Richard D. Fox

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:23:54 GMT

o/` Ding, dong, the ban is dead! The stupid ban? The unconstitutional ban! Ding, dong, DC's gun-ban is dead! o/`

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 03:16:05 GMT

*cues up the Queen MP3 and proves once again he can still cover Freddie Mercury's full vocal range*

Tue, 20 May 2008 13:47:31 GMT

This may seem random, but I'm freely admitting that I'm doing it to take advantage of an offer of free money in an online game I'm in. If you're not interested, feel free to ignore this post.

The game, and link:
Trukz - A trucking simulation game

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:43:46 GMT

If any WTNet admins are around, your DNS seems to be dead. Anyone remember the IP for any of the IRC servers?

(Comments screened by default in case someone wants to keep the IPs secret.)

Wow!

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 01:26:27 GMT

Well. I just saw something I've never gotten to see start-to-finish before. Something that hasn't happened for the Tigers since Jack Morris in 1984, and hasn't happened for them at HOME since Virgil Trucks in 1952.

And it can all be summed up in one neat little line.

Justin Verlander: 9 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 H, 4 BB, 14 K, 112 total pitches.

And he was having one of those nights where he could have gone another nine--the last pitch of the game was a 101 mph fastball.

Damn.

Opening Day

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:20:33 GMT

Let's go Tigers! (clap-clap-clapclapclap)

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:09:22 GMT

PRESS RELEASE:

RF Comics regrets to announce that issue #3 of "Batgirl" has been delayed due to circumstances beyond our control. The current anticipated shipping date for issue #3 is March 14, 2007, instead of today.

Circumstances involved include unexpected demands on the writer's time, unavailability of the editorial staff, the writer having his ATM card chewed beyond all hope of use by a dog, and the desire of RF Comics to not want to cut into the readership's time needed to discuss the fucktarded storyline decision made by Marvel Comics in another comic book that shipped today.

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 06:23:57 GMT

OK, normally, I don't use my LJ for things like this, but this one, I just had to pass along: No matter how old they are, no matter how long they've been out of the service, you do NOT fuck with an American soldier!

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:19:15 GMT

Title: Batgirl vs. Batgirl (Batgirl v2 #2)
Rating: PGish. As always, nothing that couldn't be published in the real books.
Relationships: None, yet.
Follows: Doppelganger
Notes: I'm using a slightly different format of script for this and all future issues, based on the one actually
used at DC. Thanks to michaelmink for the sample. Other notes will be found at the end, in my own
equivalent of the DC Nation page.

And now...

BATGIRL Volume Two, Issue #2
"Batgirl vs. Batgirl"

NOTE TO PENCILLER AND COLORIST: For simplicity of reference, I'll be referring to "Good Cass" and "Evil Cass" (or Batgirl, as appropriate) throughout this issue. "Good" Cass/Batgirl is the one revealed in the last page of issue #1, with the scarring defined in the original Batgirl run, and wearing the original black-lined cape and "pouch"-type utility belt, with "outline" bat-insignia. "Evil" Cass/Batgirl is the one who was working with Deathstroke, with minimal scarring, and who wears the yellow-lined cape and "capsule"-type utility belt, with "solid" bat-insignia, and extra stitches on the mask's forehead. Also, when there is only one Cass/Batgirl on any given page, I may only use the identifying adjective the first time I refer to her.

COVER: Stylistically, this is modelled after a poster of the type used to promote professional wrestling events in the 60s and 70s. For an example, check http://homepage.mac.com/viktor2/btw/Stockton-Poster.jpg and note that the layout is significantly different, but it gives you an idea of the visual style. The whole image is cocked slightly to one side, as if the person "hanging" the poster did so quickly, without too much care to get it straight. Across the top of the poster, it reads, "DC Comics and Terry Brunk Present" in small print, then "BIG TIME WRESTLING" in larger print. Below that is the Batgirl logo, followed by a small "vs." and another Batgirl logo. Below that, side-by-side, are pictures of Evil Batgirl and Good Batgirl, facing each other. Beneath them is a fine-print caption reading, "Main Event -- FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE". Beneath this, two other bouts are advertised, without photos: "Brothas of Society vs. Gang By Law" are in a "Ten-Man Tag-Team Texas Tornado Match," while the third advertised match is "Richard D. Fox vs. [insert penciller here]" in a "STEEL CAGE Grudge Match!". This should leave the bottom quarter or so of the cover available, where the poster is split into two halves vertically. In the left-hand side of the poster, it reads, "Also Scheduled to Appear: 'THE ASSASSIN' Hector Barros, DEATHSTROKE the TERMINATOR, the Mysterious Masked OUTSIDER, and many more! PLUS: A tribute to the ORIGINAL SHEIK!" On the right side, the ticket information reads: "FEBRUARY 7, 2007. Tiger Stadium. General Admission Tickets ONLY $2.99 U.S., $4.00 Canadian! Ringside Seating SOLD OUT. Tickets available at Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations. NO TELEVISION." Across the very bottom of the "poster" is the fine-print legend, "Card Subject To Change Without Notice -- Cover May Not Reflect Actual Content Of Comic Book." The "#2" lettering is in the upper-left corner of the poster, and the UPC box is positioned so as not to obscure any significant portion of the poster; the normal data box is absent, with all of its content having been included in the poster.

*********************************************************************

PAGE 1

Layout: Two panels, vertically dividing the page into left and right halves. NOTE: All narration boxes are to be "mirrored" between the two panels, at the same height in each panel. Panel 1C is JUST a narration box at the bottom of the page, centered over the split between panels 1A and 1B, with no surrounding panel box. Title and credits are at the very bottom of the page, below Panel 1C.

PANEL 1A

Description: Evil Batgirl, with her mask off, is standing on the right-hand side of the panel, in front of a blank background that fades from white (at the top) to red (at the bottom), a full-length shot with her in a 3/4 front angle, facing somewhat to the left. Narration boxes are spaced along the left-hand side of the panel.

Narration: Her name is CASSANDRA CAIN, but most people know her as BATGIRL.

Narration: She is 19 years old.

Narration: Her mother is LADY SHIVA, and her father is DAVID CAIN.

Narration: She was trained by BATMAN, but works for DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR.

Narration: She lives at the abandoned TITANS TOWER in NEW YORK, but is currently in DETROIT.

Narration: She is here to KILL someone using her name and costume, but has just learned that person looks exactly like HER...

PANEL 1B

Description: Good Batgirl, with her mask off, is standing on the left-hand side of the panel, in front of a blank background that fades from blue (at the top) to white (at the bottom), a full-length shot with her in a 3/4 front angle, facing somewhat to the right. Narration boxes are spaced along the right-hand side of the panel.

Narration: Her name is CASSANDRA CAIN, but most people know her as BATGIRL.

Narration: She is 19 years old.

Narration: Her mother is LADY SHIVA, and her father is DAVID CAIN.

Narration: She was trained by BATMAN, but works for HECTOR BARROS.

Narration: She lives above BARROS MARTIAL ARTS ACADEMY in DETROIT, where she is known only as an ordinary woman with some extraordinary skills.

Narration: She is just finishing her nightly PATROL, and doesn't even know that she has been OBSERVED...

PANEL 1C

Description: Just the narration box, as described in the page layout.

Narration: And within 72 hours, one of these two young women will be DEAD.

*********************************************************************

PAGE 2

Layout: Four equal panels in two rows of two.

PANEL 2A

Description: A diner somewhere in Detroit, mid-morning. Not very busy, but there's a few customers. Evil Cass (in civilian clothes) is sitting at the lunchcounter, picking at her food. Nobody is paying attention to her.

Evil Cass: [thought balloon] "I've got no idea how it's possible."

