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EMPOWERED AND THE GIANT-SIZE ISSUES #1 thumbnails & script, pt.3
🕑 Added 2020-02-20 14:11:22 +0000 UTC
(You can check out part 2 of this serialization here.)
Whoops, plumb forgot I was gonna revisit this unpublished project on a twice-per-month basis!
Wellp, we're continuing serialization of my page roughs and scripts for Empowered and the Giant-Size Issues, a never-published, two-issue miniseries intended to be drawn by a Special Guest Artist.
As mentioned previously, I wrote the two-parter back in 2015 with the excellent artist Rob "Robaato" Porter in mind to draw the story; later on, I ran the proposal by the likewise excellent artist David Lafuente. Alas, the project proved unworkable for reasons addressed in detail earlier.
As you'll see, much of the material to follow was repurposed from the defunct, Twitter-format prose experiment I Am Empowered, and like that project, Giant-Size Issues leans heavily on a relentlessly self-doubting, low-self-esteem vision of Early Emp.
So, this project will never exist as a real comic; this is the only form in which it's ever likely to be seen. Let's continue, shall we? Time to alternate my thumbnailed page roughs with script excerpts for each page!
EMPOWERED AND THE GIANT-SIZE ISSUES, issue #1 script
PAGE 11
PANEL 1: Two more half-page panels, along the lines of page 9. Here, another GROWN-UP EMP head-shot pops in at upper left, addressing the camera with a sour expression. At panel center, (intact) SUPERSUITED EMP stands in the FG, looking embarrassed and frustrated as she reacts to her SUPERHERO PEERS, who are arrayed beyond her in the BG. At left, a haughty SISTAH SPOOKY addresses her with a contemptuous smirk, while MAJOR HAVOC stares at EMP's body with a more douche-y, frat-boy type of smirk as she shakes head and speaks. In the middleground at left, the oozing, undulating form of the blobby PROTEAN (or "GLORPP") likewise fixes his eyes on EMP's butt. On the right of EMP, we see three SUPERHEROES (a COWBOY, A DAWG(head) and a MECHA) lined up along a wall, recreating a panel from EMP vol.1 in which they're whispering about EMP's booty. More capes could be added if you like; all of them would be staring at EMP's body with reactions of lust, contempt or disgust.
EMP: (at upper left) AH, BUT WHEN I FINALLY DEBUTED ASA CAPE…
EMP: (at upper left) …THE VOICES IN MY HEAD WERE ARGUABLY LESS BITCHY THAN THE VOICES OF MY JACKASS SUPERPEERS.
SPOOKY: AM I IMAGINING THINGS, OR DID IT JUST GET SLUTTY IN HERE…?
HAVOC: SHE WOULDN'T DRESS LIKE THAT IF SHE DIDN'T WANT THE ATTENTION, YO.
GLORPP: (wavy balloon, odd type; see reference) mmm.
GLORPP: (wavy balloon, odd type; see reference) me likey. (little heart) ♥
EMP: (burst balloon; at upper right) THIS ISN'T ACTUALLY A COSTUME, OKAY?
EMP: (burst balloon; at upper right) I'M NOT DRESSING LIKE THIS ON PURPOSE, UNDERSTAND?
COWBOY: (whisper balloon; small) BABY MAKES HER SUPERSUIT TALK…! (little heart) ♥
DAWG: (whisper balloon; small) MMM.
DAWG: (whisper balloon; small) NO PANTY LINES ON THAT SUPERBOOTY.
DAWG: (whisper balloon; small) SHE'S DEFINITELY BARE-ASS NAKED UNDER THAT SUIT.
MECHA: (squared-off "ROBOT" whisper balloon; small)(h-b) >KRKK<
MECHA: (squared-off "ROBOT" whisper balloon; small) BADONKADONK.
MECHA: (squared-off "ROBOT" whisper balloon; small)(h-b) >KRKK<
PANEL 2: Trickier panel, here; this image is supposed to represent EMP reading about herself online. So, at FG center, an image of a seated, SUPERSUITED EMP consulting a laptop (perhaps a Mac, for the familiarity of the Apple logo on the back), barking back at the screen with an aggrieved expression. The rest of the BG beyond her consists of an uninterrupted tapestry of dozens upon countless dozens of square-formatted, online ICON pics and AVATAR images, representing the hordes of negative commenters and outright trolls she's hearing from. Many of the ICON pics are conventional headshot photos, but others could be robot, monster, dinosaurs or other non-human pop-culture reference; howeva, we'd likely need to disguise or alter direct references a bit, to avoid trouble. If you like, we could probably get away with an actor- or celebrity-based resemblance, such as a Nicholas Cage or the like. The ICON squares can vary considerably in size, and can overlap each other, so we don't need a clean grid as such. I figured that, given your supply of color artwork kicking around, just grab any headshots you have available, put 'em in a black-bordered box, and slap 'em down as part of the BG collage. Many of them, you'll note, will be obscured by the DIALOG BOXES representing negative comments addressed at EMP.
