Is It "Script Post" or "Post Script"? I'm Confused...

I realize updates on this particular blog are woefully few and far between, but that's only due to other projects taking priority while we wait to see what the future holds for this little story.
In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to post the script. If you're not a script reader type, better luck next time, if you are, enjoy and as always, let me know what you think.


“Up Jumped the Devil”

A Big ‘Fro Brown Story by Paul E. Schultz
(Inspired by Robert Swinton)

Text in italics is the narratives of Big ‘Fro Brown


PAGE ONE/SCENE ONE:

PANEL ONE:
Star stands near a large record player, the kind with the heavy wooden lid. It looks like a coffin. Her outfit leaves little to the imagination, plunging neckline, one slit up the thigh, but it isn’t cheap. There’s a silk scarf around her neck and she’s barefoot. Her left eye is painted over with a five-point star.

STAR
(Holding up an LP)
You like Nina Simone?

PANEL TWO:
Big ‘Fro just stares his answer at her. His overcoat is draped over the arm of the couch where he sits. He’s a figure in black, down to his sunglasses. A clock on the wall behind him says it’s ten to midnight.

PANEL THREE:
The two of them are in the living room of her small apartment. It’s classy, lots of candles and veils.

STAR
I know, silly question, right?

PANEL FOUR:
Star puts the needle on the record.

BIG ‘FRO
“In The Dark.” The High Priestess of Soul.


PAGE TWO:

PANEL ONE:
Star dances listlessly from the record player to the small bar.

BIG ‘FRO
Star’s weak but knows how to work it.
Lord, it’s gotta be 90 in here and she’s not even sweatin’.

PANEL TWO:
Close-up of Star pouring a glass of wine.

PANEL THREE:
She offers the glass to Big ‘Fro.

BIG ‘FRO
Ain’t you drinkin’?

STAR
No taste for the stuff lately.

PANEL FOUR:
Star sits tiredly next to her guest.

STAR
They say you’re a clean-up man.

BIG ‘FRO
They say you got a problem.

PANEL FIVE:
Close-up of Star’s beautiful, dark eyes. They’re hard as black steel.

STAR
Someone got rough on me the other night. I want you to get rough on him.


PAGE THREE:

PANEL ONE:
Close-up of Big ‘Fro’s eyes, Star’s silhouetted reflection in his sunglasses.

BIG ‘FRO
How rough?

PANEL TWO:
Close-up of Star’s neck as she moves the scarf to show off a hideous scar. It’s stitched, but not very well.

STAR
Dude used the biggest knife I’ve ever seen.

BIG ‘FRO (off camera)
How rough you want it?

PANEL THREE:
Close-up of Star’s hand on his wrist.

STAR
Nice and rough.

BIG ‘FRO
She’s clammy as a fish. You ask me, she lost too much blood. No way she went to a hospital. They’d have filled her back up.

PANEL FOUR:
Star leans into him, falling asleep.

BIG ‘FRO
As she doses off, she tells me the rest. Déjà vu makes my guts go cold.

BIG ‘FRO
Give me a name.

PANEL FIVE:
Close-up of Star’s face, eyes closed.

STAR
He called himself Cesare.


PAGE FOUR/SCENE TWO:

PANEL ONE:
Exterior shot of a boarded but dance school. Night.

CALICO (oc)
Caesar? Like the emperor?

PANEL TWO:
Big ‘Fro and Calico sit in a tub full of bubbles, sitting opposite each other, fluted wine glasses in hand. They’re surrounded by candles. Big ‘Fro’s .45 hangs holstered on the back of a chair in the foreground.

BIG ‘FRO
There’s uneasiness in Cal’s tone I ain’t used to.

PANEL THREE:
Close-up of Calico sipping her wine. We see a slim scar running like a teardrop from her left eye, which is a hollow white. A tattoo of an ankh can be seen on her neck.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
Calico’s a gypsy fortune teller. Onyx City’s full of ‘em. Difference is I believe her. She used to work the street till some dude took a knife to her. She got lucky, so did he. Cops don’t care about folks down here.

CALICO
You figure I know the dude?

