A Trio of Photos - Finch & Ruiz - Shaun Richens

PAGE ONE - 6 PANELS.

1.1

Open on a close up of DETECTIVE FINCH, he’s middle aged, lean, his hair rests in a widows peak - he wears a suit that is functional not fashionable. His face wears the look of disgust.

FINCH:

Fuck.

1.2

Cut to. We are looking down an escalator coming up out of a busy tube station. DETECTIVE RUIZ is the focus as she nears the top of the escalator. She holds her phone to her ear. She’s young, but tough looking. She’s hard edged and cynical. She wears a dark grey suit, no tie, her dark hair cut short. Her badge hooked on her belt.

RUIZ:

Finch? What is it? I’ve had like twenty missed calls. I was underground.

1.3

Reveal shot. Looking over Finch’s shoulder into an abandoned church, he’s still on the phone to Ruiz. Light spills in through the cracked stained glass window. Light pools around a chair in the centre of the room, the corpse of a young boy hangs from the ceiling. A few police officers in uniform are putting police warning tape up around the scene. 

FINCH:

It’s him Ruiz. We’ve got another kid. Same m.o. as the others.

1.4

Cut back to Ruiz. She is now on street level, walking through a busy downtown main street in a large urban city.

RUIZ:

You sure it’s him? We’ve had copycats before.

1.5

Cut to a close up on a photo pinned up to a corkboard. The photo is grainy, but the face of a man can be made out. He is middle aged, short dark hair. He holds a pistol in his hand, the weapon obscures most of his face.

CAPTION FINCH:

Trust me. It’s him, it’s Preston Bishop. Our goddamn ghost in the wind.

1.6

Pull back - we reveal the whole of the cork board. It’s massive. The photo from the last panel sits in the centre. All around it are other photos, gangs of men, weapons, maps with locations circled, a few evidence photos from murder scenes. A few hand written notes (we can’t make out what they say.)

CAPTION FINCH:

Three years and all we’ve got is a grainy photo of this psycho.

Fantastic Four - Family Echoes - Shaun Richens

PAGE ONE - 6 PANELS.

1.1

Close up on REED RICHARDS hand. He holds a whiskey glass, a splash of high class whisky left at the bottom, ice slowly melting around it.

CAPTION REED:

Science was my first love but I’d always vowed that my family mattered most.

1.2

Close up on Reed. His head down as he rubs at his temples with his other hand.

CAPTION REED:

Then I lost them, I forced the space mission, I didn’t want to wait.

CAPTION REED:

I was a damn fool.

1.3

Cut to deep space. JOHNNY STORM in a sci-fi, high tech space suit. He falls through space towards a distant sun. Wreckage of a damaged spacecraft floats around him.

CAPTION REED:

Poor, brave Johnny. He tried to save us. How did I repay him, I just left him up there to burn.

1.4

Cut to. A panel filled with the emptiness of space. A few stars fight against the darkness in a few small areas. More wreckage from the doomed spacecraft litter the scene.

CAPTION REED:

My dear sweet Susan. She, she just vanished without a trace. I had no time to search. The ship was a wreck, breaking apart more with every second.

1.5

Cut to. Interior an intensive care ward. We on focusing on a patient lying in bed. His entire body wrapped in bandages. An oxygen tent around him. Amazing, medical tech all connects to him via cables and tubes.

CAPTION REED:

I got Ben home at least. But at what cost? He’ll never be the same. The man I knew as Ben Grimm died in the stars with the others.

1.6

Cut back to Reed. Wide panel. Reed stands in his lab, go full kirby with this, but a modern twist. Reed is in full lab gear. His back to us. In front of him is a large circular metal portal, it’s made from copper and gold with tints of silver and black iron. This is a door to another dimension - to all other dimensions. A swirling, flowing blue vortex breaths into life at the heart of the portal - it looks almost like liquid.

Reed’s empty whisky glass rests on a worktop near by.

CAPTION REED:

Somewhere out there my friends, my family. They’re alive.

CAPTION REED:

And I will make us whole again.  

Metamorpho - Fosis and The Outlanders - Shaun Richens

I may have gone mad with this one - This is my homage to Michel Fiffe’s comic Copra - Which itself is a homage to 80’s Suicide Squad. This is meta as hell and either really fun or terrible - you decide, but either way thanks for reading.

