Spider-Man – Responsibility and Power

The following is set out in the ‘classic’ 3 line grid.   The first three panels of the script are all of the same size and are on the first line of the grid.   Panel 4 takes up the whole of the second line of the grid.   Panels 5 – 7 are all of the same size and take up the last remaining line of the grid.

Ideally, each panel would be illustrated by a different artist.  

The following does not take place in current Spider-Man continuity, but could have if things had happened a little differently.

1. A recreation of the classic panel from Amazing Fantasy #15 of Peter with his mask off, hand to his head and tears streaming down his face as he realises that he could have stopped the bank robber and saved Uncle Ben.  

CAPTION: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

CAPTION: “I’ve lived by this mantra for almost half of my life.”

2.   Spider-Man is swinging away from an explosion, an unknown elderly lady in his arms.   He has just saved her from whatever has caused the explosion.   A Golden Age look here would be great.

CAPTION: “With the powers I have, it’s my duty to help those who need it.”

3.   Spider-Man is down.   He is not in his traditional costume, but the black symbiote duds. He is on his back; painfully sprawled on the rubble of a building which has collapsed during whatever fight he has obviously just lost.   His costume is in tatters. We see a majority of Peter Parker’s bruised face behind what is left of his mask.   The mask itself appears to be falling off his face, not ripped or shredded, as this panel takes place when he was still wearing the symbiote.   This should reflect that the symbiote has also been knocked out.  

CAPTION: “Truth is, I always knew that one day that power would not be enough, and I would fall.”

4.   A classic shot of Spider-Man fighting against the original Sinister Six – Kraven the Hunter, The Vulture, Electro, Mysterio, Sandman and Doctor Octopus.   Go wild here (although the cover to Amazing Spider-Man Annual #6 would be a great way to start!).

CAPTION: “Then you came along and changed all that.   Now, no matter how hard it gets...”

5.   Spider-Man is on his knees, wanting to collapse but not allowing himself to.   One hand is supporting his weight, while the other is at his head, trying to shake off the beating he has just received.   In the foreground is the Green Goblin on his glider, laughing manically.   This should look as if it takes place in the modern day.

CAPTION:   “...Or how much I want to just give in, I won’t because I know you’re waiting for me.”

6.   Spider-Man is fighting back against the Goblin, punching him with the last ounce of strength that he has.   The Goblin is being knocked off his glider by the force of the blow.   It is a triumphant shot.

CAPTION: “So while with great power comes great responsibility...”

7.   A nice panel of Peter in his everyday clothes sitting on the floor of his home.   He has one arm in a sling and a bandaged wrapped around his forehead.   In front of him is a pile of building blocks that a young child may play with.   On the opposite side of those blocks, and with some blocks in her hands, is a 9 month old May Parker.   Peter is looking down at his daughter adoringly, with a smile on his face.   It is a smile filled with love, pride and contentment.

CAPTION:   “...With a great responsibility comes great power.”

A few years ago I wrote some sketches to be filmed.  Some were filmed (and subsequently took the world by storm), and some were not filmed.  One of the latter was a horrible idea I had for a series of sketches called “The Pun-Isher”.  Based on the Marvel character “The Punisher”, the quick scripts were inteded to be 30 second clips showcasing some of the worse puns that could come from my foul brain.

A few years later there was talk with a very funny man named Jason Chong about filming them once again.  It did not happen (he went on to be successful).  Skip forward a few more years, and once again The Pun-Isher came up as something to film with the enigmatic David M. Green.  He moved to Melbourne to pursue his career, so once again the punderful collection of gags that made up The Pun-Isher scripts were left to rot in the depths of my many notebooks.

Sick of not having anywhere to post all of my horrible ideas, I set up Post Humour Comedy so that I may stroke my massive ego at regular intervals.  I placed on here the original Pun-Isher scripts for people who have no lives to read.

Modern day, and I am now one of the writers for a fantastic site called Thought Balloons.  Basic premise, a team of 8 writers take turns in selecting a character, and we write a single page of comic script about said character.  When it came around to my turn to choose I chose Frank Castle, aka The Punisher, so I could rehash some old material.  I re-wrote the script to reflect that of a comic book script and posted away.

The Pun-Isher – Ben Rosenthal

The following takes place in an alternate reality. In this reality, Frank Castle’s family was killed in an entirely different way…

1. A side view of the fridge section of a supermarket. We can clearly see rows and rows of different cheeses stacked in its shelving. In the middle of the isle is MAN 1. He is yelling, with a look of pure anger on his face, at the cheese. In the background is MAN 2, walking up to MAN 1. He is dressed in typical supermarket worker attire.

MAN 1
YOU FLITHY, DISGUSTING, BOTTOM FEEDING, B#$%T C$#@ SMOKER.

MAN 2
HEY!

2. The panel shows both men, from chest up, looking at each other.

MAN 2
Why are you yelling at cheese?

MAN 1
Because I’m lactose intolerant!

