Exemplar! A Superman Tribute

TITLE: “Examplar – The Digital Age”
WRITER : Tony Laplume

PAGE ONE

Panel One

A totally blank panel.

Panel Two

Pixels begin to appear.

Panel Three

The pixels begin to take shape.  We see the vague outline of a man.

Panel Four
The vague outline begins to take shape.  We see a bald man.  This is Ryan Reece, Laureate, in a dress suit, bald as Lex Luthor.  This is Examplar’s worst enemy, but he’s been better.

Panel Five

We see Laureate clearly for the first time.  He is examining his hands and looking pleased.  His face would look much as Jerry Ordway draws Captain Marvel, the squinting eyes, the smile.

LAUREATE: Fascinating.  I always believed life was in the details.

 

PAGE TWO

Panel One

Laureate is turning around to see his teenage daughter run up to him.  This is Tessa.  She has dark hair, like her mother, Penelope Pequod (Lois Lane), and obviously adores her father.

TESSA: Daddy!  Daddy!  What just happened?

LAUREATE: My darling, my baby.  I suspect we have just been absconded.

Panel Two

Father and daughter are sharing a warm embrace.

LAUREATE: The machinations of Calculo.  He’s made a digital copy of the whole city, just as he long warned he would.

Panel Three

Tessa looks worriedly up at Laureate, who is confessing weakness for the first time in her young life.  He has a blank look on his face.

LAUREATE: I couldn’t stop him.  The so-called Renaissance Man was, in the final analysis, better than me.

Panel Three
Tessa is angrily pushing her father away.

TESSA: No!  There’s no time for that.  You have to put on the armor, daddy.  Time for Laureate to save the day.

Panel Four

Laureate is reaching out to his daughter again, pleadingly.

LAUREATE: You don’t understand.  I’m not strong enough.  I’m not smart enough.  We’re all copies, now.  I don’t even know if the real Acropolis still exists, if the real Earth still stands.  I don’t even know where we are.  Our only hope…is him.

Panel Five

Close-up of Laureate’s face, which features a totally resigned look.

LAUREATE: My old enemy.  Exemplar.

 

PAGE THREE

Panel One

Close-up of Tessa, with a determined look on her face.

TESSA: Daddy?

Panel Two

Same shot.  Raising her eyebrows.

TESSA: If you won’t, I will.

Panel Three

Close-up of Laureate.  A big frown on his face.

Panel Four

Same as previous panel.

LAUREATE: Very well.

Panel Five

Same as previous panel.

LAUREATE: But you are to stay here.

Panel Six

Same as previous panel.

LAUREATE: Am I understood?

Panel Seven

Same as previous panel.

LAUREATE: Tessa, am I understood?

Panel Eight

Close-up of Tessa, who’s now frowning.

Panel Nine

Same as previous panel.

TESSA: Fine. 

 

PAGE FOUR

Panel One

Now we have our first exterior shot of the comic, the LaureateCorp (naturally spelled out in big lettering) building standing tall on the urban Acropolis landscape.  We see a red streak jetting across the sky above the LaureateCorp building.  We can also see a building with a sun spinning atop it, which is of course our Daily Planet counterpart, the Acropolis Times.

Panel Two

The red streak is moving low across the streets of Acropolis.  We see various panicked citizens, including the traditional “end of the world” signs being held, and a bum with long shaggy dark hair and beard.  This bum is secretly Exemplar, but we’ll revisit him a little later.  The tell-tale clue is that he’s the only one looking at the blur, which of course isn’t Exemplar after all, but Laureate.  But we’ll see what Laureate’s armor looks like soon enough!
 

PAGE FIVE

Panel One (splash)

Our first clear look at Laureate in his armor, in Superman’s traditional colors of red, blue, and yellow, generally in the configuration of Lex Luthor’s suit, with a big “L” emblem across the chest.  No helmet, like Luthor.  He’s got a fully benevolent look on his face, even a little happy.  He’s touching down on the room of the Acropolis Times building, the big globe sun just behind him, and waiting for him is Penelope Pequod in the flesh, with a pragmatic grin on her face.

PENELOPE: Didn’t take you long, Fairborn.

 

PAGE SIX

Panel One

Laureate and Penelope are walking down a stairwell.

PENELOPE: Calculo.  It has to be Calculo.

LAUREATE: I never could scoop you, Penny.

Panel Two

They continue their descent.

PENELOPE: Question is, how do we make things right?

LAUREATE: Question is, actually, how do we get the Acropolis Angel back?

PENELOPE: Back?

Panel Three

They continue their descent.

PENELOPE: Honey, didn’t anyone ever tell you?

PENELOPE: He never went away.

Panel Four

Laureate opens a door for Penelope.  She isn’t immediately going into the offices.  He’s in her way.  He’s got a look of astonishment on his face.