I’ve taken Batman and The Outsiders and given it a Copra style makeover. So let us begin.

Our players for this page -

Dr Fosis is our Metamorpho analogue - shape-shifting, adventurer with a broken heart since the disappearance of his one true love Miss Diamond Deer. Fosis is muscular and athletic, bald and handsome. He looks perfectly human except for the alien Orb embedded in his chest. The orb is slowly killing Fosis but it is also the source of all his power.

Knockout is our Looker - the youngest member of the Outlanders - Knockout is a powerful psychic but has recently developed a taste for blood having been turned into a Vampire by the Outlander villain Duke Icho. Knockout wears the look of a superhero goth. One side of her raven black hair shaved to the skull. Fosis has promised to find Knockout a cure for her vampiric disease.

Brontide is our Black Lightning - The quiet heart of the Outlanders - Brontide rarely speaks outside of missions after the tragic events of his past he only wants to focus on the job at hand. Brontide is capable of reacting at lightning speeds. His mind and eyes can process information at such speeds, that time appears to have slowed down. Brontide FYI he can fly and has the strength of a hundred men. He is the true powerhouse of the Outlanders. Brontide wears a superman like costume, but in black and yellow, instead of a cape he wears a leather jacket. His face is covered by a streak of white face paint over his eyes.

D.E is our Katana - D.E is a member of the Japanese hero team The Shining Suns - she is currently working with The Outlanders at the request of Watchdog (Our version of Batman) She is skilled with all bladed weapons and carries an array of swords, daggers and knifes with her. She is not authorized to use lethal force.

Lady Mindflayer - The leader of the Cult of Psychics. She was raised as an assassin in Japan but at the age of twelve her psychic powers started to develop - she killed her handlers and went on the run, only to return ten years later, the leader of one of Japan's most evil and feared gangs. She now runs the Japanese underworld through sheer force of will.

PAGE TWENTY-TWO - 5 PANELS.

22.1

We open on FOSIS. Fosis had shape shifted his body into that of LADY MINDFLAYER the leader of the CULT OF PSYCHICS, to infiltrate the gang. His disguise has been discovered when KNOCKOUT’s psychic shield over Fosis failed when her vampiric blood lust took hold of her.

Fosis’s face slips half between his own and that of Lady Mindflayer as his mind is bombarded with psychic attacks from his captures. His face is scrunched up in pain.

Purple waves ripple out from around his head (A visual clue to the attack)

Fosis is locked to a chair - restraints around his arms, legs and neck. Lady Mindflayer and a squad of her psychic priests surround him.

FOSIS:

Argh!

LADY MINDFLAYER:

I will unlock the secrets you hide in your brain Dr Fosis. It doesn’t matter how much I have to pull your mind apart.

22.2

Cut to KNOCKOUT, BRONTIDE and D.E. They are in their laboratory hide out. Go full Kirby in the design of this place.

Knockout clutches at her temples in pain.

KNOCKOUT:

I’m so sorry. She, she has Fosis.

KNOCKOUT:

I couldn’t hold on.

22.3, 22.4, 22.5 A row of three smallish panels.

22.3

Close up on Fosis - he is trying to shift his head into a protective helmet - something like Magneto’s maybe - but the attacks on his mind are still too strong - one side of the mask has turned to a liquid and runs down his body.

22.4

Fosis attempts to stretch his neck so he can slide free from the resistant holding his head in place. Instead half of his neck and face have started to bubble as if boiling.

22.5

Fosis has forced his powers to much. His head slumps forwards, he is unconscious.

LADY MINDFLAYER: (OFF PANEL)

Your mind is mine now fool.

22.6

Cut back to the Outlanders Lab - Knockout wipes blood from her lips as she has finished replenishing her strength. D.E wraps a bandage around her hand, blood stains into it. Brontide stands waiting. He needs Knockout back at her A game.

KNOCKOUT:

Thanks D.E. The blood lust was setting in, I could barely see straight.

D.E:

We are a team now. We most looking out for one and other.

BRONTIDE:

Speaking of. Can you get a link back to Fosis? What’s going on?

22.7

Close up on Knockout - her fingers to her temples as she focuses. Her eyes wide, pure white. - White lines ripple from her mind as she reaches out to Fosis.