Evil Cass: [thought balloon] "Unless Shiva had TWINS."

PANEL 2B

Description: Evil Cass is leaving, with a little bit of food left on her plate, and a small wad of cash next to it to cover the bill.

Evil Cass: [thought balloon] "It doesn't matter, though. I still have to KILL her..."

PANEL 2C

Description: Evil Cass walks down a moderately-busy street in an area that's similar to that of Good Cass's apartment--two- and three-story buildings with storefronts at ground level and apartments above. She has a look of revelation on her face.

Evil Cass: [thought balloon] "...and I think I know how."

PANEL 2D

Description: The same street scene. Evil Cass has started to jog away from the area of the diner, drawing a few looks from passersby, but not excessive ones.

*********************************************************************

PAGE 3

Layout: Four equal panels in two rows of two. (The identical layout is to imply that this occurs simultaneously with page 2.)

PANEL 3A

Description: A somewhat messy, fairly small bedroom. Out the one window is a view that matches the view you'd get from Good Cass's window on the last page of issue #1. The room is decorated with a single bed, a nightstand with lamp on it, a dresser, and a low set of pressboard bookshelves positioned beyond the foot of the bed. The shelves are filled with a small collection of DVDs; a small TV set and DVD player are sitting on top of them. A small framed photo of Good Cass and Stephanie Brown is on top of the dresser as the sole purely decorative touch. Good Cass is sitting up in bed, wearing an oversized t-shirt, her lower body still under the covers. She's stretching, and appears to have just woken up.

SFX: [near Good Cass's head] "Ya-a-a-a-wn!"

PANEL 3B

Description: A hallway. Good Cass has gotten up and dressed in casual civilian clothes, though she still looks to be a bit groggy. A bit of her room is visible through the half-closed door behind her.

PANEL 3C

Description: Good Cass is in a compact apartment kitchen, pouring herself a bowl of cereal. She has a pot of tea steeping on the counter next to her.

PANEL 3D

Description: Good Cass is sitting at a kitchen table, still looking a bit bleary, eating her breakfast. Steam is rising from the mug next to her bowl. (Partially visible on the mug, far enough around to avoid any danger of a trademark infringement suit, is the winged-wheel logo of the Detroit Red Wings.)

SFX: [near Good Cass's mouth] "Krnch, krnch"

Off-panel voice: "You know, Cassandra..."

*********************************************************************

PAGE 4

Layout: Top two-thirds of the page is divided into four equal panels in two rows of two. The bottom third of the page is a fifth panel.

PANEL 4A

Description: Evil Cass is in her hotel room (seen in issue #1), sitting on her bed. She seems to be wiring a small digital timer to what appears to be a brick of clay.

PANEL 4B

Description: Same shot. Evil Cass is now finishing packing up her things into her pilot case, clearly getting ready to leave.

PANEL 4C

Description: The motel's front desk. Evil Cass is handing over a pack of bills and her room key over to the desk clerk.

PANEL 4D

Description: A taxi driving through city streets in a decaying, industrial area of the city. Evil Cass is sitting in back. Sky is quite overcast, and remains so through the rest of the issue. A light dusting of snow in shadowed areas.

Evil Cass: (to cabbie) "When we get there, I'll be back in a few minutes, so keep the meter running."

PANEL 4E

Description: The taxi is pulling into an alley leading into a largely-empty railroad yard, right on the riverside. A few random boxcars are sitting around in the yard, and there's a few people standing around in it. A sign by the entrance to the yard reads "SUFFOLK NORTHERN -- Boat Yard," with a black logo resembling the horse logo of the Ford Mustang. The approach to the Ambassador Bridge across the river to Canada stretches over the yard itself, and the alleyway.

*********************************************************************

PAGE 5

Layout: Same as page 4, same reason as pages 2 and 3.

PANEL 5A

Description: Different angle on the kitchen from 3C and 3D. Good Cass has a bit of a smirk as she sips her tea. A fairly large Hispanic man, well-built but NOT "ripped" or anything, with salt-and-pepper hair and a face that looks to be about 50, is leaning in the doorway with his own cup of coffee. This is HECTOR BARROS.

Hector: "...you've gotta stop staying up all night. Those late movies will KILL you."

PANEL 5B

Description: Good Cass has turned in her chair to face Hector more. From this angle, we can see she's finished her cereal, and is just having her tea now.

Good Cass: "Don't worry, Mr. Barros. You know me."

PANEL 5C

Description: Good Cass has gotten up from the table, and is collecting her breakfast dishes, except for the mug. Hector is rolling his eyes, but with a grin on his face. Cass is grinning, too.

Good Cass: "Young and... indestructible."

PANEL 5D

Description: Good Cass is washing her breakfast dishes in the sink. Hector is still standing in the kitchen doorway.

Hector: "Well, little Miss Indestructible, you'd better hurry up..."

PANEL 5E

Description: A wide shot of the dojo's training room on the ground floor. There's a large empty area in the center of the room, with a mat covering the floor in this area, and a slightly raised area near the back wall. Along the sides of the room are a number of punching bags and other training targets, plus two doors labelled "Locker Rooms," with male and female emblems on the doors. The walls have a lot of posters of various mixed-martial arts fighters, and a few trophy cases containing various trophies belonging to Hector. About twenty women in martial arts training clothing are standing in four rows on the mat, with Good Cass facing them on the raised platform, dressed the same. Cass is in the middle of throwing a controlled punch at the air, with all the women duplicating her movement.

Hector: [narration box] "...because your MORNING CLASS is waiting for you."

*********************************************************************

PAGE 6

Layout: Six equal panels, three rows of two.

PANEL 6A

Description: Evil Cass is stalking through the yard, looking for someone. Long but still claustrophobic shot down the narrow gap between two rows of boxcars. Bridge approaches visible overhead. Maybe a hint of snow in the air, maybe not.

PANEL 6B

Description: Over-the-shoulder shot, Evil Cass has just found her target, some distance away and facing away from her, a male dressed appropriately for the chilly weather who looks to be just finishing a deal with what looks to be a homeless junkie.

PANEL 6C

Description: Closeup from the side of the dealer, grinning, as he tucks his money into his pocket. Evil Cass's hand is poised to strike from behind, right above his shoulder.

Dealer: "An' thanks fer th' business, Jimmy."

PANEL 6D

Description: Evil Cass has just slammed the dealer into the adjacent boxcar by his shoulders, and is eye-to-eye with him, ready to "discuss" business. The dealer looks pretty damned scared.

SFX: (near dealer's back) "WHUMP!"

Evil Cass: "I've got a little job for you..."

PANEL 6E

Description: Same composition as 6D, except Evil Cass has a bit of a smirk on her face now. She's holding him by only one shoulder now, with the other reaching for a pocket.

Evil Cass: "...it's not gonna be very hard..."

PANEL 6F

Description: Again, similar composition, except Evil Cass now has a large wad of cash in her hand, and is holding it where the dealer can see. He's still scared, but he looks somewhat interested, too.

Evil Cass: "...and I'm sure I can make it worth your while."

*********************************************************************

PAGE 7

Layout: Six equal panels, three rows of two. Again, mirroring the previous page.

PANEL 7A

Description: Good Cass leads her morning self-defense class in their kata (practice routine), similar to as seen in 5E, but not as much of a wide shot.

PANEL 7B

Description: Still the morning self-defense class; students have paired off and are practicing their throws and blocks together, with Good Cass demonstrating a new move (maybe a judo over-the-shoulder throw) to one student on her partner.

PANEL 7C

Description: The morning class is still practicing their throws and blocks as Good Cass gives each pair some individual attention.

PANEL 7D

Description: The morning class is back in their positions from the start of class, bowing to Good Cass. Good Cass is back on the raised platform, returning their bow. Looks like class is over.

