Crisis Weekly #10

PAGE ONE

Panel 1

Jack Ryder is doing his selfie show again, only this time, we’re looking at him from the perspective of someone watching him do it, holding up his tablet to record it.  He’s standing in front of gates we’ll shortly see beyond.

JACK RYDER: Hello again!

JACK RYDER: After repeatedly denied requests to speak with the President herself (who, by the way, once again folks, is really the superhero Firehawk, not that she stressed that point when running for the vice presidency and then “accidentally” ending up as commander-in-chief)…

Panel 2

We now see that the gates are in front of the White House.

JACK RYDER: I’ve decided to bring the party directly to her!

Panel 3

Jack is looking in the direction of the voice calling his name.

VOICE (off-panel): Jack Ryder!

Panel 4

Now we see our teenage team the Crisis Compact (Bulletproof, Sparx, Flick & Latch).  Sparx is the one who’s standing in the foreground of the shot and obviously the one who spoke.

CAPTION: Despite all my efforts to dissuade them, my…friends were about to make the biggest mistake of their lives.

SPARX: In the name of truth, justice and the American way, which you’ve tried so hard to make us forget…

SPARX: You’re done.

TITLE: “When the Levee Breaks”

WRITER: Tony Laplume
 

PAGE TWO

Panel 1

The Crisis Compact advances on Jack.  Flick and Latch are the most aggressive in their pursuit, with Sparx directing them and Bulletproof holding back.  This is the first time we’ve seen her in costume.  By this second panel it probably ought to be described.  She’s opted for a silver costume that’s after the fashion of Mary Marvel and the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel, a skirt ensemble with a cape and a domino mask that are black, as are her gloves and boots.  There’s a bullet emblem on her chest.  Probably exactly none of this was her idea.

SPARX: Crisis Compact, advance!

Panel 2

We see as everyone reacts to a car screeching towards them.  Jack, who has never dropped the tablet from its position broadcasting all of this, has a smirk on his face.  Around the group can be seen ordinary citizens reacting.

JACK RYDER: And that, folks, is how you make an entrance.

Panel 3

Emerging from the car are the Bully Boys, whom we met way back in the first installment of Crisis Weekly.  Here we’ll now give each of them names: the Game is the one with the long hair and beard, the Animal is the large one with muscles, and the Viper is the smaller one with red hair, just like Bulletproof.

JACK RYDER: Row, me bully boys!

Panel 4

The Bully Boys and the Crisis Compact line up opposite each other, poised for battle.  It should be noted that Bulletproof is still standing behind her team, and that Viper is also holding back.

JACK RYDER: This is what superheroes do!  They charge in without being asked!  They attack what they don’t understand! 

Panel 5

Close-up of Sparx and Bulletproof.

SPARX: Bulletproof? 

SPARX: What is it?

Panel 6

Close-up of Bulletproof.

RACHEL ROGERSON: I think one of the Bully Boys is my brother.

 

PAGE THREE

Panel 1

Enough setup!  The clash begins!  Flick is engaging Animal in a fight while Latch and Sparx take on the Game, both sides unleashing concussive blasts, the Game from his eyes as before.  Viper and Bulletproof are absent from the shot, as is Jack.

Panel 2

Bulletproof has approached Viper.

RACHEL ROGERSON: Rob?

Panel 3

We see Flick sailing past Bulletproof and Viper, clearly having been knocked away by Animal.

FLICK: Wow!

Panel 4

Flick getting up as Bulletproof and Viper watch.

FLICK: I hope there’s better than that, buddy! 

Panel 5

Bulleproof is decking Viper.

RACHEL ROGERSON: I can’t believe you!

Panel 6

Bulletproof and Sparx are exchanging looks across the fight.  At this point we see traditional news media in the peripheral, Jack attempting maintain his position in front of them.  It’s probably worth reducing the size of Jack’s word bubble, as he’s generally blabbering to his viewers, unconcerned with whether anyone actually present is paying attention.