KNOCKOUT:

Bronitde. It’s worse than I feared. We need to get to Fosis now.

KNOCKOUT:

He’s - he’s gone cold on me. Mindflayer must have broken him. 

Writer-in-Residence - Shaun Richens

I'm happy to tell you all that Ben and his top shelf artwork isn't your only blast from the past this week.  As you've no doubt already gathered from the post title, your friend and mine Shaun Richens is back in town and is joining us for a few weeks as our next writer-in-residence.  But don't take my word for it:

Like all comic characters my death was never final, only a momentary absence from the scene. So once more I return to Thoughtballoons, and I can’t wait to write comics here again.

As with any returning character we’ll need to do a damn origin story -

So who am I?

I’m a dude who lives in London and thanks to it being so expensive to live here, I spend my evenings indoors making up stories and that I need try to convince much more talented people than I to bring to life with their art. So I am pretty much just you’re average comics writer. I’m lucky enough to work at Gosh! comics in London - so I’m pretty much 24/7 comics!

Why comics?

Because it’s the absolute best, right? It’s the only medium you can do anything in. Comics are the bastard love child of books and movies. They have all the best bits of both and the limitations of neither. If you want to do a universe spanning space opera you don’t need a hundred million dollars to make it. You want to do a slice of life story about running a factory you don’t need the greenlight, all you need in comics is the right collaborators and a vision and you’re away. With comics you don’t have to get permission to make something. It’s punk rock, it’s DIY - but at the same time it’s now the go to place for hollywood looking for the next big thing, but what they, and most people don’t realise is, it’s not the stories that are the next big thing - it’s the whole damn medium.

So that’s why comics - because it could never be anything else.

Where to find me?

We can find me Twitter - although I’m on a kind of self imposed exile from all social media whilst I try and break the back on my new writing schedule so it may be a bit of a Ghost town around there for a while.

I’d much rather you take a moment to read my previous work here at Thoughtballoons, just hit my name in the runs tab at the left and see my growth from amateur comics writer to a slightly better one.

Thanks for having me back.

And thanks to RKL for building the house we get to party in.

Shaun Richens.

Moon Knight - Oath - Shaun Richens

Heavily inspired by the Ellis/Shalvey run. 

PAGE TWENTY - 20.

6 PANELS.

PANEL 1.

Moon Knight - In his white suit, jacket off resting over his knee, sleeves rolled up, white gloves speckled with red blood droplets. We are in the back of MK’s black car. It’s predawn but the early morning light can’t puncture the blackout windows.

NO TEXT.

PANEL 2.

Cut to EXT: MK’s black car driving towards the end of a pier. Tyres rumble across the wooden slats.

NO TEXT.

PANEL 3.

The car comes to a dead stop a few feet from the pier’s edge. The sun breaks the horizon with a thin shock of orange.

NO TEXT.

PANEL 4.

Small panel. Close in on MK’s leg as he steps out of the car.

NO TEXT.

PANEL 5.

Small panel. Close in on MK’s hand as he reaches to unlock the boot of the car.

NO TEXT.

PANEL 6.

Page wide panel. Looking into the trunk of MK’s car over his shoulder. WARD the priest from earlier is bound and gagged. One eye swollen and bruised. Tears run down his cheeks. We can barely see his clergy outfit underneath the thick chains wrapped around him. Thirteen different padlocks are locked at varying sections of the chain.

MOON KNIGHT: Shhh. Shhh. The night is over. As is your time to talk.

Why Thoughtbaloons? - Shaun Richens

Thought Balloons: What it means to me? Or One Sappy Comic Writer’s Journey Into The Past - By Shaun Richens.

The date says 11/10/10 but I must have come to the article nearly a year later, and it’s all thanks to Josh Flanagan over at iFanboy that I found this wonderland of comics writing.

I was at a point where I was looking at comics, not just as something I enjoyed, but perhaps as something I wanted to, dare I say it, make. Now I already knew, despite that B in A-Level art, that I was never guna make it as an artist. However, thanks to the staggeringly brilliant Irene Holley, my college English teacher, I had a newfound passion for writing - something I hadn't had since my days of writing fanfics about The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings, well before I even know what a fanfic was - and I thought “hey, maybe I could give writing a go”. The only issue? Where the hell to even start.

