Scripts
4 scripts from RON MARZ!
If you’ve been reading comics for any length of time, I’d wager a pretty penny that you’ve read a few by Ron Marz. A quick glance at his biblography showcases Ron’s work with almost ever major comic book publisher, and on a personal note, his Silver Surfer run was epic.
Lately, Ron has been sandboxing in the Top Cow universe with an acclaimed run on Witchblade– a title that may have been fairly criticized as a cheesecake book eight years ago, Ron has been working hard to shake that preconception off the book by grounding it in character.
In a CBR article from awhile back, Ron says: “I get so tired of hearing of the sniping comments about “Witchblade” being a “T&A” book; always from ill-informed dopes who haven’t looked past the cover of the book in, say, the last five years. Books and characters evolve. Batman isn’t a grinning boy scout fighting space aliens anymore.
When I took over writing “Witchblade” with issue #80, I said I wasn’t interested in writing stories that were excuses for Sara’s clothes to fall off. My intention was to do what I always try to do: tell stories that make you care about what happens to the characters. Top Cow was absolutely supportive, and that’s what we’ve been doing ever since.”
The stuff I’ve been catching up on (I actually am planning a larger piece on the Top Cow U in the near future) has really impressed me and Stjepan Sejic is quickly rocking his way up my list of favorite artists.
Ron was generous enough to pop us over 4 scripts to study and learn from– It’s very interesting to note that his script style remains consistent throughout all four titles. I asked him where he picked up his format and he had this to say:
“This is the format Jim Starlin showed me when I started. It’s designed to make it easy on the artist — each story page is contained to one or two script pages; each new story page starts a new script page. That’s so the artist can look at one page at time at his board or at his screen. No confusion, and once a page is drawn, that script page can be discarded.
It’s also designed to make the process easier on letterers, by numbering each balloon/caption for placement.
Too many writers just produce a document that’s like a screenplay, without any thought to the people who follow in the creative chain.”
Long-Time Script Archive fans will remember the usage of the “mysterious numbers” from the Panel One column awhile back. What I’ve found extremely useful is Ron’s big/bolded page numbers at the top– It’s helpful as a quick/silly check and avoids the problem of “missing” a page– on both the writer and artist side of production.
For the process junkies out there, you’ll really want to take a look through the Dragon Prince script and compare it to the full issue which Top Cow has graciously made available for free online.
On the subject of comic plotting/scripting, Top Cow publisher Filip Sablik recently conducted a great interview with Mr. Marz over at Geekweek. In it, Ron discusses comic storytelling technique with some really helpful gems–
“Comic storytelling is really an exercise in fitting your story into the available space, in both the macro and micro sense. Your overall story has to fit into the 22 pages of a standard comic, or whatever page count you’re working with. That’s the macro. The micro is the individual page, how much information you put on each page, how you plan the page turns so they pull the reader through the story. So the pacing of the storytelling is paramount”
I highly recommend you read the full article here–and actually, keep a keen lookout for Filip’s “I Thought You’d Never Ask” series on Geekweek– it’s a great read!
Ok, so that’s enough rambling from me, let’s get down to what you all came here for: The Scripts!!
ANGELUS #1
Script
Taking flight from the pages of “War of the Witchblades”! Danielle Baptiste returns home to New Orleans to come to grips with her new role as the Angelus, the human bearer of the primal force of Light. To complicate matters she must sort out her undefined relationship with Finch while maintaining control of the Angelus host, some of whom covet her power.
Preview Pages if you’d like to read along with the script.
Script Here
In the aftermath of BROKEN TRINITY, there’s a somber visit to a gravesite as Witchblade bearer Sara Pezzini is left to sort through her feelings for her baby’s father, Jackie Estacado, wielder of The Darkness. Meanwhile, The Angelus watches and plots, waiting for a chance to strike.
Preview Pages if you’d like to read along with the script.
