Tiger Lawyer - In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two seperate, yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. And Tiger Lawyer. These are their stories. - R.A. Wonsowski

9 panel, 3x3 grid


Panel 1 - black, with caption in white lettering

CAPTION:  (centered, at bottom)  Superior Court - Part 31

SoundFX:  CHONG-CHONG!


Panel 2 - View from the witness stand, as if we are on trial.  The D.A., played by James Rebhorn (you know, THIS guy:)
looks to the judge (on our right, and again unseen)
and backs his way to his table.
TIGER LAWYER is reading a manila file,
reading glasses held at his nose.

D.A.:  No further questions, Your Honor.

TIGER LAWYER:  Redirect, Your Honor?


Panel 3 - Same p.o.v.  TIGER LAWYER
pushes himself to a standing position,
manila file open before him, glasses in his paw.  The D.A. takes his seat at his table.

TIGER LAWYER:  You have maintained that your confession was coerced.

ME:  Absolutely.

TIGER LAWYER:  And that despite your physical advantage, this was a matter of self defense.

ME:  That's right.


Panel 4 - Same p.o.v.  TIGER LAWYER standing between his table and us.  D.A. now sitting down.

TIGER LAWYER:  In fact, you requested meetings with the State attorney's office, and willingly sat down with him to explain your unusual circumstances.

ME:  Yes, sir.

TIGER LAWYER:  And who was present at these meetings?


Panel 5 - Same p.o.v.  Same as above, except the witness (us) is pointing at the D.A., who has a look of angry shock.

ME:  That Assistant D.A., you know, the dishy one with the legs.

ME:  And that douchebag right there.

D.A.:  HEY!  Your Honor...


Panel 6 - Same p.o.v.  TIGER LAWYER gesturing to the D.A., who is now standing gesturing his hands at TIGER LAWYER and us.

TIGER LAWYER:  Let the record show the witness has indicated the douchebag...

D.A.:  Your Honor!  Objection!


Panel 7 - Same p.o.v  TIGER LAWYER no stands smugly with his paws in his pockets.  The D.A. is shocked, angry, indignant, and turning red.

D.A.:  I am not going to stand here getting insulted.  I want that stricken from the record!

JUDGE:  (unseen, from the right) What a douchebag...Overruled!


Panel 8 - Same p.o.v.  Everyone in the court is slack-jawed, wide-eyed shocked into silence, the D.A. most of all.  TIGER LAWYER is backing up closer to the D.A.

NO COPY


Panel 9 - Same p.o.v.  TIGER LAWYER standing next to the D.A. who is redfaced, screaming, head tilted back.  TIGER LAWYER is talking from the side of his mouth to the D.A. while facing us and the judge.

TIGER LAWYER:  (small lettering) ...douchebag...

D.A.:  YOUR HONOR!!!

JUDGE:  (unseen, from the right) Oh for Chris'sakes...Proceed!

Tiger Lawyer vs. Legal Eagle - J.D. Coughlan

Apologies for the lateness.

Panel 1: Courtroom. Tiger Lawyer stands from his desk and points a finger, angrily.

TIGER LAWYER: Objection!

TIGER LAWYER: The prosecution is treating my witness aggressively, with no cause!

Panel 2: Legal Eagle, an anthropomorphic eagle in a suit, at the witness stand (there is an ordinary man sitting there), checking his nails casually.

LEGAL EAGLE: Sigh. I would expect such lack of foresight from a land animal.

LEGAL EAGLE: I can already see the direction this case is heading in, and see no reason to beat around the bush.

Panel 3: Tiger Lawyer, hands on hips, looking smug, yet still annoyed.

TIGER LAWYER: Typical bird; in and out quickly, no mettle for the in-between. Not tiger enough for the real fight.

Panel 4: Long horizontal panel. Split-screen of a close-up of both Tiger Lawyer and Legal Eagle's eyes. Squinting at each other with constrained primal rage.

NO DIALOGUE

Panel 5: The weary Judge. Rolling his eyes.

JUDGE: Gentlemen...

Panel 6: Legal Eagle leaping through the air towards Tiger Lawyer, already in an attack pose.

LEGAL EAGLE: (Large) IT'S ON!

