Gail Simone's Blog, page 485
May 14, 2014
Lightning round: DC and Marvel female characters you'd most like to team up?
Black Canary and Black Widow.
Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel.
Batgirl and Spider-Woman.
Barda and She-Hulk.
Scandal and X-23.
Ice and Storm.
May 13, 2014
BRAVE AND THE BOLD Script Excerpt
When I wrote an episode of Brave and the Bold, my first draft was too long, particularly the teaser. And originally, I was asked to make it Queen Bee, not Poison Ivy, that trapped Batman.
I still think it’s a lot of fun. Here’s the teaser excerpt from the animated episode, first draft.
+++++++++++++++++++++
TEASER
EXT. GOTHAM CENTRAL PARK – NIGHT
CRANE SHOT, young man with a Mohawk in typical punk outfit, including piercings and snake tattoo, RUNS panting and terrified through the walking path of the park, past a large concrete statue of Batman surrounded by a fountain. The Punk has a chain attached to his belt, that he uses as a weapon later.
1
PUNK
<scared, fatigued panting>
He looks behind him as he runs. We see a shadow following him, and the audience thinks he’s being chased by Batman for some petty thievery.
He SLAMS into the back of a cop, whose front we don’t see yet.
2
PUNK
Oof!
The Punk looks totally relieved, oddly. The cop doesn’t turn around immediately.
3
PUNK
Oh, man, am I glad to see you! Somethin’s…somethin’s
followin’ me!
He places his hand on the cop’s shoulder to turn him around.
4
PUNK
Hey, you hearin’ me, man? I
said somethin’ WEIRD is –
REACTION SHOT, the Punk’s face as he sees the cop turn around. The cop’s eyes are mindless, segmented, multi-eyes of a bee. He’s been hypnotized by the Queen Bee’s powers.
5
PUNK
What the…?
6
COP
(spooky monotone)
I am a drone. I service the
Queen.
Two more people appear, one is an older woman with a precious and pampered toy poodle on a leash, and the other is a businessman carrying a briefcase and holding a cell phone to his ear uselessly. All three, woman, man and dog, have the blank, segmented eyes.
7
DOG LADY AND BUSINESSMAN
(in unison, spooky monotone)
I am a worker. I collect the
pollen.
8
DOG
<monotone bark>
Bark bark bark bark. Bark bark
bark bark.
The Punk backs up against a tree, as all four proceed to come towards him. He GRABS at a chain from his belt, hoping to use it as a weapon.
9
PUNK
(terrified)
No. No! Stay back! Stay BACK!
10
DOG LADY AND BUSINESSMAN
(in unison, spooky monotone)
I am a worker. I collect the
pollen.
They approach closer, their creepy hands reaching towards him.
11
PUNK
Nooooooooo!
CLOSE-UP on the Punk’s terrified face, as they nearly touch him.
12
COP, DOG LADY AND BUSINESSMAN
(in unison, spooky monotone)
Collect the pollen, collect the
pollen, collect the pollen.
We hear the distinctive FWOOSH of Batman’s batarang pistol, as it SHOOTS line out to wrap around the older woman, knocking her gently to the ground.
13
DOG
<spooky monotone bark>
Bark.
Batman LEAPS down from the tree above the Punk to land in front of the businessman. Batman is wearing an oxygen mask, perhaps with the distinctive red stripe of his regular tools and vehicles. The businessman swings his briefcase at Batman, and Batman DUCKS under the blow. From here, we do not see the Punk behind Batman.
14
BATMAN
(to Punk)
Run. Find a safe place to ride
out this epidemic.
PAN ACROSS the park, and we see that Batman and the Punk are now surrounded by a mass of typical Gotham citizens, every age, every shape, color and outfit. They all have the segmented eyes.
15
CROWD
(creepy monotone in unison)
We are the workers. We collect
the pollen.