Script Here
Like a lot of teenagers, Aaron Chiang feels he’s never fit in, though he’s never known why. But all that changes when he learns the truth of his heritage: He is the Dragon Prince, last of his kind and heir to the bloodline of all dragons. Hunted to the brink of extinction by a secret society of wizards, dragonkind’s survival is now in Aaron’s hands.
A quiet, romantic weekend in New England turns into a terrifying mystery when Sara and Gleason are pulled into an investigation of missing children. But is this a simple missing persons case or has the Witchblade been drawn to another supernatural crime?
Preview Pages if you’d like to read along with the script.
Wrapping up, let’s have a HUGE round of applause for Mr. Ron Marz! If you enjoy his scripts and want to check out even more behind-the-scenes goodness, check out the Deluxe Slipcase edition of First Born & Broken Trinity; which, in addition to the scripts, also feature the accompanying layouts by Stjepan Sejic and Mr. Phil Hester.
You can find out more about the Deluxe Slipcover edition here.
Finally, if you do find these scripts to be helpful, please go out and support the industry by picking up and reading some of these titles!
B. Clay Moore: Jackie Karma #2!
Ten years back, Jackie Karma and his man Marcus King kept the streets of NYC clean Golden Lion-style. Times change, and now Jackie’s gone lawyer while Marcus is a community activist. But when a stone-cold pimp threatens to flood the streets with smack, Jackie and Marcus stop hitting the books and start hitting the bricks to save the city the only way they know how…with hot, bad-ass kung-fu fury.
Lucked out today hanging out on one of the forums when none other than Mr. B. Clay Moore showed up to school some fools on the art of the pitch–
(Actually, he was really helpful and not so “school-y”– it’s just fun to say!)
Also if you’re a fan of Hawaiian Dick (a book that gets a HIGH recommend from me) I’ve got good news! According to BCM, some film stuff might be happening and would involve him more in the production end.
Keep your fingers crossed!
So, onto the our script!
Mr. Moore was kind enough to swing us over the script for Jackie Karma- Chapter 2, which originally appeared in issue #2 of ‘76, published by Image. Hopefully you own this issue, but if not, BCM’s got’cha covered and you can read The Complete Jackie Karma (so far) right here!
For you writers out there, you should think about doing a script to panel comparison– For artists, it might be cool to download the script and take a whack at a page, then swing over to see how artist Ed Tadem handled it.
I’ve just briefly scanned through the script, but something that immediately jumps out to me (that you should take note of) is the sparseness of the panel descriptions. I see a lot scripts packed with visual information (Everyone begins wanting to be Alan Moore, right?) but at some point you’ve got to let your artist do their job.
You’ll note that BCM “sets the stage” with his location/descriptions in panel one, but from there, he’s mostly describing the action in short stabs.
This 12 page chapter runs at 15 pages of script. That’s worth noting.
Here’s the script: Jackie Karma - Chapter 2
Big round of applause for Mr. B. Clay Moore!!
Sinbad and the Eyes of Fire Pt I by Dan Wickline
Hopefully you’ve seen Dan Wickline’s Sinbad at your local comic shop, or perhaps seen him at a Con. Given his volume of work, I’m sure you’re familiar with one of two of his previous works.
Dan was kind enough to send over his script for Sinbad and the Eyes of Fire, issue 1–
I haven’t gotten a chance to read this series yet (between some deadlines on other stuff, my read pile is starting to get outrageous) but I am looking forward to it. Wickline is a great writer and I very much enjoyed his 30 Days of Night: Spreading the Disease series.
Though not the issue we’ve got on hand, the kind folks over at Zenescope and CBR have made issue 8 available for you to check out here:
http://comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=2335&disp=table
I’ll see what I can do about trying to con Dan into swinging us over the issue 8 script so you guys can do a page to panel comparison!
In the meantime, here’s the script for the very first issue!
And if you see Dan at a Con, make sure you swing over and say hi, he’s a great guy and a lot of fun to hang out with!
Tumor by Joshua Hale Fialkov
A big thanks to Stephen Christy at Archaia and Josh Fialkov for the scripts to Tumor!