PANEL 7E

Description: Good Cass heads to the back as her class files into the locker room.

PANEL 7F

Description: Apartment kitchen again. Good Cass and Hector are sharing a laugh over lunch. Hector also has a newspaper, and while we can't see above the fold, one of the stories has a visible headline of, "'Batgirl' breaks up gang brawl."

*********************************************************************

PAGE 8

Layout: Four equal panels, two rows of two.

PANEL 8A

Description: Evil Cass still has the dealer pinned to the boxcar, but is handing over the money, which he's eagerly taking.

Evil Cass: "Got it?"

Dealer: "Yeah, sure, just make sure she gets th' message!"

PANEL 8B

Description: TIGHT closeup of Evil Cass's hand, pulling a lighter and a piece of flash paper out of her pocket.

Evil Cass: "Good. And make damn sure she gets it."

PANEL 8C

Description: Another shot like 8A. Evil Cass is holding up the hand she has the lighter and flash paper palmed in, positioned so that the dealer can't see what's in it, even though he's staring right at it.

Evil Cass: "Because if she doesn't show up, well..."

PANEL 8D

Description: Same shot as 8C. Evil Cass has just moved her thumb to strike the lighter, which has lit the flash paper and caused a nice little fireball to shoot from her hand. The dealer looks just about ready to piss himself, since he just came to the conclusion that Evil Cass is actually a pyrokinetic metahuman. Evil Cass, for her part, has a nasty, nasty smirk on her face.

SFX: (small, near fireball) "Foomp!"

*********************************************************************

PAGE 9

Layout: Four equal panels, two rows of two. Again, "mirroring" effect in the layout.

PANEL 9A

Description: Good Cass is in the middle of instructing her afternoon self-defense class. Similar group of students to her morning class.

PANEL 9B

Description: Late afternoon/early evening. Good Cass, in normal casual clothes, is at a video rental store, browsing the "Sci-Fi" DVD racks as she sucks on a fast-food soft drink cup. She's picked up a Japanese rubber-suit monster movie, and is studying the case intently.

PANEL 9C

Description: Good Cass is back in her training uniform, this time wearing a black belt, in the training area of the gym, throwing a kick at the head of a man in a similar uniform but wearing a red belt. The red belted man just got caught on the jaw with Good Cass's kick, despite his arms having been up to block. Across the room, Hector (also in training gear and alternating black-and-red belt) has another man in training gear (and brown belt) on the ground, and is twisting his arm in a direction it's really not designed to bend. Each has a small (four or five people) group of similarly-dressed folks surrounding them and watching. Evening advanced classes are on!

PANEL 9D

Description: Good Cass's bedroom, as seen in 3A. It's a bit messier, with today's clothes (both casual and training gear) in a pile on the floor next to the bed. Looking out the window, it's definitely nighttime now. The TV is on, playing one of those rubber-suit monster movies that make Gamera look like Gone With the Wind; an open, empty rental-store DVD case is next to it. Good Cass is fully dressed in her Batgirl uniform, just pulling the mask up to put it on before starting her patrol.

*********************************************************************

PAGE 10

Layout: Large semi-splash panel takes the upper two-thirds of the page, with a smaller inset panel in the upper left corner. Panel A is the upper-left inset, B is the splash. The bottom third of the page is divided into three equal panels.

PANEL 10A

Description: Exterior shot, Barros's Martial Arts Academy. Good Batgirl is captured in mid-air, having just jumped out her bedroom window, her cape billowing up nicely behind her.

PANEL 10B

Description: Splash panel. Good Batgirl is shown to be riding on top of a city bus as it travels through downtown Detroit, past the Spirit of Detroit statue and, in the background, the Renaissance Center. (For reference photo, try http://www.skyscraperpicture.com/detroit01.JPG ) She's scanning the empty streets for any crimes to stop. Her cape is billowed out a bit, indicating the bus's motion.

PANEL 10C

Description: Similar shot to 10B, but closer to Batgirl. The bus is a bit further down the road, with Cobo Arena ( http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a5/CoboArena.jpg for reference) visible in the background.

Good Batgirl: (thought balloon) "Quiet night."

PANEL 10D

Description: Again, similar shot to 10C. However, the bus is now travelling past a number of commercial/office buildings that are closed for the night. Visible on the side of one, facing an alleyway, is what looks for all the world to be the Bat-Signal. Batgirl is looking directly at it.

PANEL 10E

Description: Head shot of Batgirl's face. Even through the mask, we can see her simultaneously quizzical and bemused expression.

Good Batgirl: (thought balloon) "...or at least it WAS."

*********************************************************************

PAGE 11

Layout: Eight panels in three rows, set up as if it was a nine-panel "grid" layout, except that the top row's two right-hand panels are replaced with a single double-width panel.

PANEL 11A

Description: Angle from the alleyway, showing Good Batgirl jumping off the bus into the alley as it passes. There's a darkened office building across the street from the alleyway.

PANEL 11B

Description: Wider shot of the alleyway, 3/4 rear angle on Batgirl as she lands on her feet, giving us a clear view of the alley's contents. It's a pretty typical alleyway, with the usual grime and dumpsters and litter; partway down it is the drug dealer seen on pages 6 and 8, holding a flashlight that has a bat symbol taped over the lens, shining it up at the wall to make the bat-signal seen in 10D. He has just turned his head to look straight at Batgirl, and looks quite scared.

SFX: (by Batgirl's feet) "Tmp!"

Dealer: "Holy..."

PANEL 11C

Description: Two-shot. Batgirl has just moved up to the dealer, who has turned to face her, trembling. He has his back to the wall, while Batgirl is doing her best Intimidating Bat-Stare.

Good Batgirl: "What do you want?"

PANEL 11D

Description: Similar shot to 11C, but a bit closer, only showing them from the waist up. The dealer is speaking, but hasn't moved otherwise.

Dealer: "Well, it's... I mean, I heard..."

Dealer: "It's like this, see..."

Dealer: "I was... uh... I don't know for sure, but..."

PANEL 11E

Description: Same staging as 11D. However, Batgirl looks irritated, and is punching the wall just on the other side of the dealer's head from the "camera". The dealer, meanwhile, looks downright terrified.

SFX: (covering much of the background, BEHIND Batgirl's arm) "WHAMMMM!"

Good Batgirl: "What. IS. It?"

PANEL 11F

Description: Same image as 11E, but without the SFX lettering over the background. The dealer has opened up out of fear.

Dealer: "I heard tell there's a new meth lab opening in old Tiger Stadium! I thought that maybe you could, y'know, do something about it!"

PANEL 11G

Description: Batgirl has turned around and is starting to walk away from the dealer, who is reaching out towards her shoulder. We see her from her front, off-center to panel left, so that we can see the dealer over her shoulder.

Good Batgirl: "Why tell me?"

Dealer: "Hey, that meth %$#* can really *$#@ you up good! I don't wanna see nobody DIE from it or nothin'..."

PANEL 11H

Description: Similar staging to 11G. The dealer has managed to clasp his hand onto Batgirl's shoulder, and is approaching her from behind. Batgirl has turned her head slightly to look at the dealer's hand.

Dealer: "...and besides, if you ever bust ME fer anything, I was thinkin' this might help get me off easy, and..."

*********************************************************************

PAGE 12

Layout: One full-page splash panel, with three insets, one in the upper left, and two in the lower right. Upper left inset is panel A, splash is panel B, remaining insets are C and D, side by side. Insets are positioned as if the page was on a nine-panel "grid" layout.

PANEL 12A

Description: Good Batgirl has just pulled the classic Batman no-look backhand punch to the dealer, knocking him out cold. You know the punch, the one where you just abruptly swing your fist up and back, timed perfectly to intercept the bad guy's face. The dealer is quickly sinking out of frame.

