Golden

• Writer - Joe Casey
• Penciler - Ron Garney
• Inker - Mark Morales
• Colorist - Hi-Fi Design
• Lettering - Comicraft
• Lettering - Richard Starkings
• Editor - Mark Powers
• Ass't Editor - Pete Franco
• Editor in Chief - Joe Quesada

A Silent Adventure

Summary

  Note: this is part of 'Nuff Said month, a silent issue.

  Sean pours out his last bottle on Moira's snow-covered grave (cf. Generation X 75).

  Mastermind is in a castle with the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and kisses Toad. Magneto enters, angry, and magnetically impales Mastermind with a spear; she dies. The illusion dissolves, and Mastermind is in a virtual reality helmet in a prison hospital. She is abducted by dupes of Multiple Man, who also try to nab Mystique, but her bed is empty.

  Logan breaks into Clinton's house in Chappaqua and finds unconscious Secret Service men. Clinton is half-dressed in his disheveled, post-coital bed; Logan turns off Slick Willy's pager and is attacked by Stacy. They fight till Stacy backs down and then go to an apartment in the city and drink beers in front of the TV. Kurt pops in, angry, but Logan calms him and sends him away. Stacy is surprised he covered for her.

  Multiple Man pilots many helicopters to lift Blob, taking him to Sean's office complex near Paris. Blob yells his annoyance; not a game you want to start with Sean, and Blob goes down.

  Note: Banshee has established the X-Corps, and the initial costume designs were decidedly Nazi-esque, which caused some controversy and was changed before publication. Also, Giuliani was evidently no longer an attractive target, in the wake of the 9-11 attacks.

  Here is Casey's original script:

  PAGE ONE

  THREE PANELS

  Panel 1: Wide shot of a snow swept Scottish shoreline. Snow falling. An overcast sky. The ocean battering the rocks of the shore that lead straight up to a flat plateau, upon which we see the tiny figure of Banshee (in civilian clothes) standing at a lone gravesite, which is located in the backyard of a house that long since fallen down (so we only see bits of the foundation sticking up through the snow). Ron, I'm referencing the opening scene in CABLE #88, the only place I'm aware of that gave us a glimpse of Moira MacTaggert's gravesite, so you may want to get a hold of that.

  Panel 2: Close on Banshee. A grim expression on his rugged, unshaven face. His hair being whipped around by the winter wind. His scarf blowing in the breeze. We can see his breath. His emotions are locked down. He doesn't even feel the cold.

  Panel 3: Pull back a bit. Full body shot of Banshee standing before the gravesite/headstone (which we can't see the name on at this angle). Banshee is pulling a whiskey bottle out of his winter coat, already twisting the cap off.

  PAGE TWO

  FIVE PANELS

  Panel 1: Small panel. Close on Banshee's hands as he takes the cap off the whiskey bottle. Is he gonna' take a drink...?

  Panel 2: Up-shot, waist-up of Banshee as he begins pouring the whiskey onto the ground in front of him. The same cold, unflinching expression on his face, completely devoid of any emotion.

  Panel 3: Side view. Full body of Banshee, dropping the now-empty whiskey bottle, neck-first, onto the ground in front of the gravesite. The bottle should be in midair here, his hand still open from dropping it a moment before. The snowy ground between Banshee's feet and the gravesite stained with the whiskey he poured there.

  Panel 4: The back of the gravesite/headstone in the foreground. In the background, we see Banshee walking away from us, hands in his pockets, snow whipping up all around him.

  Panel 5: Now a ground-level shot. The whiskey bottle sticking into the snowy ground, neck-first, in the foreground. Beyond the bottle, we see the gravesite/headstone and we can finally read the name engraved on it (Ron, I don't know if you should do this or if Comicraft can do it... ask Powers and see what he says)...

  1 HEADSTONE LETTERING (engraved): MOIRA KINROSS MaCTAGGERT

  CLAN CHIEFTAN

  HER SPIRIT LIVES ON

  PAGE THREE

  FULL-PAGE SPREAD

  This is a full-on TITLE PAGE. Mostly dead space taking up the top two-thirds of the page. Across the bottom is a chilling team shot of our cast of X-Men: Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Archangel, Iceman, Chamber and Stacy X. Not an action pose... they're just standing there like they're the baddest dudes of all time. Maybe head-to-toe silhouettes, or backlit figures with their shadows stretching out along the ground toward us...

