Mad Style Ninja

(7 Page Script, Genre: Super Heroes/Humor)

"Mad Style Ninja"

PAGE ONE (4 panels)

Panel 1. Very tight close-up of MAX, specifically just the lower half of his face. He has a confident smirk. We can’t really see the rest of him yet, but he is wearing something kind of like a masquerade mask that covers his nose, cheeks, and forehead. He is standing on a rooftop in daytime, but this isn’t apparent yet either. This panel probably ought to take up the top "tier" of the page, to give it weight.

1 MAX: When I say go, you start recording.

Panel 2. BERNIE is walking down an alleyway in a big city, holding his cell phone to his head with one hand and holding an HD camera in the other hand. He rolls his eyes with a grin. Bernie is a Hispanic 16-year old who dresses unassumingly, and he has curly dark hair. There’s some trash in the alley, but it doesn’t look particularly dangerous.

2 BERNIE: Yeah, yeah. I get it.

3 BERNIE (connected): Just hurry up and make shish kabobs out of them--

Panel 3. Bernie raises a worried eyebrow at something past the end of the alleyway. We can’t see what it is yet.

4 BERNIE: --before they make a flambé out of the city.

Panel 4. We see the silhouette of Max from behind, standing powerfully on the rooftop with a katana in each hand. Angle the panel so that the sun is directly behind him, leaving Max a completely black, featureless figure to us, the readers. You can reference Page 2 for the full details on Max’s appearance, but he too is a 16-year old teenager. Bernie’s speech balloon in this panel should have no tail; Max can hear him through an ear piece.

5 MAX: Okay, but remember to catch my good side.

6 BERNIE (electronic): Just say go!

7 MAX: Alright, fine! Ready? Set--

　

PAGE TWO (1 panel)

Splash page. Max swan dives through the sky as the Mad Style Ninja, the city skyline surrounding him. The sun’s rays are shining in full force behind him, but this time we can actually see him. Max is a total showboat, eschewing traditional ninja stealth in favor of style and flashiness. He wants to be the center of attention and he’s willing to work for it. He’s a lot like the titular character from the old video game Viewtiful Joe (Google it if you want). His ninja costume is garish and in-your-face—definitely not a generic black gi. The costume should have a slightly futuristic vibe to it, but otherwise, the particulars are up to you. He needs to have his "masquerade" mask, gloves, and boots, and your imagination can take care of the rest. I think a long scarf would be a really good idea, because it gives him a fluid element to help emphasize his agile movements. Max dual-wields technologically enhanced katanas, one in each hand. You can do whatever you want with his hair and other actual physical characteristics. From this point on, Max will be in constant motion for the rest of the comic, careening from one acrobatic maneuver into the next. Basically, this is your chance to draw the most kickass action scenes you’ve ever done! Have fun with it! Also, now would probably be a good page to display the title of the story in big all-caps letters, if we want to display the title at all.

1 MAX (burst): GO!



PAGE THREE (4 panels)

Panel 1. Four big ROBOT TURTLES cause havoc on the city streets. Each one is roughly the size of a tank, taking up a standard car lane in width. They have a long, tank-like gun on top of their shells, and they have much smaller machine guns around the perimeter of their shells. Surrounding buildings and cars have already suffered visible damage from their attack, and bystanders are fleeing in panic. The speech balloons for these turtles should probably be angular to denote a robotic inflection.

1 ROBOT TURTLE #1: Run all you like, humans. I am a track star back home.

2 ROBOT TURTLE #2: It’s true! He finished the mile in a blistering two hours.

Panel 2. Max suddenly drops into sight, slashing straight through turtle #2’s shell with his katanas. The cuts are so big and deep that they split the shell into three pieces. As a general suggestion, try to never have Max’s feet touching the ground. We want him to feel like Spider-Man—untouchably agile.

3 MAX: I’ll finish you in a blistering two seconds!--

Panel 3. Max cuts turtle #2’s head off at the neck, but he’s barely even paying attention to the fight. He is staring at a nearby fast food burger joint. Let’s call it "BURGER BANANZA" if you have any room to show a detail like that.

4 MAX: --And then I should get lunch. That flambé talk got me hungry.

Panel 4. Max leaps gracefully between a flurry of laser beams fired from the other turtles’ machine guns.

5 ROBOT TURTLE #1: We hunger for your death, human.

6 ROBOT TURTLE #3: Turtles have a simple palate, you see.

　

PAGE FOUR (3 panels)

Panel 1. We are now seeing the action of the battle through Bernie’s camera screen, with "REC" displaying in the corner of the panel to indicate it is recording. The camera is zoomed in so we only see the good stuff. Max, using super strength, has gripped turtle #4 by its tail and is brandishing the turtle like a club. In fact, Max is descending from a jump, preparing to smash his turtle #4 into the stationary turtle #3. That part in bold is the only action that actually has to be drawn in the camera screen. Max’s katanas are magnetically holstered to his back while he does this.

1 BERNIE (off-panel): Tick-tock, Max.

2 BERNIE (connected): I feel like I’m filming a still-life painting!

Panel 2. Max bashes turtle #3 with turtle #4, destroying both robots and sending parts of them exploding everywhere. We see this panel for real; it is not being framed by Bernie’s camera.