SFX: (Vertically lettered, just to the LEFT of the left edge of the panel) "THWACK!"

Good Batgirl: "It won't."

PANEL 12B

Description: Splash panel. 3/4 rear view of Batgirl as she is jumping off the second-story roof of a building to land in the empty street below. Across the street is Tiger Stadium's southeastern entrance. If you're familiar with Detroit, she's jumping down onto Trumbull Street, and we're seeing the famous "Corner of Michigan and Trumbull." Reference for the general look of the exterior of the stadium: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Tiger_Stadium%2C_Detroit.jpg (taken from northwestern side). Reference for this entrance: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/44/Thecorner001.jpg

PANEL 12C

Description: Batgirl is walking up to one of those entrances under the "Tiger Plaza" sign, where a metal roll-up door is *almost* fully closed, but not quite. There's a padlock on it, which has had its "hoop" cut to allow the door to be opened.

PANEL 12D

Description: Angle from inside the building, showing Batgirl having raised the door to gain entry. Not much litter, though there's plenty of peeling paint and rust on exposed metal surfaces. The turnstiles have all been thoroughly vandalized, and there are some gang tags on various areas. In particular, the "GATE 1" lettering over the door has been sprayed over with a "GBL" tag, and the metal shutters over the box office window to the side of the gate have an elaborate "KELLEY P." tag sprayed across their entire surface. (Note: Interior reference photos
will be linked on request.) Note that, unless otherwise noted, all stadium interior scenes should be very dark and moody, as the interior lighting was all destroyed by vandals long ago.

*********************************************************************

PAGE 13

Layout: Five panels. First panel is full-width, covering the upper third of the page. Remaining two-thirds of the page are in a two-by-two "grid" pattern.

PANEL 13A

Description: Side shot, Good Batgirl is at the left-hand side of the panel, starting down a long corridor lined with shuttered concessions stands. There's some typical stadium lettering present, along with the smattering of graffiti that'll be in all the stadium interior scenes. Between two of the concessions stands, someone has stencilled the "Answer the Question" tag from the cover of 52 #48 (as seen at http://dccomics.com/media/covers/7119_400x600.jpg ). One of the concessions stands appears to have been a Little Caesar's stand, but only the L, C, and final S are still on the wall; the other letters have fallen off and broken on the floor.

PANEL 13B

Description: 3/4 rear view of Batgirl, looking over her shoulder, down the hallway. A ways down the hall, in a particularly dark area, something that looks like it might be a person is ducking into a doorway that has a men's room sign hanging above it. (The sign, naturally, is tagged with a BOS tag.) Batgirl has picked up her pace to chase after the possible person.

PANEL 13C

Description: Rear view of Batgirl, looking over her shoulder into a decaying restroom. No standard urinals; in their place is an ancient "trough" type urinal that looks like a long, narrow bathtub. The doors of most of the stalls have been ripped off their hinges, and just about every toilet bowl has been smashed by vandals, as have the sinks and hand driers. The mirror, though shattered, is still in place, but tagged with an elaborate "AHKBHAR" tag that's designed to take advantage of the spiderweb crack pattern of the mirror. Most of interest to Batgirl, of course, is the fact that the "person" she just chased in here is merely a tattered old jacket on a wire. She's stepping forward to take a closer look at the jacket.

PANEL 13D

Description: Front view of Batgirl, caught in the middle of very, very quickly looking down at her feet, still in the doorway of the men's room. Waist-up only.

SFX: (at bottom of panel) "Scrrrrape!"

PANEL 13E

Description: Close front shot of Batgirl's feet, centered on her left boot. The doorframe is visible to panel right. Just in front of the doorframe is a tin can about three inches across; between that and Batgirl's left foot is a hand grenade, oriented such that it obviously was just pulled out of the can when Batgirl failed to notice the tripwire that stretches from it, across her ankles, and off-panel to panel left. What's more, the grenade's "spoon" safety handle has just popped open, lighting the fuse.

SFX: (by grenade) "Pting!"

*********************************************************************

PAGE 14

Layout: Top two-thirds of the page are taken up by a single panel. Bottom third is divided into three equal panels, side-by-side.

PANEL 14A

Description: Back in the hallway from 13B, similar angle, Good Batgirl is seen in the middle of a backwards, twisting, headfirst dive out of the doorframe and down the hall, away from the reader (leaving her basically travelling perpendicular to the line of sight). A small, but still noteworthy, explosion has just occured in the men's room, where the grenade just went off. Feel free to add atmospheric lighting from the explosion as needed, and a healthy dose of shrapnel shooting out the doorway and into the far wall.

SFX: (near explosion) "BLAMMM!"

PANEL 14B

Description: 3/4 front shot of Batgirl, flat on the floor and looking over her shoulder at the smoking men's room doorway. Even as she looks back at it, she's starting to push herself up off the ground.

PANEL 14C

Description: 3/4 rear shot of Batgirl, in the middle of standing up again. She's looking down the hallway, towards where light has just appeared in another doorway--not much, like someone turned on a small reading lamp in there, but far more than anywhere else in the area.

PANEL 14D

Description: Batgirl is standing next to the lit doorway, her back against the wall. Her body language shows that every muscle is ready, like a snake coiled to strike. The angle is such that we can't really see into the room. Spray-painted on the wall above Batgirl's head is the message, "Qui observe les gardiens?"

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PAGE 15

Layout: Top half of the page is a single large panel. Bottom half is divided vertically into two equal panels.

PANEL 15A

Description: 3/4 rear view of Batgirl, who has just leapt into the room, cloak still billowing out behind her from the speed of the move. The room, which appears to be a fairly large former storage room, is lit by a single small reading lamp on a card table at the far end. A decent array of cookware and sterno cans and such are located on top of the table, looking quite a bit like a meth lab. There's a number of squat, round-topped and -bottomed cylindrical objects, about one to two feet tall, sitting on the floor under and to either side of the table; the lighting isn't good enough to really see what they are. The room otherwise appears empty, except for a derelict dolly lying on its side by the wall.

PANEL 15B

Description: Somewhat of a front view of Batgirl, who is striding carefully towards the table. Lots of shadows on the wall behind her.

PANEL 15C

Description: Similar to 15B, but now, Batgirl is bent backwards somewhat, while a black-clad pair of legs are coming out of the shadows to strike her in the small of the back, hard. Ambush!

SFX: "WHAM!"

Good Batgirl: "Unnh!"

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PAGE 16

Layout: Standard nine-panel "grid" layout. Note: Penciller to determine exact angles when not specified, to suit the action.

PANEL 16A

Description: Good Batgirl is down. Evil Batgirl, standing behind her, is looking to keep it that way by stomping on her head.

PANEL 16B

Description: Good Batgirl, however, had other plans, and is spinning herself on her hands, just above the floor. Evil Batgirl's stomp has missed; Good Batgirl is about to sweep Evil Batgirl's legs out from under her.

PANEL 16C

Description: Evil Batgirl has been upended by the legsweep. Good Batgirl is using her momentum to get back to her feet, and digging in one of her pouches with one hand.

PANEL 16D

Description: Evil Batgirl, without even landing from the sweep, plants her feet on the wall and uses them to launch herself at Good Batgirl's legs. Good Batgirl is looking right at her, ready to react.

PANEL 16E

Description: Good Batgirl is doing a handspring off of Evil Batgirl's shoulders, shoving Evil Batgirl down to the floor. Evil Batgirl, for her part, is starting to duck into a tuck position.

PANEL 16F

Description: Good Batgirl is landing on her feet. Evil Batgirl, in her tuck, is somersaulting back to hers.

PANEL 16G

Description: Good Batgirl has just turned to face her opponent again. Evil Batgirl is launching herself backwards into a spinning side kick at Good Batgirl.

