Panel 1
A foot.
Panel 2
A black
panel. Like last week we’re simulating
movement in a nine-panel grid pattern.
This time we’re observing Bloodwynd’s limp. As you will recall, last time we saw him in
the spotlight (Crisis Weekly #9) we learned he has a prosthetic leg. I indicated on the ninth page that
installment that it was the left leg that was shattered and later amputated, so
it’s the right foot we’re seeing every other panel.
Panel 3
A foot.
Panel 4
A black
panel.
Panel 5
A foot.
Panel 6
A black
panel.
TITLE: “House
of the Rising Sun”
Panel 7
A foot.
Panel 8
A black
panel.
WRITER: Tony
Laplume
Panel 9
A foot.
PAGE TWO
Panel 1
Now we see
Bloodwynd’s complete figure, from the back.
It’s clear that he’s limping, leaning heavily on his remaining leg. He’s walking down the sidewalk. It’s dawn, the sky showing blood red. (That’s, ah, some subtle symbolism right
there, in two ways. “Red skies in morn,
sailors warn.” And the red skies of Crisis
on Infinite Earths.)
CAPTION:
Some days, I feel the absence of my left leg more.
Panel 2
We continue
to watch Bloodwynd walk, but the vantage point is rotating. We’re going to be seeing him more from the front
as we go along. We can see his hands
bracing some imaginary object as he balances on his prosthetic.
CAPTION:
Some days, it’s harder to tolerate the pain.
Some days it’s harder to forget what was taken from me.
Panel 3
The image
continues to rotate as we now see Bloodwynd in profile, as he lands less
heavily on his good leg than before.
CAPTION: I
have to remind myself to walk straighter.
Panel 4
Bloodwynd
walking steadily, no apparent problem here.
CAPTION:
Someone once told me a Green Lantern ring takes a great deal of pain and effort
to use, even if it doesn’t look likes it.
Panel 5
Bloodwynd,
still in profile, is approaching the building where Bloodwynd Investigations is
housed. As we saw in classic gumshoe
fashion previously on the door leading to his offices, that name is in fact on
the door he’s opening now, in modest letters.
CAPTION:
There isn’t room for pity in a superhero’s life, even one who is retired.
CAPTION:
Mostly.
PAGE THREE
Panel 1
An image of
Bloodwynd walking stairs. You can
imagine that it takes a great deal of effort, but again we see him giving no
indication of discomfort or pain, his steely resolve once again
dominating.
CAPTION:
Recently I was visited by a girl, no older than high school age, who told me
something extraordinary, and introduced me to someone equally so.
Panel 2
Bloodwynd is
now walking into his offices, holding the door handle as he goes.
CAPTION: Her
name, as she gave it, was Bulletproof. A
superhero. She handed me, perhaps, the
last pieces of the puzzle.
BLOODWYND:
Gentlemen.
Panel 3
We’re
looking at Bloodwynd’s back again.
Assembled in front of him are Guy Gardner (once again in his yellow
costume), Zion, and Iron Joe.
CAPTION:
After careful consultation with the president, I mobilized the CRU, the Crisis
Response Unit.
GUY GARDNER:
Took you long enough, pal.
ZION: Joe.
IRON JOE:
Nice place you have here.
PAGE FOUR
Panel 1
A shot of
the group conversing.
BLOODWYND:
You all know what is at stake, our objective.
GUY GARDNER:
Free the wetback.
BLOODWYND:
Guy.
GUY GARDNER:
What? I’m joking! You know me.
Don’t believe what the media says.
But…believe everything else.
ZION:
Believe the hype. Yeah.
ZION: Sometimes
I just want to punch you. Just so you
know.
Panel 2
The group
continues to converse.BLOODWYND: Now, I have a limited ability to mask our appearances.
GUY GARDNER:
We’re gonna look like Man-Bats.
Personally I’m sick of Man-Bats.
IRON JOE: It’s
not about what you look like, Guy. You
of all people ought to understand that.
Panel 3
Focus on
Iron Joe.
IRON JOE:
Anyway. There’s something you should
know.
IRON JOE:
The Russians have a centaur.
Panel 4
Guy enters
the frame with Iron Joe.
GUY GARDNER:
Our resident Russkie. Awesome. Thanks for that totally relevant intel.
IRON JOE: I
was in Moscow for a reason. We’re not
just here to rescue El Dorado. We’re the
team tasked with mobilizing on his captor, too.
We’re going to need all the help we can get.
Panel 5
Focus on
Zion.
ZION: Iron
Joe’s got a point. Moving against the
Caballero won’t be easy, regardless of what we accomplish today.
Panel 6
Focus on
Guy, looking smug.
GUY GARDNER:
Whatever. Enough chitchat.
GUY GARDNER:
Let’s do this.
PAGE FIVE
Panel 1
(splash)
Some sort of
hi-tech jet cutting through the air.
CAPTION:
These are dangerous times.
CAPTION: Not
every crisis is obvious. In the past we
have been confronted with enemy forces far more directly.
CAPTION: It
was easier to tell who the bad guys were, the confluence of worlds more
spectacular.
CAPTION: There is more happening than is apparent.
CAPTION:
There is, to use a phrase from pop culture, a man behind the curtain.
PAGE SIX
Panel 1
Three
members of the CRU are now emerging from the jet masked as Man-Bats, shrieking.
Panel 2
We see Zion
in the cockpit of the jet, watching his colleagues descend. There is still a vast expanse of sky around
them. They’ve pulled this off high above
the ground.
Panel 3
Our three
Man-Bats are being greeted by other Man-Bats.
They’re all shrieking.
Panel 4
The Man-Bats
are all flying off together. Clearly the
ruse has worked. The jet is nowhere to
be seen. It flew off well before the
meet-up.
PAGE SEVEN
Panel 1
Now the
Man-Bats have entered the bunker where El Dorado is being held, flying down a
corridor.
Panel 2
One of the
Man-Bats is shrieking again as they approach the door to the room where El
Dorado is being held.
Panel 3
The door has
been opened and we see El Dorado, still strapped to a chair, in a pitiable
state. We see one of the Man-Bats flying
away.
Panel 4
One of the
Man-Bats, obviously from the CRU, is holding El Dorado’s magic cape now,
rejoining the group.
Panel 5
A Man-Bat is
shredding El Dorado’s bonds while the one holding the cape is tossing it at
him.
Panel 6
The Man-Bats
who aren’t part of the CRU finally realize they’ve been had and are turning on
them.
Panel 7
El Dorado
catches his cape.
Panel 8
He’s pulling
the cape around the CRU, transforming back into their original forms, as the
Man-Bats shriek and attack around them.
Panel 9
The Man-Bats
are now alone, with mystified expressions on their faces.
PAGE EIGHT
Panel 1
Zion is
looking behind him in the cockpit. There’s
nothing there yet.
Panel 2
Now the
caped unit of El Dorado and the CRU has appeared in that space.
ZION:
Welcome back.
Panel 3
El Dorado
has collapsed.
Panel 4
Zion has
turned back to the controls.
ZION: Gotta
say, a lot of people would have assumed only Batman could’ve pulled this off.
Panel 5
Spotlight on
Guy Gardner.
GUY GARDNER:
Who the hell is Batman?
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