At lower right, an EMP insert head shot pops in, addressing the camera with a "Yikes!" expression.
EMP: (at left) OF COURSE, I'D HEAR WORSE ONLINE, BACK WHEN I WAS STILL DUMB ENOUGH TO EVEN CONTEMPLATE EGOSURFING.
EMP: UM, WIPEOUT.
DIALOG BOX: (small) She's just a fat-assed piece of useless "shoulder candy" for supervillains
DIALOG BOX: (small) Do us all a favor and JUST KILL YOURSELF, you gender-traitor embarrassment to all superwomen!!!!!
DIALOG BOX: (small) #problematic
DIALOG BOX: (small) Truer than ever: NEVER trust a big butt and a smile.
DIALOG BOX: #superproblematic
DIALOG BOX: (small) Womyn everywhere, I am deeply offended on your behalf by the outrageously sexist objectification that Empowered represents. DEEPLY.
DIALOG BOX: (small) #triggering
DIALOG BOX: (small) Did you notice me being so deeply offended by Empowered, ladies?
DIALOG BOX: (small; adjoins previous BOX) Ladies?
DIALOG BOX: (small) #SomebodyCallTheBody Police
DIALOG BOX: (small) OMG SHE'S SO DISGUSTING ALSO REVOLTING BUT MAINLY DISGUSTING
DIALOG BOX: (small) #WorstSuperheroineEver
DIALOG BOX: (at right) Dear Empowered: Your ridiculous supersuit makes me feel bad about my body. (┳ _ ┳)
EMP: (at right) WELL, THEN, WE'VE GOT SOMETHING IN COMMON, HONEY…
EMP: …'CAUSE MY SUPERSUIT MAKES ME FEEL BAD ABOUT MY OWN BODY, TOO…!
EMP HEAD: (by head, in lower right corner) WHICH BRINGS ME TO ANOTHER SUBSET OF ONLINE GOOFINESS, OKAY?
PAGE 12
PANEL 1: At upper left, yet another EMP insert head shot pops in, addressing the camera with mildly embarrassed and apologetic expression. At far right, SUPERSUITED EMP is looking at the laptop again, speaking with a shy smile. The rest of the panel (or VIGNETTE) features images of FAN ART. Of the art seen here, none of it is especially professional, some of it is child-like, but all of it is positive and, well, non-creepy.
EMP: (at left) AND THAT'S, UM, FAN ART.
EMP: Y'KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE DRAW PICTURES OF ME, RIGHT? HAPPENS TO PRETTY MUCH ALL CAPES, HONESTLY.
EMP: (at upper right) NOW, MOST OF THE ART IS REALLY SWEET, AND HEARTWARMILY INSPIRING, EVEN…!
EMP: BUT SOME OF IT, WELL…
PANEL 2: This bigger panel/ vignette takes up the rest of the page, and displays a selection of exaggeratedly "hypersexualized" FAN ART IMAGES. At left, GROWN-UP EMP leans in from off-panel, gesturing towards the images at right and addressing the camera with a creeped-out expression. Nearest to her is a big, full-figure shot of a "(theoretically) sexy caricature" FAN ART drawing of EMP, her big body twisted around in a distorted "breakback" pose to show off both her very large breasts and equally large butt at the same time. Her head, meanwhile, is disproportionately small (as are her actual limbs, perhaps), dominated by a wildly exaggerated, HUGE pair of glistening lips.
Beside that is another comically sexualized EMP image, quite clearly derived from the infamous Milo Manara Spider-Woman cover. Feel free to play up the weirdest element of that cover, BTW: the wonky attachment of Spider-Woman's head, which bugged me to no end. You might toss in a few more partial "SEXY FAN ART" images around these main figures, all of them featuring impressively large racks for EMP.