  1 TITLE LETTERING: Feared and hated by the world they have sworn to protect...

  X-MEN: GOLDEN (a silent adventure)

  2 CREDITS: JOE CASEY - writer

  MARK MORALES - inks

  RS & COMICRAFT - lettering

  HI-FI - colors

  PETE FRANCO - assistant editor

  MARK POWERS - editor

  JOE QUESADA - EIC

  BILL JEMAS - president

  warmly welcome...

  RON GARNEY - new ongoing penciler

  3 CHARACTER TEXT: KURT WAGNER aka NIGHTCRAWLER

  Teleportation, agility

  4 CHARACTER TEXT (2): LOGAN aka WOLVERINE

  Healing factor, adamantium-laced

  skeleton

  5 CHARACTER TEXT (3): JONOTHAN STARSMORE aka CHAMBER

  Bio-chemical blasts

  6 CHARACTER TEXT (4): BOBBY DRAKE aka ICEMAN

  Cold temperature/organic ice control

  7 CHARACTER TEXT (5): WARREN WORTHINGTON aka ARCHANGEL

  Flight due to natural wings

  8 CHARACTER TEXT (6): STACY X

  Pheromone control

  PAGE FOUR

  FOUR PANELS

  Panel 1: Wide ext. shot of a medieval-style castle set on a rocky cliff face. Far below, down the sheer cliff wall, the ocean batters the rocks. The sun setting in the background.

  Panel 2: Inside the castle. Close side-view (waist-up) of the female Mastermind standing at a window, the breeze blowing her hair back. She's standing confidently, arms folded in front of her, smiling like she's exactly where she wants to be. She's wearing a brown cat suit (something reminiscent of the original Mastermind's outfit, but modernized).

  Panel 3: Big panel on the page. Mastermind in the foreground, turning away from us, looking back at the rest of the room, in which Quicksilver, the Scarlet Witch and the Toad are standing. This is a large room with various computer consoles scattered amidst the medieval décor (the kind of location super-villains used to congregate in during the Lee-Kirby days). Important detail: There are several medieval weapons hanging on the walls... shields, swords and spears. Each of these characters are dressed in their most up-to-date costumes. This is the modern-day version of the classic Brotherhood of Evil Mutants line-up. The only one missing... is Magneto (but only for now). ** Remember, this is a "virtual reality" that acts as Mastermind's prison... and, at the same time, allows her to experience her most cherished desire: to be a member of the original Brotherhood.

  Panel 4: The Toad approaches Mastermind. She unfolds her arms at his approach. These two are already exchanging a look of lust.

  PAGE FIVE

  FIVE PANELS

  Panel 1: The Toad and Mastermind embrace in a passionate kiss. Arms wrapped around each other. Obviously an open-mouthed kiss, so the Toad can get some tongue in there. Yeah, baby!

  Panel 2: Small panel. Still involved in the kiss, but now both Mastermind and Toad have an eye open, suddenly hearing something off-panel that distracts them.

  Panel 3: Big panel. Magneto standing majestically in the room. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch step aside, giving him plenty of room. He looks pissed (not raving like a madman, but cold and menacing), pointing an accusing finger at the kissing couple (off-panel here).

  Panel 4: Magneto in the foreground, head-and-shoulders. His back to us. Looking past him, we see Toad and Mastermind standing by the window, having let go of each other. They stand confidently... defiantly... unashamed of their display of affection.

  Panel 5: Small panel. Angle on one of the medieval spears affixed to the wall. It is suddenly, subtly coming loose from the wall (obviously, Magneto has a hold of it magnetically, but he's being slick about it. This should have a horror movie-style creepiness about it... like it's slowly being removed from the wall).

  PAGE SIX

  SEVEN PANELS

  Panel 1: Close on Mastermind. She has a cold, hard expression on her face, as if she were saying something like, "Maybe it's time for someone else to run the show, Magneto..."

  Panel 2: Widen the shot. Suddenly, the spear taken from the wall bursts through Mastermind's chest, from behind. Her entire body shudders at the impact. The Toad is horrified as his lover is killed right in front of him.