Living in the age we do I of course turned to Google, which lead me very quickly to the article I opened with. A few clicks later and my entire comic based life was pretty much changed forever. All of a sudden I had access to hundreds of page of comic scripts, from writers trying to do what I wanted to do, not waiting for permission, just doing it, writing, and writing damn well. Within a few weeks I’d ravaged the vault, read everything and was greedily waiting for new pages of script to go live. I’d go through old comments sections and learn just as much from the others guys’ advice as I would from the scripts. Thoughtballoons was, and still is, the holy grail for new comics writers. I think even seasoned veterans could learn a trick or two from the TB archives.

July 29th 2011, I stepped into the ring for the first time in the comments section. It was Captain America, Steve Rogers, the Marvel comics iconic war hero and I was taking on the challenge of writing him. Rereading the script now it’s rough and hard to put myself through, but it still holds a little magic for me. Thanks to the support of the always positive and helpful Thought Balloons community I took my first step towards becoming a comic writer. It floors me to this day knowing that my first piece of script feedback was from Mr Ryan “Dark Horse Comics” Lindsay.

Between the comments section and what was to come, the Process Podcast happened - an in depth breakdown cast, where all things writing process were discussed. Hosted by T Balloons very own Ryan K Lindsay as well as Jeremy Holt, Kurtis J Wiebe and for a while Ed Brisson. This is comics podcast gold. This was crack to me at the time - I still get the itch to go back and listen to old episodes. It was the rocket fuel I needed for the next step.

Bounty of The Beast, what a heavy metal title. I still like that a lot. I may have to use that in the future. On Sunday February 19th 2012, that was the title of my first tenured piece. A cross country road trip story, wherein Ghost Rider collects demonic bounties for Hades’ head honcho - Satan. This will always be one of my proudest moments as a writer. Yeah the script is a C- at best, but to be welcomed into the fold here was such a defining moment for me. To have peers in the industry I love, people I respect and look up to inviting me to join them - it’s the thing that keeps me writing until this day.

Curt Pires, Ed Brisson, Kurtis J Wiebe, Ryan Ferrier, Michael Walsh, Jeremy Holt, Brian Level, Fabian Rangel Jr, Paul Allor, all of you writing here with me this week - the list could go on for another hundred names. Thought Balloons opened my mind to more creators once I discovered it than I’d found before it. And not just any creators, the kind of guys and gals who've gone on to become the next big thing, the kind of creators I aspire to be.

Without this site, and all of you beautiful b*stards I wouldn't be half the creator I am today. I’m not sure I’d even be creating at all. So always and forever thank you, thank you all.

Here’s to another five years.

P.S. Go read my Peanuts page from 2013 - perhaps still my favourite thing I've written.

- Shaun Richens (May 2015 - From a small flat in London)

Rat Queens – Pirate Booty – Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 5 PANELS.

1.1

A beautiful, blue, clear day out at sea. A vessel similar to a viking longship sails across the calm seas. The vast sail of the ship bares the Rat Queens logo.

HANNAH (from on-board the ship):

Ugghh

1.2

Cut to aboard the ship. Hannah's arms and head hang over the side of the deck, she looks very pale. She wipes vomit from the the side of her mouth with the back of her hand. Betty sits crossed legged a top a cask in the background. Violet is using a sharpening stone to hone the edge of her longsword. Dee stands beside Hannah, her arms folded across her chest.

HANNAH:

I'm seasick.

DEE:

Of course you are, nothing at all to do with the keg of Orcish mead you got through last night.

HANNAH:

...I'm seasick.

1.3

Cut to the Captain at the helm of the vessel. He is a short human fellow, round of belly and long of beard. He grins revealing a mouth with a single tooth. For such an unsightly man he has an air of joy and charm about him. He rests one hand on the decking in front of him whilst his other arm is out stretched, pointing towards the horizon.

CAPTAIN:

If you can hold you guts for a wee moment lassy you should take a look at that.

1.4

Looking out from the front of the ship, the tip of the ship points towards the horizon and towards an island in the distance. A vast beach, gives way to dense and dark looking jungle and at the very centre of the island is a thin and tall mountain that reaches straight up from the heart of the island towards the sky. It reaches so high as to almost touch the clouds. Massive monstrous black birds can be seen circling the top of the mountain, also dark rain clouds seem to be drawn to the same point despite the clear skies all around.

