Recap Page - Everything - P. A. Nolte

1/ A white panel.

Caption: Before, there was nothing.

2/ A white panel with a small black dot at the center.

Caption: Then, there was everything.

3/ Tendrils shoot from the black dot, obscuring the panel.

Caption: But it ended.

4/ A black panel.

Caption: And now...

RECAP PAGE: 366 ACRES--DAVID PRESS.

In the background of this RECAP PAGE let’s have that famous 1980 photo of the United States Hockey Team celebrating their win over the Russians in the Winter Olympics. Here’s a reference: /2012/01/usa-hockey.webp. How about a pale blue background?

DISPLAY LETT:                   Previously in 366 ACRES… 

                                                

It’s 1980 and the US Hockey team has just defeated the Russians at the                                                 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, New York.

                                                

Or have they?  

                                                

Adirondack Acres is hooked up to a party line and the Kings get a call from their dead Cossack ancestry.

                                                

The Kangs across the street are invaded by the Lily Corps of World War 2.

                                               

Meanwhile, the Russian athletes boarding at the house at the end of the lane get a look at the world if the Russians won the hockey game…

Recap Page - Jaguar's Eye - Perry Kent

Page layout should have a large section at the top with the logo and the words "Previously...". Each panel has a caption below it. Then at the bottom of the page in large letters is the title of the story "Curation Capers: Curse of the Jaguar's Eye".

Panel 1

Interior, temple. GRIMES, an elderly archaeologist, lifts a large yellow gemstone from behind a wall of broken stones. He looks dumbfounded at his discovery. The room is part of lost crumbling temple with plenty of vines and broken stones.

1. GRIMES: Could this be...the Jaguar's Eye?!

2. CAPTION: A tantalizing artifact.

Panel 2

Interior, dark, museum office. GRIMES, now dead, stares vacantly into the air as blood trickles from his mouth onto the floor of his office. The office has papers and books scattered everywhere and a chair is overturned from when GRIMES fell to the ground.

3. CAPTION: A terrible curse.

Panel 3

Interior, dim, bar. SATTLER, a mid-30s rugged man, holds his whiskey glass as HUGHES, a mid-50s man in a suit, talks to him. SATTLER is partially turned away from HUGHES as a sign of his reluctance to hear the other man's offer.

4. HUGHES: You solve this and you get your job back.

5. SATTLER: And a raise.

6. HUGHES: Don't push it.

7. CAPTION: An irresistable offer.

Panel 4

Interior, bright, museum office. SATTLER listens to JOHNSTON, a sultry woman about his age, as she looks over an gemstone encrusted artifact with a magnifying glass. They are inside of JOHSTON's office which is tidy, but filled with books.

8. JOHNSTON: You're good. But you were always better with me.

9. CAPTION: Old friends.

Panel 5

Exterior, night, road in front of museum. A large man in a ski-mask pulls JOHNSTON into a car with a gun to her head. JOHNSTON yells out with an annoyed expression. They are outside the front of the museum and rain is falling heavily.

10. JOHNSTON: Shoot him before he shoots me!

11. CAPTION: New stakes.

Panel 6

Exterior, night, roadway. SATTLER stands in the road, watching a lone car driving away from the museum. Rain pours heavily over the dark street.

12. CAPTION: Now for the continuation of...

As stated previously, down here is where there would be a section devoted to the title of the comic.

-END-

Recap Page - Meanwhile... - Grant McLaughlin

All captions are written in the gutter underneath the "pulled" panel in question.

1 - Pulled panel.  Pavoranian forces are marshaled outside the walls of the city of Torrence, their crimson red colouring a stark contrast to the faded battlements.  Evidence of the desert landscape is clear beneath the troops and siege vehicles.

CAPTION: The siege grows long, neither side willing to give an inch.

2 - Pulled panel.  On a large group of men and women riding flying lizards, focused on the lead flyer, their dark goggles hiding their eyes, but the grim look of determination is clear.  They wear a similar red.