JACK RYDER: Ladies and gentlemen, I have no formal connections with the Bully Boys.  Each of them offered their services to me completely unrequested and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.  You can imagine, however, that I have found them useful at times, people being as they are generally not inclined to look favorably on my work, unflattering as it is to all manner of tyrants…

 

PAGE FOUR

Panel 1

Jack is once again reacting to someone shouting his name.

VOICE (off-panel): Jack Ryder!

JACK RYDER: Oh, come on!  What is this?

Panel 2

We see someone charging at Jack in full Navy SEAL gear, with a gas mask on.  This is Rachel’s classmate Marty Kirby, now costumed as the new Sandman.  His rotund figure is still present.

MARTY KIRBY: You’re being exposed, you fake journalist scum, as a White Martian! 

MARTY KIRBY: Everyone, Jack Ryder is really the Creeper!  But he’s been a White Martian all along!

Panel 3

Sparx, shooting off another blast at the Game, is now redirecting her attention at Marty.

SPARX: What?  No!  That’s not what this was about at all!

SPARX: The Crisis Compact came here to confront a bad journalist, not to claim he was…

Panel 4

Sparx is being hit in turn by another blast from the Game.

SPARX: Wait, Jack Ryder’s the Creeper?

SPARX: Hey!

 

PAGE FIVE

Panel 1

Bulletproof is restraining Marty.

RACHEL ROGERSON: Now’s not the time, Sandman.

Panel 2

Viper is swinging at Bulletproof, while Sandman jumps back in alarm.

VIPER: There’s a lot you don’t know.

VIPER: You should’ve stayed away.

Panel 3

Viper is holding his hand in immense pain.  He’s just found out how tough Bulletproof’s skin is, exactly like some idiot trying to punch Superman.

RACHEL ROGERSON: I’m beginning to see that there’s merit to all this.

 

PAGE SIX

Panel 1
Flick is knocking Viper down as Bulletproof and Sandman watch.

FLICK: Proof!  I had no idea you were so interesting!

Panel 2

Flick watches as Bulletproof punches Animal.

BULLETPROOF: You’ll find I’m full of surprises.

Panel 3

Secret Service agents are now beginning to swarm the scene.  Jack is continuing his show all this time.

JACK RYDER: Go ahead and hide, President Firehawk!  But you can’t hide from the truth! 

Panel 4

The agents are taking the Bully Boys into custody.  Jack is reacting with indignation, but pointedly shouting into his tablet for the benefit of his audience.

JACK RYDER: This is reprehensible!  This is a direct assault on freedom of the press!

 

PAGE SEVEN

Panel 1

Sparx is helping Marty to his feet.

MARTY KIRBY: I can’t help but notice that they’re leaving Ryder alone.

SPARX: Not now, Sandman.

Panel 2

Marty is now shrugging Sparx away from him.

MARTY KIRBY: No!  Now’s exactly the time! 

MARTY KIRBY: I did the research!  I know what I’m talking about!  Why won’t anyone listen?

Panel 3

Flick has walked over to them as Marty continues to rant.

MARTY KIRBY:  He’s the Creeper!  This was no coincidence!  Don’t listen to what he says!  The Bully Boys work for him!  This was all misdirection!  Don’t let him get away!

Panel 4
Marty is attempting to reach Jack as Sparx and Flick restrain him.

MARTY KIRBY: Let me go!

FLICK: Sandman, he broadcasts all the time.  He’s hiding in plain sight.

MARTY: Exactly!

Panel 5

Same basic image but the focus has shifted to Jack, who is continuing his show.

JACK RYDER: You can see for yourself.  They’re dangerous lunatics, completely out of control.

Panel 6

Marty continues his struggle as we pull away from the scene a little.  Marty’s speech bubble is small to illustrate the distance and how it’s not as important to continue listening to him.

MARTY: Dangerous lunatics!  I’ll show you a dangerous lunatic!

 

PAGE EIGHT

Panel 1

We now see that scene from a distance and can no longer hear any of them.