CAPTAIN (O.P)

Daggerpoint island ladies. The last stop for the good ship Salty Rat.

1.5

Cut to a close up on Hannah, still looking rather delicate shall we say.

HANNAH 1:

Bloody hell...

HANNAH 2:

Bring me more mead.

Why Rat Queens?

I was a D&D kid. Heck I'm still a D&D kid. I've always had a huge amount of love for classic sword and sorcery fantasy. Warriors and wizards doing battle with monstrous creatures and fiendish bandits. D&D got me into storytelling.

At the time I didn't realise it but it was the making up stories bit that I always loved about the game. Don't get me wrong, rolling at d20 and hitting the 18+ you need to fell the Orge, save the day and bag yourself the magic sword was thrilling, but being the Dungeon Master was always the greatest thrill. Weaving a narrative so exciting and compelling that the band of adventures couldn't resist pushing further into the ice mines to discover what the strange echoing voice they could hear was. Or how they couldn't help but fall for the lies of the beautiful maiden who had sent them on the foolish quest in the first place. Every roll of the dice was like a turn of the page, and I got to decide what they saw next.

Playing games when I ten turned me into a storyteller, now fifteen years later I'm still telling stories.

This week I want to get back to my roots, and thanks to Kurtis J Wiebe and Roc Upchurch I have the perfect excuse.

In Rat Queens, this magically duo have grabbed everything I remember so fondly from those hours of rolling dice and created a comic book series that makes ten year old me excited about storytelling all over again.

Rat Queens is my D&D memories all grown up and ready to kick some ass. 

The Falcon – Birds Of A Feather - Shaun Richens

PAGE ONE – 6 Panels

1.1

Page wide panel. Int Shield heli-carrier control room. Red alarm lights go off. Ultimate universe Nick Fury lies with his back against a control panel. He looks older than normally, wisps of grey hair in his eyebrows and facial hair, crows feet under his eyes. Sam Wilson (The Falcon) in black combat gear (his metal wing set folded up behind him) kneels at Fury's side.

FURY:

Funny how the man with the eye patch was to blind to see it. He's gone Sam.

FURY:

He wanted to get caught. He needed to get close to me.

FURY:

You have to stop him.

1.2

Page wide panel. Ext. The landing deck of the heli-carrier Its a clear bright morning. An Ultimate universe version of the super villain Vulture pushes sheild agents to the floor with ease, as he rushes past them. This Vulture is bald with a strong, sharp facial features. He looks very young, early 20's. He has a lean lightweight boxers body shape. He wears a very dark green combat suit, its sleek and advanced looking. On his back is a similar set of fold up wings to those of Falcon.

NO COPY.

1.3

Repeat of 1.2 Vulture has cleared the panel. Falcon gives chase pasted the chaos in the Vultures wake.

NO COPY.

1.4

Ext. The landing deck of the heli-carrier. The vulture with his back to us, his toes inching over the side of the deck, nothing but clear air beneath him.

FALCON (O.P)

Toomes. You know what happens next. Don't take that step.

1.5

Small Panel. Close up on the vulture looking back over his shoulder.

VULTURE:

Ha. You're the bird of prey Mr Wilson. Let us see if you can hunt.

1.6

Big panel. Looking up through the clouds towards the base of the heli-carrier. The vulture, wings unfolded dive bombs towards us. The shining glint of the Falcons wings can be seen giving chase behind.

NO COPY.

Lex Luthor – Spotless - Shaun Richens

PAGE TWENTY – 8 PANELS.

Layout:

1111

2345

6677

8888

20.1

Page wide panel. Int. A highly advanced Lexcorp research lab. The lab is vast and full of all manner of strange of impressive looking equipment and test stations. The lab is empty apart from Lex. He sits at the far end of the lab, his back to us.

CAPTION LEX:

To close the whole time. How could I not have seen it.

20.2

We pull in tight on the back of Lex. He is slumped over a workstation. His hands rest on the back of his head as Lex racks his mind.

CAPTION LEX:

How he must have laughed at me? Fooling me for all these years.

