Jimmy Olsen´s blues
Okay. Just so that we lighten up the blog, here´s one page from last year´s 120-pages long “Batwoman” daily serial. It was page one from issue three, in which Catwoman had led the Secret Society of Super-Villains- Please do bear with me here. The idea was indeed to add together a silly plot & silly characters with a more sophisticated narrative, just to see if I could make it work, just for fun -in raiding the Justice League Satellite. Green Arrow was the only hero present at the orbiting HQs at the time and was taken down by surprise, but not before he managed to signal Superman for help…
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PAGE 1.
Panel 1.
Partial view of the planet Earth to the lower-left section of the panel, surrounded by the nothingness of the star-filled void.
1 CAPTION: Something microscopic at this distance shoots upwards through the skyline of a vast urban spread on a great metropolitan center somewhere on North America´s Eastern shore. It is exactly 04:36:03 am, less than two minutes since Green Arrow signaled for help.
2 CAPTION: It is clocked at over four times the speed of sound by land-based radar stations, and accelerating.
Panel 2.
Pull back to reveal the pointy tip of one of the JLA satellite´s pylon antennae, shining in the sunlight.
3 CAPTION: A split-second elapses as the air scorches red-hot on its trail as it gains sovereignty over the lower atmosphere.
4 CAPTION: The Satellite´s onboard scanners compensate for electromagnetic interference from the surrounding environment and track the projectile with extreme precision.
Panel 3.
Pull back further, so now we can see most of the left segment of the JLA Satellite´s outer rim in the shot, with two of its pylons in full view. Below, a shinning point of light comes off Earth´s atmosphere.
5 CAPTION: A mind capable of solving equations using whole star-systems instead of numeric algorithms calculates trajectory and thrust…
6 CAPTION: …Its uncanny eyesight not bothered by the lightwaves shifting deeper into the blue spectrum as their lengths are compressed under a speed never dreamed of.
Panel 4.
The point of light becomes a thin white line shooting off the Earth en route to the Satellite.
7 CAPTION: The Satellite´s electronic mind fire streams of binary information through lengths of cables and wires scattered throughout its radiation-proofed structure…
8 CAPTION: …Crawling deeply, spiderlike into the transistorized bulkheads of its lower levels below the main deck…
Panel 5.
The white line becomes a blue-red-yellow blur, now only a few hundred feet away from the Satellite.
9 CAPTION: Bright primary colors drop off the speed of light.
10 CAPTION: The displacement of gravitons in its presence slightly warps space around the orbital station… the fact does not go unnoticed by its nigh-omniscient recording devices.
Panel 6.
A rather large, bold panel.
An extreme close-up of a porthole inside the Trophy Room inside the Satellite, looking out to space. The porthole, to the left of the panel, takes almost two-thirds of the shot, whereas the darkened, inert head of Amazo the Amazing Android (seen here from the neck up, just his head) lies against the wall, facing the reader.
The main event, however, is what we see through the porthole: The full-bodied figure of SUPERMAN drops off lightspeed, like an angry god. He is mad, every muscle flexed, fists closed shut and arms bent below & outwards, bursting with raw power.
OBS: I don´t care what the rest of the free-world thinks, but this is Alex Ross´ middle-aged, badass, adult Superman. This is NOT the eternally-29 fashion-model teenage superstar post-Crisis Super-wimp. This guy should look like a 45-year-old blue-collar “dad” right out of a 1930s Depression-era America, built like a damn tractor, with a receding hairline, thin lips, blue eyes perpetually squinting, skin like granite, raw power bursting at the seams at every move.
11 CAPTION: 04:36:06 am. An angry god re-enters Reality, only to see his temple defiled and family threatened.
12 CAPTION: Superman´s commands are unheard in the void, but his message is clear: Get out.
13 CAPTION: Within the Trophy Room, a dead Android bears silent witness to the scene.
Panel 7.
A small panel.
Extreme close-up on Amazo´s darkened face from the previous shot, his eyes now open wide in a red glow.
14 CAPTION: Within the Trophy Room, a mockup of the powers and abilities of the entire Justice League comes alive as Amazo awakens after a deep slumber.
15 CAPTION: His thoughts are clear. His mission is clear. One word flashes through its artificial brain: Kill.
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Sang the Spin Doctors in their 1991 album “Pocket Full of Kryptonite”: He’s leaping buildings in a single bound / I’m reading Shakespeare at my place downtown / Come on downtown and make love to me / I’m Jimmy Olsen not a Titan, you see.