Suddenly, many of the crowd STEP FORWARD, their yellow, segmented eyes turn deep orange, or red, the color of an alarm.
16
CROWD
(creepy,louder, in unison)
We are the warriors. We
protect the hive.
The ‘warrior’ citizens RUSH at Batman, who crouches into a fighting stance, knocks the two closest warriors out. Without turning to the Punk, he addresses him.
17
BATMAN
There’s too many. We’ll have
to try to fight our way—
Batman is suddenly SMASHED on the back of his head, knocked cold mid-sentence. We see the Punk behind him, his chain wrapped around the fist he just used to cold-cock Batman. His eyes are now blank, orange, and segmented. He’s been infected.
18
PUNK
(spooky monotone)
I am a warrior. I protect the
hive.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. QUEEN BEE’S HIVE—NIGHT
Batman is being dragged through the hive, the Queen Bee’s new bio-organic base on Earth. He’s being dragged by two sexy female warriors from the Queen’s race, wearing slightly retro yellow and black striped costumes with white go-go boots and stinger pistols in holsters at their side. They drag him down a hallway, and we see several of the citizens from the previous scene, including the old woman and the punk. His hands are bound behind his back by a honeycomb –like blob.
19
OLD WOMAN
Collect the pollen, collect
the pollen.
The two females drop Batman at the foot of Queen Bee’s throne. PAN UP as he looks up to take her all in. Sexy and creepy at the same time. She might wear a crown of stingers, and she carries a lance with a wicked, ornate stinger on one end. Two more female bee guards stand behind her throne.
20
QUEEN BEE
(odd, electronic modulated voice)
By your actions it is clear
that you are the dominant male
on this sphere. You will be my
mate, and will be spared the
enslaving process for as long
as you continue to be…entertaining.
Batman gets to one knee, trying to rouse himself from his concussion.
21
BATMAN
Sorry, lady, but I prefer an
old-fashioned kind of gal.
The Queen Bee stands angrily, staring down at him, enraged.
22
QUEEN BEE
(odd, electronic modulated voice)
You dare defy me? I am mere
moments away from dominating your entire backwater planet, meat creature!
PAN UP from the exterior of the hive, set in the center of Gotham Central Park, upwards to the atmosphere, where we see three very menacing, vaguely insectoid starships, hovering over the Eastern seaboard. The ships have segmented tail sections with ‘stingers’ on the end, that will fire the beams at Earth’s major cities. The ‘stingers’ themselves are long, thick, metallic glowing rods, perhaps thirty feet in length.
23
QUEEN BEE
(v.o., odd, electronic modulated voice)
Even now, my ships prepare to fire
my enthralling beams at major
cities around the globe, to
bring the entire population under
my merciful care, to be used and
discarded at my whim!
24
BATMAN
No. We’ll stop you.
25
QUEEN BEE
Who will stop me, mammal?
Batman smiles.
26
BATMAN
Just me…
QUICK CUT TO surprised guard standing behind the Bee’s throne.
27
BATMAN (CONT, OS)
…and the Black Orchid.
The guard rips off her disguise, to reveal the Black Orchid underneath.
28
BLACK ORCHID
Rats. How did you know?
Batman stands, hands still bound behind him.
29
BATMAN
No time for that. Go after
those ships!
30
BLACK ORCHID
But…I can’t just leave you!
31
BATMAN
Go!
Black Orchid FLIES upward, BURSTING through the roof of the hive.
Batman is forced to FIGHT the several female guards without the use of his hands, which he does through a series of KICKS and SOMERSAULTS. The Queen Bee LEAPS into the fight, narrowly missing his face with the stinger of her lance, which electrifies anything it touches.
She SMASHES it towards him, he DUCKS, and she HITS THE WALL, zapping the wall and leaving a smoldering, blackened, twisted glob where the stinger made contact.