Panel 2

Now we become aware that the distance was formed by Bulletproof and Latch.

LATCH: Your theory was correct.

Panel 3

Their conversation continues.

LATCH: The Vampire didn’t sense anything Martian within Jack Ryder.

LATCH: He may be the Creeper, but he is not a White Martian.

Panel 4
Latch has transformed back into Vanessa Holly. 

LATCH: But, there was…

LATCH: I don’t know exactly what it was.  There was some kind of disturbance.  The Vampire wasn’t at all pleased about it.  Kept…chattering to me. 

Panel 5

Latch is looking increasingly uncomfortable.

LATCH: It was agitated.  I couldn’t understand what it was saying.

LATCH: I’m scared, Rachel.

Panel 6

Latch and Bulletproof are embracing.

LATCH: It wasn’t Ryder, but I think there WAS a White Martian here today…

LATCH: And I have no idea who…

Crisis Weekly #9

PAGE ONE

Panel 1 (splash)

Doomsday and Bloodwynd are clashing.  This is during the epic “Death of Superman” storyline, specifically the infamous Superman #75 itself.  There’s devastated Metropolis around them.  This page evokes, funny enough, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America using both hands to hold back Thanos’ one hand.  I love that image.  I feel no compunction against borrowing it.  Bloodwynd has the same determination and strain showing on his face as Cap, Doomsday as he was during that whole storyline in full beast mode, roaring at him.

TITLE: “The Man Comes Around”

WRITER: Tony Laplume
 

PAGE TWO

Panel 1

Bloodwynd, in his present-day civilian guise, sitting at a desk in a darkened office.  He looks incredibly moody.

CAPTION: What they never talk about is the aftereffects of the superhero life.

Panel 2

A figure from behind about to open the door to this office.  We see on the glass the words BLOODWYND INVESTIGATIONS.

CAPTION: The toll it takes on you.  What it takes from you.

Panel 3

We’re still peering from behind the figure after he’s opened the door, and Bloodwynd is rising to his feet, a grimace of pain on his face.

CAPTION: Put another way, the names you’re most familiar with can be summed up thusly: they are the survivors.

Panel 4

Bloodwynd is offering his hand to the figure, whom we can see clearly for the first time, and suddenly we see quite brilliantly, as he wears a superhero costume, a bright gold one, a mask that covers his whole face (in the mode of Mister Miracle or Batman Beyond, so we can still see his mouth, in whatever way physics is supposed to explain that).  He’s got pearl white embellishments, including a belt, a plain circle on his chest, gloves and boots.  If you feel all this ought to be reflected in the previous two panels, so be it. 

CAPTION: They’re the ones who have emerged relatively unscathed by this life.  They were not maimed by the experience.

CAPTION: Not all of us are so lucky.

BLOODWYND: Zion.

 

PAGE THREE

Panel 1 (splash)

Like Superman #75, the Doomsday pages are all splash pages.  This also continues the alternating pattern of Crisis Weekly #8, including the silent nature of the flashback pages.  This page looks like the kind of action we’ve seen before in Crisis Weekly; Bloodwynd is unleashing his eye-blast powers on Doomsday.
 

PAGE FOUR

Panel 1

Present-day Bloodwynd is gesturing for Zion to sit down.

CAPTION: There are many obscure names I could recite, here, to give you an idea.  I have no doubt I would be among them, were someone else reflecting on this now.

BLOODWYND: Have a seat.

Panel 2

Bloodwynd and Zion are now seated in the office.  It remains darkened.  This is nighttime.  Zion’s costume somewhat adequately illuminates the panel.

CAPTION: But there are names you will recognize, too.

BLOODWYND: Naturally I was pleased when I learned you wanted to offer your assistance.

Panel 3

They continue to sit conversing.

CAPTION: There was a crisis that claimed two of our number, Ralph Dibney and Ray Palmer.  It was a complicated affair, but suffice to say, neither was ever the same again.

BLOODWYND: So few have wanted to talk with me about these matters.

Panel 4

They continue to sit conversing (Zion will be talking soon, worry not).