20.3

Still tight on Lex from behind. He now places a sleek silver helmet on to his head. A range of different coloured wires of various shapes and sizes spill from input and output inlets on the helmet.

CAPTION LEX:

I can't live with this. Not now. Not now I know.

20.4

Looking through Lex's eyes. Down at his hands that rest over the keyboard at the workstation. We can see the same types of wires coming out of the computer. The whole scene is bathed in the artificial blue glow of a monitor.

NO COPY.

20.5

FlASHBACK PANEL. All in sepia tones. Lex is on his knees facing us, but not looking at us. His head hangs low facing the floor. One of his hands strokes a tear from his cheek. Clark Kent stands behind Lex, he wears his work suit, no glasses, his shirt half unbuttoned, we see the superman 'S'. Clark reaches out towards Lex, about to place his hand on his shoulder as a sign of comfort. Clark's face full of concern.

LEX:

This can't be true. Not you Clark.

CLARK:

We're friends Lex. Superman... me, Clark. I've never been your enemy.

20.6

Back to lex in the lab. We on tight on Lex's finger, it hoovers over the enter key on the keyboard.

CAPTION LEX:

Now I see the truth. Kal-El and Kent, one and the same.

20.7

Close up on the computer screen. A text window is displayed on screen with a 100% full progress bar.

The text window reads:

All references to Clark Kent being Superman erased.

This terminal will hard reboot in ...15 seconds.

CAPTION LEX:

I'd rather be blind again.

20.8

Lex is unconscious slumped in the chair at the workstation. Superman stands at his side. A hand resting on his shoulder.

SUPERMAN:

It's just you and me old friend.

SUPERMAN:

I'll take you home.

 

Donkey Kong – DK Splits - Shaun Richens.

ONE PAGE – 5 PANELS.

Layout:

1234

5555

5555

1.1

Close up on DK. He is eating a banana.

DK:

Munch munch.

1.2

Still tight on DK. He has finished the banana and holds the left over skin in one hand.

DK:

HEH

1.3

DK winks at us the reader.

SFX:

DING

1.4

DK is throwing the banana peel over his shoulder out of panel.

SFX:

THROW!

1.5

Large panel. Ext the Luigi Circuit from Mario Kart. Its a bright and clear day. DK speeds towards us in his go-kart inches from the finishing line, his tie flying behind him. Mario in his own go-kart is spinning off the track, birds circle his head as he gets dizzy. In the centre of the tack is the cause of the spin. DK's banana peel.

MARIO:

Wa-Hoo!

Dinosaur Comics - Rex Rite - Shaun Richens

D4ve – Electric Sheep – Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 5 PANELS

1.1

PAGE WIDE PANEL. A monstrously large alien beast lies unconscious in the road. Smashed and abandoned cars line the street.

D4VE stands atop the beast in full hero mode. He looks confident and cool, he casually leans his elbow on the butt of an infeasibly big chrome gun.

A crowd has gathered. They listen silently as D4ve speaks. Looking up at him like a god.

D4VE:

...And the day is won.

Once again metal is mightier than flesh.

1.2

PAGE WIDE PANEL. Repeat of 1.1 The crowd have erupted into cheers and chanting.

D4VE has dropped his head, looking to the floor. His eye closed. One arm raised in the air fist closed (Think Judd Nelson at the end of The Breakfast Club) D4ve is loving every, single second of this.

THE CROWD:

D4VE. D4VE. D4VE. D4VE.

1.3

Close up on hero D4VE.

S4LLY(O.P):

D4ve

1.4

The blurry outline of S4LLY as she leans over the couch. We're looking at her from the couch. From D4VES POV.

S4LLY:

Boot the fuck up D4ve, you're guna be late for work.

1.5

Birds eye view. Looking straight down onto D4VE. He lies on the couch. One arm behind his head. He's still wearing his shirt from the day before.

D4VE:

Job damn.

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. 

Batmobile – Goodbye Horses - Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 6 PANELS.

All page wide panels.

1.1

Int. THE BATCAVE. Birds eye view looking down onto the BATMOBILE. The bonnet is up and open, a small amount of smoke pours from several parts of the engine. Light punctures through a smattering of bullet holes in the bonnet.

From underneath the front end of the car we can see BRUCE WAYNES legs, he is still wearing the bottom half of his BATMAN armour.

NO COPY.