LAUREATE: What are you talking about?  I know everything there is to know about Exemplar.  I knew his secret identity before you did.  I knew you were in love with him.  I knew you loved both of him.  I knew you were the one who broke his heart.  Both of them.  I knew you were the one who defeated him, in the end.  I know he finally went away.  For good.

Panel Five

Penelope pushes her way past Laureate.

PENELOPE: Exactly, and you missed him so much you replaced him.  Funny world.

 

PAGE SEVEN

Panel One

Penelope and Laureate walk past a framed Acropolis Times edition with a big headline reading “Why the World Doesn’t Need Exemplar,” with our first glimpse of Exemplar in costume.  Alas, the accompanying giant picture is in black and white.  Clearly, though, this guy looks a lot like Superman, arms crossed over his chest, classic pose.  No beard, to be clear, despite how we’ve previously glimpsed him.

Panel Two

Penelope and Laureate walk through the bustling Acropolis Times newsroom.  We see Jerry West (Perry White) yelling at a huddled group of newspaper people, Cam Coleman (Jimmy Olsen) among them holding his camera, in the background.

JERRY: …Standing around here for, get out there!  Get me the story!

Panel Three

All Jerry’s newspaper people are choosing instead to gawk at Laureate walking through the newsroom.

JERRY: Pharaoh’s mummy!  You people are acting like you’ve never seen Acropolis’s hero before!

Panel Four

Laureate and Penelope are standing in front of an enclosed office.  The names “Penelope Liquor” and “Ryan Williams” are on the door, with the title “Publisher” below them.  Laureate is reaching for the door.

Panel Five
Penelope is once again shoving her way past Laureate, who’s pulling back his arm in surprise.  Laureate’s response will be in smaller lettering, as he’s speaking in a low voice, mostly to himself.

PENELOPE: Oh, for crying out…!  Even Exemplar was never that much a misogynist!

LAUREATE: Misogynist?  This used to be considered mere gentlemen’s behavior.  My how times change.

 

PAGE EIGHT

Panel One

Penelope is sitting behind the desk, Laureate standing in front of it.

PENELOPE: I used to be a reporter, you know.  I didn’t ask to be made co-publisher.  I don’t know the first thing about the job. 

PENELOPE: You think we need him back.

Panel Two

Laureate has located a chair and is attempting to sit down.

LAUREATE: You know, I didn’t design this suit for civilian affairs. 

LAUREATE: Sitting.  Laureate doesn’t sit.  Laureate…swoops.  Through the sky.  Saves the day.

Panel Three

Penelope is staring at Laureate.  She is not amused.  He has given up trying to sit.

PENELOPE: Exemplar.
 

LAUREATE: Right.  Exemplar.

Panel Four

Laureate has planted his hands down on the desk, having decided on a new way to level himself with Penelope.

LAUREATE: It was our daughter’s idea.

 

PAGE NINE

Panel One

Close-up of Jerry sticking his head into the office.

JERRY: Please tell me you have an idea how to make things right?

Panel Two

The whole panel vibrates.  Otherwise it’s the same image as the previous one.

Panel Three

Jerry is withdrawing his head.

JERRY: You know what?  I’m just going to assume you do.  You always do.  Play time’s over, though.  Better make it count!

Panel Four

We see that both Laureate and Penelope had been looking in Jerry’s direction.

Panel Five

They turn back to face each other.

LAUREATE: Please, tell me you know where he is.

 

PAGE TEN

Panel One

Laureate is now holding Penelope and they’re flying through the skies of Acropolis together.

PENELOPE: Must be killing you.  Having to admit you need him, after all these years, after everything that happened between you.  Humiliating, I mean.

Panel Two

Same as previous panel, generally.

LAUREATE: You’ve no idea!  But, times change.  It’s time to put old grudges aside.

Panel Three

Same as previous panel, generally.

LAUREATE: Besides, we both know what really happened to him, and why.  It was me who claimed victory, but it was you who defeated him.  You gave up on him.  You stopped believing in him.  And you turned everyone else against him, too.

LAUREATE: Exemplar’s Achilles Heel.  The public’s faith in him.  And you took it away from him.

Panel Four

Same as previous panel, generally.

PENELOPE: And now only the great Laureate can give it back.  Must be a real thrill for you.

Panel Five

Same as previous panel, generally.

LAUREATE: I don’t know when we became enemies, Penny. 

PENELOPE: Funny how things happen.

LAUREATE: Tell me where to find him.  Please.

 

PAGE ELEVEN

Panel One

The same bum we saw earlier, Exemplar in his current state.  Head bowed low.

Panel Two

He sees two shadows fall across him.

EXEMPLAR: Spare a few…?

