TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Reviews by Tommy Hancock
“THE CITY THAT COULDN’T SLEEP”
A STORY OF THE SPIDER, MASTER OF MEN!
Writer-Martin Powell
Artist-Pablo Marcos

To be effective, a story must stir something in the reader. It may be happiness, realization, or a burst of positive feeling. It can also be, however, sadness, frustration, or a prevailing sense of gloom and doom. When a pulp story chock full of over the top villains, extreme heroes, bloodlust, and slam bam action evoke all of the previously mentioned things, that is nothing except pretty cool.

THE CITY THAT COULDN’T SLEEP is a SPIDER story written in ‘wide vision’ that will be part of a pulp magazine produced by Moonstone Books in the near future! Wide vision basically means that the story is a combination of text and wide panel illustrations, evoking the feeling of an old pulp magazine on every single page. This story fits that description perfectly, the combination of Powell’s verbal descriptions and Marcos’ stark, startling imagery make this story more than just another ‘Vigilante hero saves desperate city from Evil Villain”.

The story opens, not with exposition, but right in the middle of a nightmare made real. For almost a month, the citizens of New York have been stricken with some strange ailment that makes them all insomniacs. No one, not even The Spider can sleep. Of course, this leads to raw nerves, hallucinations, angry mobs, zombie like citizens tearing each other apart, and The Spider trying to maintain peace and justice as well as his own sanity, more so than usual.

Behind all this is a mastermind known as The Dreamer. Recognizing he will have to deal with The Spider at some point, The Dreamer makes a dangerous move against one of Wentworth’s own. This of course leads to the inevitable clash between good and evil, but along the way a nice little two pronged mystery is also developed, explored, and solved. That aspect of this added a level of depth that isn’t found in most masked vigilante stories I’ve read written by modern authors, but Powell seamlessly blends elements of mystery with the savage battle The Spider fights against the Dreamer. Mix into that the horror of Marcos’ images of the stricken denizens of New York as well as The Spider himself, and the tale is gripping and doesn’t let go until the very end.

One issue the story has, however, is that it’s honestly too short. The premise is wonderful, the action and characterization is dead on, Marcos’ art is quite stunning, and Powell’s purple prose, except for a few awkward phrases near the end, paints a scene as vivid as any picture. What is lost, though, in the length is simply more. I wanted more expansion of The Dreamer’s motivations, more exploration of The Spider’s own issues, and just plain more zombie and gun type action. Had Powell been given the length of a novel, he might have just fit in all that was possible with this story. It is fantastic as it is, but the length does make it feel a bit too confined.

Four out of Five Tips of Hancock’s Hat (usually reserved for heads of state, arresting officers, and little old ladies, which is pretty darn good.)

Character currently written by and profile completed by MARTIN POWELL

 Goodness, light and love.
 
 8.  Death Angel dislikes…

Day 4. Hopefully by now, you’ve gotten an idea that you might want to turn into a story. However, you may not know how to put it down on paper. What is the format for a graphic novel script?

The short answer is: it varies. There are different variations, based on how different people work and how they expect to collaborate. Remember that a graphic novel usually has other people working with you, and you have to communicate with them before you communicate with the rest of the world. This is why some comics scripts seem conversational in tone, because they’re sending notes to a single artist, maybe remembering that they’re also including the editor, and sometimes the inker, colorist, and letterer in the conversation as well.

There is no one “proper” way to write a script. There are some common formats, however.

Full Script: Pretty much what it sounds like. The script is a modified version of a screenplay, with what should happen in each panel spelled out, including who says exactly what.

Advantages: the writer gets more of what he wants in terms of story pacing, details, killer lines, etc. The editor can look at the script as a complete blueprint and make his comments there, which can be crucial if there are layers of approvals to go through.

Disadvantages: the artist can sometimes be constrained in what he’s doing, and sometimes the writer has not thought the visuals through, so a large chunk of dialogue can overwhelm a panel, and other problems of pacing can appear. And occasionally, the writer will get a bit detailed in his scripting– see any Alan Moore script, for example.

Plot First: This is occasionally referred to as “Marvel Style” because Stan Lee in the early days of Marvel did a lot of his stories this way: the writer would pitch a plot to the artist, hitting the major beats of the story and varying levels of detail, and then the artist would pencil the story. Once the penciled pages were back, the writer would then write dialogue based on what was in the art.

Advantages: It was often faster for one person to crank out a lot of plots and let the artist put in the details. It also freed up the artist to tell the story as he felt best, which often led to more dynamic action sequences and a more fluid style. It also meant the dialogue was fresher, because it was written a month or two closer to publication than full script.

