The Man in the Box, Pages 1-8

PAGE ONE

Panel 1
A ten-year-old black girl, Sam Lane, standing at the grave of Jerome Taggart, erstwhile butler of Adam Hemingway, the Ferryman.  She's holding a notebook, which distinctly sports a black cover with the Ferryman's logo, styled after the Greek ferryman Charon's boat, in yellow, absently in one hand.  This is the lead panel at the top of the page.

CAPTION: Sonny Reyes recruited me the other day.

Panel 2

Sam sits in a classroom, in the back row, bored, the same notebook we saw in the previous panel unopened in front of her on her desk.

CAPTION: Sonny used to adventure as the first Soul, kid sidekick of the Ferryman, Hun City's famed masked private detective.

Panel 3

Seemingly everyone else's hands shoot up to answer a question from the teacher.

CAPTION: Sonny recruited me at the funeral of the Ferrryman's dead butler.  I was busy fending off my conniving uncle at the time.  Still trying to cash in on his sister's death.  

Panel 4

Teacher has of course called on Sam, who looks embarrassed.

CAPTION: No one's told him she died penniless.

PAGE TWO

Panel 1

Sam's walking out of the classroom at the end of class, relieved.  Still very much alone, still clutching her Ferryman notebook.

CAPTION: The Ferryman provisionally accepted me as his new apprentice.  All I have to do is solve the mystery of the Destroyer's identity. Same setup as previous page.  One large panel at the top, three chaser panels below it.

Panel 2

The teacher's hand reaches out to Sam through the doorway.

TEACHER (o.p.): Sam, if I could have a minute.

Panel 3

Readers will recognize the teacher as the Ferryman, Adam Hemingway himself, in one of his disguises, the street level, mustachioed persona known as AJ Blocks, posing as a substitute teacher.  Sam herself seems nonplussed.

FERRYMAN: You were distracted throughout class today.

Panel 4

Sam looking defiant.

SAM: Don't think I didn't spot you the minute I entered class today, "Mr. Blocks."

SAM: Substitute teacher my...

FERRYMAN: Language, Miss Lane.

PAGE THREE

Panel 1

Blocks and Sam are now in the teachers lounge, and Blocks is waving goodbye to his colleagues.  This is the end of the day.  Everyone has their bags, jackets, making that clear.  Sam is already sitting at the table as Blocks stands.  She has the same unopened notebook from earlier in front of her.  As with two previous pages, same layout.

FERRYMAN: Be safe!  Never know what kind of maniac will be on the road!

Panel 2

Blocks has seated himself down across from Sam.

FERRYMAN: Now.  To business.

Panel 3

Sam has flipped open her notebook.

SAM: I understood the assignment perfectly.  You tell me you already know who the Destroyer is.

SAM: You just want to see if I can figure it out myself.

Panel 4

Sam is sliding her notebook over to Blocks, who is making a show of not looking at it but rather remaining focused on her.

SAM: I already knew at the funeral.  

SAM: You can check all my evidence for yourself.

SAM: It's my uncle.  Looks different without the horn mask.

PAGE FOUR

Panel 1

This is a flashback to Jerome Taggart's confrontation with the Destroyer, just before it, as he rides the subway car, still holding the package he had gone to retrieve that fateful day.  On it can be seen the address line: Kenny Lane, 3827 Lucas Drive, Hun City, LA.  Every page follows the same design pattern.

CAPTION: On the day he died, Jerome Taggart picked up a package from the post office.  A package the mailman wouldn't deliver to you.  

Panel 2

Jerome looks at his watch, flashing a signal he knows comes from the Ferryman for emergencies.

CAPTION: That package was from my uncle.

Panel 3

Jerome looks in the direction of the next car, where he and the reader can see the Ferryman battling the Destroyer.  His arm hasn't drop from when he looked at his watch, but he's dropped the package.

CAPTION: The package was classic misdirection.

Panel 4

Mindless of the passengers around him, who are distracted anyway, Jerome slips on the mask of the Insider, a persona he has occasionally employed to assist the Ferryman in the field.  The mask is gray and covers his whole face.

CAPTION: It contained tea packets, in case you were wondering.

PAGE FIVE

Panel 1

The courtroom during Johnny Brisk's trial, with Etta Hemingway, the Ferryman's aunt, also known as Harlot, prosecuting.  On the stand testifying can be found our Kenny Lane.

CAPTION: At the trial of your parents' murderer, Johnny Brisk, my uncle testified against Brisk, believing he had scored immunity from the DA, Etta Hemingway.  Your aunt.

Panel 2

Behind the prosecution's table sits Jerome, who alone represents the Hemingway family beyond the DA.

CAPTION: Jerome had a keen mind.  He alone remembered my uncle's history.

Panel 3

Jerome whispers in Etta's ear.

CAPTION: He took my uncle's immunity away in an instant.  

Panel 4

Etta gives her star witness a cold stare, and Kenny knows he's lost his deal.

CAPTION: He remembered who killed my parents.  A minor case for the Ferryman at the time.

CAPTION: The whole thing was a setup.  It was revenge.

PAGE SIX

Panel 1

The Insider standing in front of the Destroyer, who towers over him, in the subway car.

CAPTION: No one else saw Jerome as a threat.

CAPTION: He was just Adam Hemingway's butler.  Totally anonymous.

Panel 2

The Destroyer grabs Jerome by the throat.

CAPTION: But to the Destroyer, he was the one who ruined everything.

Panel 3

The Destroyer has both hands on Jerome's throat, now.

CAPTION: As Kenny Lane, he'd been investigated by the Ferryman, dismissed as a suspect in the murder of his own sister and her husband.  My parents.

Panel 4

The Destroyer has snapped Jerome's neck.

CAPTION: As Kenny Lane, star witness, he'd dared show his face again.  And Jerome had figured it out.  How he'd done it, with just one glance.  Given him that crucial second thought.

PAGE SEVEN

Panel 1

The graveyard scene revisited.  This time we focus on young Sam at the tombstones of her parents.  We see Kenny looming toward her.

CAPTION: It was the tea, of course.

Panel 2

Kenny imposing his bulk on Sam.  This is where it's obvious he has the size to be the Destroyer.

CAPTION: He'd poisoned them.  For money.

Panel 3

Sam kicks Kenny in the shin.

CAPTION: I was made an orphan.  He thought I inherited the money.  

Panel 4

Sam shoves at Kenny.

CAPTION: It never occurred to him they would donate the bulk of it to charity.

PAGE EIGHT

Panel 1

Back to the teachers lounge.  Blocks is pouring over the notebook now.  Sam sits back in her chair relaxed.

SAM: I have all the samples back home.

SAM: All the proof you'd need.

Panel 2

Blocks is sliding the notebook, closed, back to Sam.

FERRYMAN: No.  Thanks.  I won't need to see it.

FERRYMAN: Save it for the police.

Panel 3

Sam is glancing through the notebook herself now.

FERRYMAN: You did good work.

Panel 4

Sam glances up at Blocks now.

SAM: I know.

SAM: Sorry for your loss.