Panel Three

He’s looking up and of course we see the shadows belong to Laureate and Penelope.

EXEMPLAR: Oh.  Never mind. 

EXEMPLAR: I don’t need anything from you.

Panel Four

Penelope is bending down, Laureate remains standing firm (although we can probably guess that’s as much to do with the armor as his pride).

PENELOPE: Please.  We need you.  Laureate needs you.  He said so himself.  I need you.  The city needs you.

Panel Five

Exemplar is getting up, away from his visitors.

EXEMPLAR: Forget it. 

 

PAGE TWELVE

Panel One

As Exemplar walks away, we see Laureate has quickly walked past Penelope.  There are still panicked citizens in the street, and no one here is paying attention to the great Laureate.  They only recognize him in the sky, coming to their rescue.

LAUREATE: I was wrong about you, okay?  I admit it, you smug, overbearing, flying savior complex!

EXEMPLAR: You’re as admirable as ever, Laureate. 

Panel Two

The three are walking down the sidewalk.  We still see panicked citizens around them.  There’s an errant laser blast striking nearby.

EXEMPLAR: “Ryan Williams.”  “Penelope Liquor.”  Publishers of the Acropolis Times!  Please. 

EXEMPLAR: You have a lot of nerve.  The world moved on.  You won.  Ryan Reece and Penelope Pequod brought down the great Exemplar.  Then went and got married.  Had a kid, too.  And pretended for, what, fifteen years?  That I never existed at all.  You assumed new identities.  Made a mockery of everything I stood for.

Panel Three

Penelope has stopped walking.  She’s started to cry.  Exemplar and Laureate haven’t noticed yet.

EXEMPLAR: And for what?  To just pretend Fairborn never happened at all?  To…punish me, for trying to have a private life?  For not telling you sooner, Penny?

 

PAGE THIRTEEN

Panel One

Exemplar has stopped.  He heard her crying, of course.  He would’ve heard her tears a thousand miles away, but they still hit him like daggers.  Laureate has stopped, too, but he’s looking at Exemplar instead of Penelope. 

EXEMPLAR: Penny, I didn’t mean…

Panel Two
Laureate has finally noticed what Exemplar did, and is walking toward his wife.

PENELOPE: No, stop.

Panel Three

Penelope is now holding a hand pointed in Laureate’s direction, while Exemplar has gotten closer to her.

PENELOPE: I mean you, Ryan.

Panel Four

Laureate looks devastated.  Exemplar looks at a complete loss as to what he should do next.  He’s lifting his arms as if to embrace Penelope, unexpectedly experiencing the old feelings again. 

LAUREATE: Penny, I never…

 

PAGE FOURTEEN

Panel One (splash)

Both Laureate and Penelope are looking up as Exemplar is streaking into the sky.  Penelope’s words are in small lettering.  She knows she doesn’t have to speak loud for Exemplar to hear her.

PENELOPE: One giant leap…
 

PENELOPE: Go save us all.

 

PAGE FIFTEEN

Panel One

We at last see Exemplar, in the sky, shed of his bum’s attire and once even though he’s still got the shaggy beard and hair, he looks positively splendid in his costume, a purple variant on Superman’s, with a purple cape, and really, only a green belt for any other color, no symbol, the Acropolis Times’ sun behind him, but behind the facsimile, the real sun shining brightly.

Panel Two

A laser shoots past Exemplar, his eyes trained on it.

Panel Three

Exemplar has moved to intercept the laser, and it bounces harmlessly into the atmosphere.

Panel Four

We see Exemplar turn his attention to Calculo’s automaton, the source of the laser.  The automaton looks vaguely like the classic Brainiac skull-capped robotic form.

Panel Five

We see Exemplar rocket in the automaton’s direction.

Panel Six

Panning downward, with Exemplar battling the automaton in the skies, we see the formerly panicked citizens of Acropolis now cheering for their returned hero.  We see at least one kicking at Laureate.  Penelope has a lot of distance between herself and Laureate.

 

PAGE SIXTEEN

Panel One

As Exemplar continues his heroics, the limp and defeated automaton is hanging from one of his arms as he flies off to face Calculo himself, represented by a giant red glow we see on the horizon.  We also see, for the first time, that Acropolis has indeed been split off from the rest of the world.  There is nothing but black surface and blue sky around it.

EXEMPLAR: So you wanted to preserve a part of the planet, Calculo?  You calculated wrong when you chose Acropolis.

EXEMPLAR: This city is under my protection.  And it always was.

EXEMPLAR: But you didn’t account for me still being here, did you?

Panel Two

Exemplar is plunging into the red glow.

EXEMPLAR: Well, I did.

Panel Three

Exemplar is smashing through a larger version of the automaton, using the one he previously defeated as a kind of shield.

EXEMPLAR: I saw all this coming.

