Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume One

By Robert Jeschonek

Comic book and super-hero fans, rejoice! This volume includes seven scripts—mostly super-hero tales, plus one war/horror story—from a writer whose work has been published by DC Comics, among others. Robert T. Jeschonek has written plenty of scripts in his career, and these seven will shine a light on his writing process, his wild imagination...and some thrilling and thought-provoking adventures. The first in a series collecting some of his best work, this action-packed book includes seven scripts:

"Super-Powered Poser Blues"
"My Date With Godling"
"The Mime: On Bread Alone"
"Young Soldiers Never Die"
"The Child Is Father to the Man"
"Johnstown Man: Losing Ground"
"Don't Tug on Superstar's Cape"

Don't miss this collection of seven comic book scripts for one low price. It’s the latest book from award-winning storyteller Robert T. Jeschonek (My Favorite Band Does Not Exist), a master of unique and unexpected fiction that packs a punch.

Reviews

"A year ago we had never heard of Robert T. Jeschonek. Yet now, we have great fondness for his screwball stories. Like us, he knows superheroes are a nutty bunch, but he loves ’em just the same." – Eric Searleman, Superheronovels.com

"Robert Jeschonek is the literary love child of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman—his fiction is cutting edge, original, and pulsing with dark and fantastical life. His stories suck me in and refuse to let me go until the last page..." – Adrian Phoenix, critically acclaimed author of The Maker's Song series and Black Dust Mambo

"...Robert Jeschonek is a towering talent..." – Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author

"Jeschonek ́s stories are delightfully insane, a pleasure to read..." – Fábio Fernandes, Fantasy Book Critic

Contents

Script collection plus story previews

About the Author

Robert T. Jeschonek is an award-winning writer whose fiction, comics, essays, articles, and podcasts have been published around the world. DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, and DAW have published his work. According to Hugo and Nebula Award winner Mike Resnick, Robert "is a towering talent." Robert was nominated for the British Fantasy Award for his story, "Fear of Rain." His young adult urban fantasy novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, is now available from Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and received a starred review from Booklist. Visit him online at www.thefictioneer.com. You can also find him on Facebook and follow him as @TheFictioneer on Twitter. For news on his latest online projects, visit the Pie Press website at www.piepresspublishing.com.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Jeschonek
• Release date: Sep 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465804310

Book preview

Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume One

SEVEN COMIC BOOK SCRIPTS VOLUME ONE

A FANTASY TALE

ROBERT JESCHONEK

Blastoff Books

CONTENTS

Introduction

Also by Robert Jeschonek

Super-Powered Poser Blues

The Mime: On Bread Alone

Young Soldiers Never Die

The Child Is Father To The Man

Johnstown Man: Losing Ground

Don’t Tug on Superstar’s Cape

About the Author

Special Preview: Forced Partnership

Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume One

Copyright © 2023 by Robert Jeschonek

http://bobscribe.com/

Cover Art Copyright © 2023 by Ben Baldwin

www.benbaldwin.co.uk

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved by the author.

Published by Blastoff Books

An Imprint of Pie Press

411 Chancellor Street

Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15904

www.piepresspublishing.com/

Subscribe to the Blastoff Books Newsletter: http://newsletter.blastoffbooks.net/

INTRODUCTION

What's the one thing I love more than reading comic books and graphic novels?  Writing them, of course.  There is no other type of writing exactly like it.  Screenplay writing comes close, but even so, isn't quite the same animal.

Comics are a truly unique art form, an amalgam of prose, film, still photography, visual poetry, and whatever other creative elements a writer and artist decide to toss into the pot.  Mapping them out in a script, conveying the precise instructions needed to realize a specific vision (while leaving room for improvisation along the way) is a challenge…and a joy.

I've been writing comic scripts for many years.  Sometimes, these scripts came to life on the printed page with finished artwork…and sometimes they didn't.  But they were all part of the learning process that eventually led to the publication of my work at DC Comics.  Every one of them was valuable for this reason, and also because of the sheer fun I had writing them.

Now, it's time to look back at some of the scripts I've written.  Some were spec projects—attempts at getting a publisher to look at and perhaps publish my work.  Others were commissioned by small press publishers but never saw the light of day for one reason or another.  I wrote some just because I had a great idea and couldn't wait to see it on paper. Two (The Mime and Johnstown Man) were part of a hometown comics project in the 1980s.  And others, I wrote just for fun.

Whatever the reasons behind the writing, I hope you'll enjoy the scripts in this first volume of the series.  If I've done my job, you should be able to visualize each story as it was meant to appear on the page. You might wish that some of them had become full-blown published comics; others, perhaps, might make you glad they never reached that stage.  But all of them have something to offer, whether it's a cool central idea, a great line, a clever scene, a cool hero…

ALSO BY ROBERT JESCHONEK

A Matter of Size

Forced Betrayal

Forced Retirement

Forced Partnership

Heroes of Global Warming

Not-So-Fortunate Son

Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume Two

Seven Comic Book Scripts Volume Three

Six Superhero Stories Volume One

The Wife Who Never Was

SUPER-POWERED POSER BLUES

Super-Powered Poser Blues

Introduction

This is one of my favorite scripts—a pilot for a series that never took flight.  I still hope it might, because I can think of about a million great stories to tell with Doubleman and Understudy, Inc.  If dictators can have body doubles, why shouldn't super-heroes who want to protect their secret identities? Or maybe they have other interests to protect that aren't quite so noble…