END OF PAGE

Tiger Lawyer - Jurispredator - Niel Jacoby

Full Splash: Close shot of Matt Murdock's face, passive, as he sits with Foggy in a courtroom. We see Tiger Lawyer presenting his case in the reflection of Matt's glasses, as well as a sinister, smirking Wilson Fisk. Foggy is worried.

CAPTION(DD): AFTER THAT ALTERCATION WITH BULLSEYE AT THE DOCKS*, I WAS SURE WE HAD FISK ON THE RUN.

CAPTION(DD): BUT WE WEREN'T PREPARED FOR THIS. WE WEREN'T PREPARED FOR HIM.

CAPTION(DD): WHEN WILSON FISK IS IN A CORNER, HE KNOWS, AND HE KNOWS WE KNOW, THAT HE CAN ALWAYS FIND A BIGGER FISH FOR THE TANK.

CAPTION(DD): BUT THIS--THIS IS SOMETHING ELSE.

CAPTION(DD): THIS IS MORE THAN A FISH, THIS CAT'S ABOUT TO EAT US ALIVE EVEN IF HE HAS TO DROWN TO DO IT.  HE'S RELENTLESS, RHETORICALLY SKILLED, AND READY FOR ANYTHING.

CAPTION:* SEE LAST ISSUE

Inset Panel: Matt is smirking, slightly.

CAPTION(DD): HE'S BIG GAME, ALL RIGHT. AND THE GAME IS AFOOT.

TIGER LAWYER – Vs. The Top Dog – MK Stangeland Jr.

Introducing: KAINE SAVAGE, the antagonistic counterpart to TIGER LAWYER! Where TIGER LAWYER is a tiger that is a defense lawyer, KAINE SAVAGE is a wolf that is a district attorney. And much like TIGER LAWYER, KAINE SAVAGE walks upright and wears a professional legal suit and, if possible, his tie should be colored the inverse of whatever color TIGER LAWYER’s tie is during the comic, presuming it changes color.

Here, TIGER LAWYER and KAINE SAVAGE are dealing with the aftermath of the murder of a suspect that TIGER was defending and KAINE was hoping to get a deal with so that they would reveal information he thought the suspect had.

(7 Panels)

Panel 1: TIGER LAWYER and KAINE SAVAGE are standing outside the door to the morgue as people pass by them.

KAINE SAVAGE: Clearly, someone didn’t want to give him the option.

TIGER LAWYER: I might agree, if I thought he was guilty.

Panel 2: KAINE SAVAGE points at TIGER LAWYER. He has an upset look on his face. TIGER LAWYER looks annoyed with a touch of defensive.

KAINE SAVAGE: You can drop the act, Tiger. Your client is dead, you don’t need to pretend he’s innocent.

TIGER LAWYER: I don’t pretend. I know.

Panel 3: KAINE SAVAGE bares his teeth as he tries to berate TIGER LAWYER. TIGER LAWYER isn’t having any of it.

KAINE SAVAGE: Don’t give me that ‘animal instincts’ ©%@*.

KAINE SAVAGE (2): You forget who you’re talking to.

TIGER LAWYER: You don’t need to dog me about who I’m talking to.

Panel 4: KAINE SAVAGE and TIGER LAWYER look like they might be on the verge of going at it.

KAINE SAVAGE: You did not just go there, you overgrown tabby cat.

KAINE SAVAGE: Don’t you forget that in this world, it’s the dog that always comes out on top.

Panel 5: Close up as TIGER LAWYER and KAINE SAVAGE’s noses are inches away as they glare at each other. A sort of lightning effect might be present between their eyes as they glare angrily at each other.

TIGER LAWYER: You want to go at it, you overgrown mutt?

KAINE SAVAGE: It would give us one thing we could agree…

BUILDING ADMINISTRATOR: GENTLEMEN!

Panel 6: A man dressed in a suit is standing next to TIGER LAWYER and KAINE SAVAGE, looking extremely POed at both of them for their behavior and pointing to a door off-panel.

BUILDING ADMINISTRATOR: If you’re going to fight, I suggest taking it outside!

