Midnight Sky #4
Midnight Sky #4
Scout Comics 2019
Written by James Pruett
Illustrated by Scott Van Domelen
Coloured by Ilaria Fella
After discovering the Changelings' plans for human children, Jennifer, Elita, and Alejandro find themselves on the run from their hunters who are attempting to eliminate Elita as a threat, as her reputation continues to inspire the desperate humans. While attempting to avoid detection by following the remnants of antiquated airmail beacons and fire watch towers, the crew find themselves in the middle of a hijacking of a Massive Mart supply train, the only remaining economic powerhouse in the region, full of rare supplies on its way to the wealthy class that are working in conjunction with the invading horde. Will these marauders become allies or another threat?
I am really enjoying this and while in some instances it reminds me of V this really does take on a mind of it's own with how the story meanders about. I am also a huge fan of Joe's writing here as he does so much to tell the story and bring us avenues and directions that we'd never have thought it would go and or take. I mean this in the best ways that could possibly be taken. Last issue we saw Hector whom we learned was Jess' cousin who had helped her kill husband and as if that weren't enough of a shock well Joe has plenty in store for us.
The way that this is being told is pretty darn brilliant in my humble opinion. How we see the story & plot development unfold through the sequence of events and how the reader learns information is really strongly presented to the reader. The character development that we see is astonishingly good and the fact that the way the characters interact, act and react to the situations and circumstances which makes us change how we see them blows me away. The pacing is great and I really like how it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along they helps to create the books ebb & flow. The way this all structured and how we see people come to decisions is something that Joe is doing extremely well and while we don't always see what's coming we want to follow regardless.
The interiors here are very nicely done. Sure there are times when I wish that the linework was a tad tighter and that the detail wasn't lost the smaller we see them. Yes I wish that backgrounds were in every panel, they do wonders when we see them in bringing us depth perception, scale and this overall sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a great eye for storytelling. The linework is strong and the attention to detail that we see is very well rendered. There is also the creativity and imagination that we see which is stellar stuff. The colour work we see is really nice. I like how we see the hues and tones in the colours create the shading, highlights and shadow work along with how we see the power working for Elita.
I also like the fact that this story isn't going to slow down anytime soon. With the direction this seems to be going and how the different avenues by different characters are being presented is great. I know famous last words and all but Hector needs to make more appearances in the future. This really is a great little book and shows why Scout Comics is always a go to company for quality books.
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Fanfic Script: Squirrel Girl vs. One-Punch Man
The UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL vs. ONE-PUNCH MAN in "Who'd Win?"
PAGE ONE:
Style is black and white manga, after the style of ONE. Panel layout is dynamic and does not rely on right angles. Panel 1 is upper right, panel 2 is upper middle inset between panels 1 and 3, panel 4 bursts across from the lower right to the middle left, panel 5 is crammed into the lower left corner. An editor's note across the top gutter reads, "Manga pages read from right to left," perhaps with a little diagram as seen in a lot of translated manga.
Panel 1: Medium shot of Saitama, in costume, in a grocery store. He's switching from looking about to looking down at his hand (use the "two heads and some motion lines" indicator).
Panel 2: Closeup of a coupon, which has obviously had the original Japanese text overwritten with English that doesn't quite follow the proper perspective lines. "50% Off Hazelnut Spread! Today Only!" Some speed lines around the edges of the panel to indicate a sudden zoom of attention.
Panel 3: Over the shoulder shot of Saitama looking down the aisle to see a lone jar of Hazelnut Spread on a nearly empty shelf, with dramatic lighting around it.
THOUGHT BUBBLE 1 (Saitama): "Last one!"
Panel 4: Saitama springs into action, racing down the aisle, which is mostly obscured by speed lines.
Panel 5: Saitama slams into what appears to be a wall of darkness. His expression is shocked, but not hurt.
SFX: FOOMF!
PAGE TWO:
This page is in the style of the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl comic, with mostly simple grid layout, clean lines and bold colors. In the bottom gutter is a faded text footnote, "Done reading this page left to right? Well, time to switch again!"
