30/03 Update

As you can see below, I'm starting to get all my old posts back onto the Writer's Blog.

Hopefully, I'll catch up to the present before this system suffers the same H@X0r/script kiddie problems the last one did.

30/03 10/26/05 Hero Happy Hour Script

10/26/05
{excerpted from my Writer's Sketchbook}

The very best way to keep your writing skills up is just to write. Writing is not just an art, it is a craft. While a person may be gifted with the writer’s artistic spark, the craft must always be honed. That only takes place with practice.

This is a 4-page submission for a contest through Scryptic Studios sponsored by GeekPunk (http://www.geekpunk.com), the creators of Hero Happy Hour. While the script was not the contest winner, it offered a good chance to practice my craft. Artwork was provided by Brian Shearer.


HERO HAPPY HOUR

"Hero Honky-Tonk" (4 pages)
Script - Marty Blevins
Art - Brian Shearer


Page ONE

Panel 1

Exterior shot of SCOUT and NIGHT RANGER walking toward the Hideaway Bar and
Grill – (Establish the location in panel 1 or 2). SCOUT and NIGHT RANGER are
returning from a mission and should look appropriately worn out. NIGHT RANGER
is quietly determined to get in the bar and get a beer. SCOUT is picking
something gooey off of his uniform and complaining.

SCOUT:

Uggh... THIS STUFF IS NASTY.
WHAT WAS THAT GUY MADE OF?

NIGHT RANGER

HMMM

Panel 2

SCOUT starting to open the door to the Hideaway.

SCOUT

Remind me later to restock my sanitizer

NIGHT RANGER

HMMM

SCOUT

Right now I’m ready for a cold beer and a little peace and …

Panel 3

Large Splash-style panel. NIGHT RANGER and SCOUT are dumbfounded as they
look in on the new interior of the Hideaway. The normally quiet little bar has
been transformed into a bright and bustling retro honky-tonk with people
everywhere (human, superhuman and otherwise) laughing loudly and carousing. A
disco ball hangs from the ceiling and a mechanical bull can be seen in the
background.

SCOUT

Quiet?!? What Happened?

Panel 4

Close on SCOUT and NIGHT RANGER – SCOUT is looking around the bar,
obviously in shock. NIGHT RANGER is looking for the bartender. He is in
no-nonsense mode and is focused on finding out what has happened to his
favorite watering hole.

SCOUT

(Small) It’s like a redneck disco nightmare

NIGHT RANGER

RUSTY!

Panel 5

The bartender, Rusty, comes by SCOUT and NIGHT RANGER carrying a water jug
or something equally ungainly.

Rusty

Hey! Guys! Where you been?

NIGHT RANGER

Sewer.Monster. What happened?

Panel 6

Close on bartender for exposition.

Bartender

Don’t wet your tights. It’s temporary.
This is a project my niece is working on for her business
degree.

Hero Happy Hour Submission page

Page TWO

Panel 1

Distant shot of bartender to show off more of the "updated look" of the
bar. If you can work the niece into the panel, put her in silhouette or keep
her just out of clear view – maybe just an arm setting down a drink in
foreground.

Rusty

She’s got a week to improve an existing business and increase sales.
After that, it’s back to normal.
She thought Honky-Tonk was the way to go.
seems to be working. Sadly.

Panel 2

Medium on SCOUT and NIGHT RANGER. SCOUT has broken from his stupor and is
now angry. Use one or two panels as necessary.

SCOUT


THIS is her improvement?

NIGHT RANGER

Oh boy.

SCOUT


Look at this place -
these lights, the noise, the Smoke


NIGHT RANGER

(calmly) The line dancing

SCOUT

What kind of Sociopath could actually enjoy this?

Panel 3

Wide panel the width of the page showing a close up of the disco ball.
CRICKET-GUY appears, riding the spinning ball and wearing a cowboy hat. He
leaps from the right side of the ball in an arc into a standing position in
the middle of panel 4 in lower left. Make the descent obvious with a few ghost
images like an old-school Flash comic.

