Donkey Kong - Operation: Donkey Kong - R.A. Wonsowski

NOTE:  Sad to report, I was not a video game kid, even though Dad got me and my brother, Dan, an Atari 2600 when my artist brother, Peter, was born.  I was into my comics, and D&D, and '80s rock (Sammy Hagar & Asia - WOOHOO!)  My only exposure to Donkey Kong was the big cabinet video game in the rec room of the campground my parents took us every summer. And Dan beat me every time. But I got to watch him rack up them high scores.  Anyways, that being said, I thought an adaptation might be the way to go...

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Panels 1 thru 5 are television screens.

Panel 1 - Foreground, we are following TARA CHACE (from Queen & Country) as she runs up a ramp.  Her gun is still in its holster at her hip.  In the background, atop painter's scaffolding, is KONG, a burly, hairy Hispanic (imagine a Colombian Andre the Giant with thick 5 o'clock shadow) guarding the Minder's asset, a moustachioed local "plomero", or assassin, named MARIO, who is suspended from the ceiling of the room by his chained wrists.  MARIO is wearing overalls over a t-shirt, KONG is in the khaki-olive uniform of the FARC.  MARIO has a ball gag in his mouth and has obviously been tortured.  KONG has hoisted a barrel over his head.  A sledgehammer handle sticks out from the lower platform of the scaffold.

CAPTION:  Medellin, Colombia.

Panel 2 - KONG has thrown the barrel, which has crashed onto the ramp.  TARA easily leaps over it as it splinters and breaks, reaching for the sledge handle.

NO COPY

Panel 3 - TARA slides like a baseball player, sledge extended, knocking the supports of the scaffolding loose.  KONG can be seen above, panicking as the scaffold gives.

NO COPY

Panel 4 - TARA, now background, grabs the winch handle on the wall to lower MARIO, as KONG lands on the concrete floor head first, his neck audibly snapping.  The scaffolding crashes all about him, and MARIO has a look of relief despite the gag.

NO COPY

Panel 5 - MARIO, now lowered to the floor, can barely stand as TARA removes his ball gag and loosens the chains around his wrists.  Clouds of concrete dust at bottom of frame.

TARA:  Oy!  No duermes!  Donde esta Luis?

MARIO:  ...en un otro...castillo....hh...

Panel 6 - DONALD WELDON, deputy chief of S.I.S., and PAUL CROCKER, director of ops, are watching Panel 5 on a television monitor in an empty room.  Both are sitting in metal folding chairs, and CROCKER is smoking a cigarette.  WELDON should be slouching a bit, as if he's restlessly bored, while CROCKER is tensely watching the telly, leaning forward in his seat.

WELDON:  Your "princess" is quite the peach...

CROCKER:  Sod off, Don...

Queen & Country – Moneybox – Brian Manton

1.
A Ford Fiesta parked at the side of an Irish country road.  Off the road is a dense woodland, which veers up a steep hill.

CAP (Kinney):  What do you think you're playing at, Crocker? It's home soil. Pull her out.

CAP (Crocker):  It's two miles outside the border. Donegal is foreign soil just as much as Kabul.

2.
Tara Chace walks uphill through the woods with Mike Reilly - ex IRA, late 50s, moustache, thousand yard stare.

CAP (Kinney):  Yeah? And where'd she meet him?

CAP (Crocker):  This is time sensitive. I had to set Chace in motion when he called.

3.
Just inside the edge of the tree line, before a sharp drop-off in the hill, Reilly hands Chace a pair of binoculars.

CAP (Crocker):  Reilly helped root out some of the last weapon caches in 2002. We can trust him.

4.
Wide view of four cars (a group of three and one separate) in the grounds of a large, run-down manor house. Silhouettes of two armed men can be seen standing by one of the cars. Two other men walk towards each other, one from the lone car.

CAP (Kinney):  There's no such thing as trust, Paul. You know that.