CAPTION: Dibney, the Elongated Man, was at one time known as one of the brightest of us.  Few enough of us know how his story ended, but it did end.  And it never continued.  This may sound like a redundant statement.  Sadly, it is not.

BLOODWYND: We have allowed fear to dictate events.

Panel 5
They continue to sit conversing (it won’t be on this page, however).

CAPTION: Palmer, the Atom, eventually was found, in the kind of microscopic reality he had obviously claimed as sanctuary, but had previously been merely the realm he was uniquely suited to explore.  He had walked away.

BLOODWYND: And it has compromised my efforts.  It has compromised all of us.

Panel 6

They continue to sit conversing.

CAPTION: He emerged a few times, nurtured a successor at times.  But he was never the same.  Eventually he hung up the costume.  But even that didn’t stop it from happening again, and I fear that this time we will have lost him permanently.

BLOODWYND: So again, I deeply appreciate your coming here tonight.

 

PAGE FIVE

Panel 1 (splash)

Doomsday is unleashing one of his devastating concussive blows on Bloodwynd, sending him flying.  This was a monster that decimated a Justice League with ease.
 

PAGE SIX

Panel 1

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: You needn’t be so kind.

Panel 2

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: We have all been compromised by the White Martians, and we haven’t even begun to understand the scope.

Panel 3

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Not only in terms of who is secretly a White Martian, some of whom don’t even know it yet, but those who have chosen to align with them.

Panel 4

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: I came here tonight with some very specific intel that you’re going to find interesting: the President of Mexico, the Caballero, is a collaborator.

Panel 5

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: And what’s more, as El Dorado has been speculating, as I know he’s told you already, the Caballero is directly responsible for the Man-Bat crisis.

Panel 6

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: So it was no coincidence, the White Martian assault Martian Manhunter and President Reilly endured at the Capitol, under the guise of Man-Bat acolytes.

Panel 7

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: I can only speculate as to the identities of other White Martian infiltrators.  Except one, and I’m sure you will find this interesting as well.

Panel 8

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: You’re sure you’re ready for a bombshell?

Panel 9

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Karma.

ZION: The so-called new champion of the world.  President Reilly’s so-called new best friend.

ZION: Yeah.

 

PAGE SEVEN

Panel 1 (splash)

Bloodwynd looks on with horror, in a prone position from the last horrible blow we saw, as Doomsday comes springing at him with both bone-protruding hands clasped together ready to strike again.  Crucially, we see Bloodwynd attempting to protect himself by bringing his legs upward to his chest. 
 

PAGE EIGHT

Panel 1

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: I had suspected both of these things.

BLOODWYND: I assume you have proof?

Panel 2

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Of course.

Panel 3

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: I was tasked with ending a crisis before it truly began.  I haven’t been entirely successful.  The assault at the Capitol, even shielded from the media, is proof enough of that.  Eventually, even that will be known. 

Panel 4

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: We have been on the defensive this whole time.  I am more than a little tired of this.

Panel 5

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Even superheroes can’t prevent bad things from happening.

Panel 6

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: By the very nature of our work.  Some confuse this point, and some are all too happy to exploit it.  They fundamentally misunderstand…

Panel 7

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Bloodwynd, I know.  I know what this life cost you.  Why you now run your affairs out of an office.  Why you retired the costume.

Panel 8

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: I don’t speak of that.  

Panel 9

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Relax.  I’m not here to hurt you.  I’m not going to expose you.

 

PAGE NINE

Panel 1 (splash)

Doomsday’s blow has landed.  Bloodwynd’s left leg has been completely shattered, and we see him howling in pain.
 

PAGE TEN

Panel 1

Close-up of Bloodwynd, who suddenly looks angry.

BLOODWYND: Do not threaten me. 

BLOODWYND: I know your secret, too, Zion.

Panel 2

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Relax, okay?  I told you already, I am not looking to hurt you.