PANEL 16H

Description: Good Batgirl has just caught Evil Batgirl's leg between her arm and her side, and is bringing her other arm down on Evil Batgirl's knee, bending it in a direction it's not meant to go. Evil Batgirl is crying out in pain, and digging in her utility belt.

PANEL 16I

Description: Evil Batgirl has just thrown a small pellet at Good Batgirl's face. The pellet bursts, spraying out a cloud of gas and smoke.

SFX: (near pellet) "Pshhhhhh"

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PAGE 17

Layout: Nine-panel "grid" layout.

PANEL 17A

Description: Good Batgirl is choking on the gas, and has dropped to her knees. Evil Batgirl is kneeing Good Batgirl in the face with her good knee.

PANEL 17B

Description: Good Batgirl goes down. Evil Batgirl limps hurriedly out of the room, reaching for something on her utility belt, behind her back.

PANEL 17C

Description: Good Batgirl is crawling over to the table, trying to get back up. The smoke from the pellet has largely spread around the room, diffusing the light.

PANEL 17D

Description: Evil Batgirl runs, as best she can, out the entrance we saw Good Batgirl use earlier. She's pulled a box with a button on it off of her utility belt, and is pushing the button rather emphatically.

PANEL 17E

Description: Close angle of a gas pipe somewhere in the bowels of the stadium--we can tell because it's labelled "GAS," unlike the ones next to it labelled "WATER" and "SEWER." A small charge has just exploded against a fitting.

SFX: (near tiny explosion) "BAM!"

PANEL 17F

Description: Profile view of Good Batgirl as she starts to pull herself back to her feet. Look of shock on her face as she looks straight at one of the cylindrical objects we saw earlier--and now, we can see that it's a propane tank from a gas grill, on top of which is one of the plastic explosive bombs we saw Evil Cass preparing way back in 4A.

PANEL 17G

Description: Same angle as 17E. We can now see that the explosion has blown the fitting off of the pipe, releasing a jet of gas into the air.

SFX: (near broken pipe) "Hisssssss..."

PANEL 17H

Description: Good Batgirl is sprinting down the corridor we saw her walking down earlier, at a dead run, desperately trying to get out of the building.

PANEL 17I

Description: Closeup of the propane tank and the bomb on top of it. Nothing visible happening, but there's a sound effect coming from the timer, which now reads "00:00".

SFX: (by timer) "Beep!"

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PAGES 18 AND 19

Layout: Full double-splash page.

PANEL 18/19

Description: Full double-splash panel across both pages. Aerial view of Tiger Stadium as the whole place blows up in a Big Cinematic Fireball. Debris is flying everywhere; feel free to show significant collateral damage to nearby buildings. We're talking an explosion big enough that just seeing it'd probably make Michael Bay cream his jeans.

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PAGE 20

Layout: Six-panel "grid" layout, three rows of two.

PANEL 20A

Description: Evil Batgirl is standing on a rooftop a couple of blocks away from the remains of Tiger Stadium, watching fire crews attempt to extinguish what little is left of the building. She's still in her costume, but has her mask off, and is talking on a celphone. She also has heavily wrapped her knee in bandages to support her weight, now that she has time to do it.

Evil Batgirl: "Yeah. It's me. It's done."

PANEL 20B

Description: Evil Batgirl has turned away from the smoking hole in the ground, and is walking across the rooftop.

Evil Batgirl: "What? No. No, I didn't find her body, but..."

PANEL 20C

Description: Evil Batgirl looks rather angry with the person on the other end of the line.

Evil Batgirl: "No, there's NO way she survived! I blew her up and dropped a whole damn baseball stadium on her!"

PANEL 20D

Description: Similar to 20C, but a 3/4 rear view, showing her whole body.

Evil Batgirl: "...yes, I blew up a baseball stadium. Yes, I KNOW, minimum 'noise.'"

PANEL 20E

Description: Similar to 20D, but we've zoomed in on her right shoulder. Now only visible from the waist up. There's a small bit of metal on her cape, by the shoulder.

Evil Batgirl: "But there's no way they'll ever figure it out under all that rubble. Besides, I made it look like a gas leak."

PANEL 20F

Description: Similar to 20E, but now we're zoomed in tightly on her right shoulder--tightly enough that we can see that the bit of metal is actually a bat-shaped clip that has what looks like a tiny microphone in it.

Evil Batgirl: "No, Slade, I can't go back and make sure, the fire department's already there."

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PAGE 21

Layout: Four-panel "grid" layout, two rows of two.

PANEL 21A

Description: Good Batgirl, her costume looking somewhat the worse for wear (particularly the cape), is crouched in an alleyway, holding her hand against her ear as she listens to the bug's transmissions on her mask's earpiece.

Evil Batgirl: (radio transmission, from Good Batgirl's earpiece) "All right. I'll be back tomorrow night. Bye."

PANEL 21B

Description: Good Batgirl is standing up, dialling a celphone.

PANEL 21C

Description: Good Batgirl is now talking on the celphone, leaning against the wall as she rubs her lower back.

Mystery voice: (on celphone) "What is it?"

Good Batgirl: "It's me. I need help."

PANEL 21D

Description: Closeup of Good Batgirl's face as she talks on the celphone.

Mystery voice: (on celphone) "...Cass? Why are YOU calling me on this--"

Good Batgirl: "I need to find Deathstroke..."

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PAGE 22

Layout: Single large splash panel.

PANEL 22A

Description: Large splash panel. Perched on the roof of a building in Manhattan, NIGHTWING is on his own celphone.

Good Batgirl: (on celphone) "...and you'd know where he is."

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PAGE 23 -- DC NATION PAGE

Well, here's issue #2. Once again, finished riiiiight at deadline. Somehow, I'm not able to get motivated to write until I've got about four hours left before I need to post it.

Tigers fans, I know, I know. I'm sorry. I hated to do that to the old girl, too. But it beats the hell out of the wrecking ball that she's facing in real life.

Before anyone says it, I wrote the cover before I'd ever heard of "Spider-Man's Tangled Web" #14; I kept it because I still like the image, and the amount of stuff I packed into the poster, all of which has some bearing on the story.

The third quarter of this issue was damned hard for me to write; I just couldn't really figure out the layouts. Minimizing the angle descriptions for the fight scene really saved my bacon as it comes to my self-imposed deadline.

As always, I welcome any feedback or comments. I thrive on the stuff--it increases my odds of sitting down to write the next issue on time.

Any comments on the new format? If you prefer one of the two formats over the other, let me know; I'll cheerfully use whichever format my readers prefer.

All right, I'll be back for the first Wednesday of March with another new installment.

NEXT MONTH: Secrets and Lies!

Batgirl, Volume Two, #1

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:34:43 GMT

BATGIRL, volume two, issue one.
"Doppelgänger"

Script by Richard D. Fox
Characters copyright DC Comics
Batman created by Bob Kane

Notes: I was inspired to write this by teh_no's "Batgirl OYL" scripts; this is a somewhat different tack, though--my objective was to rescue the Batgirl character, as she was as of January 1, 2007, WITHOUT resorting to any sort of retcon that would just deny any events that have happened in the DC canon. And before anyone complains, this is just the setup, the first issue of the story arc involved. Hope you folks like it!

Also, at one point in the script, I mention the names of two street gangs. While I don't think that they're real gangs, if anyone IS using those names and is offended, I apologize in advance--I couldn't find and references to them on Wikipedia or Google, so I had no reason to think they were real.

Anyhow, here we go...

