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September 29, 2005

The Tricks of Turning Pro

On Writing a Formatted Comic Book Script

by Gary Walters

(All characters herein referenced are the explicit property of Gary Walters and Walters Comics Limited, LLC and may not be used, copied, or referenced without explicit permission of the companies President and CEO.)

I'm going to share some pages and scenes from my upcoming comic book Even Steven #1. By going through this lesson you can learn how you can use the tools of the comic book writer: the dialogue, the caption, the thought bubble, to reveal both plot and action. And the characterization of your characters.

PAGE 1

PANEL 1
Establishing shot of HIGH SCHOOL

CAPTION
A high school.

CAPTION
Any high school.

CAPTION
In Anywhere, USA.

PANEL 2
Close up of door and steps into school. A lone student, Stephen, walks up the stairs.

CAPTION
A lone student climbs the stairs.

CAPTION
Late. Again.

STEPHEN (thought balloon)
Can't believe I'm late again, dude. Yeesh.

Now notice Stephen's first bit of internal monologue dialogue here. I orginally wanted to have him say "Can't believe I'm late again. Jesus." After debating it for a few days, I changed it because I didn't want to offend anyone. It's important to make your comic friendly to all new readers. Particularly if you want to create a product that will be appealing to a mass audience, such as a movie going audience.

The next dozen-ish pages show Stephen at school and at home, reveling bits of his characterization to the audience. It sets up the conflict between him and the bully Chaz Harrison. Then we see the fateful night when Stephen catches Chaz dealing the deadly new drug, Synthenol. They fight. Chaz pummels Stephen, gives him a fatal overdose of Synthenol and leaves him for dead.

Now notice how I use inner monologue in this next section to reveal the character to the audience.

PAGE 11

PANEL 1
Stephen lays motionless on the ground.

CAPTION
Hourse pass... After being almost beaten to death, injected with the dangerous hallucinogen Sythenol, and left to die, Steven finally staggers to his feet.

PANEL 2
Stephen rises. Down the street he sees a light emanating from a storefront.

STEPHEN
A store? Open at this hour?

CAPTION
An open store? Will it be his salvation?

PANEL 3
Shot from interior of store, Stephen in doorway. The interior of the store shows it to be a comic book shop.

STEPHEN (thoughts)
A comic book store? Is there anyone here, I wonder?

STEPHEN
Hello? Is there anyone here?

PANEL 4
Stephen falls to the ground inside the store.

STEPHEN
Anyone?!!!

CAPTION
Will anyone answer his call?

PANEL 5
Wide shot of the store, showing it to be devoid of people. Stephen is still on the ground.

STEPHEN (thoughts)
There's no one here. But how was it open then? How?

PANEL 6
Stephen looks up, on the wall to his right is a shelf with four comic books.

CAPTION
Stephen looks up, on the wall he sees a shelf with...

STEPHEN
What are these?

PANEL 7
Close up of the wall. The four comics are a superhero book, a science hero book, a pirate hero book, and a supernatural hero book.

CAPTION
...comic books. A superhero book. A science hero book. A pirate hero book. A supernatural hero book.

STEPHEN (thoughts)
Its... Its like they're beckening to me...

PANEL 8
Stephen reaches out and grabs the supernatural book. It starts to glow.

CAPTION
As he reaches out to the book, it begins to glow with an eeriee light!

STEPHEN
AAAAHHHHHHH!!!

PANEL 9
Energy surrounds Stephen's body as he opens the book.

CAPTION
Strange energies surrround Stephn as he opens the strange comic book!

STEPHEN
AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!

PANEL 10
Exterior shot of building. Stephen runs outside.

CAPTION
Loosing his senses, Stephen flees!

STEPHEN
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

PANEL 11
Stephen falls to the ground.

STEPHEN (thoughts)
What-- What is happening to me?

PANEL 12
Stephen stands, transformed into the supernatural defender of the night, EVEN STEVEN!

STEPHEN (thoughts)
Something's happened to me. I'm different. That book... those strange energies that flowed from them. I have been transformed! But into what?!!?!!

CAPTION
What, indeed? Stephen turns back towards the store...

PANEL 13
Stephen turns around, looking back towards the store. And sees only an empty lot...

CAPTION
...And all he sees... is an empty lot!

STEPHEN
An empty lot? But the store was right there! How can this be? Nooooooooo!

CAPTION
How indeed?

See? By showing Stephen's inner thoughts I can show the audience just what he's feeling as he is transformed into the dark avenging hero of the night's darkness, Even Steven!

Now the next bunch of pages deal with Even Steven learning how to use his powers and him exacting revenge on the bully/drug dealer Chaz Harrison. After vanquishing his foe, Even Steven takes a moment to reflect on his new life...

PAGE 22

PANEL 1
Even Steven and Chaz Harrison remain locked in furious combat.

CAPTION
The battle rages on, furiously!

CHAZ HARRISON
You're nothing but a loser! You always have been! You can't beat me!

STEPHEN (thoughts)
Is he right? Have I no chance?

PANEL 2
Close up of Matty.

MATTY
Don't give up! You can win!

PANEL 3
The battle.

CAPTION
But will Stephen hear the words of encouragement?

STEPHEN (thought)
Matty's right! I can't fail! The stakes are just too high!

PANEL 4
Stephen overpowers Chaz, using his power over dark shadows to envelope him.

CAPTION
Using all the remainder of his might will, Even Steven uses his power to control dark shadows to envelope the evil Chaz!

STEPHEN
Let's see you escape from that! It's not a good night to be a bad guy!

PANEL 5
Chaz dissappears into the darkness.

CAPTION
The evil doer dissappears into the darkness! Even Steven has triumphantly won!

PANEL 6
Large, heroic shot of Even Steven. He stands resolute.

CAPTION
Even Steven stands up, his foe vanquished!

STEPHEN (thoughts)
My new life begins tonight. I shall be that which evil men fear. When the good need my aid, they need just call out my name three times into a mirror and I shall appear to aid them. Let the bad men of the world fear me. And let the good people at this high school which I shall now call my home feel hope again. After all, it can't always be raining all the time.

MATTY
Yeah!

So throughout this first issue I have been able to establish the character, his powers, and have him experience his first victory. Readers will care about him because they have gotten to know the real him and can relate to him and his plight. If you keep working on your characterization and dialogue, you too can create a comic book script that will engage readers, young and old, alike!

Next column: BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS!

Read Volume 1, Issue 5 of The Tricks of Turning Pro.

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Discuss this article in our forum.

Posted by YourMomsBasement at September 29, 2005 09:00 AM