Josh is a writer you should be following- if you aren’t familiar with his stuff, I highly recommend going out and getting Elk’s Run (more on that in a second). Seriously, it’s only a matter of time before this guy is HUGE and you’re gonna want to say you read him back in the day.
Y’know how Bendis was doing Fire, Jinx, and Goldfish before becoming the architect of the Marvel U? That’s Josh right now. His range is pretty remarkable too, from stuff like Punks to Cyblade . He’s one of those guys you should read because he’s a better writer than you are (or, I am, at least)– and when you read one of his comics, you’ll walk away with a strong desire to up your game.
Don’t believe me? Well, I got good news for ya:
Thanks to Archaia, Josh’s book “Tumor” is available for your Kindle! The first comic (I believe– I don’t want to get all Tyrese Gibson, here) to be available on that platform.
Don’t have a Kindle? Hey, just like me! Well, you’re still in luck: You can head here and read the first four chapters– free. No strings attached. Just click and start reading.
(mind you, the whole thing is going to be available to you– they’re just at issue 4 in the release schedule now)
Go now:
Great, wasn’t it? And only halfway though, it’s one of my favorite comics of the year.
A flawed hero, a ticking clock, the chance of redemption, tricky narratives– I’m flippin’ out on it.
And now, thanks to the gang, we have the scripts for Chapters one through three here:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Nice clean PDFs, too!
– I usually prattle on with some tid-bits that I noticed while reading, but Josh has been running a commentary of sorts over on the Tumor blog. You can check it out here.
Lastly, I’ll say that it is HIGHLY worth picking up the bumper editor of Elk’s Run. The story itself is worth the price of admission, but Josh also includes the original series pitch in the back– which, I shamelessly stole from for my last pitch…which got picked up– what’s that say to you?
What it says to me is that you should be reading everything that Josh Fialkov puts out. So you can say you did after he’s all famous and stuff.
AWESOME EDIT:
And just to prove that Mr.Fialkov is not only talented, but awesome, he’s put up the proposal/pitch for Tumor!
Here’s the pitch as a PDF document
Also, you’ll want to read Josh’s intro for it here
GOOD INFO!
Bendis Ultimate Spidey 119!
Here’s the script for Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man 119!
The page break formatting might be a bit “off”, but this is how it was provided to me– It’s widely known that Bendis writes his scripts in Final Draft, and I have some personal experience with funky formatting when you convert the FD file to any other format than .PDF– So, just a word to the wise if you’re using Final Draft!
Hope you guys enjoy another great script from BMB!
ULTIMATE SPIDER MAN #119 by Brian Michael Bendis
Punisher #55 by Garth Ennis
The beginning of the end of Garth Ennis’ MAX Punisher run.
The format is pretty much the same as Garth’s other Punisher script (which you can find on the back page), but this one is kind of cool given the text pages that appear through the script.
I only briefly scanned the script because the actual comic is still sitting in my read pile– sad, I know– But it looks to be a pretty great arc.
“VALLEY FORGE, VALLEY FORGE: THE SLAUGHTER OF A U.S. MARINE GARRISON AND THE BIRTH OF THE PUNISHER,” PART 1
Garth Ennis concludes his seminal run on PUNISHER — in style. Thirty-five years ago, the Fifth Cavalry disgorged their troops on an isolated Vietnamese hilltop and was met by a scene of utter devastation. The final body count ran to well over seven-hundred — almost 200 hundred of them American soldiers. Standing alone amidst the carnage, a sole survivor: Captain Frank Castle, who years later would be known as the most fearsome vigilante to walk the Earth: The Punisher. Now the Punisher is about to face his stiffest test: He’s hunted big game in his day, but none as big as this. Five men with unlimited resources. Men who’d put anything between themselves and the Punisher’s bullet. Men who know exactly who he is…and how to fight him.
The Punisher #55 by Garth Ennis
Godslayer #2 and #7 by Brian Holguin!