Panel 7: TIGER LAWYER and KAINE SAVAGE have stepped apart and trying to look nonchalant as they realize what they were just doing. There’s a clear sense of embarrassment that shows through their charade as they both realize how unprofessional they were just acting. The man standing next to them still looks upset and has his arms crossed in front of him.

KAINE SAVAGE: (Music Note)

TIGER LAWYER: Er, uh, hmm…

END PAGE

Tiger Lawyer- Better than most, as good as the best -Dan Hill

I had lots of fun with this and had at least three other ideas for this weeks pick.

As a bonus, here's the song I pretty much wrote this one to: 

Page 22

22.1
Wide panel: We OPEN looking down into an alleyway on a dark rainy night. In the middle of the alley is a CORPSE wearing a dark business suit, lying on its back.

TIGER LAWYER, wearing a light grey suit, crouches over the body. Trash and puddles pockmark the alley at random intervals.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

The night started off bad and didn’t have the good grace to try and be anything different.  

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

A frantic call from an old friend.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

A location on a map.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

And a corpse.

22.2
CLOSE UP on the corpse. This is LEHANE. He’s an old buddy of Tiger Lawyer’s. He’s in his late 30’s with close cropped brown hair and hawkish features.

Three bright red and deep gouges cut across Lehane’s face. A claw mark.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

I didn’t do this.

22.3
CLOSE UP on Tiger Lawyer. Rage starting to build, the rain dripping down from his fur.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

But someone wanted to make believe I did.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

Their mistake.

22.4
CUT TO a polaroid, a TIGHT SHOT of Tiger Lawyer and Lehane back in the day. They both sit atop the turret of a TANK, wearing military fatigues. They are bright, cheery and full of youth. They both make the peace sign towards CAMERA, laughing together.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

Me and Lehane went way back. In it together.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

10th Armoured Division.

22.5
CUT TO the alleyway. Tiger Lawyer is now standing up over the body, straightening his suit, composing himself.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

I’m all that’s left. An endangered species.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

Whoever did this is going to learn all about the 10th. See, we had a motto...

22.6
ZOOM IN on Tiger Lawyer, snarling with rage.

TIGER LAWYER (CAPTION)

Terrify and destroy.

Tiger Lawyer - The Morning After (The Night Before) - Grant McLaughlin

Sorry I'm late.  Hope it was worth the wait.  I'd say panel one top row, panels two and three middle row, and a good portion of the page reserved for panel four.

1 - Shot of Tiger Lawyer's living room.  While it's evident that the place is usually quite luxurious, at the moment it looks like a tornado recently swept through.  The aftermath of a ripping house party are visible everywhere.  Furniture is overturned, lamps are without their shades, and empty food and drink containers are everywhere, to name but a few things.  Let's also say that there's a jetski lying in the middle of the whole disaster area.  Along the back wall, there's an open doorway that leads into Tiger Lawyer's bedroom.  Tiger Lawyer speaks from within the room, his word bubble shaky and wavy to connote his hungover state.

TIGER LAWYER (from within room): eughgh --

2 - Inside Tiger Lawyer's bed room.  You wouldn't think it's possible, but things are actually worse here.  One or two corners of the mattress has fallen into the bed frame, clothing is everywhere (as if TL's drawers have been completely emptied), things are broken, and claw marks cover anything and everything (again just to give an idea).  The sliding door to his balcony / deck is open and nature has gotten into the place during the night.  Despite the poor shape of the bed, Tiger Lawyer is asleep within it, completely covered by his sheets.  He is in the unfortunate state of waking up.  Word balloons remain shaky and wavy.

TIGER LAWYER (small in the balloon): what did I do last night...?

3 - Tiger Lawyer gets up from his bed.  He holds his head in pain.  Frame this so the open door is behind Tiger Lawyer and the whole shot is in silhouette.  Word balloons remain shaky and wavy.

TIGER LAWYER: ooohh...

4 - Tiger Lawyer stands in front of the full length mirror in his room (or bathroom, if you prefer).  He is terrified at what he sees.  Shirtless, it's quite easy to see that Tiger Lawyer's stripes are gone.  Instead, he's just a big, orange cat.  Frame the shot from behind Tiger Lawyer, so the figure facing the reader is his reflection.

TIGER LAWYER: What did I do last night?!

CAPTION: Next: A tiger can change its stripes?!?