Finally, the FAN ART section, here, is closed out with an EMP IN BONDAGE image at the bottom of the page. We see an especially zaftig (if not nearly obese) interpretation of EMP laying on her back, blindfolded and gagged, with her plump body wrapped up by a great deal of rope in the overelaborate, wildly complicated fashion of shibari (Japanese bondage ropework). In fact, BONDAGE EMP's soft flesh is bulging around the rope binding her, making for a quite frankly creepy bit of imagery.
At lower right, an EMP insert head shot pops in, addressing the camera with an annoyed expression.
EMP: (at left) THE WAY GUYS SOMETIMES DRAW ME IS, UM... YIKES!
EMP: I'M THINKING, IS THAT WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME?
EMP: IS THAT ALL YOU SEE?
EMP: (at lower right) THE CREEPIEST ART ALWAYS SHOWS ME TIED UP, OF COURSE.
EMP: AND SPEAKING OF WHICH…
PAGE 13
PANEL 1: At left, insert EMP speaks, looking happy and gesturing with emphasis. The rest of the panel shows SUPERSUITED EMP, her suit fully intact, in the midst of a fight scene with a group of goofily costumed supervillains. A triumphant grin on her face, she's unleashing energy blasts from her hands and zapping the reeling, stunned BAD GUYS, all of whom all wearing the same ludicrous costume of some sort. I've shown this same "EMP triumphant/ EMP laid low" scene on several different occasions, so you can use one of my existing sets of goofy BAD GUYS (I can send you jpegs of some examples), or you can make up your own. If we can see any BG here (besides speedlines or the like), slap in the generic "future-tech tropes" of a high-tech villainous lair: pipes, wiring, display screens, instrument panels, enigmatic machinery, etc.
EMP: WHEN MY SUPERSUIT'S WORKING, AND I'M KICKING BAD-GUY BEHIND, MY CONFIDENCE ABSOLUTELY SOARS…
EMP: …AND I COMPLETELY FORGET THAT I KINDA, WELL, HATE MY BODY.
SFX: VORPP
PANEL 2: The action scene takes a bad turn for a visibly shocked and dismayed EMP, as one of the goofily garbed BAD GUYS's gloved hands grabs her SUPERSUIT's membrane and tears it off her torso, exposing a fair deal of her skin in the process.
CAPTION: (at top) BUT JUST LIKE MY SELF-ESTEEM, THE HYPERMEMBRANE IS FRAGILE AND EASILY DAMAGED, OKAY?
CAPTION: SO, WHEN THE SUPERSUIT TEARS, AND MY POWERS FAIL…
SFX: SHRIPP
PANEL 3: Big panel, showing a struggling, writhing, dismayed-looking EMP, her SUPERSUIT now torn all to hell, as she's trussed up by the now-triumphant BAD GUYS. One of the goofily costumed goons is knotting a gag into her mouth, another is lashing rope across her thighs, and two (or more) of them have yanked her arms behind her and are tying her up. BG , if any, would be "high-tech villains' lair" imagery. At lower right, a large, head-and-shoulders insert shot of (unsuited) GROWN-UP EMP, gesturing in emphasis as she addresses the camera with a pained expression.
EMP: …AND HARD ROPE BITES INTO SOFT ME…
EMP: …INSTANTLY, I'M CAST BACK INTO THE PRISON OF MY FLAWED, WEAK, PATHETIC FLESH.
PAGE 14
PANEL 1: Panoramic panel (or VIGNETTE), with an insert EMP at upper left, addressing the camera with a saddened expression. The rest of the panel features an image of a bound and gagged EMP, curled up on her side as she lies on the gleaming floor tiles of a high-tech lair. Trembling, surrounded by the torn-off tatters of her shredded SUPERSUIT, she looks thoroughly miserable.
EMP: WHEN I GOT TIED UP THE FIRST FEW TIMES, I TRIED DESPERATELY TO TELL MYSELF THAT I WAS STILL A SUPERHEROINE.
EMP: SURE DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT, THOUGH.
CAPTION: BACK THEN, JUST HOLDING BACK THE TEARS OF SHAME WAS A TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT, OKAY..?
CAPTION: CUE THE VOICES IN MY HEAD, NEEDLESS TO SAY.
PANEL 2: Big panel, low-angled, with the camera down near floor level of the previous panel's setting. In the FG at panel bottom, bound and gagged EMP lies on her side; she's looking up and over her shoulder as, in the BG immediately beyond her, the three incarnations of herself from p.10 reappear and begin berating her once more. At left, the wee, onesie- and blanket-cape-clad AGE 4 EMP is shrieking in horror as she looks down at FG EMP, missing front tooth prominent in her open mouth. At center, AGE 9 EMP (in superhero T and shorts) crosses her arms and shakes her head as she gazes down sadly at FG EMP. At right, closest to the camera, ANGRY HOODIE EMP squats down over FG EMP, an expression of dire contempt on her face as she sneers down at her. Color-based BG; might have a vertically oriented stream of speed lines or color streaks, to emphasize the emotional charge of this confrontation.