  Panel 3: Waist-up shot of Magneto. One hand out, demonstrating his magnetic control over the spear (the pointy end of which is sticking up from the bottom of the panel in the foreground, drenched in black blood... because red blood is frowned upon. Yes, I'm completely serious.). He is expressionless (if we can even see his face inside his helmet here... maybe it would be cool if it were all shadow, with just the eyes peering out).

  Panel 4: Magneto's POV, looking down at Mastermind, who is slumped on the ground, spear sticking up out of her chest (which is now a bloody mess), a little blood trickling from the edge of her mouth. She's dying, and she's got a pitiful look on her face as she reaches up weakly with one shaky hand.

  Panel 5: Now a row of equal-sized panels across the bottom of the page. We return to the angle of Magneto from Panel Three. In fact, this shot should be almost identical to that shot... except that the image is starting to digitize and break apart. The virtual reality is starting to break down...

  Panel 6: Same angle, but the image is basically completely digitized now and fading away. The background is changing (and we can even see the background through the fading Magneto image) to reveal the gray-metal, curved interior of a virtual reality helmet.

  Panel 7: Finally, the Magneto image - the virtual reality scenario Mastermind was experiencing this entire time - has faded away completely and all that's left is the inside curvature of the virtual reality helmet she is wearing (we're seeing this angle from her direct POV).

  PAGE SEVEN

  THREE PANELS

  Panel 1: Close up, head and shoulders. We see Mastermind in a hi-tech hospital bed. The large, bulky virtual reality helmet being lifted off her head by a pair of shadowy hands.

  Panel 2: Big panel. Wide, overhead shot of the hospital bed (in the hospital ward of a hi-tech, Federal detention center). Several X-Corps shock troops stand around the bed, unhooking Mastermind from various life support machines and virtual reality gear, preparing to abduct her. Maybe a security guard lies unconscious on the ground nearby. All of these shock troops look identical. In fact, they're all Madrox, the Multiple Man (but wearing the new X-Corps uniform... the way we clue people in that this is Madrox is the fact that A) they're all identical and B) that his X-Corps uniform utilizes the hood/skull cap design that Madrox has always had). Moody, suspenseful lighting in here.

  Panel 3: A vital signs monitor in the extreme foreground, with the name on the screen reading "JASON, M." with the monitor reading a straight line as we see the limp body of Mastermind being lifted out of bed by the Madroxes (further in the background, almost out of focus)

  PAGE EIGHT

  FIVE PANELS

  Panel 1: Out in the hallway of the detention center. Looking straight down the hallway. Two more of the Madrox guys are walking toward us. In the background, we see a few other Madroxes carrying the limp body of Mastermind down the hallway, away from us. A heavy mist hangs in the air... the neuro-toxin gas that has incapacitated the security staff here... we see a few Federal security guards laid out unconscious on the ground.

  Panel 2: Inside another darkened hospital-style room. Very shadowy. The door slides open (the electronic lock having been fried... as we can see from the tiny explosion of the control panel beside the door), revealing the two Madroxes, who peer inside.

  Panel 3: Reverse angle. The two Madroxes on either side of the panel, their backs to us. Looking past them, we see what they see... a hospital bed that is empty. The sheets are pulled back, there is life support equipment still lit up, but no one hooked up to it. They were expecting someone to be here...

  Panel 4: Back out in the hallway. The two Madroxes in the foreground, still standing in front of the open door. They are turned away from us, looking down the hall as another Madrox at the far end motions for them to abort the mission.

  Panel 5: The two Madroxes move away from the open door, revealing the small sign next to the door which reads:

  PRISONER: DARKHOLME, R. #001034

  NO UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS ALLOWED

  PAGE NINE

  FOUR PANELS

  Panel 1: We cut to NYC at night. Ext. shot of the mayor's home, Gracie Mansion (I'm e-mailing you some reference on Gracie Mansion, Ron... in fact, you might have it already). A peaceful shot, wide so we can also see the surrounding foliage. It's springtime, so the trees are in full bloom.

  Panel 2: Angle on the tree line. Lots of shadows and silhouettes of limbs and leaves. Within the brush, we see the shadowy form of Wolverine crouching there. It's almost a "Where's Waldo"-kind of shot, where Wolverine's shape is not immediately visible... this is how well he can blend in with nature.

