Crisis Weekly #7

PAGE ONE

Panel 1 (splash)

Teenagers sitting around a living room.  They look completely bored.  There are red plastic cups everywhere, junk food, bits of popcorn.  But this is no ordinary gathering, this is the Crisis Compact!  Included in the bunch are Rachel Rogerson, our school shooting survivor; Donna Force, that precocious ‘90s brunette who emerged from the Bloodlines annuals as a second-tier DC youth known as Sparx; a Japanese dude named Liger whose hairstyle is a lot like Han’s from the Fast & Furious movies; and an awkward-looking girl named Vanessa Holly.

CAPTION: Rachel Rogerson (Bulletproof)

CAPTION: Donna Force (Sparx)

CAPTION: Liger (Flick)

CAPTION: Vanessa Holly (Latch)

CAPTION: Months later.

CAPTION: In the end, I transferred to a different school.

CAPTION: I just couldn’t deal with it.

CAPTION: I couldn’t keep studying somewhere where something like that had happened.

CAPTION: I couldn’t stand everyone constantly bugging me, about surviving.

CAPTION: I couldn’t stand everyone trying to make a crusade out of it.

CAPTION: So what did I do?

CAPTION: I let a bunch of dumb kids at another school convince me to join a superhero team.

TITLE: “Story of My Life”

WRITER: Tony Laplume
 

PAGE TWO

Panel 1

Close-up on Rachel.

CAPTION: I can’t even. 

CAPTION: They call me Bulletproof.

Pane 2

Close-up of Donna.

CAPTION: That’s Donna.  Sometimes called D.C.  If we’re talking practical superheroing experience (whatever that means), she’s the unopposed GOAT in our team, and of course the one who nagged us into existence as a team.  Says she used to be BFFs with Superboy, not that anyone talks about it anymore (except her).

Panel 3

Close-up of Liger.

CAPTION: That’s Liger.  Japanese transfer student.  Loves manga, still trying to convince me that reading the stuff backwards isn’t completely backwards.  Has no powers, as far as I can tell, a full-on cosplayer, and also a raging alcoholic, the only one of us simultaneously supporting and breaking the law with ridiculously intense vigor (makes Donna look like a poser, if you can imagine).

Panel 4

Close-up of Vanessa.

CAPTION: That’s Vanessa.  I guess she has an alien parasite?  She keeps going on and on about what a nightmare it is, on top of all her other million insecurities.  Claims it’s from Venus and that it kind of transforms her into a total babe?  But it only makes her even more awkward in her own skin. 

 

PAGE THREE

Panel 1

Close-up of Donna, suddenly perking up.

DONNA FORCE: Guys!

Panel 2

Still looking excited.

DONNA FORCE: We’re wasting the whole day!

VOICE (off-panel): Duh!  We’re teenagers.

Panel 3

Donna is looking at whoever spoke (I suppose by direction we could reasonably assume who, and it was probably Liger, so orientate accordingly, including the above word bubble) with an exasperated expression.

DONNA FORCE: Kids these days.

Panel 4

Donna perking up again.

DONNA FORCE: I hereby call to order the first official team-up of the Crisis Compact!

Panel 5

Donna looks deadly serious now.

DONNA FORCE: Guys, something needs to be done. 

Panel 6

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: I believe that there’s a conspiracy afoot.

Panel 7

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: The same forces that assassinated the president are also working with the White Martians, are also working with Man-Bat, are also working with the Mexican president, the Caballero, are also working with none other than…Jack Ryder!  Who runs the Bully Boys gang!  Who is actually…the Creeper!

Panel 8

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: Basically, we begin with Jack Ryder.

Panel 9

Donna looking exasperatedly in the direction of Liger, who we once again can’t see.

VOICE (off-panel): Yeah.  Blame the media.  Way to be on-topic.  Fascist.  Yay.

 

PAGE FOUR

 

Panel 1

Donna once again looking serious, undeterred.

DONNA FORCE: Man-Bat’s assault on the White House was just his way of serving notice.

Panel 2

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: And what is Jack Ryder saying about it?  That President Reilly (who, by the way, is also the longstanding superhero known as Firehawk) probably staged the whole thing!

Panel 3

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: That it’s part of her whole plot to destabilize the country!  In collusion with foreign nationals!