Panel Four

Exemplar is throwing a fist toward the real Calculo, who looks much like the Gary Frank version of Brainiac, that vaguely Darth Vader black outfit with the mask off, revealing a red face (instead of the familiar green, naturally), plugged into the giant robotic war suit. 

EXEMPLAR: Laureate thought his betrayal of you had ended your threat, but I knew he was wrong. 

EXEMPLAR: …He never could admit that sort of thing.

Panel Five

A slumped Calculo is in the background as Exemplar has located the control panel that will reverse the “digital download” of Acropolis.

 

PAGE SEVENTEEN

Panel One

Exemplar becomes pixelated.

Panel Two

Blank panel.

Panel Three

Exemplar is pixelating back.

Panel Three

Exemplar has pulled something from a hidden pocket in his costume.

Panel Four

He’s using his heat-ray vision to give himself a trim.

Panel Five

Now we see Exemplar looking a lot more like Superman, clean-shaven and the traditional hairstyle.  He’s beaming at the reader.

EXEMPLAR: It’s all in the details.  This is what they will expect.

 

PAGE EIGHTEEN

Panel One

Exemplar, Laureate, and Penelope are inside the publisher’s office at the Acropolis Times.  Penelope is sitting, brooding silently.

EXEMPLAR: Fairborn was simpler times.  I miss those days.  I think we all do.

LAUREATE: Not me.  I couldn’t wait to leave it behind.

Panel Two

The conversation continues.  It’s much the same panel as before.

LAUREATE: Tell me you don’t feel invigorated by exploits like this!  You were the first of us to come to Acropolis, after all.  To claim the mantle, as it were.

EXEMPLAR:  Exploits?

Panel Three

Exemplar is frowning at Laureate.

EXEMPLAR: That’s the difference between us, Laureate.

EXEMPLAR: I didn’t choose to be seen as a hero.  This isn’t some endless adventure for me.  This was never about a reputation.

Panel Four

Laureate has an astonished look on his face.

LAUREATE: But your powers…!

EXEMPLAR: Are only as strong as the faith that is entrusted in me.

Panel Five

Penelope has broken her silence at last.  She’s rising to her feet as she speaks.

PENELOPE: He never got it.  And I’m beginning to understand that I didn’t, either.

 

PAGE NINETEEN

Page One

Jerry is sticking his head into the office again.

JERRY: Quit lurking around in there, you guys.  There’s a story, and you’re it.  Unless one of you wants to write it…!

Panel Two

The door slams shut as abruptly as it was opened.  Jerry is gone, and Exemplar, Laureate, and Penelope are standing around silently, staring at each other, Penelope at Laureate, Exemplar at Penelope.

Panel Three

Much the same as the previous panel.

PENELOPE: Faith is only as strong as we let it be.  It was always our power.  Not his.

Panel Four

The door bangs open again, startling all three of them.

Panel Five

We see that it’s now Tessa who’s interrupted them.

TESSA: What?  Catch you at a bad time?

 

PAGE TWENTY

Panel One

Exemplar and Penelope are now alone on the roof of the Acropolis Times.  The shadow of the sun globe falls on them.

CAPTION: Later.

PENELOPE: About her.

Panel Two

Exemplar moves to take hold of Penelope, but waits for permission.

EXEMPLAR: I am not going to get in the way.

Panel Three

Penelope has assented, and they have just left the surface of the roof.

PENELOPE: She’s his.

EXEMPLAR: I know.

Panel Four

They fly, quietly.

 

PAGE TWENTY-ONE

Panel One

It’s now nighttime and the stars are their backdrop as they continue their flight.

PENELOPE: I don’t regret any of it, you know.

Panel Two

They continue their flight.

EXEMPLAR: I know. 

EXEMPLAR: I could never ask you to.

Panel Three

They continue their flight.

PENELOPE: She adores him, she really does.

PENELOPE: I am going to tell her the truth.  I don’t think it will change anything.

Panel Four

They continue their flight.

PENELOPE: How she feels about him.

EXEMPLAR: But what about you?

Panel Five

They have touched down at Penelope and Laureate’s home, which is a gated mansion, as you would expect, with a big “L” in the gating.  The gate is just in front of Penelope and Exemplar, so that for a moment it’s as if they’re out of view.
 
Panel Six
Now we’ve passed beyond the gate and see Penelope and Exemplar clearly again.  They have let go of each other.

PENELOPE: I’ll never stop believing in you.

 

PAGE TWENTY-TWO

Panel One (splash)

Exemplar flies off into the night sky, alone.  His words are in small lettering.  These words are meant only for him, but he knows Penelope already understands.

EXEMPLAR: I know.

EXEMPLAR: I never stopped believing in you, Penny.

EXEMPLAR: Thank you.