Skinner Sweet – A Continental Divide – Brian Manton

1.
The Panama Canal, under construction. A massive scene of early 20th Century progress. A controlled explosion billows from the rockface. (Position the explosion in the reading flow between cap 1 & 2.)
Ref:
/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/The_Panama_Canal_--_The_Great_Culebra_Cut.webp
/history/british/victorians/images/gal_panama_culebra_cut.webp

TEXT:  1913. The Panama Canal (work-in-progress).

CAP (1) (Skinner):  160 trains a day haul away wreckage as 27,000 tonnes of dynamite slowly press through the Culebra Cut.

CAP (2) (Skinner):  Tearing the future from solid rock.

CAP (3) (Skinner):  Plans big as these leave a lot of room to work on your own.

2.
A burly worker strains as he lugs a boulder into a cart. Labourmen clear away debris as demolitions men set more charges.

CAP(Skinner):  6000 men working the cut.

CAP(Skinner):  Hungry work.

3.
A train pulls into the large cobbled-together train station. A few of the boxes are passenger carriages but most are cargo laden. Men unload crates of whiskey, food and supplies.

CAP(Skinner):  Those 160 trains return with all manner of sustenance.

4.
A lavishly decorated but gloomily lit train carriage. Four businessmen dressed in early century finery are presented with a line up of young women. The men's eyes somehow catch and reflect the light from the wall mounted lamps.

CAP(Skinner):  The finest of which is reserved for men who don't need to labour in the sun all day to build up a hunger.

5.
Through a crowded carriage of elegant whores we see Skinner Sweet, brimmed hat tipped - revealing only his smile.

CAP (Skinner):  Plans, plans, so many plans.

Skinner Sweet - Hallelujah - R.A. Wonsowski

Layout:
111
234
567

Panel 1 - Establishing shot: A moonlit night, near Memphis, Tennessee.

CAPTION:  Memphis. May 29, 1997.


Panel 2 - , sitting barefoot on the shore, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans rolled up at the cuffs, looking out at the river, smiling closed-mouth at nothing in particular.

CAPTION:  Maybe there's a God above...


Panel 3 - Same as Panel 2, except we see the eyes, fanged grin, and claw-like nails of SKINNER SWEET gleaming in the dark, right behind JEFF, who is unaware of his presence.

CAPTION:  ...But all I ever learned of love...


Panel 4 - JEFF's eyes go wide with terror as SKINNER clamps his hand over JEFF's mouth, his other arm wrapped around JEFF's chest, securing his arms.

CAPTION:  ...Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew ya...


Panel 5 - SKINNER is laughing maniacally as he is dragging JEFF struggling into the river.  They are both waist deep, and JEFF is kicking, unable to scream due to the hand over his mouth.

CAPTION:  ...It's not a cry you hear at night...


Panel 6 - Same as Panel 5, but now the water is up to their necks.

CAPTION:  ...It's not somebody who's seen the light...


Panel 7 - Same POV as Panels 5 and 6, but the water is calm, reflecting the moon, except for a few straggling air bubbles where SKINNER and JEFF went under.

CAPTION:  ...It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah.

CAPTION:  Jeff Buckley's body was found six days later.  His drowning, though ruled accidental, has never been explained...

Lyrics by Leonard Cohen

Jeff Buckley version on his album "Grace", which I consider one of the three most perfect albums of the 1990's

(the other two are Pearl Jam's "Ten" and Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane O'er the Sea")

Skinner Sweet - Bloodsuckers - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: Skinner Sweet, in the 1970s, in front of a large office building. It's a large shot so we can see just how big it is.

Caption: IN ALL MY TRAVELS ACROSS THE US, I'VE MET A LOT OF RASCALS, RUSTLERS, CUTTHROATS, MURDERERS, BOUNTY HUNTERS, DESPERADOES, MUGS, PUGS, THUGS, NITWITS, HALFWITS, DIMWITS, VIPERS, SNIPERS, CON MEN, INDIAN AGENTS, MEXICAN BANDITS, MUGGERS, BUGGERERS, BUSHWHACKERS, HORNSWOGGLERS, HORSE THIEVES, BULL DYKES, TRAIN ROBBERS, BANK ROBBERS, ASS KICKERS, SHIT KICKERS, AND METHODISTS.

Panel 2: Skinner walks into the building.

Caption: BUT THERE'S ONE GROUP OF ASSHOLES I NEVER DARED CROSS... UNTIL NOW.

Panel 3: Skinner walks into a legal office, on the wall there's a plaque for Marshall, Crain, Torres, and Koenig- Attorneys at Law.

Skinner: ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND A WILLIAM CRAIN, ESQUIRE?

Cap(Skinner): LAWYERS.

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?

Skinner Sweet – American Vampire Hunter – MK Stangeland Jr.

(7 Panels)

Panel 1: The dark of night in a hotel room. A newspaper sits on top of a nightstand – the headline reads “Major Gold Heist!”