CAPTION: Which is why the Pavoranians have sent for Skyriders in the hopes of circumventing the walls entirely.

3 - Pulled panel.  On the city walls.  Two large columns stand tall in the sky, electricity arcing wildly between them.  Similar columns are visible in the distance, charging up.

CAPTION: But it may be too late, as Torrence forces activate lightning coils to protect the city from outside threats.

4 - Pulled panel.  A large group of robots march through the street, holding improvised weapons and fists at the ready.

CAPTION: Unfortunately, discontent exists within: the Mechanical Men have grown tired of being treated as canon fodder.

5 - Pulled panel.  On Prince Antaro, sleeping in his bed.  He is distressed, frowning and sweating profusely, but unable to wake up.

PRINCE (weakly): N-no... please stop...

CAPTION: To make matters worse, Prince Antaro's unending sleep continues, his nightmares intensifying.

6 - Pulled panel.  Erasta sits at a desk in a dark office, looking over a number of documents and plotting.  She wears a malicious smile.

CAPTION: All this uncertainty may be the perfect moment for Erasta to take power for herself.

7 - This final panel isn't a panel so much as the space beneath everything else, filled with the following text on an empty background:

CAPTION: Or it may be the beginning of the end...

Recap Page – The Super President Action Force Team: “The Days That Shall Not Live In Infamy” – MK Stangeland Jr.

Panel 1: Pulled panel, with ABRAHAM LINCOLN reading a letter.

LINCOLN: King George has gone back in time to stop America from winning its independence!

TEXT BOX: A threat to history itself!

Panel 2: Pulled panel – inside shot of a TIME MACHINE designed to reference the famous DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future, but removed enough to be lawyer-friendly and more in line with the larger version designed to hold more passengers as was utilized in the Back to the Future Ride. JOHN F KENNEDY is in the drivers seat, next to him in the front passenger seat is EISENHOWER. Riding with them are RONALD REAGAN, GERALD FORD, RICHARD NIXON, LYNDON JOHNSON, and HARRY TRUMAN.

EISENHOWER: Let’s go save General Washington.

TEXT BOX: A team on a mission to save reality itself!

Panel 3: Pulled panels, showing a series of chaos from failures to stop KING GEORGE.

TEXT BOX: An enemy that remains one step ahead!

Panel 4: Pulled panel – EISENHOWER is vanishing from history as he tries to put in a final order.

EISENHOWER (1): The answer was obvious the whole time.

EISENHOWER (2): We’ve been reacting when we should be on the offensive!

TEXT BOX: One last hope for victory!

Panel 5: Pulled panel – EISENHOWER is nearly gone as he says a few last words.

EISENHOWER (1): You have to go back…to the future.

EISENHOWER (2): (Fading and shrinking as it goes on) You have to stop…King George…before he can…use…his…time…machine…

Panel 6: The remaining members of the team stand looking at the empty space where EISENHOWER was just standing; aside from EISENHOWER, TRUMAN is also absent, having vanished earlier.

TEXT BOX: Can the remaining members of the Super President Action Force Team stop King George before it’s too late, or is history as we know it DOOMED?!

(END PAGE)

Why Recap Page?

Previously, on Thought Balloons…

After years of writing comic book pages about comic book character, it was decided to open the gates and write about everything! Suddenly, no character was off limits, no concept was too far out of bounds.

So far, THOUGHT BALLOONS has found this to be a great success. But what about what comes…before?

Recap Page

It’s the page that’s usually at the front of the comic, maybe even on the inside of the cover. Despite the idea that ‘every [comic] is someone’s first’, this is a world where nearly every comic out there is part of a grand, overarching narrative, one that needs to include a way to get new readers up to speed. Hence, the little blurb at the front that ensures that newcomers aren’t completely lost. Making the ability to write a good one an increasingly important skill in the world of comics…