BIG ‘FRO
It’s not the only reason I’m here.
Somethin’ like that.

CALICO
That was a lifetime ago, Othello. I doubt-

PANEL FOUR:
Close-up of Big ‘Fro, eyes hard.

BIG ‘FRO
That’s when I tell her the rest.

PANEL FIVE:
Calico abruptly gets out of the tub. Shadows and bubbles tastefully hide from us what Big ‘Fro’s already seen.


PAGE FIVE/SCENE THREE:

PANEL ONE:
We’re on the rooftop of the dance studio. Calico, in the foreground, is wrapped in a calico blanket. Big ‘Fro’s dressed, climbing through the trap door behind her.

BIG ‘FRO
I get dressed, giving her time to calm down.
You okay?

CALICO
Stay away from him, baby.

PANEL TWO:
Big ‘Fro is behind her now, hands on her shoulders. She’s looking away.

BIG ‘FRO
I can take care of myself.

CALICO
Against a normal guy, yes. Hell, against five. But this guy’s not normal. There’s an evil in his eyes. An old evil.

BIG ‘FRO
I can do evil, Cal.

PANEL THREE:
Close-up of Calico, fingers touching her face, eyes closed.

CALICO
And his touch. So cold.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
Are you sayin’ what I think?

PANEL FOUR:
A different angle now as the camera backs up a bit. As Calico talks, we see the ankh on her neck.

CALICO
The Ancient Egyptians believed a person was guided through life by their ka. Their ka guided them to their afterlife. I’ve often wondered if it was possible for a ka to not want

CALICO (continued)
to leave this world, moving from corpse to corpse. I’m not saying he’s that old, but there was an age in his eyes.

PANEL FIVE:
Close-up of Big ‘Fro, eyebrow raised.

BIG ‘FRO
Why would this . . . ka need blood, then?

CALICO (oc)
To keep the body warm.

BIG ‘FRO
Then she drops the real bomb and tells me where to find him.
My blood goes cold.


PAGE SIX/SCENE FOUR:

PANEL ONE:
Extreme close-up of a hand with black fingernails on guitar strings.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
I don’t always believe everything Cal says. But I believe she does. I’ve heard stranger things.

PANEL TWO:
We now see a pair of black sunglasses and a few hints of unruly black hair.

GUITAR PLAYER
Well I feel like snappin'
Pistol in your face
I'm gonna let some graveyard
Lord be your resting place

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
They say Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil, then one night ol’ Scratch came to claim it. There are scarier things than hell in Onyx City.

PANEL THREE:
Close-up of the black-nailed hand holding a slide to the neck of the guitar. In the background, we see white silhouettes dancing.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
Evil spirit or psycho with a butcher knife, this guy was about to learn what one of ‘em was.

PANEL FOUR:
The foreground is full of dancing patrons. In the background, in a rather Robert Johnson-esque pose, a skinny guitar player in black sits upon a stool. It’s Cesare.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
I hired the guy because I thought he was the next Johnny Winter.
More soul than any white boy should be allowed.
He called himself Nick Slyde.
The Jook Joint was in trouble and this badass was finally bringin’ ‘em in.
Damn.


PAGE SEVEN/SCENE FIVE:

PANEL ONE:
Cesare, now wearing a black trench coat, moves through a myriad of scantly-clad ladies of the night.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
It’s two a.m.
The girls are out like Salvation Army bell ringers at Christmas time.

PANEL TWO:
Worm’s eye view of high heels and cigarette butts hitting the sidewalk.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
But there’s no salvation in Onyx City.
He’s like a kid in a candy store.
I follow him after he leaves the club.

PANEL THREE:
Cesare is talking to a girl in an oversized wig and shaggy coat. She’s leaning against a brick wall. We can’t hear what they’re saying.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
It doesn’t take him long.
I don’t know her name.

PANEL FOUR:
Two white silhouettes, the girl and Cesare, disappear down a blackened alley. In the foreground, people pass by, noticing nothing.

PANEL FIVE:
Close-up of a knife being drawn from within Cesare’s coat.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
If I don’t act fast, nobody ever will.