SFX: (From a door opening off-panel) CreEEAAa…

Panel 2: A man – TYRELL HELLER – creeps his way into the room. He’s dressed with a somewhat concealing coat and hand over his standard clothing, and in his hand is what looks like some kind of revolver crossbow. The arrows in the crossbow, notably, have golden arrowheads.

Panel 3: Panel looks up past TYRELL as he stops short. Hiding above him is SKINNER SWEET, who’s ready to pounce.

Panel 4: SKINNER lunges at TYRELL from above. TYRELL shifts and rolls away from him and shoots a couple of arrows which miss their target.

SFX: Thumn! Thumn!

Panel 5: SKINNER lands and prepares to make his second move.

SKINNER: I had a feelin’ you’d show up.

TYRELL: Gotta put my gold to good use.

Panel 6: SKINNER and TYRELL charge at each other.

SKINNER: Should have just spent it!

Panel 7: TYRELL hits SKINNER across the face with a cross hook. He’s a wearing a pair of gold-plated Brass Knuckles.

SFX: BLING!

Skinner Sweet - Cold Shoulder - Grant McLaughlin

1 – A big, wild blizzard. A real white out. Snow's flying everywhere, but there doesn't appear to be anything to see.

NO DIALOGUE

2 – The arctic winds continue unabated. But in the distance, a haggard figure walks towards us. His clothing is ripped to shreds and he seems to be bleeding heavily.

NO DIALOGUE

3 – The figure is nearer to us. Near enough to see that it is Skinner Sweet. While he's in a mighty bad way, he looks upwards towards something off panel with an expression that is a mixture between pleasure and relief.

NO DIALOGUE

4 – Skinner has passed our point and is now walking away, near the distance with a small red trail behind him. Towards the side of the panel, the legs of a large sign are visible (although not the sign itself).

NO DIALOGUE

5 – Pull back a bit more, we can finally see the sign itself. It reads: “You are now leaving Canada. See you again soon!”. Skinner Sweet is gone from view and the blustering snow has erased any evidence of his being there.

SKINNER SWEET (tailless): Not if I can help it.

Skinner Sweet - The Scorpion - J.D. Coughlan

Sometime in the 1920s -- before Skinner Sweet meets Pearl Jones -- Sweet hitches a lift from a pilot named Fawkes in an old, enclosed cockpit bi-plane. Fawkes is driving Sweet insane with his small-talk.

Panel 1: Two-shot of the cockpit. Fawkes is flying, Sweet stares out the side with a murderous look in his eyes. Fawkes smiles obliviously. He is the stereotypical, middle-aged, upper-class British WW1-era pilot; moustache, white scarf, etc.

FAWKES: It was during the big war that I learned how to fly, of course, but I think it'll be a skill required more and more in this day and age. There may even come a time when every home has an aeroplane in the garage!

Panel 2: Same shot. Sweet now has his head in his hands.

FAWKES: ...after Barbara died, I moved out here to California. Yes, my boy, you Yanks certainly know how to live. I know you all get a bit of a bum reputation, but I think that's just jealousy, quite frankly.

Panel 3: Same shot, Sweet has now looked up with a wicked grin.

SWEET: I think you're on to something there, actually.

SWEET: Most of my dealings with Yoo-row-pee-ans... well, let's just say American values came out on top.

FAWKES: There you are, see? Although I suppose you can say you've met one nice Brit now. Why, without me, you wouldn't be in the air at all! Better hope nothing happens to me, eh?

Panel 4: Same shot. Sweet's claws are growing and his fangs are on display. Fawkes remains oblivious.

SWEET: Yeah, about that...

SWEET: Ever hear the tale of the scorpion and the fox?

END OF PAGE

Why Skinner Sweet?

A long time ago, before Twilight and its sparkly, expressionless would-be romantics, vampires were scary. They stalked the night, hiding in the shadows, creeping up on their human prey, only to sink their sharp fangs in and drink the blood like it was juice from a mango. Skinner Sweet is not only a return to that terrifying brand of bloodsucker; he's even scarier.

Co-created by acclaimed master of horror fiction Stephen King, Sweet is the first ever American vampire. With him, a new strain of vampirism is created; just as different animal species are found on different continents. Skinner Sweet is the next evolution of vampire. He, and all other American vampires, can walk during daylight, but are weak when there's no moon out, and are invulnerable to just about everything except gold.

But that's not all that sets Skinner apart. Don't let his sweet tooth (sweet fang?) fool you -- the man is evil to the bone. Even before he was feasting on the living, Sweet was a ruthless old west outlaw, the worst of the worst, with absolutely no empathy for his fellow man. In fact, he almost seems to go out his way to treat people worse. It's in his blood.

As a vampire, Sweet has lived a long time, and has seen much of America's 20th century unfold before him. Not that he'd care himself though, but Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque's American Vampire is as much about history as it is about horror. Skinner Sweet is just along for the ride.

And there's nothing sparkly or romantic about him.