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!

Childhood Fears

(7 Page Script, Genre: Horror/Humor)

"Childhood Fears"

PAGE ONE (3 panels)

Panel 1. It is the proverbial dark and stormy night, and there is a gothic castle at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. Despite the heavy rain, the castle is illuminated by a passing thunderbolt. We are in vaguely medieval times, and the castle is in a state of disrepair, though that might not be apparent yet. The whole scene looks like something out of a classic horror movie, or at least like something out of a Scooby-Doo episode. Whichever.

1 CAPTION (DEKAR): "There you are!"

Panel 2. Inside the castle now. DEKAR stands at the bottom of a curved staircase, gesturing a hand to PAUL, who is descending the staircase toward him. Dekar is wearing a white trench coat, with lightweight armor underneath it, and he has a sword at his side. Paul wears the same armor with the same sword, but he wears no coat. Dekar is late-20s in age, handsome and looking pretty rugged all around. Paul is a little older, a little goofier, and much chunkier. Paul doesn’t so much walk down the stairs as he does bumble down the stairs. They are both holding lanterns; otherwise, windows are the only light source. In general, the décor of the castle is opulent, but everything is so covered in dust and webs that it does not feel very regal anymore. We won’t be in this particular room very long, so stick whatever you like in it.

2 DEKAR: I turn around for one second and you’d vanished.

3 PAUL: Oh, and I suppose you thought the vampire had gotten me?

Panel 3. Dekar looks away and puts his hand on his triceps, which is the closest he can get to crossing his arms while he holds the lantern. Paul winks with a smirk as he closes in on Dekar.

4 DEKAR: With your asthma, vampires are the least of your worries.

5 PAUL: Come on. You don’t need to put on a brave face for me.

6 PAUL (connected): These walls have eyes and ears, Dekar. And they see right through you.

　

PAGE TWO (5 panels)

Panel 1. Dekar has a slight, dismissive grin as he approaches a long, claustrophobic hallway. Paul follows.

1 DEKAR: Spare me your theatrics, Paul.

2 DEKAR (connected): Every dozen years, a hysterical farmer comes forward claiming to have seen the legendary vampire of the castle--

Panel 2. Set the angle at the opposite end of this long hallway that they are now both in. Paul’s lantern casts Dekar’s extremely long shadow across the walls and/or floor.

3 DEKAR: --and every time, they send in a couple soldiers like us to go chasing shadows.

Panel 3. Paul’s plump face gets plumper as he smiles in earnest.

4 PAUL: And what of it? Reverence to tradition is a fine thing.

Panel 4. Dekar lowers his head and hunches his shoulders, momentarily displaying vulnerability.

5 DEKAR: Not when all it does is scare people.

Panel 5. Paul stands still with surprise as Dekar continues walking ahead.

6 PAUL: Fear is the healthiest emotion, Dekar.

7 PAUL (connected): You would do well to heed it.

"Funeralfest"

(5 Page Script, Genre: Humor)

"Funeralfest"

PAGE ONE (4 panels)

Panel 1. A nameless MAN stands before an open casket inside a church, staring with awe at the dead old man inside. WES, a local news reporter, watches this man with intense and hopeful interest. Wes has a stylus and a tablet in his hands, and he wears the stereotypical “press” hat. He sits in the front row of pews to get the best view of the action. The church is a packed house, and all of the people present are bizarrely cheerful, as far as funerals go. A second nameless DUDE stands beside the first nameless man; he’s only here to be used as a visual gag in the next panel though. The dead man is in a very expensive suit, and the casket looks pretty classy.

1 MAN: I can’t believe he’s really gone--

Panel 2. The nameless man’s expression changes to total elation as he high-fives the nameless dude. But in spite of the high-five, the nameless man is actually facing us, the readers, for maximum silly effect. Wes rolls his eyes and slumps his shoulders with disappointment.

2 MAN: --This is the happiest day of my life!

Panel 3. (This panel and Panel 4 should ideally be side-by-side in a row.) Wes extends his hands out to his sides, frustrated. The tablet is in his lap now, but he’s still holding the stylus in his right hand. The other hand is pointing a thumb toward something in Panel 4. Wes isn’t talking to anybody in particular, though people give him odd stares.