5.
Close on the two men, shaking hands.  The man from the lone car is Middle Eastern.

CAP (Crocker):  Just look in the file, Kinney.

CAP (Crocker):  Like I said. Might as well be Kabul.

6.
Close on Chace taking aim with her sniper rifle.

CAP (Kinney):  This connection needs to be--

CAP (Crocker):  Yes... put "completely and verifiably beyond use."

Queen & Country - FUBAR - R.A. Wonsowski

Layout:
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Panel 1 - TARA CHACE, an SAS soldier, and a ROOKIE Minder are moving down a sandstone and cement hallway.  Plywood doors alternate down the side of the hall.  All three are in desert fatigues and body armour, helmets on their heads (night-vision goggles are up on the helmet), and weapons ready.  The SAS man is sighting down his C8 carbine rifle ( http://soldiersystems.net/2011/10/23/rcmp-adopts-c8-carbine/ for a reference), while TARA and the ROOKIE have both hands around the grip of their SigSauer P220s, pointed down.

All three are sweating and hyper alert.  A lone dim light bulb swings from the ceiling.

CAPTION:  Somewhere under the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan.


Panel 2 - The three are stopped in front of a plywood door with no door knob or latch, just a loop of rope, knotted from the other side.  The SAS man places his left palm flat against the door.

NO COPY


Panel 3 - TARA and the SAS man are to one side of the door, the ROOKIE to the other, as the SAS man swings the door wide open.  The room inside is dark and black.

NO COPY


Panel 4 - All 3, weapons ready, still in their positions outside the door.

NO COPY


Panel 5 - The ROOKIE is sighting down his pistol sight as he moves into the dark room.  TARA watches wide-eyed as the SAS man moves to cover the ROOKIE.

ROOKIE:  Moving...

TARA:  No, wait...


Panel 6 - The ROOKIE drops his pistol as his face is blown off by machine gun fire from inside the room, bullets through the back of his head.  TARA and the SAS man take cover on either side of the doorway, angry at both the rookie's mistake as well as his death.

SoundFX:  BRTRTRTRTRT!!!!


Panel 7 - TARA takes shooter's position on one knee, firing her pistol two handed from below, and around the door jamb.  She is yelling at whoever might be shooting from inside the room. The SAS man gets ready to fire through the doorway from a standing position.  The ROOKIE's body is fallen on the floor.

TARA:  Khalid!!

Sound FX:  BlamBlam!! BlamBlam!!

TARA:  You're buggered now, you bastard!!!

Queen and Country - Oh Be-have - Niel Jacoby

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1:  Interior of the SIS office. The minders are going through paperwork, and Paul Crocker has just entered the room. There is one empty desk.

Crocker: AFTER THE RECENT SPATE OF FATALITIES OUR AGENCY HAS EXPERIENCED, I'VE HAD NO CHOICE TO TURN TO A SEPARATE AGENCY FOR A REPLACEMENT.

2: The door is beginning to open, but we cannot see who is behind it.

Crocker(OP): AGENT AUSTIN POWERS.

3: Austin Powers bursts through the door with his usual flair and exuberance.

Austin: YEAH, BAY-BAY, YEAH!

4: We see the entire office, as Tara and the other Minders are stunned.

Queen and Country - Aim for the Heart - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: A nerdy-looking man in his mid-twenties, sitting in one of those trendy coffee houses with the sofas. He is reading a book.

CAPTION: Adrian Simmons.

CAPTION: Computer programmer, Ultra-Tech Industries.

TARA (CAP): Sometimes my job isn't about shooting.

Panel 2: Close on the man, Adrian's, bag. In it we see a folder sticking out, labelled "PROJECT: TIGHTROPE -- CLASSIFIED". In the background there is some commotion as Adrian is jarred by something.

WOMAN (O.P.): Ooops! Sorry!

ADRIAN (O.P.): Aaaah!

TARA (CAP): Sometimes my job isn't about fighting.