LI'L EMP: (burst balloon) WEAL SUPAHHEWOINES DON'T GET TIED UP!
LIL' EMP: (burst balloon) YOU'RE EMBAWWASSING ME!
AGE9 EMP: SO THIS IS HOW MY LIFELONG DREAM OF SUPERHEROISM ENDS, HUH?
AGE9 EMP: WITH ME ALL LAME, CHUBBY AND HOGTIED…?
AGE9 EMP: SERIOUSLY?
HOODIE EMP: NOT ENOUGH THAT YOU AIRHEADILY PARADE YOURSELF AROUND AS MALE-GAZE FODDER…
HOODIE EMP: …BUT YOU LET YOURSELF BE NAUSEATINGLY OBJECTIFIED AS A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS, TOO?
HOODIE EMP: YOU'RE APPALLING, FUTURE ME.
EMP: (wavy balloon) (h-b) >MMPH<
PANEL 3: Two panels close out the page, and the long VIGNETTE sequence. Here, close-up on the unmasked face of GROWN-UP EMP, rolling her eyes as she speaks.
EMP: (at left) THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE JUDGINESS, PAST VERSIONS OF ME.
PANEL 4: Tighter close-up on GROWN-UP EMP, looking annoyed with her past selves as she addresses the camera sharply, sighing.
EMP: (at right) I'M SORRY FOR HAVING OFFENDED YOU, ALL RIGHT?
EMP: (h-b) >SIGH<
PAGE 15
PANEL 1: Back to the real-world, "city under siege" scene of pp. 1-3. As on those pages, use solid, black-filled gutters for these pages (pp.15-18) to differentiate them from the open, white-guttered "in EMP's head" pages. In this scene, EMP will be rescuing a CONSTRUCTION WORKER from the collapse of a high-rise building under construction. Here, we see a shot of the big, burly (if not near-obese), unshaven, 30-something WORKER quite clearly terrified, babbling the Catholic Act of Contrition frantically as he's carried along (though we can't yet see that he's being over-the-shoulder carried by EMP). He's wearing the typical construction worker's bright yellow hardhat and orange safety vest (with reflective yellow stripes) over a T-shirt, jeans and workboots.
Around him, loose construction debris is flying to and fro: Lengths of pipe and rebar; metal stanchions and sections of framework; larger items, like tumbling I-beams; smaller items, such as loose rivets, and chunks of concrete; whipping, snapping cables and wiring bundles; miscellaneous "color" items, such as a work glove, 5-gallon pail, or tools (a rivet gun, say).
Oh, plus helpfully obscuring gushes of dust and, for a spot of color, sprays of sparks. All this, plus speedlines or color streaks, as the WORKER is being carried along by a sprinting (if, currently, unseen) EMP. Not that we see all of these BG elements in one panel, but I thought I'd list 'em for use on this page.
SFX: (at left) KLANGG
WORKER: (burst balloon; at right) OH MY GOD I AM HEARTILY SORRY FOR HAVING OFFENDED THEE--
WORKER: (burst balloon) --AND I DETEST ALL MY SINS BECAUSE OF YOUR JUST PUNISHMENT--
PANEL 2: Panoramic action panel. The camera's down by the surface of a I-beam which is still, at this point, a riveted and secured part of the high-rise's framework. (Not for long, though.) We see EMP's SUIT-stockinged feet flying along the length of the beam, her rapid footsteps traced back along its length by a series of "impact flashes." In the BG beyond, metal framework, rebar lengths and I-beams are tumbling and crashing, amid gushing dust and flying sparks (and other bits of high-rise debris from the list above).
SFX: SKREEEK
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) --BUT MOST OF ALL BECAUSE THEY HAVE OFFENDED THEE, MY GOD--
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) --WHO ARE ALL GOOD AND DESERVING OF ALL MY LOVE--!
EMP(OP): I GOT THIS, OKAY?