Guy sitting next to me here at the office just downloaded the new Superman Returns trailer, looks good, got me in the mood for some Kryptonite after all…
I mean, everybody likes Superman, right?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PAGE 1.
Panel 1.
Partial view of the planet Earth to the lower-left section of the panel, surrounded by the nothingness of the star-filled void.
1 CAPTION: Something microscopic at this distance shoots upwards through the skyline of a vast urban spread on a great metropolitan center somewhere on North America´s Eastern shore. It is exactly 04:36:03 am, less than two minutes since Green Arrow signaled for help.
2 CAPTION: It is clocked at over four times the speed of sound by land-based radar stations, and accelerating.
Panel 2.
Pull back to reveal the pointy tip of one of the JLA satellite´s pylon antennae, shining in the sunlight.
3 CAPTION: A split-second elapses as the air scorches red-hot on its trail as it gains sovereignty over the lower atmosphere.
4 CAPTION: The Satellite´s onboard scanners compensate for electromagnetic interference from the surrounding environment and track the projectile with extreme precision.
Panel 3.
Pull back further, so now we can see most of the left segment of the JLA Satellite´s outer rim in the shot, with two of its pylons in full view. Below, a shinning point of light comes off Earth´s atmosphere.
5 CAPTION: A mind capable of solving equations using whole star-systems instead of numeric algorithms calculates trajectory and thrust…
6 CAPTION: …Its uncanny eyesight not bothered by the lightwaves shifting deeper into the blue spectrum as their lengths are compressed under a speed never dreamed of.
Panel 4.
The point of light becomes a thin white line shooting off the Earth en route to the Satellite.
7 CAPTION: The Satellite´s electronic mind fire streams of binary information through lengths of cables and wires scattered throughout its radiation-proofed structure…
8 CAPTION: …Crawling deeply, spiderlike into the transistorized bulkheads of its lower levels below the main deck…
Panel 5.
The white line becomes a blue-red-yellow blur, now only a few hundred feet away from the Satellite.
9 CAPTION: Bright primary colors drop off the speed of light.
10 CAPTION: The displacement of gravitons in its presence slightly warps space around the orbital station… the fact does not go unnoticed by its nigh-omniscient recording devices.
Panel 6.
A rather large, bold panel.
An extreme close-up of a porthole inside the Trophy Room inside the Satellite, looking out to space. The porthole, to the left of the panel, takes almost two-thirds of the shot, whereas the darkened, inert head of Amazo the Amazing Android (seen here from the neck up, just his head) lies against the wall, facing the reader.
The main event, however, is what we see through the porthole: The full-bodied figure of SUPERMAN drops off lightspeed, like an angry god. He is mad, every muscle flexed, fists closed shut and arms bent below & outwards, bursting with raw power.
OBS: I don´t care what the rest of the free-world thinks, but this is Alex Ross´ middle-aged, badass, adult Superman. This is NOT the eternally-29 fashion-model teenage superstar post-Crisis Super-wimp. This guy should look like a 45-year-old blue-collar “dad” right out of a 1930s Depression-era America, built like a damn tractor, with a receding hairline, thin lips, blue eyes perpetually squinting, skin like granite, raw power bursting at the seams at every move.
11 CAPTION: 04:36:06 am. An angry god re-enters Reality, only to see his temple defiled and family threatened.
12 CAPTION: Superman´s commands are unheard in the void, but his message is clear: Get out.
13 CAPTION: Within the Trophy Room, a dead Android bears silent witness to the scene.
Panel 7.
A small panel.
Extreme close-up on Amazo´s darkened face from the previous shot, his eyes now open wide in a red glow.
14 CAPTION: Within the Trophy Room, a mockup of the powers and abilities of the entire Justice League comes alive as Amazo awakens after a deep slumber.
15 CAPTION: His thoughts are clear. His mission is clear. One word flashes through its artificial brain: Kill.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sang the Spin Doctors in their 1991 album “Pocket Full of Kryptonite”: He’s leaping buildings in a single bound / I’m reading Shakespeare at my place downtown / Come on downtown and make love to me / I’m Jimmy Olsen not a Titan, you see.
Guy sitting next to me here at the office just downloaded the new Superman Returns trailer, looks good, got me in the mood for some Kryptonite after all…
I mean, everybody likes Superman, right?
posted by 186282mps at 8:13 AM
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