COVER: A simple, iconic shot of Batgirl swooping down onto someone out of the indistinct, but dark, background, angled such that she doesn't actually cover the Batgirl logo at the top. Note that she has the yellow cape interior. The "#1!" issue number is oversized to emphasize this is the start of a new volume. Across the bottom, the title "Doppelgänger" is in the same shade of yellow, overlapping Batgirl's legs. For the direct-sale market, the area where the UPC barcode would be contains a standard headshot of Batgirl glaring at the reader--assume this item will be standard on covers unless a future issue specifies a change.

PAGE 1: Three panels. One large panel covers the upper two-thirds of the page; the bottom third of the page is split into equal-sized left and right panels.

PANEL 1: Night shot, large petroleum storage tank in an oil refinery, off-center, stretching a bit off-panel from to the right. The glow of a raging fire can be seen in the sky, with maybe some of the flames visible beyond the tank on the left.

NARRATION BOX: "Blaisdell Oil Fields."

NARRATION BOX: "Three months ago."

PANEL 2: Same shot as panel 1, except that the flames are now visible over the top of the tank, and are starting to wrap around the base of the tank. A female figure is silhouetted against the flames, in a dead run on top of the tank.

PANEL 3: The flames are now clearly about to breach the tank. The woman is diving headfirst over the edge of the tank, still silhouetted.

PAGE 2: Splash page, single panel fills the page.

PANEL 1: Angle from slightly above the tank as it explodes cinematically, with a gigantic KABOOOOOOOM! sound effect. The woman, tumbling to land feet-first, is facing directly towards the reader at this point, and is thus revealed to be CASSANDRA CAIN, wearing the outfit she was wearing in Robin #150 and #151.

PAGE 3: Six-panel layout, three rows of two panels each, all equally sized.

PANEL 1: Side view of Cass landing on her feet. Flaming bits of shrapnel are still flying past her as she does.

PANEL 2: 3/4 rear view, somewhat from above, of Cass sprinting through the oil facility's flaming wreckage, clearly looking to depart the area. She seems to be headed for a motorcycle parked nearby (but clearly some distance from the tank, since it's still standing, and not on fire).

CASS: (thought balloon) "Damn you, Tim..."

PANEL 3: Low angle, Cass on her motorcycle jumping over a half-flattened portion of the field's security fence, using some debris as a ramp.

CASS: (thought balloon) "Now I can't use the PLAN I had for you."

SOUND EFFECT: "VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRM!"

PANEL 4: Shot from above, back road somewhere outside of Gotham, a healthy distance from the oil fields. Cass's motorcycle is the only thing on the road, cutting through the curves of the road at high speed.

PANEL 5: Regular angle, Cass's motorcycle pulling into a dirt driveway at a small house in the middle of nowhere. All the lights are out, and there's no other vehicles visible. The house looks like it's abandoned--or, if you can pull it off, looks like someone's trying very, very hard to try and make it LOOK abandoned.

PANEL 6: Inside the house. Dark, lots of shadowy areas around the room. Cass is just closing the door behind her, having entered the building between panels. The only light is moonlight through the dingy, dirty windows, illuminating a strip in the middle of the room.

PAGE 4: Two panels, one atop the other, each taking half the page.

PANEL 1: Similar shot to panel 6 of page 3. Cass has walked into the center of the lit area of the floor. She's looking quite startled at the voice that's addressing her out of the shadows surrounding her. Note that the shadow voice's speech balloons come from a different area of the room for each balloon--either the person is moving around the room unseen, or he's doing a very good job of hiding his true location.

SHADOW VOICE: "Ah, Miss Cain."

SHADOW VOICE: "I've been waiting for you, you know."

PANEL 2: Again, a similar shot to panel 1. Cass has taken up a more defensive posture, but still isn't sure where the threat is.

CASS: "Who are you?"

SHADOW VOICE: "It's too bad your little play for Robin didn't work out."

SHADOW VOICE: "Of course, if it HAD, you'd never even consider the JOB OFFER I have for you."

PAGE 5: Five panels. Panel two is the upper half of the page, with panel one inset into the upper left, and panel three inset into the lower right. Panels four and five split the bottom half of the page evenly.

PANEL 1: Inset, upper left corner of page. Close shot, Cass's face. She looks displeased, but is still keeping control, trying to locate the source of the voice.

CASS: "I have my League, my loyal henchmen, money, power... why should I leave that to work for YOU?"

SHADOW VOICE: (off-panel) "Because, my dear Miss Cain, I can offer you the one thing you don't have."

SHADOW VOICE: "The one thing you crave above all others."

PANEL 2: Semi-splash panel, takes up upper half of page. Wide shot of Cass in the middle of the room. Shadow Voice's speech balloons have finally stopped coming from various different shadows; they're now coming from directly in front of Cass. Cass in lower left, Shadow Voice's concealing shadow in upper right.

SHADOW VOICE: "REVENGE. Revenge for all the things the Bat never taught you to do. Revenge for all the times they called you STUPID. Revenge for BLÜDHAVEN, and your friends there."

PANEL 3: Inset, lower right corner of panel 2. Close-up of Cass's face again. A look of absolute shock on her face, reacting to what the unseen speaker says next.

SHADOW VOICE: (off-panel) "Revenge... for STEPHANIE."

PANEL 4: Cass's POV, looking into the shadows where the voice is coming from. A tall male figure, still cloaked in shadows, is visible, starting to step forward, presumably the source of the mystery voice.

SHADOW VOICE: "Don't look so surprised, Miss Cain. I know many things people don't think I know. I've known the names of all of Bruce's little helpers for quite some time now."

SHADOW VOICE: (muttered, half to himself) "Pity that she died so young, though. She needed training, but there was great potential in that one."

PANEL 5: Same shot as the previous panel. The figure is still mostly in the shadows, but closer, and his near boot is now in the light.

SHADOW VOICE: "So, Miss Cain, that's my offer. I'll teach you. I'll guide you. I'll HELP you get your revenge."

SHADOW VOICE: "And all you have to do..."

SHADOW VOICE: "...is work..."

PAGE 6: One large splash panel, one small inset at the bottom. Title and credits across the bottom of the page.

PANEL 1: Splash panel. 3/4 front angle on our mysterious person, who has now stepped out of the shadows completely to reveal that he is DEATHSTROKE THE TERMINATOR. Fairly low, emphasizing his height. Cass is also in the shot, and the angle further emphasizes the difference in heights between the two--perhaps even exaggerating a bit for effect. (Remember, he's 6'4", she's 5'5".)

DEATHSTROKE: "...for ME."

PANEL 2: Inset panel. Closeup of Cass's eyes. Cold and hard, but the crinkles at the edges show she's smirking.

CASS: (mouth off bottom of panel) "...deal."

PAGE 7: Six panels in four rows. Top and bottom rows are full-width panels; the other rows are split into two equal panels each.

PANEL 1: Closeup of Cass's eyes. Cold, hard, focused. Looks like she's getting ready to beat the living hell out of someone.

NARRATION BOX: "The present."

PANELS 2-5: Similar closeups of Cass's bare hands and feet lashing out, smashing through roughly human-shaped wooden training targets, with appropriate sound effects. Plenty of splinters and such flying, too.

PANEL 6: A wide shot of what was the main conference room in the old TITANS TOWER in New York City. Cass is standing in the middle of it, wearing a white martial arts gi, now peaceful and calm again. Ruined training targets surround her--we can see that some of the broken chunks have fairly-crude paintings of members of the TEEN TITANS on them. One undamaged target remains standing, directly in front of Cass.

SOUND EFFECT: (from intercom panel on the wall) blip!

DEATHSTROKE: (over intercom) "Cassandra, would you please come see me in the media center?"

PAGE 8: Four panels in three rows. The top two rows, filling the top half of the page are full-width panels; the bottom half is split into two equal panels.