CRICKET-GUY

YEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAWWW(text following descent Arc)

Panel 4

CRICKET-GUY lands on a table near SCOUT and NIGHT RANGER and shouts.

CRICKET-GUY

Isn’t this GREAT?!?!

Panel 5

CRICKET-GUY continues talking excitedly, oblivious that SCOUT is glaring at
him.
The bartender takes off to deliver his drinks and NIGHT RANGER casually
looks around for a table. (Whether this is explicit or implied in the next few
panels, I’ll leave to you.)
The dialogue can be made fairly small and run together to indicate that
CRICKET-GUY is just rambling excitedly about the changes

CRICKET-GUY

Oh man, you won’t believe what you guys have missed!
The place has been packed – X’treme was even here – Can you believe
it? He dominated the arm wrestling contest – I won twenty bucks
off him – He had this one guy…


Page THREE

Panel 1

SCOUT and CRICKET-GUY – continuing previous

SCOUT

Will You SHUT UP!
How could you let this happen? – this is our hangout.
This is where we go to drink and be guys. Not to dress
up and play cowboy


Panel 2

Close on CRICKET-GUY

CRICKET-GUY

(small) Says the guy in the Lone Ranger mask. Anyway, Rusty’s niece
says…

Panel 3

SCOUT

Oh, What? So some woman comes in and bats her eyes and
you’re ready to sell out the one good thing we have
and let her turn it into the BottomFeeder saloon? It’s a
travesty! It’s a mockery. It…

Panel 4

CRICKET-GUY, tired of this buzz-kill conversation and wanting to deflate
SCOUT a bit, points over his shoulder to NIGHT RANGER, who has seated himself
at a table and is motioning for the waitress. SCOUT is aghast to see NIGHT
RANGER sitting down rather than joining in his indignant tirade. This is a
reaction shot as much as anything and should be given some real-estate on the
page.

CRICKET-GUY

...Doesn’t seem to be bothering your partner any

Panel 5

Small panel tight on CRICKET-GUY jumping off panel with a self-satisfied
look on his face.

CRICKET-GUY

Oop – mechanical bull contest. Gotta Go.

Panel 6

SCOUT storms angrily over to NIGHT RANGER’s table. SCOUT is agitated, but
NIGHT RANGER is calm and relaxed.

SCOUT

What do you think you’re doing?

NIGHT RANGER

Just what I came here for. Having a drink.

Panel 7

SCOUT

But how can you…

NIGHT RANGER

Look, kid. Don’t get yourself all worked up. You heard the man. It’s
only a few days.

SCOUT

That’s not the point!


Page FOUR


This page will be broken out into 4 rows - use however many panels you
think are appropriate to convey the effect for each of the first two rows. Row
3 should be slightly larger (taller) than the others.

ROW 1

Close on SCOUT getting more worked up and more angry as he speaks. For the
last panel, SCOUT storms off and NIGHT RANGER, happy to be rid of the noise,
lifts his glass to his lips, and wishes SCOUT luck.

SCOUT

I spend 2 days crawling through the sewers chasing a
monster made of something my DOG wouldn’t touch to make the
city SAFE only to come back and find the ONE normal
thing in my life desecrated so some girl I’ve never even
seen can join the ranks of the corporate world and probably go to work
for some megalomaniacal billionaire playboy with a mad plot to rule the
world? NO! I’m going to find this lady and set a few things
straight!

NIGHT RANGER

(over his beer)Go get ‘er kid

Row 2

Multipanel side view of the table. This sequence should show the passage of
time as determined by either the amount of beer in NIGHT RANGER’s glass or the
number of glasses on the table. The final panel should indicate that SCOUT has
returned to the table.

Row 3

2 Panels of equal size and shape.

Panel 1


Wider view of the table with NIGHT RANGER and SCOUT sitting across
the table from each other. NIGHT RANGER’s general position and
appearance is unchanged except for a confused and/or bemused look on
his face, SCOUT is now wearing a cowboy hat and his costume is
sporting a new fringe look. He now looks like a Rhinestone cowboy
through and through. NIGHT RANGER is looking at SCOUT. SCOUT is
hunched in his chair and is sheepishly trying to avoid direct eye
contact with NIGHT RANGER.