Friend of the Script Archive and all around nice guy, Brian Holguin sends in his scripts for Spawn: Godslayer.
A dramatic re-imagining of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. Godslayer is a sweeping tale of fallen kingdoms, ancient curses and doomed love. Spawn: Godslayer is sure to appeal to fans of epic fantasy.
In a far distant age of a world not our own, the Old Gods are dying, slaughtered one by one by the dark blade of a mysterious, unearthly marauder… Under the protection of the goddess Llyra, the island kingdom of Endra-La, oldest and most storied of the Shrouded Isles, has avoided the cruel fate suffered by lesser kingdoms. But on the eve of a royal wedding, black sails are spotted on the horizon. Alarms are sounded and fire fills the skies. The Godslayer has come for them at last.
Here’s what Brian has to say about the series:
Uncanny X-Men #500 by Fraction and Brubaker!
Here it is gang, the script that internally battles itself for the title of “The One True Format”–
This script marks the first time we’ve had Ed Brubaker on the Archive, but as longtime readers know, we’ve got a few Fraction snippets spread around. What’s interesting about thumbing through this script is being able to tell who is writing what. It should be easy to spot, go take a look at the Cassanova script and compare it to this one– you’ll quickly see Fraction’s “page (point) panel” breakdown versus the “panel (slash)” of Brubaker.
Of course, what I find most interesting is how these two awesome writers collaborate. Luckily, Fraction spoke with CBR around the time of #500’s release to illuminate:
So there you have it. Without further fanfare, here’s Uncanny X-Men #500 by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction:
Uncanny X-Men #500: Brubaker & Fraction
ANDY DIGGLE: 10 pack!
“Man of Awesome”, Andy Diggle is a writer I hope you’re reading. One of the members of Marvel’s “Write Stuff” group, Andy’s credits include Thunderbolts and Dark Reign: Hawkeye– That and a little upcoming book called Daredevil….so, yup, Diggle’s name will soon be joining the ranks of Miller, Smith, Bendis, Brubaker and the other extremely talented writers who have left their mark on Matt Murdock’s life.
Of course, it’s not like the guy just appeared from nowhere- Andy’s credits also include Green Arrow: Year One, Hellblazer, The Losers and Silent Dragon.
Andy’s scripts are well worth a read– like previous script archive author: Marc Sumerak , Diggle’s professional work experience includes time as an editor (for 2000AD). In my opinion, these are some of the best guys to crib from– former editors have run into all the mistakes, so their formatting and script “language” always seems to be the most well developed.
To top it off, he’s a swell guy and has been really great about ringing the town bell for the Script Archive!
Here’s a boatload of scripts from Andy Diggle!
- Batman: Rules of Engagement #1
- Bionic Commando: Chain of Command
- Guy Ritchie’s Gamekeeper #1
- Dark Reign: Hawkeye #1
- Hellblazer #230
- Hellblazer #238: The Smoke
- Green Arrow: Year One #1
- The Losers #1
- Silent Dragon #1
- Thunderbolts #128
Big thanks to Andy for making these scripts available to all of us! Stop by his website!
FULL SCRIPT: Chew #1 by John Layman
The fine folks over at Comic Book Resources have posted up the full script to Chew #1 from John Layman and Image comics!
It’s pretty cool in the respect that they’ve taken the first 5 preview pages and inserted them into the script– so, you can get a good look at what John originally wrote and how it turned out!
Here’s a snippit from the article at CBR:
JOHN LAYMAN: I think one of the things comic writers are asked for the most at conventions is to see scripts. And I remember, as an aspiring writer myself, scripts were hard to come by, and I appreciated seeing how different writers approached things.
It’s true that no writer writes a script in the same way. I was lucky that when I was an editor at WildStorm I got to read scripts by a lot of great writers, and learned a lot from them. My favorite scripts? Scripts by Warren Ellis, Joe Casey, Kurt Busiek, Doselle Young and Mark Millar.
You can read the script (and full article) over at Comic Book Resources.
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