Story Time, Kiddies

Ultimate Batman:
Issue 1 (Almost entirly without speech)
Pg 1- 6 letter box panels:
Panel 1- close up on Batmans eyes- just white lens- looking angry
Panel 2- close up on Bruce Waynes eyes, looking anxious
Panel 3- close up of Batmans hand holding a batarang sideways, mirroring...
Panel 4 - close up of Bruces hand, turned looking at his watch. The hands read 9:15
Panel 5 - close up of Batmans belt, retrieving a gadget from his belt
Panel 6 - close up of Bruces hand reaching for a glass of champaign.

Page 2 -Full page splash.
Batman holding a thug around the body from behind. One hand over the mouth, the other coming up underneath the thugs armpit and then around the back of the head. The thug is obviously shocked.

Page 3- Full page splash.
Bruce holding a very beautiful girl around the waist from behind. Both are dressed for a party and many others are in the background, enjoying the time. Bruce is young, 18 years old. He is dressed casual, shirt open, tie undone, resting around his neck. The girl is enjoying the embrace, and has her head inclined up and around looking for a kiss. Bruce is looking down her body at his watch. It reads 10:22.

The following pages jump from Batman on a night out, stopping evil, to Bruce at his 18th birthday. He's very distracted, evidently waiting for something, or some time. Some panels show him looking at his watch, others at the antique Grandfather clock against one wall. Every such panel shows time slipping by.

As the issue moves on Batmans fight with the thugs is set against Bruce's time at the party. The action in both sections should mirror each other to an extent, the darkness of the alley versus the bright party; the violent fight versus the gentle dance; the the flash of gunfire versus the flash of cameras.

Batman returns to the Batmobile. He has blood smeared across his lips, and wipes it off occasionally. It returns. The Batmobile is parked down another of Gothams many dark alleys. Batman stops for a moment, one foot inside the Batmobile as a number of GCPD police cars scream by the alley, lights flashing.

Bruces section has the party begin to wrap-up and the guests are hurried out. Some look annoyed at having the party stopped so early. Clocks in the background read 1:47. Bruces girl (Viki Vale) is very annoyed at not being let stay, but Alfred calmly forces her into the limo. Bruce stands in the doorway at the top of the steps, one foot inside the hall, as the last of the guests cars leave down the mansions drive.

The Batmobile is screaming along the roads. Bruce races through the mansion to the library. Batman activates a switch on a dashboard covered in little lights and switches. "Entrance Clear" flashes up on a screen. Bruce activates a hidden switch behind the Grandfather clock which now reads 1:53. The bookcase beside it slides open, revealing a rough staircase downwards. The Batmobile races through a hidden opening in a cliff face and along a narrow driveway inside. Bruce races down the stairs, Alfred following close behind.

Pulling off his shirt Bruce opens a locker. Inside are a number of Bat-Suits. He reaches for the first one. Bruce steps forward in full Batsuit, with just the mask in hand. He runs up to the Batmobile and runs his fingers along the paintwork. It's immaculate. As he turns around,

The Batmobile drives up and parks in a space beside the other one. Bruce leaps over the bonnets, landing with a slight acrobatic flair at the drivers-side door. It opens and Batman steps out, blood-marks colgealed on his lips.

Last panel on second last page:
Bruce: Alright, old man. I've kept my end of the bargain. Now you keep yours.
Batman is reaching to remove his mask in the same panel.

Last Page- Full page splash.
Bruce Wayne is standing on the left side of the page, a huge smile beaming across his face. A much older man is standing looking at him one the right side of the page. He looks every bit as tired and old as Bruce looks energetic and young. Think Dark Knight Returns Batman standing next to Batman from the current The Batman Warner Bros cartoon, only the older man isn't as crazily large as DKR Batman was. Both are looking each other in the eyes. In the background, between them on the page, and looking worried, stands Alfred. Behind him, above a wall of computer monitors a huge clock reads 2:00.

***

That's my opening shot. The premise is that Batman has been around for years before Bruce is old enough to do the job. The whole time, he's been played by Bruce's friend from after his parents were killed, Gotham City Police Department Officer James Gordon. Bruce has been using his family millions to finance the gadgets and tech, all on the condition that once he turns 18, Jim has to hand over the mantle of the Bat. He's spent all his life training for this time.

Batman is still an urban legend. Gordon is good at what he does, and uses his police connections and access to make some evidence dissappear that could support the rumours of this vigilante, while twisting other evidence to "prove" that these events have been the result of numerous individuals, empowered by the concept of this Batman figure, but ultimately working alone, and often only once.

Early issues have Bruce screw up a few times. Some villians immediately spot the difference, and he gets himself into the kind of trouble he has to use his brains to escape from. At least once he should loose the criminal entirely, but some quick detective work gets him back on the trail. This should be the focus. Bruce becomes the Dark Detective relying on brains as much as brawn, while Gordon was always just the Dark Knight, relying on his fists.

Well. That's it for the start. Hope you guys like it. That's actually an idea I've been playing with for over a year now, with help from my best buddy Noel. If I had any artistic skills I'd try actually drawing it out, but I don't, so... you know...