  Panel 3: Close up on Wolverine's face, his eyes and chin cropped by the top/bottom panel borders. The focus of this shot is his nose, his nostrils flared as though he has just locked on a scent in the night air. Most of his face is still in shadow, but the moonlight filtering through the trees catches the edge of his nose, popping it out of the shadows.

  Panel 4: Overhead shot of the side lawn (as if we were looking down from the roof of Gracie Mansion). We can see the almost-feral form of Wolverine (basically a silhouette amongst the shadows cast across the ground by the trees at the treeline) scurrying across the lawn towards the house like a monkey, almost on all fours.

  PAGE TEN

  FIVE PANELS

  Panel 1: Cut to inside the mansion. Angle on an upstairs window. The shadowy form of Wolverine stealthily entering through the window (which would put him in the main upstairs hallway). He's not making a sound (obviously, since this is a silent issue...!). The hallway is dark (no lights on whatsoever).

  Panel 2: Close on Wolverine's head and shoulders. An up-shot, as we finally see him in some detail, in the half-light. His got a concerned look on his face. He's seeing something off-panel...

  Panel 3: Wolverine's POV, looking down the hallway. Several Secret Service-type security agents are completely laid out, unconscious. But there's nothing violent about this scene. Some of the security guys are slumped up against the wall, like they were completely drunk/stoned/whatever. Some of them lie face-down on the expensive carpeting (sojme of them in puddles of their own puke). Most of them are unconscious, but one or two of them are just barely conscious.

  Panel 4: Side view as Wolverine kneels down to have a closer look at one of the security guards sitting on the ground, slumped back up against the wall. Wolverine looks carefully at the guy... his eyes are barely open, he's drooling on himself, his arms hang limply at his sides. He's almost got a smile on his face. Basically, this guy had the most intense orgasm of his life, and he ain't getting up anytime soon...

  Panel 5: Another Wolverine POV shot, looking at the door to the Mayor's bedroom. It's slightly ajar, and there's flickering candlelight coming from inside, underneath the door, etc. Wolverine's shadow falling across the floor, coming from the bottom of the panel, as though he were standing right in front of the door, about to walk in.

  PAGE ELEVEN

  TWO PANELS

  Panel 1: Inside the bedroom now. Candlelight causes eerie, flickering lighting. Angle on the door, carefully being pushed open by Wolverine, who is already taking a cautious step into the bedroom. He's already seeing something off-panel that puts a look of extreme disappointment on his face.

  Panel 2: Big panel on the page. Wolverine's POV, looking into the master bedroom of the mansion (so it's pretty big). Candles lit all over the room. Lots of shadows. Zooming in on the king-size bed, which is completely trashed. Drenched with sweat. Sheets wadded up at the foot of the bed, pillows ripped apart, feathers leaking out. There are night tables on either side of the bed (upon one is a beeper/pager that you might want to establish here). In the middle of the bed, completely laid out on his back, spread eagle like a sexual slave, is Rudolph Giuliani (since this is the silent issue, we can get away with this if we're smart about it... not naming him by name, try to get his likeness as close as possible. Those in the know should absolutely get the joke... the one or two X-Men readers who might be at all politically aware...). Giuliani is wearing only boxer shorts, a torn wife-beater T-shirt and his designer dress shoes. He's also wearing one of those "sleep blindfolds" that rich people sometimes wear (why, you might ask? Because even though we're not naming names, I've been told we need to be very careful with the Guliani likeness... thus, the blindfold partially hides his face). He's so whacked out, he doesn't even know where he is. He's got a dizzy smile on his face. Some serious sexual stuff has been going on in this bedroom...

  PAGE TWELVE

  FIVE PANELS

  Panel 1: Wolverine walks over to the bed, in the flickering candlelight. Giuliani doesn't even register his presence. Wolverine is looking down at the Mayor, disgusted.

  Panel 2: Small panel. Angle on the beeper/pager on the night table, which is now vibrating and lighting up.

  Panel 3: Another small panel. Wolverine's head whipping around as the beeper (off-panel here, obviously) gets his attention. The candlelight flickering on his face.