Panel 3

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: That has no relevance to these matters.  You can trust me.  No one knows what I know, what I don’t choose to tell them.  I have a great many secrets.

Panel 4

Close-up of Bloodwynd.  This is a silent panel.  He doesn’t look entirely mollified.

Panel 5

Close-up of Bloodwynd. He still has a scowl on his face.

BLOODWYND: It was not necessary to bring it up in the first place.

Panel 6

Close-up of Bloodwynd.  He still looks angry.

BLOODWYND: If you do not wish to threaten, please attempt to practice that discretion of yours.

Panel 7

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: And they say I don’t play well with others…

Panel 8

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: You know, there’s a reason, other than the obvious, why you were never exactly considered a team player.

Panel 9

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: And I’m not talking about your brooding nature.  I know all about brooding.  Brooding doesn’t alone prevent fruitful partnerships.

 

PAGE ELEVEN

Panel 1 (splash)

The broken Bloodwynd watches, in agony, from the ground as Superman slams into Doomsday.  The beauty of Superman #75 and its all-splash page glory is that there’s plenty of room around the action for moments like what we’ve been experiencing, Bloodwynd’s perspective on that momentous occasion.
 

PAGE TWELVE

Panel 1

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: And since we were already on the subject, it’s about trust, Bloodwynd.

Panel 2

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: From the moment you emerged, your whole time with the Justice League, you kept up a thick wall of silence. 

Panel 3

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: You never let anyone in.  You kept everything about yourself a big secret, a mystery.

Panel 4

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: And listen, I know about keeping secrets.  That’s my whole gig.  But that was taking it just a little too far.

Panel 5

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: They never even knew what else to call you, something other than “Bloodwynd”!  Anything!

Panel 6

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: So don’t sit there now and put on your wounded act and try to claim that it’s anything I said or implied or brought up that’s causing you to once again build your wall and isolate yourself, pal.

Panel 7

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: Because it’s not going to fly.

Panel 8

Close-up of Zion.  A silent panel.

Panel 9

Close-up of Zion.

ZION: We clear?

 

PAGE THIRTEEN

Panel 1 (splash)

Bloodwynd, grimacing all the more, is pulling himself up, clutching his leg.  It’s clear he won’t be able to stand on it.
 

PAGE FOURTEEN

Panel 1

Close-up of Bloodwynd.  He doesn’t look angry.  He has reverted back to his usual passive look.  A silent panel.

Panel 2

Close-up of Bloodwynd.  Same expression.

BLOODWYND: Thank you.

Panel 3

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: You have no idea how refreshing honesty is.

Panel 4

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: I needed to be sure I could trust you.

Panel 5

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: Rest assured, I would expect nothing less than what I have just endured from someone I am willing to trust.  It is, perhaps, something I picked up from the Martian Manhunter.

Panel 6

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: I never…had a secret identity.  My life has been a complicated one.

Panel 7

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: Call me Joe.

Panel 8

Close-up of Bloodwynd.

BLOODWYND: What do I call you, other than “Zion”?

Panel 9

Close-up of Zion, his mask peeled up above his mouth now.  We see that he has a brown mustache.  He’s flicking a match.

ZION: Malone.

 

PAGE FIFTEEN

Panel 1 (splash)

The famous final image from Superman #75, Lois cradling the dead Superman as Bloodwynd (he really is there in that image, too) and others observe.  We now catch no glimpse of pain on Bloodwynd’s face.  He once again has that steely resolve, that passive look.
 

PAGE SIXTEEN

Panel 1

Zion is leaving Bloodwynd’s office.  Bloodwynd is standing.

CAPTION: There are scars that are a little more literal than the ones endured by Ralph Dibney, by Ray Palmer.

Panel 2

Bloodwynd is once again alone, and has seated himself back down. 

CAPTION: During the Doomsday crisis, I endured something terrible.

Panel 3

Bloodwynd is still seated in darkness.  His expression has now settled on pain.

CAPTION: We all did.  Superman died.  I understand this.

Panel 4

Bloodwynd is reaching toward his left leg.