Updates

And not the boring kind where I say something like "Sorry I haven't posted in weeks, but I promise to post more often from now on" and you don't hear from me again. No, this is a quick post on some slight, slight changes I've made to the blog itself.

Most notibly I have changed the side panel. Now the whole thing is themed! Everything is "Terrific". Nice.

Um... actually, I think that's about it for the obvious changes. In the background, I've gone and updated to the new formats that allow easier modifications to be made, so that's cool. Also, I updated some of my links. A few months late, but now kindle acctually links to her new blog! I've been reading it since she changed, just never realised I hadn't changed the link. Silly me. As well as that, there have been a few removals and additions to the groups, so check 'em out.

That's it for tonight. Beddy time for me.

A Whole New Concept To Me

This is incredible. I was totally floored by this. It's so simple and cool and fun and entertaining. Wow!

Straying From The Norm

Happy New Year!

Yes, ok, it's a day late, and also the first post since... lets see... November 13th!!

Anyhow, that's all just because I've been super busy. No, no! Really. Stop laughing. I've had a very busy time. Granted, recently "busy" has been defined as "playing Wii", but it still counts! Busy also includes all that awesome work experience I was doing. While it's over now, I 'm looking forward to going back one or two days to cover if one of the other two staff are out sick. I got some really nice Christmas cards from the kids too when I was leaving. Cards and deoderant! Lots of deoderant. Hmmmm...

Back to the Wii. My last post was about waiting for it, and I have since got one, having cued for a little outside Game in Cork on the release morning to be one of the first in the door. I grabbed Zelda (duh!) and Wii Play on the day, and with Wii Sport included and getting Marvel Ultimate Alliance just before Christmas, I already have four games. I really, really want Raving Rabbits. It just looks to be so much fun to play. But I'm not paying €60 for it. Their advertising campaign is by far the best I've seen for any game. I'm not the only person to go from "meh" to "It must be mine!!" based on ads like this alone!

In other news, I quit my job in the lesiure centre. I'm not going to go into why. That's not what this blog is for. For that, you should check out my other blog, One F*£%ed Up Sucky-A$$ed Day. Lets just say I'm happy I've done it, and feel a whole lot better now that I'm free. And jobless. And broke. But at least I can concentrate on my studies! Eh, eh?!? See? See what I did there? I looked for the silver lining. All I found was a slightly whiter area of the "No money" cloud. Well, crap.

Finally, my New Years resolution is to post more often. I really, really want to use this blog. I love writing, and even just writing this stuff is good practice. Feel free to pester me to update if I stop again.

I have more to say, but I have to go to lunch with some friends now. So...

Later!

So Excited I Might Just Wii Myself

Urg... that was terrible! But then again, when I get excited just watching people packing boxes, you know it's obsession.

The Cinema

I love the magic of going to the cinema. It has never lost it's mystical air, and tonight I enjoyed it more than I have in a while.

I'm just back from seeing The Prestige, starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine, to name but a few. In brief, the movie was awesome. Definately one of the highlights of the year so far. Beautifully and skillfully shot, with an astonishingly well crafted story that dispite a non-linear method of story-telling, numerous moments of misdirection and some neat little twists never looses the viewer. The acting is, as one might expect from such a great cast, second-to-none. Everyone plays their part with finesse and talent, further strengthening the movies impact.

[Note: Please do not read too much about the movie if you are planning on going to see it. While searching for something about it I found a review that kind of ruins one of the key elements in the story. I had not read anything, nor had I sen any trailers beforehand. I went in fresh and enjoyed it more because of it. The Prestige really is a movie that greatly benefits from not knowing what to expect right from the start. Like the illusions it is about, often knowing the trick destroys the magic.]

Tonight was, apart from preview screnenings last night, the opening shows and so we watched it in an almost full theatre. The power and energy in the room was fantastic. The crowd thrilled, laughed and gasped at all the right parts in unison. During the moments of spectacular revelations, or the pinnacle of an illusion the crowd sat in hushed silence. I especially enjoyed the gasp of dismay that met the words "Not tonight".

Recently I seemed to end up at movies that have either been out for a while, or simply did not capture the general publics interest and the numbers were low. It's just not the same. I don't like watching things alone. I enjoy other peoples reactions as much as I enjoy the flickering images on-screen. I love big crowds.

Next week is Casino Royale, Bond turns 21. Now he can legally drink in most American states. I, along with Claire, will be going to what will surely be a packed out preview screening. boy, am I looking forward to it!

[Brief edit: I am waaaaaay to tired to finish this as I really want to, as well as do a proper spell and grammer check. I'll try to get one done as soon as possible. Until then, sorry. I hate seeing them too.]

Woah. Long Break

It's been almost a month since my last post. Sorry about that. The reason has mostly been because I'm crazy busy with my work experience, which I'm still loving. In fact, it seems to get better every morning. The sucky part is the diary writing. Yawn!

Also, my life has been pretty much "wake work, write, sleep", repeat daily for a while now. I'm getting very run down, though I try not to show that in class. Even when I feel good I can tell when my body is begining to give up. I've been getting dry patches of skin, black bags under my eyes, yawning constantly and more. Oh well.

Anyway, I can't promise anything, but I'll try to update a little more often.