Tiger Lawyer – Objection – Ben Rosenthal

1.  A courtroom.  This panel shows the defence table, the head defence lawyer standing, raising his fist in anger as he objects strongly to a form of questioning. 

DEFENCE LAWYER

OBJECTION YOUR HONOUR! Prosecution is intimidating the witness.

2.  A man sits in the Docks, cowering with fear.  Next to him, leaning over the docks is Tiger Lawyer.  His hands are raised in a mock attacking position (like when a child pretends to roar like a tiger) and his mouth open wide, sitting just above the witness’ head.  Tiger Lawyers mouth could easily fit the width of the witness’ cranium in his mouth.  Tiger Lawyer’s eyes are not vicious at all, rather looking over at the defence sheepishly.

TIGER LAWYER

What?

Tiger Lawyer – Cat Got Your Tongue. – Shaun Richens.

PAGE ONE – 6 PANELS.

LAYOUT

112

345

666

1. Establishing shot. Night. Rain falling. Outside the club Foxtrot the name glows in bright neon pink. A crowd snakes from the club entrance all the way around the building. This is a hot spot, and a joint just waiting for trouble.

         CAPTION TIGER LAWYER:

Sometimes to keep the city clean you have to go into the gutter.

2. Close up on TIGER LAWYER. He wears a classy two-breasted suit, his trench coat and fedora. TIGER LAWYER’s paws are on the collar of the coat pulling it up to shield him from the rain.

         CAPTION TIGER LAWYER:

         Sometimes a Tigers got to go into the Lions den.

3. A shot from behind TIGER LAWYER as he crosses the street towards FOXTROT.

CAPTION TIGER LAWYER:

Sometimes you have to get your paws dirty.

4. TIGER LAWYER stands at shoulder height with the BOUNCER on the club door. The BOUNCER is huge like a wrestler, shaved head and covered in tattoos, his arms crossed in front of him. He’s not even looking at TIGER LAWYER.

         TIGER LAWYER:

         I’m here to see the man they call the Fox.

5. Close up on TIGER LAWYER. He is pretending to act a bit twitchy.

         CAPTION TIGER LAWYER:

         The Bouncer gives me nothing. I change tact.

         TIGER LAWYER:

I owe Fox money. He’s guna have one of my nine lives if I don’t get it to him.

         CAPTION TIGER LAWYER:

         I lie.

6. Two shot of TIGER LAWYER and The BOUNCER. The BOUNCER, now looking at TIGER LAWYER, wears a grin so smug you want to punch him just by seeing it.

         BOUNCER 1:

         You don’t like much like the Fox's normally kinda client?

         (Linked)

         BOUNCER 2:

         What you on catnip of sumthin’? Ahaha!

         

         CAPTION TIGER LAWYER:

         I bite my tongue.

         CAPTION TIGER LAWYER:

Let him joke. I’m here for justice.

BOUNCER:

Go on down. Fox is out back in the vip room.

The story continues here.

Why Tiger Lawyer?

If you’ve never heard of Tiger Lawyer, first shame on you. Second allow me to help you correct that mistake, with a brief back-story.

Tiger Lawyer is a creator owned comic book series from talented young writer Ryan Ferrier. The basic set up and idea behind the book is simple, Tiger Lawyer is a Bengal Tiger that just so happens to be a high-profile criminal defense lawyer.

Now that we all know what kind of beast we are dealing with I can get into the details. Why would I want us to write this character?

Why the hell wouldn’t we want to write this character? The character alone is a truly fun central concept to run with, and reason enough for the pick, however, and this is where things get really interesting. Each issue of Tiger Lawyer is made up of two short stories. They cover a variety of styles and genres with each one bringing a different artist to the table. Furthermore Tiger Lawyer runs back up stories in the Image come Hell Yeah, each one a single page adventure with our favorite feline attorney.

This combination of established single page story telling and the wide range of styles and genres makes it ideal creative material for us Thoughtballoons writers, and anyone who wants to enjoy us at home.

Tiger Lawyer can be anything you want it to be. The potential for fun and creative storytelling is almost endless with this set up. Everything about the character and the whole book in general makes it perfect for this site

So with no further objections lets get this court in order and go have a great time!