PAGE EIGHT:

PANEL ONE:
Big ‘Fro looms in the shadows, pistol in his hand at his side. He’s watching something off-camera.

BIG ‘FRO
I could take him out easy from this distance and angle.

PANEL TWO:
Cesare’s shoulder explodes in a stream of blackened blood. He releases the girl’s neck. She falls to the ground, grasping her throat, coughing.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
Instead, he gets a warning.

PANEL THREE:
Big ‘Fro charges Cesare, who turns his attention to him as the girl scrambles from the alley.

BIG ‘FRO
He likes to hurt girls. Easy prey, he probably thinks.
I want him to hurt awhile.

PANEL FOUR:
Big ‘Fro delivers a spinning kick to Cesare’s head. Cesare is barely affected. His sunglasses fall from his face.

BIG ‘FRO
Big mistake.
The kick barely fazes him.
Like kicking a stone statue.

PANEL FIVE:
Extreme close-up of Cesare’s dead eyes.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
Shoulda killed the bastard.


PAGE NINE:

PANEL ONE:
Big ‘Fro draws his pistol.

PANEL TWO:
Cesare bats the gun out of his hand.

BIG ‘FRO
Sucker’s strong for a little guy.

PANEL THREE:
Cesare’s knife sweeps the air, shredding Big ‘Fro’s coat.

BIG ‘FRO
Fast, too.

PANEL FOUR:
A second sweep of the knife strikes Big ‘Fro’s stomach, streaming blood. Big ‘Fro grimaces in pain.

BIG ‘FRO
Too fast.
He’s good.
That slice totally missed my Kevlar.
The blade’s like ice in my guts.


PAGE TEN:

PANEL ONE:
Cesare looms over Big ‘Fro hunched over on the ground, clutching his stomach. The knife is in plain sight.

BIG ‘FRO
Nothing’s working below the waist.
I swear I hear him sniffing for blood.

PANEL TWO:
Close-up of Big ‘Fro’s hand reaching for his boot.

BIG ‘FRO
I keep a back-up in my boot. If I can just-

PANEL THREE:
Cesare’s boot crushes Big ‘Fro’s hand against his leg.

BIG ‘FRO
Boot heel hits me like a hammer.

PANEL FOUR:
A woman’s hand shoves a flashy, silver ankh in Cesare’s face. Terror fills his dead eyes.

PANEL FIVE:
Cesare reels backwards as Calico holds out the ankh, putting herself between him and Big ‘Fro.

CESARE
Sssss!!

CALICO
Get back you thing from hell!


PAGE ELEVEN:

PANEL ONE:
The alley explodes in a flash of shadows and light as Cesare’s body crumbles to the ground. A large shadowy, bat-like figure with a head that is a cross between a man and a jackal erupts from the collapsing Cesare. Calico stands firm, but she’s obviously terrified. The ankh in her hand is ablaze. Big ‘Fro shields his eyes from the bizarre lightshow.

PANEL TWO:
Close-up of Big ‘Fro’s hand over his face.

BIG ‘FRO
Good girl, Cal.

PANEL THREE:
Black panel with a white ankh silhouette in the center of it, off kilter a bit.

BIG ‘FRO
It goes dark.
Why not?
I’ve seen it all now.


PAGE TWELVE/SCENE SIX:

PANEL ONE:
Simple, black panel.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
Cal knows who to call.
They stitch me up real good but its days before the morphine’s out of my system.

SCENE SEVEN:

PANEL TWO:
Night. An ambulance and police squad car are parked out in front of a small apartment building.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
But it’s too late.
I read in the papers something about too much blood lost.
They called it suicide.

PANEL THREE:
Closer shot of paramedics loading a zipped up body bag into the rear of the ambulance.

SCENE EIGHT:

PANEL FOUR:
Inside the ambulance. We see the body bag.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
Star’s gone.

PANEL FIVE:
Closer look of the body bag as it is ripped open by feminine fingers with blackened nails.

BIG ‘FRO (oc)
But not forgotten.

Project Status for May 19, 2006!

