Samurai Jack - Sabishii Desu - Brian Manton

1.
Wide panel.
Jack is emerging from an alien looking forest, black tree bark and leaves with cracks and veins of bright pink.
His guide, a cyborg-baboon, points to an ominous mountain in the distance (panel right).

CAP (JACK):  Even in a world so strange

2.
View from behind Jack as he treks up the arduous mountain path.

CAP (JACK):  Perhaps a few days will pass

3.
Side view. You can tell from Jack's stubbled face that days have passed. The pathway has long since given up on its ascent but Jack, though weary, struggles on up the rocky incline, using his sheathed sword for balance.

CAP (JACK):  a week

4.
As Jack hauls himself to the summit we see a bustling trading town at the top of the mountain, seemingly run by bird-creatures. Aliens, monsters, robots and mutants buy and sell their wares.

CAP (JACK):  a month

5.
Close on Jack's face - he has noticed something.

CAP (JACK):  but eventually

6.
A human face in the crowd. A beautiful young woman.

CAP (JACK):  I think I see her face

7.
Wide.
Jack, small in the panel, looks defeated. The alien landscape of this future stretches in the distance behind him.

CAP (JACK):  and then I remember she's a million years away.

Samurai Jack - A long time ago in the future... - R. A. Wonsowski

Samurai Jack may be Genndy Tartakovsky's masterpiece, but his Star Wars: Clone Wars microseries is still a personal favourite, especially as it introduced one of my favourite characters...

Asajj Ventriss

NO COPY ON THIS PAGE.

Layout:
1122
1134
5678
9 XX

Panel 1 - VENTRISS appears from a roof access door atop a Japanese skyscraper, lightsabers glowing in her hands at her side.  The futuristic Tokyo skyline is the background. The sky is afire.

Panel 2 - VENTRISS (left) and SAMURAI JACK (right) face each other on the rooftop.  VENTRISS has assumed a battle stance, the roof access behind her, while JACK stands poised, upright, hand on the hilt of his katana as if ready to draw his sword.  His face however, is in a hard Clint-Eastwood-like stare.

Panel 3 - Close-up, the glaring eyes of VENTRISS.

Panel 4 - Close-up, JACK's eyes, hard and piercing.

Panel 5 - VENTRISS, her profile, rose-coloured in the glow of her lightsabers, her teeth bared.

Panel 6 - JACK's profile, his face unchanged.

Panel 7 - VENTRISS adjusts her stance, shifts the positions of her sabers.

Panel 8 - Close-up on JACK's hand on his sword hilt, the blade just peeking out from the scabbard.

Panel 9 - Close-up, VENTRISS's right eye and brow, which is beginning to furrow as a drop of sweat drips down her temple.

Panel 10 - Same POV as Panel 2, as VENTRISS slinks in retreat back down into the roof access, lightsabers still in hand but off.  JACK has not moved, his stare unchanged.

(my inspiration for this page is a quote from the samurai master swordsman, Musashi: "The ultimate aim in mastering the martial arts is to never have to use them.")

Samurai Jack - Leap To The Past - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: Samurai Jack wakes up after making camp in the techno-jungles. He seems uncharacteristically unsure of his surroundings.

Jack: ?

Panel 2: Jack stumbles over to a puddle on the ground

NO COPY

Panel 3: Jack splashes water onto his face in an attempt to refresh himself.

NO COPY

Panel 4: We see Jack's reflection in the water is actually that of Dr. Sam Beckett in Jack's signature outfit.

Sam: ZIGGY?

Samurai Jack - The Pirates of Time - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: Jack, in a dark alley, turns as a time portal opens behind him.

JACK: A time portal!

Panel 2: Jack running towards the portal.

JACK: At last, I can return home!

Panel 3: A bunch of steampunk-looking pirates burst forth from the portal, their captain, Kronux, knocks Jack down.

KRONUX: AH-HARR!

JACK: OOF!

Panel 4: Wide shot. Jack is already leaping to his feet, hand on his sword. Kronux points his own sword at Jack. The portal is closing.

KRONUX: Samurai Jack! I am Captain Kronux of the timeship Eternity's Gold! We are the Pirates of Time!

KRONUX: My crew and I have sailed the seven eons, plundering treasures from across history, but their is one we yet seek...

KRONUX: YOUR HEAD!

Panel 5: Close on Jack, his eyes in a death stare.

NO TEXT

Panel 6: Jack launches himself towards Kronux, sword drawn. Kronux takes a defensive stance, a look of glee on his face.

JACK: YAH!

END OF PAGE

Samurai Jack – What Hasn’t Been – MK Stangeland Jr.