1.2

Ext. GOTHAM CITY. The batmobile speeds down an empty street, in a run down and seemingly abandoned part of downtown Gotham. The night sky is filled with heavy snow and a hail of bullets.

SFX:

Blam Blam Blam.

1.3

Int. The Batcave. Profile view of the batmobile. Bruce Wayne is still underneath, he wears a white vest, which is covered in oil and grease on his top half, he has a set of tools laid out next to him and a torch held between his teeth lighting the underside of the Batmobile as he works

NO COPY.

1.4

Ext. Gotham City. The Batmobile drifts around a sharp corner, snow is kicked up over the road all around the screeching tires. The backend of the Batmobile nearly clipping a building.

SFX:

Screech

1.5

Int. The Batcave. Bruce Wayne, stands with his back to us looking at the Batmobile, we can see the all of the car for the first time here. It has flat tires, smoke now really pouring from the engine, the backend dented, its in the worst way we have ever seen it.

Bruce wipes sweat from his forehead with his forearm. His hands are covered in oil and grease.

CAPTION BRUCE WAYNE:

I'll get you fixed.

1.6

The waterfall entrance to the Batcave. The front of the Batmobile is inside the cave, the water spills all over the car running off its sides. The drivers side door is swung open and a bloodied and beaten BATAMAN, in full armour collapses out of it.

CAPTION BRUCE WAYNE:

Because you got me home.

Skinner Sweet – Sweeter Than Red Nectar – Shaun Richens.

PAGE TWENTY TWO – 5 PANELS.

22.1

SKINNER SWEET sits on the pouch of a saloon bar in Colorado. He rests slumped on the wooden chair nursing a cold beer, condensation running down the dirty glass, the beer the only thing fighting off the hot summer sun.

We are looking over Skinner's shoulder as he waits and watches from the shadow at the large house opposite him. The house is the only brick structure on the street, and is made form a gorgeous white stone.

A horse drawn cart moves down the dirt road in front of him and a scattering of other people go about their business.

CAPTION:

The summer of 1880. Colorado.

SKINNER:

Any minute now.

22.2

Cut to a close up on the dark wooden door at the front of the white brick house. The door is half open as a very well dressed, balding, plump man leaves his home. This is CARSON. He runs this part of town and that affords him and his family a pleasant life.

A beautiful, fresh faced young woman stands in the doorway beside Carson. This is RUBY, his daughter. Her hair is long and fair, almost white, her lips pink, her skin soft and white. She wears a long white, frilly and ornate white frock.

Ruby leans in and kisses her father, Carson on the cheek goodbye.

CARSON:

I shall be back this afternoon to eat with you my sweet Ruby.

22.3

Skinner places his drinking glass down on the floor of the saloon porch. A few drops of beer swirl in the bottom of the glass.

We see Carson walking away from his house in the distance. Ruby waves him goodbye.

NO COPY.

22.4

From behind skinner. He walks confidently out across the dirt road towards the white house. He places his hat on to his head to shield his eyes from the sun. Ruby stands in the doorway, looking towards Skinner. A smile on her face.

NO COPY.

22.5

Skinner leans on the wall next to the open door to the huge white brick house. Ruby's cheeks are flushed red as she looks at the floor. One of her hands curls her soft hair around her finger.

SKINNER:

So sweet little thing, do I get to see that big old room of yours again?

Krampus – Empty Beds – Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 7 PANELS.

Layout.

123

455

466

777

1.1

All black panel.

SFX:

Crash.

1.2

Close up on young OTTO. A boy of eight. His eyes open wide a smile on his face as he wakes up from his sleep. It is very early christmas morning.

OTTO:

<Santa?> *

CAPTION BOX

* Translated from German.

1.3

The empty bed of Otto, the sheets pulled back and left in a hurry as he rushes out to find Santa. The fuzzy dark blue light of pre dawn casting a chill over the room.

NO COPY.

1.4

Otto holds on to the banister as he creeps as quietly as can down the stairs. A doorway has been left ajar in the hallway running next to the staircase. A pool of light, flickering red and green spills from the half open door.

NO COPY.

1.5

Close up on Otto his face illuminated by the same flickering lights as he peaks in past the doorway, still to scared to enter and really meet santa.