3 MAX: Very funny, Bernie.

4 MAX (connected): Keep this up, and you’re out of my memoirs!

Panel 3. Bernie tilts his neck back as far as it goes, looking with awe at something huge in the sky. He still has his phone at his ear.

5 BERNIE: You can’t spell my last name anyway. But things are looking up, Max--

6 BERNIE (connected): --Literally! Look up!

　

PAGE FIVE (4 panels)

Panel 1. A towering ROBOT BEAR marches down the street on its hind legs, looking like a Megazord out of the Power Rangers. It is bulky and slow, but more than capable of clobbering anything in its path. It is roughly the height of the tall buildings surrounding it. Its speech bubbles are angular like those of the turtles.

1 ROBOT BEAR: We will take back what you stole from us, human!

Panel 2. Max is perched on top of a traffic light, looking up at the giant robot. Nearby behind Max, the last remaining turtle fires a missile out of its long "tank gun." Try to have the missile be fired at a somewhat steep angle. You’ll see why in just a second.

2 MAX: Hey--finders, keepers. I don’t think this suit would fit you anyway.

3 ROBOT TURTLE #1: Very well. You can pay for our technology with your blood.

Panel 3. Max leaps straight up, turning his body sideways so he can look down at the approaching missile.

4 MAX: Not today!

Panel 4. Max physically lands on the missile, which he is now surfing on to travel into the sky toward the bear. This is why we needed the missile to fire at a steeper angle. This is easily the coolest moment of Max’s life so far.

5 MAX: But thanks for the ride.

　

PAGE SIX (4 panels)

Panel 1. We are back on Bernie’s camera filming the action again. The screen is catching Max on the missile as he approaches the head of the robot bear. For all of the "camera shot" panels, we probably need to maintain a uniform panel size. Each one should probably take up approximately one quarter of the page space.

1 BERNIE (off-panel): Are you seriously riding a missile?

2 BERNIE (connected): What are you, a video game character?

Panel 2. Max lunges off the missile with katanas drawn, hurdling toward the head of the bear. We are back in the action again, away from Bernie and his camera.

3 MAX: I know, right?

Panel 3. Max carves a giant "X" through the forehead of the bear with his katanas.

4 MAX: This video’s gonna get a billion views!

Panel 4. Max has dug the heels of his boots into the space right between the bear’s eyes so that he doesn’t fall off. The bear’s massive hand is hurdling toward its head.

5 MAX: And since the AI on these robots is so predictable, I’ll go ahead and ask in advance--

　

PAGE SEVEN (5 panels)

Panel 1. Max backflips off the bear, just in time for the massive robotic hand to come smashing into its own head. The hand demolishes the forehead of the robot, because its integrity was weakened by Max’s "X" slash.

1 MAX: --Hey robot, why are you hitting yourself?

Panel 2. Max plummets backward with his limbs extended. He looks up to admire his handiwork with the wrecked robot bear. The bear’s mouth hangs open crookedly.

2 MAX: Please tell me you got that shot, Bernie.

Panel 3. Bernie smiles at his camera with big, excited eyes. He is enamored with what he is filming. The phone is still glued (figuratively) to his ear.

3 BERNIE: Oh, I got it alright. I got it.

Panel 4. Max, still falling, holsters his katanas magnetically to his back again.

4 MAX: Great. Then it’s time to meet me down below.

Panel 5. We are back inside Bernie’s camera, and the next three panels on Page 8 will be inside the camera too. Max lands on the street directly in front of Bernie, which means he falls directly into the camera shot.

5 MAX: I’m ready for my close-up.

　

PAGE EIGHT (4 panels)

Panel 1. Max stands triumphantly for the camera, with arms crossed, legs wide apart, and head held high. Somewhere in the background, the last robot turtle slowly comes after Max, which means the turtle is walking directly toward the camera and us, the readers.

1 MAX: Hello there, my new Internet fan base!

2 MAX (connected): You may be wondering what the heck you just witnessed.

Panel 2. Max points to his mask. The turtle is slightly closer to us, with its cannon clearly pointed at us. Have the turtle look sadistic, if it is at all possible for a robot turtle to look sadistic. A very big shadow has suddenly overtaken everything behind Max.

3 MAX: Well, long story short, Earth’s being invaded by aliens.

4 MAX (connected): And through a case of right-place, right-time, I happened to get my hands on their newest prototype technology.

Panel 3. The robot bear’s massive body crashes into the ground behind Max, obliterating the last turtle that was caught underneath it. Max continues to stare directly into the camera, but he points a thumb at the giant mess behind him.

5 MAX: So basically, I’m kinda the savior of the human race now.

6 MAX (connected): If that sounds like fun to you, click Subscribe! Because this is just the beginning.

Panel 4. Bernie has put down the phone and the camera. The time for recording is over. Max has lifted his mask so that they can grin at each other.

7 MAX: So, how did I do? Did you catch my good side?

8 BERNIE: Nope, sorry, you’re just hideous from every angle.

9 MAX: Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m a humble guy then.

THE END