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: On top of a scenic hillside in ancient Japan. JACK is lying on a blanket, while a woman, MAI (no reference), lies next to him.

MAI: <Is our not simply perfect?>

JACK (1): <No. It is not.>

JACK (2): <There is something wrong. Very wrong.>

Panel 2: MAI sits up with a concerned look on her face. She looks down at JACK.

MAI: <It is not? My dear, what is wrong?>

JACK: <I do not know, but I know that something is very amiss.>

Panel 3: JACK sits up and scoots away from MAI a little.

JACK (1): <Something has felt wrong ever since I first awoke and laid eyes on you.>

MAI (1): <My husband, please…>

JACK (2): <Such as your inability to say my name.>

MAI (2): <Jack, please…>

Panel 4: JACK stands and looks down at MAI.

JACK (1): <That is not it.>

JACK (2): <Tell me, woman, what is the truth here?>

MAI: <This is…>

JACK: <No. None of this is truth. This is all a lie.>

Panel 5: JACK turns around to see the form of AKU towering above him from the distance.

AKU: YOU FOOL! Even when I gift you a life of paradise, you must continue to plague me!?

JACK: AKU!

AKU: You could have a happy ending! Never before have I given this to ANYONE!

Panel 6: JACK pulls his sword out from nowhere – which he can do because this is all inside his head – as the world around him starts to fade, though the effect should be subtle to start with.

JACK (1): This is not a happy ending!

JACK (2): This is a lie!

JACK (3): And to accept it would be to accept defeat and to allow your reign to continue!

(END PAGE)

Samurai Jack - The Samurai and the Thief - Grant McLaughlin

1 - Jack stands in the house of a high class man and woman.  While this is set in the dystopian hyperfuture city that is seen throughout the show, the man and woman are dressed in something that would be a mix of that aesthetic and the 1920s.  The three figures stand in front of a case (akin to a china cabinet) that is filled with gems, jewels, and other priceless looking baubles.  However, in the middle of it all is a stand that is without its ware (perhaps have a dotted outline or lines from where it would be to emphasize its absence.  The man should point despairingly towards the missing items, the woman should hold a handkerchief to dab her crying eyes, and Jack should stand pensively.

NO COPY

2 - Jack, wearing his hat, wanders through the city backstreets, keeping an eye out for his quarry.  Feel free to populate the background with any manner of shabby looking people and objects you'd like.

NO COPY

3 - A panel close-up on Jack's eyes.  They are open wide, having seen something.

NO COPY

4 - Jack has apprehended a particularly shabby looking man, grabbing his by an arm that holds an expensive looking jewel that is presumably the missing one Jack has been tasked to find.  Jack looks earnest and perhaps a little disappointed; the shabby looking man is alarmed.  They stand before a blanket / curtain hanging along the wall

NO COPY

5 - The shabby looking man pulls back the curtain / blanket to reveal his scared and shabby looking family.  A woman holds a baby to her chest in a protective manner and a small girl hugs her in a frightened way, seeking her protection.  While fully visible, they make as if trying to hide from the world and its many dangers.  The shabby looking man looks towards Jack meaningfully; Jack wears a mixture of shock and sadness.

NO COPY

6 - Return to the scene of the first panel.  Jack, his face downturned, shakes his head in apology.  The man and lady wear disappointed looks on their faces.

NO COPY

Samurai Jack - So We Wait- Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 6 PANELS.

1.1

Page wide panel. We open in the burning ruins of JACK's home city. The evil shape-shifting wizard AKU stands with his back to us. The black and white swirling rip in time pulsates before him. JACK is flying through the air towards the rip.

AKU:

HAHAHAHA!

1.2

Repeat 1.1 The rip in time is closing up. Only a small tear still open, Jacks arm reaches through it. The last piece of our hero slipping away.

AKU:

And so the great Aku is the victor.

VOICE (O.P):

Not so, Aku.

1.3,1.4,1.5 make up a row of three equal sized panels. Each panel shows Aku slowing turning towards us and the voice. His mouth drops and his eyes are getting wider and wider as his gaze turns more towards us.

AKU (Speechbubble covers all three panels):

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

1.6

Page wide panel. Standing in front of a new tear in time is a much older version of JACK. He wears his hair loose and long , it reaches all down his back, his face has a full beard. A golden crown sits atop his head. A dark blue cloak billows all about him, it his held to his tunic by a golden talon clasp. Jack stands sword raised to battle. His face steely calm.

JACK:

I have waited a lifetime for this moment...

Why Samurai Jack.

Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting Master of Darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me.

Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is Aku!

Only we, brave Thoughtballooners can help Jack on his journey.