Panel 2


Same as panel 1.

NIGHT RANGER

She was cute, huh?

SCOUT

Shut up.

ROW 4

Exterior down (crane) shot of the bar.

(from interior)

NIGHT RANGER

Cheer up kid.
You want to do some karaoke?

SCOUT

Shut up.

30/03 The Flash (Barry Allen)

10/20/05
The Flash - Barry Allen

Since we're talking about my obsessions (and speaking of winning) - I figure this is as good an opportunity as any to talk about my longest-running (no pun intended) obsession - the Flash.

The Flash

I can't fully explain it, but the Flash has always been my favorite superhero. And, of the Flashes, Barry Allen has always been my favorite. Now - there are probably a few folks out there for whom Wally West has always been the Flash, and fewer still for whom Jay Garrick is the alpha speedster - For me, though, Barry Allen was the best and brightest of the lot.

His origin is a simple one - He was a police lab-tech who, while working late one night on a case, was struck by lightning that also struck his chemists cabinet and bathed him in chemicals.

The resultant reaction with his body did not end Barry's life, but reshaped it. It gave him superspeed - a power which had belonged to HIS comic-book idol (the Golden Age Flash), and which he put to use for decades of conquering villains and entertaining fans.

Crisis on Infinite Earths 8 - Death of a Speedster

I mark the first time I ever pierced the veil between childhood and adulthood as the day I sat, horrorstruck, with tears streaming down my face, reading Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 - wherein my comic-book idol, Barry Allen, quietly, and without fanfare, ran his last step.

The Death of Barry Allen

I've enjoyed the Wally West run as the Flash... moreso since Mark Waid took him from self-centered womanizer and made him a hero again and Geoff Johns gave him roots... but Barry will always be the Flash to me.

So, when the opportunity came up in the form of a contest on Geoff Johns' website (the ComicBloc forum) to share the story behind my love of Barry Allen, I jumped at the chance. (The prizes were just a bonus)

The setup was basically this:

It's the BASH Contest: "For the love of Barry Allen!"
The contest is simple. Write a post (as long as you feel fit to write) on why you love and enjoy the Barry Allen Flash...

And my late-night entry was as follows.

Barry was a hero.

He didn't become a hero when a lightning bolt burst through his window and rained destiny down upon him - he simply was a hero.

Barry was everyman. He wasn't wealthy, he wasn't a thrill-seeking flyboy, he didn't (at the start) have powers beyond the pale of mortal man. He was simply a moral man who made a conscious choice to do his part to make the world a better place.

Like many of us, Barry received a significant amount of his sense of right and wrong from the four-color pages of a comic book - where justice prevailed and evil was punished. Unlike many, though, Barry took those truths to heart and then set about bringing those ideals into reality.

Barry was a gifted scientist with a mind for problem-solving in an age where science was king. But rather than use his gift to increase his own wealth and fame Barry chose to put his mind to work bringing criminals to justice. His work was not glamorous, but he did it well - often to the detriment of his own personal life.

It was that personal moral core that fueled his desire to do more - to be more - so that the world could be more. And it was that desire that (by some accounts) called the lightning to him. The gift of speed that Barry received that day did not make the man - did not change the man. His gift was an extension of himself - a tool to be used in service of justice.

Barry was not a victim of circumstance. It was not personal loss that spurred him to action, though his action cost him more than any one man should have to bear (his love, his life). What spurred Barry on was an abiding desire for justice - and a lot of faith.

Even in the darkest moments (and despite all evidence to the contrary), Barry had faith. He had faith in the justice system (even when it was used against him), he had faith in the people he fought to protect, and he had faith that, in the end justice could prevail through the actions of one good man.

Can you tell I love this character?

I won the contest, by the way.