3 WES: Oh, come on! Doesn’t anybody have a fond memory of this chump?

4 WES (connected): And what’s the deal with the photo they picked out for him?

Panel 4. A blown-up photo of the dead man is on display near the casket, from when the man was a little younger. In the photo, he is threatening a child with a knife. A SKINNY GUY next to the photo shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly.

5 SKINNY GUY: It was the best picture we had.
 
PAGE TWO (5 panels)

Panel 1. NINA, an early 20s young woman, leans forward in her pew directly behind Wes. She has spunky hair but is otherwise appropriately dressed for a funeral. We’ll soon find out she’s the deceased’s granddaughter. Wes tips his hat to Nina.

1 NINA: What’s it to you anyway, pal? If these people wanna make light of the old-timer, it’s no skin off your nose.

2 WES: Maybe, maybe not, miss. The boss says my writing is too sensational.

3 WES (connected): I came here angling to pump a human interest story out of this sad sack.

Panel 2. Bird’s-eye view of the room, looking down on the chirpy funeral-goers. A few shirtless people in shorts are knocking around a beach ball in the pews. Some people are wearing party hats. There is a couple making out against a wall. Feel free to add in any other horrible things you can think of. Wes and Nina just stare at the spectacle.

4 WES: Instead, I show up to find I’m covering spring break.

Panel 3. Nina has a bittersweet smile, eyes narrowed.

5 NINA: Yeah, grandpa always did have a way of bringing out the best in people.

Panel 4. Wes lights up, eyes bulging to inspect Nina.

6 WES: Grandpa?

Panel 5. Wes extends an excited hand to Nina.

7 WES: Hello, meal ticket! The name is Wes.

8 WES (connected): Now get all weepy and tell me about the time he bought you a bunny!
 

"Beans the Clown"

(5 Page Script, Genre: Humor)

“Beans the Clown”

Page One

Panel 1.  A close-up on a warm, colorful clown against a white backdrop.  As long as the clown appears genuinely loving and not homicidal, his appearance can be as stereotypical or unorthodox as you want it to be.  As we’re about to reveal, this panel is actually a close-up on a printed illustration being held up by someone else, so I guess you could say this panel is from a “first-person” perspective.  Dialogue is off-panel to the person holding the illustration.

1 FATHER (off-panel):

You don’t really look the same as in the flyer.

Panel 2.  Same angle and perspective, except the hands holding the illustration have lowered enough so that we can see BEANS THE CLOWN standing directly in front of us, in roughly the same pose as seen in the illustration from Panel 1.  Contrary to the printed illustration, the actual Beans is disheveled and infinitely depressing to the senses.  He is unshaven with bags under his bloodshot eyes, his expression a perpetual grimace or sneer, his clothes dirty and maybe even a little blood-stained.  Beans is at least thirty pounds heavier than in the illustration, and you might even want a fly or two whizzing around his head for good measure.  He holds a brown paper bag tightly in one hand, implying that there is a bottle of something alcoholic inside.

2 BEANS:

Damn straight I don’t!  Ain’t no artist that can render a mug like this in all its glory.

Panel 3.  Pull out so that we can see a FATHER and MOTHER glancing with concern back at the illustration in the father’s hands.  Beans gives the parents the stink eye as he drinks from his brown paper bag.  They are standing in the entranceway of a cozy middle-class home in the suburbs.  The father looks like a spineless pushover, because no confident adult would ever let Beans in his house in the first place.  The mother is similarly timid, but in a street fight, she would lay her husband out.

3 FATHER:

The party’s already begun, and we did promise Chris a clown.

4 MOTHER (whisper):

But he smells like bourbon!

Panel 4.  Beans lumbers out of the room like Donkey Kong to go find the party, utterly indifferent to the panicked expression on the mother’s face.  Beans is very drunk.

5 BEANS:

Bourbon is nature’s aftershave!  Now where the hell are these kids?

Page Two

Panel 1.  Beans has arrived in the living room, surrounded by elementary schoolers in party hats.  His arms are spread wide as he introduces himself to the unsuspecting kids, the paper bag still in one hand.  Pizza and soda are on the table in front of the couch, and some lame kids’ movie is playing on the television.  All of the usual kid’s birthday stuff is littered around the room.  The birthday boy, CHRIS, watches Beans with awe.  He has short blonde hair and wears a cardboard Burger King-style crown for the occasion.