PANEL 3: Close-up on EMP's masked face, teeth clenched with gritted determination, long hair streaming back as she sprints. We might see part of the WORKER's safety vest or jeans on the periphery, here, as she IS carrying the burly fella over her shoulder (see page 6 for more details on this). As before, in the BG beyond, metal framework, rebar lengths and I-beams are tumbling and crashing, amid gushing dust and flying sparks (and other bits of high-rise debris from the list above). Also, speedlines or color streaks would help to emphasize EMP's motion, here.
SFX: (at left) SPANGG
EMP: I GOT THIS.
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) I FIRMLY RESOLVE, WITH THE HELP OF YOUR GRACE--
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) --TO CONFESS MY SINS--
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) --DO PENANCE--
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) --AND AMEND MY LIFE--
PANEL 4: Final panoramic panel. Bit of a tricky layout, here. FG: The camera's down near the surface level of a framework of riveted-together I-beams. A series of "footstep flashes" race down the length of one beam, then end with a single, big "impact flash," indicating that EMP just leapt into space off the end of the beam. (We might see some debris tumbling in the FG, too.) However, all we see of EMP in the middleground of the shot are her flailing, leaping legs; the rest of her is cut off by the top of the panel. In the BG beyond, we can see the top of the high-rise building across the street that EMP is jumping towards; atop its roof is a variation on the freestanding "55 BANK" sign made famous to manga fans of a certain age from Otomo's AKIRA vol.3. (Reference will be forthcoming, never fear.) Standing under the sign, along the rooftop, the wee forms of the bright yellow hardhats and yellow-striped orange safety vests of other CONSTRUCTION WORKERS can just be made out.
SFX: (large, at left) KSHANGG
SFX: (smaller, by footstep dust puff) THAPP
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) --AMEN--!
WORKER(OP): (burst balloon) (h-b) >OOF<
on SIGN: 66 BANK
PAGE 16
PANEL 1: Big action panel. FG center, EMP in mid-superleap, with the much bigger (and burlier!) CONSTRUCTION WORKER slung over her shoulder in a rather ridiculous fashion; she's gripping his legs while he kinda flops around, limbs flailing wildly, and screams in wide-eyed, open-mouthed alarm. EMP, hair blown back by the slipstream of her jump, is gritting her teeth and staring intently at her fast-approaching landing point, which is the top edge of one corner of the AKIRA-referencing "66 BANK" sign, seen in the extreme FG at lower right.
A tableau of destruction fills up the rest of the panel. In an image annoyingly similar to a riff from the 00:37 mark in the third Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer, we're seeing the collapse of a high-rise building that was under construction; in fact, this is the same building seen in p.1's panels 1 and 3. As on that page, we see a high-rise crane; formerly mounted atop the building, now the crane is plunging, tilted and skewed, as the structure collapses out from under it. The rest of the crumbling structure is seem as a tumbling jumble of disintegrating I-beam frameworks and debris, shrouded whenever necessary with a vast cloud/ column of dust exploding from the collapse. We might see some other buildings looming in the periphery around the main collapse, but no need to go too crazy with such peripheral BG detail; as seen on pp.28-29, if too much of the rest of the city skyline was visible, we'd see some distracting visual elements.
WORKER: (burst balloon; large) AAAYYYMMENNN
SFX: SKRANGG KTHOOM SKREEEE
PANEL 2: Narrow (well, "short," vertically) panoramic panel. Shots of EMP's SUPERSUIT-stockinged feet alighting onto the top edge of the "66 BANK" sign with a bright impact flash, then sliding and skidding forward a short distance as her momentum carries her forward. Speedline/ color-streak BG.
SFX: THMPP THMPP SKSHH
<And that's it for pt. 3 of Empowered and the Giant-Size Issues, folks! I'll likely post the next installment within a week or so.>
TOMORROW ON THIS HERE PATREON: Not sure, TBH! Check back tomorrow and find out, won't you?
Comments
Strypgia
It is good to see both the unpublished stuff and the sort-of 'ordinary days' of Emp's career before she met Thugboy and things started to get better.
Aidenke
I love seeing these "never were" comics, things that would've been amazing but that weren't able to come together. It can still fit in the mental canon but, as you say, it doesn't really represent where the comic has grown over time. I do hope that some of the material can resurrect in some form in the future, but I do like the "boldy going forward" approach a lot more than "let's make endless between-the-raindrops prequels" that don't necessarily add anything. As much as I'd appreciate the fan service, all the years of story telling and character growth and open threads have me way more interested in the future and how Emp is uniquely positioned to have outsized impacts in ways her younger-self could never imagine. Cause she's a badass like that. :)
Jack Hallows
amazing!