Panel 3: Adrian, still in his seat, has coffee spilled over him and his book. He is not annoyed though; in fact he looks like he's the one in the wrong, like someone used to apologising. A woman stands next to him, her head out of panel, an empty coffee cup (recently spilled) in her hand.

WOMAN (O.P.): I'm so, so sorry. I just tripped...

ADRIAN: It's okay, it's fine...

TARA (CAP): Sometimes my job isn't about killing.

Panel 4: Close on the woman. It is, obviously, Tara. She is smiling.

TARA: Let me buy you a new coffee and a new story.

TARA (CAP): Sometimes it's about something much worse.

END OF PAGE

Apologies for the lateness of my entry.

Queen and Country – The Big Picture - Shaun Richens.

PAGE 22 – 5 PANELS.

22.1

We see the feet of TARA CHACE. Blood runs down the side of her combat boots.

Wind whips dust up off the dirt track she is moving down.

NO COPY.

22.2

The lower half of a MAN’s face cast in shadow. He holds a telephone receiver to his ear.

MAN: But sir, what about my agent?

22.3

TARA leans against the outside of make shift desert building, We can see down the track that runs next to the building, Tara is trying to get a glimpse down it with out giving herself away. A squad of soldiers in desert combat gear move down the track towards Tara, their assault rifles raised ready for action.

22.4

Cut back to the man in shadow, he is still having a heated phone conversation.

MAN: I understand.

MAN (small): She was never there.

22.5

Large panel. We see a large make shift desert village. In the distance on the horizon we see an old fortress. 

We can make out Tara in the F/G still taking cover behind a building. The squad of soldiers has moved up the track towards her. We can now also see a dozen or so other squads of a similar size moving through the village looking for Tara.

CAPTION MAN: Send in the air strike.

Queen & Country – Chace; Tara Chace – MK Stangeland Jr.

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: TARA CHACE is sitting in a movie theater, popcorn in hand and soda in a holder next to her. The lights are down and while we don’t see what the movie on the screen is, the words coming from the screen will make it pretty clear what she’s watching.

MOVIE (1): (Off panel) Bond.

MOVIE (2): (Off panel) James Bond.

TARA: (Thought Balloon) I’ve a split opinion on the matter.

Panel 2: TARA continues to watch as she munches on some popcorn.

SFX: (From TARA’s munching) *munch*munch*

MOVIE: (Off panel) [Music Notes – (If these are written as to line up with anything, they should line up with one of the generic 007 themes common to most if not all the films)

TARA: (Thought Balloon) On the one hand, being an actual British Secret Agent makes it difficult to enjoy watching a fictional account that plays with the rules so loosely.

Panel 3: TARA continues to watch as she sips her soda.

MOVIE: (Off panel) Vodka Martini. Shaken, not stirred.

TARA: (Thought Balloon) On the other hand, he’s such a British icon that it’s hard not to be a fan.

Panel 4: TARA continues to sit and watch the movie.

MOVIE (1): (Off Panel) BOOM!

MOVIE (2): (Off Panel) Bam! Bam! Bam!

Panel 5: TARA smirks a little as she continues to watch the movie.

MOVIE: (Off Panel) Oh, James…

TARA: (Thought Balloon) His looks don’t hurt his case, either, I guess.

(END PAGE)

Queen & Country - It's Come to This - Ben Rosenthal

1.  Behind a shadowed figure illuminated by the computer screen he sits in front of.  He is reading an email however we cannot make out the words on the screen.

MAN: Queen and Country.  Interesting.


2.  Same framing, with different windows open on the screen.  This person is researching.


3. The man is standing at the screen now.  He is reaching into his pocket and pulling something out.

MAN: Dammit.  Looks like I am finally going to have to use this.



4.  A close up of hands signing a piece of card.

5.  The man is walking away from the screen, the card which he has just signed resting on the keyboard.

6.  A close up of the card.  It reads:


VALID ONE TIME ONLY

Thought Balloons 'Get out of Jail' Card.

Only to be used when one cannot come up with a script for that week.