CAPTION: I have carried the pain of that day with me ever since.  I have never detected comparable residual effects in anyone else who was there, not even Superman, who came back from the experience apparently totally unscathed.  Not even Guy Gardner, whose face was smashed.

Panel 5

Bloodwynd is now rolling up his pant-leg.  We see his prosthesis for the first time.  It attaches at his thigh.

CAPTION: I don’t mean to suggest that I believe everyone else forgot, or that they don’t suffer psychological scars.

Panel 6

Bloodwynd has detached the prosthesis, and we see him staring at his stump, a blank expression on his face.

CAPTION: Anyway.  The worst of it is that I know what no one else knows.  Doomsday’s ultimate purpose.  And that he is coming back to finish what he started.

Crisis Weekly #8

PAGE ONE

Panel 1

A Green Martian on the surface of Mars, throwing a glowing red diamond (it looks exactly like the one on Bloodwynd’s costume, as it…is) into the sky.  The Green Martian has a wild, determined look about him.  This Green Martian is in fact J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, looking like the wild alien look DC artists have developed over the years, rather than the human look we’ve come to know, or even his present, Westmoresque look.

Panel 2

The diamond is rocketing out of orbit of Mars.

Panel 3

The diamond continues its journey through space.

Panel 4

The diamond now hurtles into the atmosphere of…Earth.

TITLE: “Man of Constant Sorrow”

WRITER: Tony Laplume
 

PAGE TWO

Panel 1
Martian Manhunter in the present, in the chambers of the US House of Representatives at the Capitol.  He’s in his superhero form, and beside him, in her civilian form, is President Reilly.  They’re standing at the speaker’s podium, where the State of the Union address is made annually.  They’re otherwise alone.  Reilly is staring out at the empty seats in front of them.

CAPTION: Chambers of the House of Representatives, US Capitol.

LORRAINE REILLY: Place gives me the creeps, even without considering the pressure I’ll be under in a few weeks, delivering the State of the Union…

LORRAINE REILLY: Or my many opponents, sorry, political colleagues, who’ll be filling it, sitting on their hands…

Panel 2

Reilly has turned to look at Martian Manhunter.

LORRAINE REILLY: Sorry, you were saying?

LORRAINE REILLY: Lost in my own little world.  I’m sure you understand.

Panel 3

Martian Manhunter gives Reilly a look.

Panel 4

Martian Manhunter begins to levitate in the air, clearly lost in thought as he begins to speak.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: We called it the blood diamond.

Panel 5

A crowd of congressmen (to be clear, men and women) enters the chambers, startling Martian Manhunter and Reilly.

LORRAINE REILLY: Ah!  And here we were, expecting the place to ourselves.  A rare pleasure, I know, but still…

Panel 6

The congressmen are transforming into Man-Bats!
 

PAGE THREE

Panel 1

The diamond smashes into a tobacco field, at night.

Panel 2

At daybreak, we see slaves, in the American South, walking into that field.

Panel 3

The slaves are getting to work, with an angry overseer near them.

Panel 4

With the sun setting again, the slaves are becoming tired.

Panel 5

One of them stumbles across the diamond, which has dulled.

Panel 6

We see the slave still has it when he’s returned to his hut, and is holding it protectively, hiding it from the other slaves he shares the hut with.
 

PAGE FOUR

Panel 1

Martian Manhunter and President Reilly, who has now transformed into Firehawk, are fighting the Man-Bats.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: It was the most deadly weapon we ever conceived, and it was used for one purpose.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: To defeat, once and for all, the White Martian menace.

Panel 2

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Or so we thought.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Or perhaps merely hoped.

Panel 3

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: To our everlasting shame.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Or, perhaps, merely mine.

Panel 4

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Madam President, I must say, I admire how you are throwing yourself at this.  One does not often think of commanders-in-chief leading fights so directly.

LORRAINE REILLY: C’mon, J’onn.  You know me better than that!

LORRAINE REILLY: Besides, I like to think of it as “aggressive negotiations.”