OTTO:

<Is, is that you Santa?>

1.6

Large panel. Cut to inside the living room. A huge and beautifully decorated christmas tree twinkles with red and green lights.

KRAMPUS stands tall next to it, hunched over to fit into the room designed for humans. Krampus, is covered in blood red fur, he stands on two legs each with a large hoof in place of a foot, his hands have bird like talons, his face sharp and harsh, his nose more like a beak than a nose. Atop his head or a set of large rabbit like ears and a pair of twisted and savage looking horns. His belly is huge and round, but not jolly like Santa's.

(lettering note: Krampus speaks with a rough and scratchy font.)

KRAMPUS:

Didn't your mother tell you? You're on the naughty list little Otto.

1.7

Cut back to Otto's room. The sheets still pulled back exactly as Otto left them. The room is now filled with a bright light from the christmas morning sun.

NO COPY.

Bandette – Voleur De Performance - Shaun Richens

PAGE ONE – 6 PANELS.

1.1

Ext. The rooftops of Paris late at night during a beautiful full moon. Our young heroine BANDETTE, in full get up gives chase to a striking woman, MISS MIME, as she dashes gracefully across the tiled roofs towards us.

Miss Mime is a slender young woman. She wears a black and white mimes outfit with full white face make up. Her lips are bright red however and she has a small red love heart beauty spot on her cheek. Her hands are gloved and she carries a small brown pouch.

BANDETTE:

Madam, you are sure of foot and have the grace of a dancer for sure.

1.2

Close up on Bandette, a sly smile on her face.

BANDETTE:

But you are not sly like a fox or cunning as a cat like little old me.

1.3

Two shot of Bandette and Miss Mime, they have both both stopped running and now face each other on the rooftop.

BANDETTE:

Very sensible my dear. You have decided to give yourself up, no? And return the goods you stole from me.

BANDETTE:

It was a bother trying to acquire that pouch of goods you now hold.

1.4

Close up on Miss Mime. She holds her index finger up to her lips telling Bandette to be silent.

NO COPY.

1.5

Miss Mime tosses the pouch over the side of the building and turns to run in the other direction.

NO COPY.

1.6

Close up on a smiling Bandette.

BANDETTE:

Such a shame. You are a feisty vixen. We could have been such great pals.

BANDETTE:

ça ne fait rien

Bobs Burgers – Fry Hard: A Christmas Special – Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 5 PANELS.

1.1

Int. BOB'S BURGER SHOP. We can see the small figure of LOUISE BELCHER standing, her back to us, on a step ladder behind the counter. She wears her usual outfit the only difference being the ears on her pink hat hang down low pulled by the weight of christmas baubles she has attached to the end of each ear.

Louise is hanging a large sheet of paper over the burger menu.

LOUSIE:

Aw yeah. Christmas is here.

BOB (OFF PANEL):

Louise what are you going up there?

1.2

Louise now faces towards us and bob (still off panel.) Her hands behind her back trying to look as innocent as possible. Her body covers up whatever the sign she has hung up says.

LOUISE:

I'm just putting up the sign for the new christmas burger.

1.3

Cut to BOB. He is in his normal get up, greasy apron and all, he does however have a limp and slightly sad looking red santa hat on his head. He stands with his hands on his hips trying to give off an authoritative father vibe, but failing.

BOB:

I told you I'd come up with the new christmas menu.

LOUISE (OFF PANEL):

But Bob, this is guna be the best burger we’ve ever done!

1.4

Cut to reveal of the sign. It is written in bright red and green bubble writing and has a crude picture of a huge burger on it. The burger is overflowing with fries that have been stuffed in on top of the burger itself.

The sign reads:

Merry Christmas One and All!

Try our new

“Fry Hard” Burger.

An all in one action packed meal.

Yippee Ki-ya

The last line of the sign is cut off by the bottom of the panel, the top of a T, F and K can be seen peeking up in the same bubble writing but thats it.

1.5

Bob, red faced stands in front the sign trying to cover up as much of it with his flailing arms as he can. Louise, still standing on the step ladder, looks straight at her dad, her arms folded across her chest. She looks real mad.

BOB:

We have to get this thing down right away. We can't let the customers see this.

LOUISE:

But it's from my favourite Christmas film.

LOUSIE:

Where's your sense of Christmas spirit dad?