1 BEANS:

Loaded on hooch and ready to mooch!  Make way for Beans the Clown!

Panel 2.  Chris hurries excitedly to Beans, hands raised and fingers interlocked in a pleading sort of way.  Beans looks down at the boy with big, open lips, because he needs to look like a Grade-A schlub at all times.

2 CHRIS:

Oh, wow, a real clown!  Do you do balloon animals?

3 BEANS:

Balloons?  Thanks to Philip Morris, I need an oxygen mask just to blow on hot food.

Panel 3.  Chris, a little less enthused now, puts his hand on the back of his neck.  Beans places a hand on his own shoulder, one eye wincing to denote discomfort.

4 CHRIS:

Okay, well, can you juggle?

5 BEANS:

Not since the shoulder injury.  Beans really shouldn’t have picked that fight with the clergyman.

Panel 4.  Beans spreads out on the couch, leaving no room for children to sit, and gestures toward the pizza on the table in front of him.  Chris glares at him.  His father and mother have now entered the room, and they mimic Chris’s look of disapproval.

6 CHRIS:

Don’t you do anything fun?

7 BEANS:
Hey, what do you call this?  Buncha guys sitting around eating free grub?

8 BEANS (connected):

This is the life!

"Hunted"

[This particular script is actually older than the previous few; it was written immediately before "Black Magic Mastiff."  The unintended similarity between the ending of this story and of "Black Magic Mastiff" is what caused me to hesitate to upload both scripts, but I've ultimately decided that both scripts are unique enough to be worth reading, in spite of that gaff of writing two stories in a row that make use of a similar resolution.  I'll try to be a little more original from now on!]

(5 Page Script, Genre:  Fantasy/Humor)
 

“Hunted”

Page One 

Panel 1.  ELENA and ZAM barrel down the side of a hill covered in fruit-bearing trees, a massive four-legged beast chasing after them.  Elena wears a regal dress of ornate make that is completely inappropriate for a jaunt through the countryside, and she holds up the bottom of the dress with her hands so as not to dirty it.  Her tall, expensive boots are more terrain-friendly, and a bow places her brunette hair into a long pony tail, so practicality is not entirely lost on her.  Zam is clad in a simple green cotton jacket over a plain white undershirt, with comfortable brown trousers held up by a tied rope and sturdy boots.  In his left hand is a common short sword, while a large, ripe fruit resembling an orange takes center stage in his right hand.  Pieces of fruit and a significant amount of the fruit’s juice are plastered to Zam’s face from having recently taken a bite out of it.  He has short black hair, and his eyes never betray a hint of fear, in spite of the circumstances.  Elena and Zam are both in their mid-twenties.  The beast is twice Zam’s height on all-fours, with a lion’s mane and a head like a warthog.  It has claws the size of Zam’s head, and its tail functions like a huge and furry club, perhaps knocking over a tree as it wags.  It is noontime. 

1 ELENA:

I thought you said you were a licensed monster hunter! 

2 ZAM:

Did I say licensed?  I meant to say licentious!

Panel 2.  Pan in on Elena and Zam enough that we can’t see them from the waist down.  Elena is clearly anxious about their predicament, whereas Zam is utterly insouciant.  The excessive juiciness of the fruit in his hand should be highlighted, as it will become a plot point in the immediate future.

3 ELENA:

What manner of buffoon consents to slay a beast that large without proper training? 

4 ZAM:

Who says I haven’t been properly trained? 

Panel 3.  Pull out to find a large stain around Zam’s crotch, intimating that Zam has basically peed his pants from fright.  In actuality, it’s just juice from the fruit that has spilled onto his crotch, but Elena (and hopefully the reader) mistakes it for a heaping helping of urine.  She points to the stain with disdain while still holding her dress up.  Zam looks down to observe the blotch himself. 

5 ELENA:

The fresh stain on your trousers makes for a compelling witness.

Panel 4.  Zam plays along with her mistaken belief.  Running from this beast is little more than a game to him, and even though we can see the beast in a frenzy not too far behind him, Zam certainly isn’t worried about it.