PANEL 1: Same shot as panel 6 of page 7. Cass delivers one last palm-thrust to the final target, splitting it in two at the "waist," a look combining pleasure and fury on her face.

PANEL 2: Reverse angle of panel 1. Cass has turned and is walking towards the camera. In the background, we can see that the wreckage of that final target was painted to look like ROBIN.

CASS: "On my way."

PANEL 3: The "media room," converted from some other purpose in the Tower's past, but now outfitted with multiple big-screen television sets. Cass is just entering; Deathstroke is already there--although since he's not wearing his Deathstroke costume, it would be more accurate to refer to him as SLADE WILSON. He's standing near the largest TV, wearing his "civilian" casual clothing and smoking jacket, holding a remote control. The televisions all are showing various news channels; the largest one appears to be showing a local newscast. The word "PAUSE" is printed on the screen.

CASS: "What is it?"

SLADE: "I thought you would be interested in seeing this. It was on the Detroit news a couple of days ago."

SLADE: "I didn't find out about it until just now."

PANEL 4: A shot of the TV screen. Cass and Slade are seen to either side of it, watching. Slade is holding out the remote control. The newscaster is sitting behind the desk, reading from her teleprompter. An "iWitness 5 LIVE" logo is in the lower left corner of the screen.

SOUND EFFECT: (near remote) Klik!

NEWSCASTER: (on television) "...attempted mugging last night near the corner of Wabash and Bagley was the latest in a string of street crimes foiled by a mysterious vigilante in the Metro area."

PAGE 9: Eight panels, in four equal rows of two, each split evenly across the page.

PANEL 1: Similar to page 8, panel 4, but Slade has turned his head to watch Cass's reactions. The image on the screen has changed to surveillance camera footage that shows, across the parking lot of a bank, one person on the ground, looking scared, while two larger people are moving to attack a fourth person who is between them.

NEWSCASTER: (on television, but voiceover) "This security camera footage from a bank in the area shows the unidentified good samaritan defending the victim from the would-be thieves."

NEWSCASTER: "iWitness 5 Live has learned that this person was female, and, according to eyewitnesses, was dressed like a superhero."

PANEL 2: Image is almost identical to panel 1, but the person in between the two thugs appears to be beating them both up simultaneously. The "PAUSE" lettering is on the screen again.

NEWSCASTER: (on television, but voiceover) "Maybe Detroit has finally spawned its own answer to the Batma--"

SOUND EFFECT: (near remote) Klik!

PANEL 3: Tighter shot of the TV screen. Freeze-frame of the security footage, zoomed in on the female vigilante. "ZOOM 4x" is printed in the corner of the screen, and the resolution is quite low.

PANEL 4: Same shot as panel 3, but now the word "ENHANCE" is displayed. The resolution is much, much higher, making it quite clear that it IS someone wearing Cass's old Batgirl costume punching out one mugger while hitting the other with a back kick to the groin.

SLADE: (off-panel) Is there anything you haven't been telling me about, Cassandra?

SLADE: (off-panel) A little side work, perhaps?

PANEL 5: Another angle on the media room, both Cass and Slade visible. Cass has turned violently towards him. From the look on her face, she is PISSED THE HELL OFF. Slade, for his part, has a bit of a smirk on his face.

SLADE: "Just a little joke, my dear girl."

PANEL 6: Same shot as panel 5. Cass looks slightly less furious, but she's still angry as hell.

SLADE: "I know it wasn't you."

SLADE: "I CHECKED the date of that footage."

PANEL 7: Still the same shot; Cass is looking at least somewhat mollified by Slade's words.

SLADE: "After all, you were with ME when it happened."

SLADE: "We were doing that little job in MOGADISHU."

PANEL 8: Slade is holding out a train ticket to Cass. Visible on it, among the other text, is the lettering "NYC-DET".

SLADE: "I took the liberty of assuming you'd want to deal with this... infringement."

SLADE: "PERSONALLY."

PAGES 10 AND 11: The upper two-thirds of the pages are dominated by a double-splash panel. The bottom third is divided into four equal panels, left to right.

PANEL 1: Double-splash panel, showing a passenger train travelling along the Hudson River valley in early morning. Visible through one of the windows is Cass's head.

CASS: (narration box) "One nice thing about working for Deathstroke..."

CASS: (narration box) "...he always springs for FIRST CLASS."

PANEL 2: Cass is sitting, alone, in a small sleeper compartment on the train. The same view is visible out the window. She's got a number of files laid out on the tray-table in front of her, and appears to be reviewing one of them.

CASS: (narration box) "Taking the train was a good idea. No sense in dealing with airport security if I don't have to."

PANEL 3: Closer shot of Cass, still reading her file. Angle shifts to make sure we can still see out the window, where the scenery has gotten flatter. The shadows have gotten a lot shorter, indicating it's around noon.

CASS: (narration box) "I use the extra time to review what we know about the fake Batgirl."

CASS: (narration box) "There's not much."

PANEL 4: Yet another angle on Cass, still reading one file or another. Again, we can see out the window, where we're now seeing a sunset over what is presumably Lake Erie.

CASS: (narration box) "The TV report is pretty much it. When I get there, I'll have to look for the other incidents it mentions."

CASS: (narration box) "On the upside, we don't know of any OTHER capes working in Detroit, either."

PANEL 5: A different angle on the compartment. Cass has put away her files, and the compartment has been converted to night configuration. Cass is propped up in her berth, looking out the window at the moonlit countryside.

CASS: (narration box) "I know I need to sleep now, because I'm going to be up all night tomorrow."

CASS: (narration box) "So why is it I can't stop thinking that there's something WRONG about all this...?"

PAGE 12: Three panels. The upper two-thirds of the page are taken up by one panel; the lower third is split evenly into two side-by-side panels.

PANEL 1: A hotel room somewhere in Detroit. Cass's pilot case is lying, open, on the bed. Her Batgirl costume (with the yellow cape interior) is sitting in it. Cass is sitting at the room's desk, wearing a hotel bath towel wrapped around her body, with a second wrapped around her hair. Maybe a little steam wafting out of the bathroom door. Note: Cass doesn't have anywhere near as much body scarring as she was shown to have in various volume one Batgirl issues--if any scars ARE visible, note that the gunshot wound scars are DEFINITELY not present. Sitting on the desk, in front of Cass, is a laptop computer that she's working at.

CASS: (narration box) "Once I'm settled in at the hotel, I get to work."

PANEL 2: Closer shot over Cass's shoulder. She's using the laptop to browse the web site of one of the Detroit newspapers, searching for reports of vigilante activity, and writing times and addresses on a notepad next to the computer.

CASS: (narration box) "In-room internet makes this SO much easier."

PANEL 3: Another angle of the room. The pilot case is now on the floor as Cass lies on her back on the bed. She's wearing an oversized t-shirt that comes well below mid-thigh on her, and talking on a celphone. She's also holding the notepad from panel 2.

CASS: "Yes, this is Alexandra Kim, from the Gotham Post. I'm calling to fact-check an article I'm writing..."

CASS: (narration box) "So does a POLICE DEPARTMENT not used to dealing with CAPES."

PAGE 13: Four panels, dividing the page in half both vertically and horizontally.

PANEL 1: Similar angle to page 12, panel 3. However, Cass has rolled over onto her belly. She's still on the phone, though.

CASS: "Well, I don't think there's really any connection, but you know Gotham. Put anything involving a bat on the front page, and we sell an extra 50,000 copies."

CASS: (narration box) "God, they're so gullible."

PANEL 2: Cass is back over at the desk, now marking points on a Detroit city map, and writing down times next to them.

PANEL 3: Cass is now drawing a line on the map, not quite connecting the points, but travelling near all of them.

CASS: (narration box) "This is a little detective work even Bruce would be proud of."