Signed: Ben Rosenthal.


------

Sorry.

Queen & Country- A Direct Path -Dan Hill

Page 1

ONE:

Exterior. A wide shot of Centraal Station in Amsterdam, early evening. People go about their business as rain begins to fall. A tram cuts across the panel, people rushing to get out of its way.

Reference: http://imagene.youropi.com/amsterdam-centraal-station-bezienswaardighe(p:location,819)(c:0).jpg

1. CAPTION/Crocker: “There are concerns about your...socialising.”

2. CAPTION/Tara: “What kind of concerns?”

TWO:

Interior of the tram. TARA stands amidst the crowded car, holding onto one of the straps that dangle from the ceiling. She’s wearing suitably warm clothes, a mac wrapped around her frame and an umbrella in the other hand. She looks towards us; bored.

3. CAPTION/Crocker: “That it’s having an effect on your performance.”

THREE:

From TARA’s POV we see a baby in a papoose carrier, strapped to its father’s front. It smiles with wonder and joy.

4. CAPTION/Tara: “Sir, a bullet only exists between when it’s fired and when it finds its target.”

FOUR:

Same perspective as Two. TARA smiles a little.

5. CAPTION/Crocker: “Where are you going with this, Tara?”

FIVE:

TARA is now in the corridor of a fancy looking hotel. She uses a swipe card to get access to her room, looking over her shoulder as she enters.

6. CAPTION/Tara: “I’ll get it done, Sir.”

SIX:

Wide panel; almost an aerial shot of TARA standing at the side of the double bed in her room. On the bed is a high powered sniper rifle and its case.

Reference: http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sniper-rifles/brit/ai-ae-e.html

7. CAPTION/Tara: “You don’t have to worry.”

Why Queen & Country?

In attempting to answer the above question I thought about the espionage, the games and oneupmanship behind closed doors, the plausible and scary scenarios writer Greg Rucka often throws into the mix. But, truth be told, it all comes back to Tara Chace.

For those not in the know, Queen and Country is a comic book series (and three prose novels) that follow Tara Chace, an operative of the SIS (Secret Intelligence Service). The series described a number of Tara's missions as well as the subsequent fallout and political machinations surrounding them too. Over the course of the series Rucka not only fleshed out a great supporting cast for Tara, but showed us the effect such a life had on those that perpetrate it.

As Rucka explains in this awesome article over at io9:

"Tara can kill people with her bare hands and escape from Iran with two bullets in her body, but she can't maintain a personal life worth a damn."

As those that follow Rucka's work know, he's very adept at writing female characters, it's perhaps even one of his hallmarks. I'd go out on a limb and say that Tara is his finest creation. The first time we see Tara in the series she's assassinating a man in Kosovo, one of the most dangerous and unruly places on Earth. She does it quickly, calmly and cleanly. We then see her subsequent escape. She even takes a bullet at one point but keeps it together, using her looks and brains to flummox the guards at the border crossing, ensuring she lives to see another day.

When we see Tara a second time it's 3:57AM on a rainy night in London. Tara is awoken by a phone call from her boss to report an attack on the SIS headquarters (retaliation for  the assassination Tara carried out). Her bedroom is, to put it mildly, a mess. Books, rubbish and empty bottles litter the floor. Tara's bed covers are strewn every which way and she even clutches an empty bottle of some undisclosed alcoholic spirit. The first thing she does when hanging up the phone is to rush to the toilet to throw up.

This is Tara Chace in a nutshell-- professional to the hilt but tragically flawed.

This is before we get to everything else that makes the series great. We have the ever evolving roster of "Minders" (agents) and their changing dynamic with each other. We have their boss, Paul Crocker, a man of principles who is often tasked with breaching them, much to his disdain.

Queen & Country provides a stark, realistic look at the world of espionage-- more Len Deighton than Ian Fleming. It shows us the chicanery, the deals, the questionable ethics, the danger and the toll it takes on those who are constantly immersed in this world.

Have at it!