken.  Guy on the left calls himself The Urchin.  The lady is something... baroness? Amphibibaroness?  Something dumb.

Walker (OP): Where are they now?

Jeffreys (OP): Oh, you're gonna love this...

POWERS-"FLAG MAN"-DAVID PRESS.

PAGE ONE.

1.1 WIDE: Scraps of body parts lay scattered all over a rooftop: an arm here, a leg there, shredded pieces of cape with some errant pieces of a unitard lay all over the place. Obviously, this is the crime scene that we find CHRISTIAN WALKER and DEENA PILGRIM in.

PILGRIM [OP]:                     They do just drop out of the sky right?

1.2: We’re on a rooftop with CHRISTIAN WALKER and DEENA PILGRIM. They are staring down at the TORSO of a white unitard.

WALKER:                     Yep.

1.3: Walker kneels down to look at the emblem. In the center of the white shirt is a yellow emblem with a RED FLAG in it.

WALKER:                              It’s Flag Man. Probably got caught in an airplane turbine.

1.4: Walker stands up next to Pilgrim, they look down at the body.

PILGRIM:                              Stupid capes.

Powers – Power//Less, OR: Grass is Greener – MK Stangeland, Jr.

(DEENA and WALKER are on a stake-out)

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: WALKER looks away from the window toward DEENA, who is reading a book.

WALKER (1): What’s that?

DEENA: Uh, a book?

WALKER (2): Yes, I can see that.

WALKER (3): What book is it?

Panel 2: DEENA holds the book up so that WALKER – and the reader – can see the cover. The book is a graphic novel, and the cover features a simple image of a gun lying on a dark black surface, with a police badge leaning against it. The word ‘Power//Less’ is positioned as to be the title, with ‘Power’ and ‘Less’ slightly out of alignment.

DEENA (1): It’s a graphic novel.

WALKER: A comic book?

DEENA (2): ‘Graphic Novel’.

DEENA (3): It’s a crime series that follows a pair of police detectives.

DEENA (4): The twist is that it’s set in a world where Powers never existed.

Panel 3: WALKER turns back to the window to keep watch.

WALKER (1): A world without powers, huh?

WALKER (2): Wouldn’t mind it if we’d gotten a lucky break like that sometimes.

Panel 4: DEENA looks to WALKER.

DEENA: Didn’t you use to be a Power?

WALKER: Like I said, be a lucky break.

Panel 5: DEENA goes back to the book.

DEENA: Well, they probably don’t have nearly the same kind of nonsense we have to put up with, I’ll give them that much.

WALKER: (Off-Panel) Like I said, be a lucky break.

(END PAGE)

Powers - COPS - Grant McLaughlin

As the title implies, the conceit of this page is that Walker and Pilgrim are on COPS, so all panels should be framed as if they are being filmed.  Kinda grainy, placement of people sometimes a little off-kilter, and a TV network logo in the bottom right corner (perhaps "Action 5" instead of FOX?).

1 - On Walker's car driving along a downtown street.  It's kind of dark and the car headlights (and any other lights) are over-saturated against the night.

CAPTION: CHICAGO, IL

WALKER (from within): I still can't believe Cross signed us up for babysitting duty.

2 - On Christian Walker, filmed from the backseat.  He's looking back towards the cameraperson, one hand off the wheel as he points accusingly.  The "camera" isn't completely level.

CAPTION: Detective Christian Walker

WALKER: Your show is pathetic.  It trivializes policework and implies that only the poor could ever commit a crime.

3 - On Deena Pilgrim in the passenger seat (still filmed from the back).  She's looking at Walker, who is off-panel.

CAPTION: Detective Deena Pilgrim

PILGRIM: Come on, Walker.  You don't have to give the camera crew a hard time.  They're just doing their job.

4 - Back on Walker.  He's back to focusing on the road ahead, although his body language is still frustrated and tense.

CAPTION: 10:12PM

WALKER: Maybe I would be more impressed if "their job" didn't consist of taking advantage of society's most vulnerable and marginalized peoples for cheap entertainment.

5 - Back on Deena.  She's taking a sip of a coffee, maybe not looking entirely serious.

CAPTION: POWERS HOMICIDE DEPARTMENT

PILGRIM: Well, maybe this could be a learning experience for everyone.  Give the world an idea of the kind of work we really do.

6 - Focus on the radio between Walker and Pilgrim as it crackles with speech.  Walker and Pilgrim could both be partially on-panel.

WALKER: Pfft, I hardly doubt that's why Cross agreed to this.

RADIO: Shots fired at Dallas and 34th.  Nearest officers, please respond.

7 - On Walker's car again, but from behind as it drives away, sirens flashing.

CAPTION: ARMED ROBBERY

WALKER (within): But looks like they'll be getting a chance nonetheless.

POWERS - The Multiplying-Man - Perry Kent

Panel 1

Detective Walker faces the Multiplying-Man, a man in a crazy purple costume, as he shouts and struggles against the restraint of two other cops. The interior of the room cannot yet be discerned, except for maybe some blood on the ground.

1. MULTIPLYING-MAN: He did it! He's crazy! An absolute lunatic!

2. WALKER: You have the right to remain silent...

Panel 2

Detective Pilgrim has her knee in the back of another Multiplying-Man as she cuffs him. This Multiplying-Man is identical in every regard. The leg of a purple-costumed leg can be seen poking into view.

3. MULTIPLYING-MAN: You got the wrong guy!

4. PILGRIM: ...anything you say can and will be used against you...

Panel 3

The two Multiplying-Man clones are lead away from the house, by two cops apiece. They are both still shouting.

5. MULTIPLYING-MAN 1: You can't take me away!

6. MULTIPLYING-MAN 2: I'm a hero dammit!

Panel 4

Walker and Pilgrim stand in the middle of a room full of carnage talking to each other. Several dead bodies lay around them, all having been murdered in grotesque fashions. All of the bodies are those of Multiplying-Man.

7. PILGRIM: Is this even murder? Suicide?

8. PILGRIM: Are the clones human?

9. WALKER: Hopefully that's someone else's job.

- END -

Why Powers?

Powers is a hit independent series by the prolific Brian M. Bendis. The series takes place in a world where it is not uncommon for a person to have extraordinary powers. Some of these people end up as heroes or villains.

What makes this world unique is the approach to the story. The protagonists are two homicide detectives tasked with investigating deaths relating to those with "powers". This puts a much more realistic spin on the concept of a world where some people have powers that others do not. The impacts to society are something that would be intensely wide-spread and touch more territory than most comic books dare to tread. Powers goes into that territory and goes deep.

This week let's explore the underbelly of a world where there are powers. Even better if you can filter it through the eyes of law enforcement.