Big news, boppers! All twelve pages of "Sweet Black Angel" are penciled and inked. Hats off to the Inkslinger for his wonderful work on my pencils. The latest buzz is Hollywood and a number of his contemporaries and myself will be contributing to a compilation book of original material in the near future and SBA will be just one of the entries. This was how I'd originally wanted to do the story in the first place, with the second part of the story to be told at a later time in a different book.

Once he's not swarmed with his current work, Nik Havert will begin lettering SBA (yeah, Nik, I said "swarm").

Since nobody works in a bubble, I've tried to give as much credit where credit is due on this project, giving well-deserved shout-outs to the likes of Nik, The Inkslinger & of course The Man Himself, but I think it's past time to give a special thanks to an old friend Glen Evans, who helped me create my vampire mythology for SBA. Glen's forgotten more about the undead than most people should be allowed to know, so he was a natural choice to come to in an hour of need. Plus it just gave us an reason to work together.

Above is Glen (right) rubbing shoulders with the president of Palladium Books.

Don't worry, Glen, there's still time for Elasto.

And now for something completely different:

I posted this picture of the OTF over at my motherblog, but I just can't resist having just a little more fun with it. The more I look at it, the more it looks like the flip side of one of those great rock albums from the 1970s.

In keeping with Bill's "More Cowbell" shirt, here's a Nazareth cover as their "Hair of the Dog" song not only had a cowbell in it, but showed the rock-n-roll world it was an instrument not to be taken lightly.
Of course, this picture of Steppenwolf sort of sums it all up.

Look for more images from "Sweet Black Angel" to be posted soon.

But before I go, it's time to clear up a little confusion: The entire two-part story will once day be printed under the title "Up Jumped the Devil," with SBA being the title of part one and "Down On the Killin' Floor" being the title of the second part.

Keep it here, boppers...

Up Jumped the Devil!

It's been almost a year in the makin', but it's finally startin' to take shape. I'm a firm believer in when it's right, it's right and boppers, it's right right now! What the hell am I talkin' about, you ask?

Almost a year ago, while attending SPACE in Columbus, Ohio, while on the lookout for indy books, I came across the table of Robert "Hollywood" Swinton and snatched up a copy of his latest comic "Blow." There were other books I picked up that were pretty cool, like "Sgt. Death," probably the angriest war comic I've ever read, and Craig Bogart's "The Ineffables" , but there was something about "Blow," particularly it's main character, a jazz trumpeteer/fix-it-man named Big 'Fro Brown.

A few weeks passed and I emailed Hollywood like a shameless fanboy, praising the book and asking him if he'd mind if I did a few pin-ups of Big 'Fro. He was gracious enough to let me. I did a few of them, including a Shaft-esque tribute, one of which can be seen here, with colors provided by Mr. Mad Skills Joe Fuentes.

I decided to press my luck and ask him if I could draw a Big 'Fro story and he surprisingly gave me free reign. The result was a twelve page featurette called "Up Jumped the Devil," but the more I played with the script, the more it begged to be a full twenty-four page story, so the featurette was retitled "Sweet Black Angel," and dubbed part one of "Up Jumped the Devil," with part two being titled "Down on the Killin' Floor." Confused? Wait, there's more.

I've also managed to reign in the skills of four other incomperable individuals to assist in the book. Joe Fuentes will be handling the colors or gray tones for the cover, depending on how we want the cover to look. Bill "Inkslinger" Wilkison, a visual racontuer in his own right, will be handling the inks to part one. You can see Bill's work over my pencils to your left. Part two will not only feature the inking prowess of Mike Indovina, a man not afraid to use actual India ink and actual brushes, but his masked mysteryman the Chimera as well. Finishing up this quartet of talent, "Up Jumped the Devil" will be lettered by self-proclaimed luddite Nik "Rennaisance Man" Havert of Pickle Press. I tell you what, with friends like these guys, who could call this work?

So keep it here, boppers, for all the latest news. Check back periodically so you've got something really cool to discuss around the water cooler while all the other losers are talking about what happened on "Lost." And don't forget to tell your friends and leave us your comments.

Peace!