6 ZAM:

Hardly!  My crotch will do anything to draw a woman’s attention.

Page Two

Panel 1.  Flashback illustration, which Zam continues to talk over in the present through narration boxes.  We see Elena and Zam at the doorstep of Elena’s large, expensive home that could double for a Tsar’s summer home.  Elena holds up a crude drawing of the beast that is chasing them in the present, with a circle around its stomach region, indicating its stomach is the reason for the hunt.  Zam gives her a thumbs-up, suggesting his agreement to go out and kill the creature.  For context, Zam is a passing vagabond who has heard of Elena’s need for a monster hunter.

1 ZAM (narration box):

“Look, when a beautiful lady offers to pay me to stick a blade in something, who am I to say no?

2 ZAM (narration box):

“One good jab can lead to another.”

Panel 2.  Back to Elena and Zam running, now so engrossed in their inane conversation that they are no longer paying any attention to their surroundings, especially not what is up ahead of them.

3 ELENA:

Do you truly believe you can bed me after having soiled your undergarments?

4 ZAM:

I seldom retain the use of undergarments during my lovemaking.  Is that unusual?

Panel 3.  Elena, now looking forward again, suddenly pulls back hard on the bottom of her dress, as if trying to pull back the reins of a chariot to avert a collision.  We can’t yet see what’s in front of her that causes her to stop in her tracks.

5 ELENA:

You are unusual, and--

6 ELENA:

Oh, look out!

Panel 4.  A river.  A narrow river is the thing in front of Elena that has caused her to panic, but her velocity up till now has been too great, and now she and Zam both fall straight into it (sound effect).  The beast is still raging toward them all the same, though it has not hit water yet.

7 SFX:

SPLOOSH

"Love and War"

(5 Page Script, Genre:  Humor/Romance)

“Love and War”

Page One

Panel 1.  High schooler SAM JENKINS almost strangles the rose in his hands as he holds it out in front of him, eyes wincing with anxiety and facing toward the floor.  He wears a typical t-shirt and blue jeans, and though he’s not particularly remarkable in appearance, there’s a handsomeness to him.  Bathroom stalls are behind him, though it should not be extraordinarily apparent Sam is in a high school bathroom quite yet.

1 SAM:
Amy Andrews, will you, um, go to prom with me?

Panel 2.  Reverse the angle to show that Sam is in front of the bathroom mirror, apparently trying to offer his reflection a rose.  His body is locked in the same awkward position.  Now it is pretty obvious we are in a bathroom.  There is a potted cactus roughly the height of a teenage girl in one corner of the room.  No dialogue.

Panel 3.  Sam’s eyes widen with surprise and his posture turns stiffly erect as he reacts to an unexpected response that comes from inside one of the closed stalls.  At the same time, we hear a flush from inside that stall.  The tail of the one-word word balloon should be pointing to the stall door.

2 OMAR:

Nope! 

3 SFX:

FLUSH
 

Panel 4.  The stall door opens to reveal OMAR BASTION, who is tall and muscular enough to resemble a young, black Hercules.  He points a thumb at himself with a big, toothy grin and his head cocked back, while his other hand has swung open the door.  His sleeveless white shirt literally outlines his physique even further, and he wears jeans held up by a belt with a fat gleaming buckle.  Maybe go with a worm’s eye view with this shot to best establish the physical and social enormity of the character. 

4 OMAR:

Amy would rather go with a winner, and his name is Omar Bastion!

Page Two 

Panel 1.  Sam makes way for Omar as Omar struts to the sink.  Sam slouches in dismay so much that you’d think he was trying to duck a cannonball. 

1 SAM:

You?  But you’re so popular that the cafeteria named a sandwich after you.

2 SAM (connected):

I wouldn’t think you’d even notice someone quiet like Amy.

Panel 2.  Omar smiles at himself in the mirror as he talks and washes his hands.

3 OMAR:

You crazy?  Eagle eyes like these don’t ever miss a fox like that.

4 OMAR (connected):

I mean, I haven’t actually asked her yet, but with you for competition, what’s the rush?

Panel 3.  Omar suddenly spazzes out, water flinging off his wet hands which have assumed unnatural, angular positions.  His eyes cross and his arms contort as he leans his head and neck in opposing directions.  This is his Sam impression.  Sam grimaces at the undesirable assessment.  The sink has been shut off.