Panel 5

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Pardon me?

LORRAINE REILLY: Just something I learned from one of my favorite movies.

Panel 6

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Ah.  Quaint.  One of humanity’s quirks I have yet to master.

Panel 7

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: Quoting movies?

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Movies in general.

 

PAGE FIVE

Panel 1

We see the slave returning to the hut after another long day.

Panel 2

The slave is making up his mind as he sits.

Panel 3

He’s now showing the diamond to the other slaves in the hut.

Panel 4

They share a conspiratorial look.

Panel 5

The diamond begins glowing bright red again.
 

PAGE SIX

Panel 1

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Our mutual friend once told me about his origins.

Panel 2

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: It didn’t take me long to make the connection between the diamond my people once possessed and the one that gave him his powers, that he wore boldly affixed to his costume.

Panel 3

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: But he still had much to tell me, and I found myself quite astonished. 

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: For although I knew what the diamond had been created to accomplish, clearly it had since developed…still more interesting properties.

Panel 4

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: I almost don’t believe it even now.

Panel 5

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Later, when I wore the diamond myself, when we were…reunited, as it were, with Bloodwynd trapped inside it, I felt the new power myself.

Panel 6
The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: It was overwhelming.

 

PAGE SEVEN

Panel 1

The bright red diamond sits by itself at night, although the slaves are all huddled near it, almost as if it were giving them warmth (which it probably is, too), but perhaps more out of the hope it represents.

Panel 2

The diamond begins to glow brighter, lighting the whole hut.

Panel 3

This panel is red; the diamond’s glow has eclipsed everything.

Panel 4

The light has receded, and in its place…a baby.  A black infant, created by the diamond, perhaps out of all that hope.

Panel 5

The slaves have woken up and are startled by what they see.  The diamond has dulled again, exhausted for the moment from its labors, as it were.

Panel 6

The original slave we followed has picked up the baby, and is smiling, but a steely look in his eyes.  He suspects they will have a powerful new weapon to use against their masters.

PAGE EIGHT

Panel 1

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Somehow, the diamond had produced human life.

LORRAINE REILLY: Makes Bloodwynd’s origins sound almost like Diana’s.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: I suppose.

Panel 2

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: But Diana had the Amazons about her.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: People who knew what she was.

Panel 3

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: The people Bloodwynd was born into…neither he nor they were so fortunate.

Panel 4
The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: His was a painful childhood.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Diana’s mother fought to keep her daughter sheltered.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Bloodwynd had the weight of the world on his shoulders from the start.

Panel 5

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: I know a little of that.

LORRAINE REILLY: A little.

Panel 6

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Of course.  I nearly forgot.  No one should have a father like that.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Who put you through what he did.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Even if it made you who you are today. 

 

PAGE NINE

Panel 1

The young Bloodwynd, three years old, watching with his eerie white eyes as his “father,” the slave we’ve been following, leaves the hut, looking if anything more beaten than before.  Bloodwynd is crying.

Panel 2

Bloodwynd, roughly aged six, is standing beside his father, eyes clenched in concentration.  Clearly his father is expecting something from him.

Panel 3

Bloodwynd, roughly aged fourteen, in the fields with his father. 

Panel 4

An overseer is harassing Bloodwynd’s father, who is looking pleadingly at Bloodwynd, who looked horrified that he really can’t do anything to help.

Panel 5

Bloodwynd, same age, and father in the hut.  The father looks angry at Bloodwynd.

Panel 6

Bloodwynd’s father is throwing the diamond out of the hut.
 

PAGE TEN

Panel 1

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: I prefer not to dwell on the past.

Panel 2

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Granted.  And that is one of the many attributes I admire about you.

Panel 3

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: I wonder, where is Karma, our fearless protector?

Panel 4

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: I also prefer not to be catty.

LORRAINE REILLY: But I’ve been thinking the same thing.

Panel 5

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: Karma, who shamed Wonder Woman into seclusion.

Panel 6

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: What else do you know about Bloodwynd?