Super-Powered Poser Blues

Page 1 (5 panels)

Page 1, panel 1

Interior, the office of Understudy, Inc.—Doubleman's super-hero stand-in agency.  The place looks like a private eye's office from a movie, but with modern furnishings and high-tech gadgets.  Photos of super-hero clients line the walls. Mid-afternoon, medium two-shot. Action sits behind a desk, talking to Alpha Male—a muscular ultimate hero type, blond, in costume.  Alpha Male, who stands on the opposite side of the desk from Doubleman, hands over a wad of cash as thick as a phone book.

Doubleman (caption):  What do I love most about my job?  

Doubleman (caption):  Is it rubbing elbows with super-hero celebrities?

Alpha Male:  The heat is on.  Sure you can handle it?

Page 1 panel 2

Closeup of Doubleman taking the money.  His expression is grim as he accepts the assignment.

Doubleman (caption):  Is it the cash?

Doubleman: You can depend on me.

Doubleman:  I'll take her out for you.

Page 1 panel 3

Medium shot of Alpha Male throwing a package on the desk.  The package is the size of a shirt box.

Alpha Male: I want her blown away.

Alpha Male:  You'll need this.

Page 1 panel 4

Medium shot.  Doubleman opens the package and pulls out a costume identical to Alpha Male's.

Doubleman (caption):  Is it the clothes?

Doubleman:  Perfect. She'll never guess I'm not you.

Page 1 panel 5

Medium two-shot.  Alpha Male grins. Doubleman is midway through a transformation—shifting his shape to match that of Alpha Male.  The left half of the Captain's body is the same as before, and the right half is identical to Alpha Male's right half.

Doubleman:  And then we'll solve this problem permanently.

Doubleman (caption):  Or is it something else?

Page 2 (4 panels)

Page 2 panel 1

Big panel, wide shot.  Interior of a lavish restaurant high atop a city skyscraper at night.  The restaurant is surrounded by windows, so the patrons can enjoy the view.  The guests all wear formal attire...except Alpha Male, who's in his super-hero costume.  (He's Doubleman in disguise.) Doubleman/Alpha Male sits at a table drinking expensive wine with a beautiful redheaded woman—Candy Landis.  (Candy's stunning, persistent, and snarky.) Doubleman/Alpha Male and Candy are the center of attention; all the other patrons watch them and whisper.

Doubleman (caption):  Is it the four-star restaurants and gorgeous stalkers?

Candy:  My head's still spinning, Alpha Male.

Candy:  I never thought you'd agree to this interview.

Page 2 panel 2

Closeup on Doubleman/Alpha Male, who raises his wine glass and smiles in a charming way.

Doubleman (caption):  Just a few of the perks that come my way when I'm doing my job.

Doubleman (caption):  When I'm impersonating a hero like Alpha Male.

Doubleman:  Now, Candy. Why on Earth would I avoid a beautiful reporter like you?

Page 2 panel 3

Closeup on Candy, giving him a wry and knowing smirk.

Candy:  Gee, I don't know.

Candy:  Could it be because I keep threatening to expose your secret identity?

Page 2 panel 4

Medium two-shot.  Candy coyly pats a third chair set up at tableside.  Doubleman/Alpha Male smiles pleasantly.

Candy:  Or because I insisted that you and your secret identity attend this interview at the same time?

Page 3 (5 panels)

Page 3 panel 1

Medium two-shot.  Doubleman/Alpha Male laughs while Candy pulls out a camera and sets it on the table.

Doubleman (caption):  She thinks she has Alpha Male over a barrel.

Doubleman:  You've got spunk, you know that?

Doubleman (caption):  And that's where I come in.

Page 3 panel 2

Closeup two-shot.  Doubleman/Alpha Male reaches across the table and takes Candy's hand.

Doubleman:  Guess what? I love spunk!

Doubleman (caption):  Doubleman. Master of disguise.  Superhero stand-in.

Doubleman (caption):  Because sometimes a superhero has to be in two places at once.

Page 3 panel 3

Wide two-shot.  Candy yanks her hand away from Doubleman/Alpha Male.  She has a tape recorder in her other hand at this point.

Doubleman (caption):  Like tonight.

Doubleman (caption):  Candy Landis has been trying to out Alpha Male's secret identity for years.  He's finally had enough.

Candy:  You and I both know Walt Bates won't be here.

Candy:  You and Walt Bates are one and the same person.

Page 3 panel 4

Medium shot.  A waiter arrives at tableside and interrupts the conversation.  His face is out of the shot. (He's Alpha Male pretending to be a waiter...in his secret identity of Walt Bates.)  Doubleman/Alpha Male and Candy look up at him.

Doubleman (caption):  My job tonight is simple.  Pose as Alpha Male.

Waiter/Walt: Pardonnez.  Would madame and monsieur care for a cocktail?

Page 3 panel 5

Wide shot.  The waiter's face is revealed:  he's Walt Kane, Alpha Male's eyeglasses-wearing secret identity.  He wears a