CUT TO:
EXT. STARFIELD ABOVE EARTH, NIGHT
The upper atmosphere, as the ship’s powerful stingers aim towards the planet below. The stingers start to glow yellow, then orange, then red, the mighty THRUM of their engines powering up to full capacity growing in volume with each color change.
The first shot BLASTS from one of the stingers.
And is intercepted by the Black Orchid, who takes the full force of the shot on her chest, painfully.
Back at the hive, Batman KICKS the lance, sending it spiraling out of the Queen Bee’s hands, far towards the roof of the hive. She GRABS him by the throat and lifts him off the ground, painfully.
32
QUEEN BEE
(odd, electronic modulated voice)
I offered you everything, meat
creature! Now you have nothing!
33
BATMAN
<choking a little>
That’s not entirely true, Queen
Bee.
The lance comes back down from being kicked, spiraling directly into the Queen Bee, ZAPPING her mercilessly as Batman somersaults away.
34
BATMAN
I still have a pretty fair
sense of aim.
Queen Bee falls to the floor, blackened, smoldering, and moaning to show that she’s still alive.
35
QUEEN BEE
<pained moan into unconsciousness>
Back to the stars, as we see Black Orchid TYING A KNOT out of the stingers, fairly close-up. ZOOM OUT to see that she has tied all three of the starships’ stingers into a large bow-tie knot, connecting them together and nullifying their weapons.
Inside the hive, the Gotham citizens, including the PUNK and the BUSINESSMAN and the COP, start coming to their senses, no longer under the Queen’s hypnotic power.
Black Orchid GLIDES down through the previously made hole in the hive’s roof to land near Batman, now freed from the honeycomb handcuffs, and he’s putting cuffs on the Queen Bee as the COP leads away the female bee guards, now unarmed.
36
BATMAN
Thanks for the assist, mystery
girl.
37
BLACK ORCHID
And here I thought you were
assisting me.
38
BATMAN
You won’t be able to keep your
secrets from me forever, Orchid.
Not in my own city.
He turns around swiftly. She’s gone.
39
BATMAN
Black Orchid?
PAN up to the whole in the hive’s ceiling.
PAN back down to Batman, a little peeved, a little amused.
40
BATMAN
Now I know how Commissioner Gordon
feels.
We see the poodle, looking up at Batman, puzzled.
41
DOG
Bark!
END TEASER AND ROLL MAINTITLES
Rough pencils for a page from the GOTHTOPIA issue, by Robert...
Rough pencils for a page from the GOTHTOPIA issue, by Robert Gill.
Very early black and white concept sketches for the MOVEMENT. We...
Very early black and white concept sketches for the MOVEMENT. We stayed fairly close to these except for Katharsis.
I love this page, Red Sonja visits a palace of courtesans, the...
I love this page, Red Sonja visits a palace of courtesans, the best in the world, and quickly loses herself.
Beautiful art by Walter Geovani!
thehappysorceress:
Batgirls: Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon...
Batgirls: Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon by Jenai and BevanMaria
Photo by Adam Jay
DAMMIT QUIT MAKING ME HAVE CASS FEELS.
But this is awesome.
trekual-innuendos:
National petition to get Doug Jones to play...
National petition to get Doug Jones to play Ragdoll
Wow. YES. I don’t know who this is but I agree!
barbaragordonshusband:
Just to be totally clear, I 100% disown this awful thing I said to Gail...
Just to be totally clear, I 100% disown this awful thing I said to Gail Simone, and I apologize to everyone who took offense at it. I stand by my opinion, but I had no right to voice it in such a rude and uncalled-for way.
I didn’t think it was any big deal, no worries, we are all adults. Everyone’s got a right to like what they like. No harm done whatsoever!
wellisntthatshiny:
Crying forver because The Movement is over and it was an absolutely fantastic...
Crying forver because The Movement is over and it was an absolutely fantastic book and I will always love it
Waaah! Now I am sads!
Gail Simone's Blog
- Gail Simone's profile
- 1226 followers