 

PAGE ELEVEN

Panel 1

Bloodwynd, still the same age as we last saw him, is walking into the night, alone.

Panel 2

Clearly he wasn’t looking for the diamond.  He probably was never even told about it, about the circumstances of his birth.  All the same, his foot connects with it.

Panel 3

He looks down at the diamond.

Panel 4

He picks it up, looking intently at it.

Panel 5

The diamond begins to glow brilliantly again.

Panel 6

And Bloodwynd finds himself levitating for the first time, a startled expression on his face.
 

PAGE TWELVE

Panel 1

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: At some point, he learned the diamond’s secrets for himself.

Panel 2

The fight continues.  (Here I almost feel it’s necessary to remind you that Martian Manhunter and President Reilly/Firehawk are fighting Man-Bats in the chambers of the House of Representatives.)

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: I’m sure it was a momentous occasion, learning the truth of oneself for the first time.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Martian technology is embedded with the same psychic qualities as the Martians had themselves.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: I have no doubt that he knew as soon as he touched it.

Panel 3

The fight continues.  (See?  Fresh.)

LORRAINE REILLY: Must have made cooking extremely interesting.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Ah.  Quite. 

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Perhaps explains my interest in Oreos.

Panel 4

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: So…then he led a massive slave revolt history never recorded?

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: You know, sarcasm is another thing I have yet to master.

Panel 5

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Obviously, that’s not what happened.

Panel 6

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: No, the Emancipation Proclamation intervened.

 

PAGE THIRTEEN

Panel 1

From the sky, Bloodwynd watches as the ex-slaves leaves the tobacco fields.  He looks for his father in the massive crush of suddenly jubilant souls.  The diamond has taken its place on his chest, where it sits on his later costume as well.

Panel 2

He’s touching back down to the ground, parting the ex-slaves around him.  Everyone looks happy to see him.  They were freed and basically got Superman, years before Superman, all in the same day!

Panel 3

But Bloodwynd has now found his father, who unlike everyone else looks angry.

Panel 4

Obviously his father is letting loose a stream of insults at Bloodwynd, who has hardened his expression.

Panel 5

Bloodwynd is flying off again, alone, unnoticed.

Panel 6

Bloodwynd is once again hovering above the fields, which are now empty.  He looks sad.
 

PAGE FOURTEEN

Panel 1

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Here he was, having finally discovered his birthright, his destiny and…

Panel 2

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: The war was won without him.

Panel 3

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: It’s not often I’m going to say this about the end of slavery in America, but how awful!

Panel 4

The fight continues.  A silent panel as they both try and process what they’ve been discussing.  And, y’know, concentrate on fighting Man-Bats.

Panel 5

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: And from there…

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: He prefers not to talk about it. 

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Drifting in Reconstruction America, the turn of the century, Jackie Robinson, the Civil Rights era, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr…

Panel 6

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: And then he joins the Justice League.  A man without a past, a true man of mystery…

 

PAGE FIFTEEN

Panel 1 (splash)

The massive hand of Doomsday as it smashes, partially gloved in the green containment suit, partially exposing those gnarly spikes of his on the knuckles…It’s the iconic debut as readers first encountered him.

SFX: SMASH!

 

PAGE SIXTEEN

Panel 1

The fight continues.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: And then Doomsday.

Panel 2

The fight continues.

LORRAINE REILLY: Then Doomsday.

Panel 3

The fight continues.  Another silent panel of contemplation.  And fighting Man-Bats.

Panel 4

The fight continues.  Finally we see a thinning of the Man-Bat crowd.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Has it occurred to you what we’ve been fighting all this time?

Panel 5

Reilly blasting one of the remaining Man-Bats.

LORRAINE REILLY: These weren’t Man-Bats at all.

LORRAINE REILLY: They were White Martians all along.

Panel 6

Martian Manhunter and President Reilly stand among the bodies of their fallen opponents, defeated, and indeed now in the form of White Martians…

MARTIAN MANHUNTER: Indeed…