3. Both men are laughing hysterically. Their hands are on their bellies, heads are thrown back and mouths open wide. A tear may even appear on one of the men’s faces as they are laughing so hard. However, a red dot is visible on MAN 1’s forehead, but neither individual has noticed.

MAN 1 and MAN 2 (joint speech bubble)
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

4. Same framing as the previous panel, except MAN 2 is looking across in shock as MAN 1’s head has been blown away. We can still see the body of MAN 1 from the chest up, as the shot has only just been fired.

5. A wide panel. The Pun-Isher is standing menacingly with a cold, heartless stare. He wears a black trench coat, with a back t-shirt. There is a skull of a clown painted on this shirt. The smoking gun tells us that this is the man who shot MAN 1.

TEXT BOX
When his family was killed by a joke gone wrong, Frank Castle swore he would never let anyone make bad jokes again. Vowing to avenge his family by killing those who mis-use the power of the punch line, he became THE PUN-ISHER.

TEXT BOX
See, violence IS funny. Kids, try this at home.

Then something awesome happened.  A very talented writer/artisit Danial Carroll decided that he would take my script and illustrate it.  I passed out due to excitement.

When I came to, Danial had produced the following awesome rendition of “The Pun-Isher”.  Have a look, be amazed and stop by Danial’s twitter and thank him for the amazing and hard work he has done to make my writing look fantastic.

So what’s next?  Well. there’s been an offer to have these comics printed in an Australian monthly comic anthology – Fist Full of Comics.  Let’s see if Danial is insane enough to draw the remaining 5,  if Fist Full of Comics is nutty enough to print them, and if I’m strong enough….are strong enough….are you strong enough – oooo ooooh (Man, I hate that song)

For last week’s Thought Balloons I had to  tackle a character I have never heard of.  Her name is Gamora (not Gammora, the giant city destroying turtle), she resides in the cosmic wing of the Marvel Universe.  She is green, carries a sword and has sworn to overthrow the evil Magus, an alternate reality version of the man she loves, Adam Warlock (thank you Wikipedia).

While some of my fellow writers decided to go in a somewhat ‘blue’ direction with their scripts (”Oh, my Human Rocket!” I believe is a quote from one of them), I decided to go with a battle followed by a revelation.  A hard thing to do in one page, but I think I managed.  Have a looksie.

Gamora – Revelations – Ben Rosenthal

The following panels take place on a 3-line grid. The first two panels are on the first line, and are of equal size. Panels 3 – 6 take place on the second line of the grid, and can vary on size. However they should all be small in order to convey the speed of the situation (if you have a better idea on how to convey these panels, I’m open to any suggestions.). The last two panels appear on the last line of the grind, and are of equal size.

The following page takes place in the middle of a storyline in which the evil Magus (an alternate reality version of Adam Warlock) has claimed the throne of the Shi’ar Empire.
In previous pages, Magus’ hooded wife, from his dimension, is battling with Gamora and Adam Warlock. During the course of the fight, Magus’ wife is unhooded and is revealed to be an alternate version of Gamora…or so we are lead to believe.
We join the comic at a point where Adam has just been stabbed by Alternate Gamora’s sword. He is lying on the ground, but still conscious. He watches as an enraged Gamora battles Alternate Gamora to a standstill. Alternate Gamora is on the ground, looking up at Gamora who has the tip of her sword pointed at Alternate Gamora’s throat (confused yet?).

1. We see this panel side on. Gamora is standing, two hands on the helm of her broad sword. It is pointed directly at Alternate Gamora’s throat. Alternate Gamora looks much like Gamora, however has a few more battle scars, including a very pronounced scar on her right cheek. Alternate Gamora is looking up at Gamora, with a sadistic smile on her face. She has both hands on the blade of the sword, stopping it from cutting into her skin. Blood from her hands spills down the blade. Between the two, in the background, he wounded Adam Warlock lays, one hand propping him up, the other pressed against his wound on his stomach.

2. This is a tighter shot on Adam, propped up and in pain. His face shows confusion.

3. In a swift movement (which could be shown in a similar fashion as to when Spider-Man moves at a fast and nimble pace in one panel), Alternate Gamora pushes the blade of the sword up as she jumps to her feet.

4. Alternate Gamora flips backwards, striking Gamora on the chin with her feet. Gamora’s head snaps back on impact.

5. Alternate Gamora has landed, and is seen to be pulling a blade from the sleeve of her hooded robe.

6. A close up of Gamora’s face as the sword cuts deep into her right cheek.

7. Gamora is on one knee, standing beside Adam. Her sword is at her feet. Blood flows freely from the fresh wound on her check. The cut is deep.

8. A close up of Alternate Gamora smiling sadistically. The scar on her right cheek matches the one she just gave Gamora.

From here Gamora and Adam obviously have to find a way out of the fight, decide if they believe what Alternate Gamora has said, fight the new King and Queen of the Shi’ar Empire, all while trying to ignore the feelings they have for each other.