PANEL 4: Cass is sitting back on the chair, feet up on the desk, smirking at her map, which now has a loop drawn on it, with times marked at various points on it.

CASS: (narration box) "A little simple math, and I've worked out the fake's patrol route."

CASS: (narration box) "Now I know where to look for her, and when."

PAGE 14: Three panels. Top third of the page is split into two side-by-side panels; the bottom two-thirds is a single panel.

PANEL 1: Cass, in her Batgirl costume, is perched atop a building, looking down on an alleyway in an ugly part of Detroit. There's a group of rough kids in the alleyway, and another group walking down the sidewalk across the street. Cass has just thrown a Batarang at a member of the other group.

CASS: (narration box) "Brothas of Society. Gang By Law. They like to think they're big gangs, but they're just street thugs."

CASS: (narration box) "They don't even carry GUNS."

CASS: (narration box) "However, they HATE each other. And this street is the border between their turfs."

PANEL 2: The gang across the street is rushing over and attacking the gang in the alleyway, starting quite a large fistfight.

CASS: (narration box) "More importantly, it's just off the patrol route."

CASS: (narration box) "All I need to do is start a fight at the right time, and..."

PANEL 3: Ground-level view. While Cass is still (barely) visible on the rooftop, another woman with an identical figure has just landed squarely in the middle of the fight, wearing the pre-OYL Batgirl costume (with the black inner cape), her cape still billowed up from the air rushing past.

CASS: (narration box) "Bingo."

PAGE 15: Five panels. The upper half of the page is divided into thirds, with vertical panels. The lower half is divided into two equally-sized horizontal panels.

PANEL 1: Batgirl's POV of the fight. The other Batgirl is swiftly dismantling both gangs simultaneously.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "My first instinct is to just jump down and kill that imposter. But I don't."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "BRUCE taught me too well for that."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "So did SLADE."

PANEL 2: Same angle. The number of combatants conscious has diminished considerably, and one or two have decided that discretion being the better part of valor, and cowardice being the better part of discretion, the best option at this point is to RUN LIKE HELL.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "I'm glad I didn't. Whoever she is, this girl is GOOD."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "As good as SLADE. Maybe even better."

PANEL 3: Same angle again. We're down to one combatant, begging for mercy, and two fleeing the fight. The other Batgirl is in front of the begging combatant.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "I need to learn more. Gather INFORMATION on her."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "Information is the greatest weapon."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "Slade taught me that."

PANEL 4: Still the same angle. The last combatant is out cold, and the other Batgirl is throwing two BATARANGS at the gang members who're running away.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "The more you know about your target..."

PANEL 5: Same angle. The Batarangs have just kayoed the two runners. The other Batgirl is starting to apply zip-cuffs to the gangsters.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "...the better your PLAN for the kill."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "This target will need a DAMN good plan."

PAGE 16: Two panels, equally sized, one atop the other.

PANEL 1: The other Batgirl has finished cuffing the unconscious thugs, and is now standing up, holding a grapple launcher out. She's just fired the grapple across the street. The Batgirl we've been with is starting to stand up from her surveillance crouch.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "Now, here comes the hard part..."

PANEL 2: Our first Batgirl is roof-hopping to follow the other Batgirl, who is grappling her way back up to the rooftops herself, while proceeding down the street at the same time.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "...staying close enough to TRACK her..."

PAGE 17: Single splash panel.

PANEL 1: Splash panel. From the rooftops, tracking "our" Batgirl; the other Batgirl is swinging on her line past the marquee of the Fox Theatre (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:FoxTheatre%28Detroit%29.jpg ), which is across the street.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "...while staying far enough back that she doesn't NOTICE me."

PAGE 18: Three panels, equally sized, stacked vertically.

PANEL 1: Our Batgirl is roof-hopping, a couple of buildings behind and across the street from the other Batgirl, who's now also patrolling from the rooftops. A large air conditioning unit is notable on our Batgirl's building.

PANEL 2: Same shot. The other Batgirl appears to have paused on the roofs. Our Batgirl is diving behind the HVAC unit for concealment.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "For a moment, she almost catches me..."

PANEL 3: Same shot again. Our Batgirl's fully hidden behind the HVAC. The other Batgirl is looking back towards us.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "It's a very, very long moment."

PAGE 19: Two panels, stacked vertically. Panel one is the upper third of the page; panel two is the rest of the page.

PANEL 1: Our Batgirl is peeking out from behind the HVAC unit again, as the other Batgirl jumps over the edge of her building to continue patrol.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "But I don't think she saw me."

PANEL 2: Low angle of the other Batgirl swinging through the streets. Our Batgirl is watching from a rooftop. The other Batgirl is swinging past a newspaper machine--while the masthead isn't visible, the headline ("LIONS WIN!") and subhead ("City in shock") are.

PAGE 20: Two panels, stacked vertically. Each covers half the page.

PANEL 1: Back on the rooftops, following our Batgirl, who is still following the other Batgirl. The buildings are shorter now, all about two or three stories tall, with storefronts on the ground floor, and apartments on the upper floors.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "Eventually, we start getting around towards where I figured her patrol route starts."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "Now I get to find out where she LIVES."

PANEL 2: Similar shot. Our Batgirl is still stealthily approaching the building directly across the street from the other Batgirl, who is starting to lower herself on a line towards one of the windows of her building.

PAGE 21: Five panels. The last panel covers the bottom third of the page; the top two-thirds are split into two rows of two panels, evenly dividing the space into four panels.

PANEL 1: Our Batgirl is perched on a rooftop across the street, mostly hidden in shadows. She's using a compact pair of binoculars to survey the building. The shot is angled such that we can see this, yet still see the other Batgirl opening an upstairs window from the outside.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "'Training in tae kwon do, jiu-jitsu, and bat-style kung fu.' Cute, you little bitch. Really cute."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "Bat-style IS an interesting twist..."

BATGIRL: (narration box) "...even if it DOES lose most of its mystique when you know it comes from KENTUCKY."

PANEL 2: Same shot as before, but the other Batgirl is sliding in through the open window.

BATGIRL: (narration box) "Here we go. Time to see who she is."

PANEL 3: Same shot as before, but the other Batgirl is now completely inside the window, and the room's light is on. She's starting to pull her mask off.

PANEL 4: Closeup, our Batgirl's face. The binocs are coming down, and even through her mask, we can see the look of utter shock on her face.

BATGIRL: (tiny voice) "No."

BATGIRL: "It CAN'T be."

PAGE 22: One large splash panel. In it, we're looking through the window, into the lit room of the dojo. The other Batgirl is starting to unzip her costume (nothing exploitive, please, she's just barely beginning to get it open at the neck), and has removed her mask to reveal the familiar face of CASSANDRA CAIN. Whoa.

BATGIRL: (off-panel) "That's IMPOSSIBLE!"

NARRATION BOX: (bottom right corner) "In 30 days: BATGIRL VS. BATGIRL!"

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:31:44 GMT

For those who are interested, I've got my computer sort of up and running again, on the Duron 900 board and chip I used for all of five months before winning the Athlon XP 1800 that died last week. (Post-mortem following the transplant surgery reveals that my initial diagnosis WAS right, it suffered a CPU meltdown due to a failed CPU fan.) I hope I can persuade someone to get my a new CPU for my birthday (or find a job soon), because I've got a gig of DDR sitting in the useless motherboard, but this board only handles SDR--and I've only got 128MB of that, just BARELY enough to run XP.

On a more pleasant note: The game's not even out yet, and I won't be able to get it for at LEAST a month, minimum, but http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/clips/clips-gh2s-freebird-on-expert-211653.php has my fingers bleeding ALREADY. (Since it seems that I can't get the goddamn entry tools to work right to put a link there. Stupid editor!)