Disadvantages: if the art is incomprehensible, a lot of covering dialogue and captions will have to be jammed in to make it clear. Also, for the purposes of NaGraNoWriMo, it relies on having an artist to draw it so you can come back and dialogue it, so it’s not good for the deadline. But this may work well for you.

Thumbnails: This is a rarer version, but some people swear by it. The writer not only writes the story, but also draws out thumbnails of the entire thing, to show how the people move, how the action happens, and how the shots and pages are composed. The artist then can follow both the script and the thumbnails. Depending on the circumstance, sometimes one person will do a plot and thumbnails, an artist will draw the story, then someone else will come in and dialogue based on the art and faces. (Often used by Keith Giffen, Kevin Maguire and J. Marc Dematties, for example.)

Advantages: The writer is very clear in what he wants. He also can see how his story plays out, whether the dialogue dominates the page, and sometimes resolve other problems.

Disadvantages: Time. Now you have to draw out the story. And you’re also assuming the writer has visual storytelling skills. (Giffen is incredibly fast, he thumbnailed all of 52— a comic a week for a year– and cranked out full pencils for the last 40 pages of Invasion! #2 in something like two weeks, on top of the schedule he already had at the time.) In some cases, it can also reduce the contribution of the artist (although in 52, this was intentional to keep storytelling continuity between the different artists).

Hat tip to Allyn Gibson for pushing this post to the front of the queue. And remember: you can follow all the NaGraNoWriMo posts here!

AND MEANWHILE, OUR HERO…- Pulp Character Spotlights

Character currently written by and profile completed by AARON M. SHAPS

1. The　Phantom Detective’s secret identity is…?
Richard Curtis Van Loan, wealthy New York socialite and philanthropist.

 2.　 In five sentences or less, The Phantom Detective’s origin is…?　
Van Loan’s parents died when he was very young, leaving him heir to a vast fortune. He led a life largely devoid of direction until a dear friend suggested he help the police with a grisly murder case they were having difficulty solving. He found that he had a natural propensity for sleuthing, and thus the Phantom Detective was born.

 3.　 The Phantom Detective’s first appearance was..?
“The Emperor of Death” by D.L. Champion, 1933.　

4.　 The Phantom Detective’s most recent appearance is…?
 I could be wrong about this, but I don’t think there have been any Phantom Detective adventures since the end of the original run of the pulp stories back in 1953…I believe the final novel was “Murder’s Agent,” written by Norman A. Daniels.　

 5.　 The 4 most important people in the Phantom Detective’s life are…?
 Frank Havens, publishing tycoon, and a mentor of sorts to Van Loan, he was best friends with Van Loan’s father; Muriel Havens, Frank’s daughter, and the love of Van Loan’s life; Steve Huston, a young, hungry, and fearless crime reporter working for Havens’ primary publication, the New York Clarion newspaper; Inspector David Denham, a grizzled, hard-boiled NYPD homicide detective who often works hand-in-hand with the Phantom Detective. 　　

6.　 The 3 top villains the Phantom Detective has faced are…?
 In the original run of Phantom Detective pulps, the Phantom had only one recurring villain: Clifford Boniface. Boniface will be returning to menace the Phantom in the new series as well, and he’ll be joined by a number of new villains of my own creation, including a nefarious illusionist known only as The Diabolist, and a mad scientist named Dr. Andrew Darke.

 7.　 The Phantom Detective likes…
 A challenge, both physical and mental; driving a racecar; enjoying an Old Fashioned while playing pool with Frank Haven’s in his Clarion office. 　

 8.　 The Phantom Detective dislikes…
Criminals, feeling listless, and leaving a case unsolved.　

 9. Existing characters the Rook has met/had a crossover with include…?
The Phantom Detective has never had a crossover to date, but there are several planned. First up is a prose adventure with the Spider.　

10.　 The Phantom Detective’s greatest fear is…?
Becoming obsolete.

　11.　 The Phantom Detective’s favorite food is…?
Ballpark hot dog at Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. 　

 12.　 If the Phantom Detective couldn’t be there to save the day, the person he’d pick to takle his place is…?
The Spider, one of the few other “mystery men” whom the Phantom trusts.　

13 Free-for-all-Say anything, in ten sentences or less, you want about your character.  That would be…?
 The Phantom Detective is one of the all-time great pulp heroes, and a character that helped to inspire many others in a number of other media, most notably comic books. It is a great honor and privilege to re-introduce him to modern audiences in both comics and prose, and to help the character to evolve and remain relevant. My goal is to make the Phantom Detective into a modern, cutting edge pulp hero unlike any other. 　

14. Links for more of the Phantom Detective include…
http://moonstonebooks.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=115
http://moonstonebooks.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=37