“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?
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?
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.