Panel 4

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: But then, he’s been leaning pretty heavily on anti-superhero rhetoric in general these days, ever since the Guy Gardner incident.

Panel 5

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: Suddenly the good guys are the bad guys!

Panel 6

Donna momentarily flashes into her electric Sparx form.

DONNA FORCE: Guys!  Newsflash!  We’re superheroes!

Panel 7

Donna back in her civilian form, once again looking serious.

DONNA FORCE: We’re the good guys!

DONNA FORCE: And somebody needs to remind everyone about that.  And that’s going to be us!

Panel 8

Donna looking off to the side again, exasperated.

VOICE (off-panel): Because a bunch of activist kids is going to change everything.

Panel 9

Donna shouting in that direction.

DONNA FORCE: Liger!  It happens all the time!  Shuttup!

 

PAGE FIVE

Panel 1

Close-up of Rachel.

RACHEL ROGERSON: Okay.  We already agreed, D.C.

RACHEL ROGERSON: But what’re we gonna do?

Panel 2

Close-up of Donna again.

DONNA FORCE: Expose him.  That shit plays well these days.  Tell everyone who he really is.

 

Panel 3

Close-up of Liger.

LIGER: But…what has the Creeper actually done lately?  Who even remembers one thing the Creeper ever did?  Who’s even heard of the Creeper?

Panel 4

Close-up of Vanessa.

VANESSA HOLLY: I sorta have to agree with Liger, D.C. 

VANESSA HOLLY: How can you stoke outrage if the Creeper means nothing?

Panel 5

Close-up of Rachel.

RACHEL ROGERSON: Also, are we really going to fight outrage with outrage?

RACHEL ROGERSON: Doesn’t even outrage, at that point, become white noise?

Panel 6

Close-up of Donna, who is once again looking annoyed.

Panel 7

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: Then.  We.  Remind people.  About the Creeper.

Panel 8

Close-up of Liger.

LIGER: I never really got him.  Is he a hero?  Is he a villain?

Panel 9

Donna, still looking annoyed.

DONNA FORCE: Kind of the point, Liger.

 

PAGE SIX

Panel 1

Close-up of Rachel.

RACHEL ROGERSON: So now ambiguity is the enemy?

Panel 2

Close-up of Donna, a neutral expression on her face.

DONNA FORCE: Rachel, I…

 

DONNA FORCE: That’s not what I mean. 

DONNA FORCE: These are polarized times.  It makes sense to exploit. 

Panel 3

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: What I mean is, how are we supposed to trust someone like that?

Panel 4

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: Where’s his credibility?  If he’s trying to warn us about the dangers of, say, not knowing the president’s true agenda, or stoking paranoia about who could potentially be a White Martian, who’s he to talk, when he’s hiding something huge about himself?

Panel 5

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: Something that if pressed, even he wouldn’t be able to explain?

Panel 6

Same as previous panel.

DONNA FORCE: Isn’t it obvious?

Panel 7

Close-up of Vanessa, who’s looking more awkward than usual.

Panel 8

Same as previous panel.

VANESSA HOLLY: If it was obvious, why would it need to be exposed?

Panel 9

Same as previous panel.

VANESSA HOLLY: I mean, really?

 

PAGE SEVEN

Panel 1 (splash)

Vanessa unexpectedly (everyone, including herself, is completely surprised), has transformed into Latch, who as previously suggested is the complete opposite of her, a gorgeous woman in a traditional superheroine costume, that’s very, very pink, including her skin and hair.  It shouldn’t look exactly like Star Sapphire, although of course comparisons are going to be made.  It’s likely that the Venutian Vampire, as her alien parasite is known, is related to the Sapphires, in much the same way Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott is related to but not part of the Green Lantern Corps.  I also like the idea that Vanessa, like Donna earlier, seemingly isn’t in complete control of her powers, when she transforms into her superhero form.  They’re teenagers. 
 

PAGE EIGHT

Panel 1

The whole group again, this time Vanessa is once again herself and looking completely embarrassed.  Liger has a huge grin on his face.  Rachel and Donna are taking it in stride.

LIGER: Ha! 

LIGER: Way to put an exclamation point on it, Essa!

Panel 2

Vanessa is burying her face in a red plastic cup as the rest of them laugh.

Panel 3

The group has calmed down.

DONNA FORCE: Or we can do what superheroes do and go punch something.