5 OMAR:

Uh, Amy, uh, go to prom with me!  I’ve got no backbone, so we’ll get handicap parking!

Panel 4.  Omar turns his back to Sam as he walks toward the potted cactus in the corner.  He raises one condescending finger as he goes (to clarify, his forefinger, definitely not his middle finger).  Sam hunches forward, having become curious at what Omar’s doing.

6 SAM:

Was it that bad?

7 OMAR:

Worse!  You couldn’t smooth talk your mama for the TV remote with game that busted.

Panel 5.  Omar gestures toward the cactus as if he were showing off a super model or a brand new car.  Sam, now standing near Omar again, puts a hand to his chin.  Don’t forget that he still has his rose.

8 OMAR:
Say, what do you see right now?

9 SAM:

An illogically-placed cactus?

10 OMAR:

Wrong again.  I see a fine lady that I’m just crazy about.  Watch how a man works.

"Black Magic Mastiff"

(6 Page Script, Genre:  Humor)

“Black Magic Mastiff”

Page One

Panel 1.  JOE watches incredulously as STAN holds up a dusty book in one hand to read in the corner of the school library.  Stan stands before a large piece of poster board on the floor that has a pentagram circumscribed by a circle all drawn with black marker.  A lit candle resides at each of the five points of the pentagram.  Joe and Stan are otherwise in the dark, but Stan holds a flashlight in his free hand to read the book.  In general, Joe is more practical whereas Stan is wily, and they both wear name tags as participants in the science fair.  That’s really all you need to know to design their looks as fifth graders.

1 JOE:

Will black magic really help us beat Will and Keith?

2 STAN:

It will when it summons up a devil dog that only likes to eat kids’ homework!

 

3 STAN:

You know a mutt like that will treat a science fair project like it’s a T-bone steak--

Panel 2.  Pan in on the spine of Stan’s book.  “100 Spells for the Junior Satanist” is discernible as the title.  Maybe include a cute little kid holding a bloody sacrificial knife on the cover if there’s room.  Stan himself might be slightly off-panel with his dialogue.

 4 STAN:

--and good luck winning the fair when your project’s been swallowed up by Cujo!

Panel 3.  Joe gestures with a hand for Stan to get on with the ritual, though he is still pretty skeptical of the whole concept and rolls his eyes.  Stan gives him a confident smirk in return.

5 JOE:

If you say so, Stan.  Just make it quick.  It’s almost our turn to present.

6 STAN:

Ten-four, good buddy.

Panel 4.  Stan spreads his legs out in dramatic fashion as he reads from the book.  A malevolent mist starts to grow and spiral around his legs and the pentagram.  Go melodramatic with the word balloon!

7 STAN:

Oh, black lord of the netherworld, king of deceptions, take mine lust as seed and sire forth a fiend made great on youths!

Page Two

Panel 1.  An enormous, quasi-demonic mastiff explodes into existence over the pentagram (sound effect), mist spewing in all directions.  Let’s just call him the DEVIL DOG because it’s simpler that way.  The devil dog has eyes that almost seem to burn, underscoring a ferocity that can never be sated.  Joe and Stan are both understandably terrified at the sight of the creature, even though Stan had thought it was a great idea only seconds ago.

1 SFX:

BOOF!

2 JOE:

Yaah!

Panel 2.  Stan looks back at the open page of the book with intense, bulging eyes.

3 STAN (small print):

Oh, no.  Oh, no.  Oh, no.

Panel 3.  Joe takes Stan by his shirt collar in a frenzy.  Stan’s confidence has disintegrated.

4 JOE:

What?  What’s the matter?  Your spell actually worked!

5 STAN:

Sure, but, uh, my thumb covered up the last word of what I was supposed to read.

Panel 4.  Flip the angle.  The devil dog’s furious head looms just behind Stan and Joe with narrowed eyes.  Stan and Joe share the same blank, mortified expression as they look at each other.

6 STAN:

I stopped at youths.  I was supposed to say youth’s toil.

7 JOE:

Meaning?

8 STAN:

This pooch gobbles kids like they’re potato chips.