Panel 1: Saitama is disentangling himself from the big fluffy (and not at all suspicious or unusual) tail of American tourist Doreen Green. Saitama is flustered, Doreen is surprised.
SPEECH 1 (Doreen): Oh!
Panel 2: Doreen is getting her tail out of the way. Saitama is a bit taken aback, because American women with squirrel tails are not something he sees every day, even in City Z.
SPEECH 2 (Doreen): <My apologies, mister superhero! I hate being the Rude American, even by accident.>*
CAPTION 3: * Translated from rather stilted Japanese learned via an online course.
Panel 3: Doreen is bowing, Saitama is still flustered.
SPEECH 4 (Doreen): <I am Doreen Green, American college student, visiting City Z on vacation, and certainly not a superhero from another reality temporarily stuck here while my friends work on finding a way home. Nice to meet you!>
SPEECH 5 (Saitama): <Um, hello>*
CAPTION 6: * Translated from native, but flustered, Japanese.
Panel 4: Doreen is drifting into fangirling mode, Saitama is really not comfortable with this situation at all.
SPEECH 7 (Doreen): <Are you a licensed superhero? I hear they license and rank heroes here, that must make it a lot easier to keep track of than needing to keep a deck of reference cards up to date.>
Panel 5: Saitama is not looking directly at Doreen, and is trying to get out of this situation.
SPEECH 8 (Saitama): <Ah, yes. I'm called One-Punch Man. And I should apologize, I was in a hurry and not looking out for other customers.>
SPEECH 9 (Doreen): <Do not worry, I wasn't hurt. Perhaps I'll see you on the news? Well, I need to get back to my friends.>
Panel 6: Doreen is walking out of panel to the left, revealing that the shelf is now totally empty. Saitama also notices this fact.
SPEECH 10 (Doreen): <Farewell!>
BURST 11 (Saitama): !!!
PAGE THREE:
Back to the ONE style. Panel 1 takes up the top third of the page, panels 2 and 3 split the bottom 2/3 vertically, but the gutters are all slightly askew to give an ominous feeling.
Panel 1: Medium-to-long shot of a small grocery store checkout counter. Doreen is paying for her groceries, chatting amiably with the clerk. No speech bubbles or SFX. A faint aura surrounds the jar of Hazelnut Spread. A few other customers are present, either in line behind Doreen or leaving with their purchases.
Panel 2: Framed by Doreen's face and shoulder, seeing darkness behind her, but not normal darkness, more of a "cloud of evil" effect. Saitama's eyes glow in the center of the darkness.
Panel 3: Doreen seen from behind, Saitama's hand reaching in from off-panel towards her shoulder. Dramatic lighting effects, so it looks like a fight is about to start.
BURST 1 (DOREEN): What--?
PAGE FOUR
Back to Squirrel Girl style. Also three panels, like an upside-down version of the previous page, but with nice clean vertical and horizontal lines.
Panel 1: Doreen has whirled around, and Saitama is bowing and holding out his coupon.
SPEECH 1 (Saitama): <You might find this helpful, Miss.>
Panel 2: Doreen is beaming and taking the coupon, handing it to the clerk, in a "motion lines between two poses" pose. Saitama is still bowing.
SPEECH 2 (Doreen): <Thank you very much, One-Punch-san! I was short on cash and you saved the day! A true hero!>
Panel 3: Wide shot of city street, with Doreen and Saitama both emerging from the store. She's smiling and humming happily as she carries a reusable canvas bag with her groceries (it has an acorn symbol on it, so you know she brought it herself), while Saitama leaves empty-handed and somewhat dejected. Looming in the distance is a giant monster, spitting fire at a building.
CAPTION 3: And thus, without even realizing it, the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl defeated the mighty One-Punch Man!
CAPTION 4: Insert title and story credits. (Writer: Dave Van Domelen. Artist: ??)
Gutter footnote: Do I smell team-up? Or is that just burning skyscraper?
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