  Panel 4: The beeper in the foreground, at the bottom of the panel. Wolverine above it, looking down at it, reaching down with one hand to pick it up. The shadows of the room in the background behind him.

  Panel 5: Wide panel. Action shot. Wolverine (now holding the beeper) in the foreground, whirling around as Stacy X (wearing her skimpy X-uniform) leaps out of the shadows in a kung-fu style kick. She looks pissed off. Wolverine doesn't look surprised at all... he was waiting for her to make her move.

  PAGE THIRTEEN

  A page of Wolverine-vs-Stacy X action. The idea here is that Stacy X is a pretty good fighter. She's got cool kung fu moves and she's not afraid to use them. Of course, going up against Wolverine means her kung fu doesn't mean squat. The main thing to get across here is that she's trying to touch Wolverine... get some skin-on-skin contact... and Wolverine won't let her. Every attack she makes, Wolverine has a defense that prevents her from making the skin-on-skin contact that allows her to use her mutant ability.

  PAGE FOURTEEN

  FIVE PANELS

  Panels 1 through 3: Somehow, Wolverine (using some kind of defensive move) pins Stacy X to the ground, one hand (and remember, his hands are gloved) around her throat and the other hand up, claws out, their tips just inches from her face. Stacy X has her hands up, her fingers about to touch the bare skin of his face. But she's holding them still, as if she were only threatening to touch him as he is threatening to skewer her. It's a classic standoff. Both of them look deadly serious (not angry, just very... business-like). But Stacy X actually thinks Wolverine will back down first.

  Panel 4: Angle on Wolverine's face, which has such a cold expression... we know for a fact he ain't backing down.

  Panel 5: Back to a tight two-shot. Stacy X smiles and puts her hands down. Wolverine's won the standoff. The moment of tension has suddenly evaporated with Stacy X's "surrender".

  PAGE FIFTEEN

  FIVE PANELS

  Panel 1: We cut to Manhattan's East Village. Exterior night shot of a typical apartment building. Wolverine's motorcycle parked on the street in front (maybe tied to a parking meter with a heavy chain?).

  Panel 2: Inside the sparsely-furnished apartment. Wolverine (now in civilian clothes) on the worn-out sofa, drinking a beer (from the can), watching a small, black and white TV (twisted wire hangers for antenna). Stacy X is there, too, wearing one of Wolverine's shirts over her uniform, sitting backwards in a chair, also chugging from a beer can and watching TV. A very sedate shot. These two have made their peace and, at Wolverine's suggestion, headed back to his place to chill out and watch TV (Wolverine's not one to hold a grudge). They look like two old friends casually hanging out.

  Panel 3: Suddenly, Nightcrawler appears in the middle of the room in a cloud of teleportation brimstone, directly between Stacy X and the TV, blocking her view. Nightcrawler doesn't look happy.

  Panel 4: As the brimstone dissipates around him, Nightcrawler is already talking down to Stacy X, pointing a stern finger in her face. Stacy X leans back, a bit surprised by Nightcrawler's outburst. She doesn't quite know how to react. Nightcrawler doesn't know where she's been, or what she's been doing. He obviously doesn't know about Giuliani. Should she confess...?

  Panel 5: Wolverine steps into the shot, reaching out with one arm (his beer is in his other hand) to calm Nightcrawler down and move him away from Stacy X. Basically, he's telling him to chill out... nothing out of the ordinary going on here...

  PAGE SIXTEEN

  SIX PANELS

  Panel 1: Stacy X in the foreground, looking up from her seat as Wolverine actually turns Nightcrawler around by placing his arm (with the beer in that hand, specifically) around Nightcrawler's shoulder and rotating him away from Stacy X (so, in this shot, both of them have their backs to her).

  Panel 2: Same angle, but zoom in on Wolverine, who looks back over his shoulder at Stacy X (off-panel) and places his index finger up to his lips (unseen by Nightcrawler, who is looking the other way) to make a "shhh" gesture. He's covering for her.

  Panel 3: Small panel. Reaction shot of Stacy X, stunned that this guy -- who she attacked just a few hours earlier -- would cover for her, keep her out of trouble. A profound, poignant moment for Stacy X, finally experiencing a brief moment of trust with someone.

  Panel 4: Angle on Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Wolverine's got a hand on Nightcrawler's shoulder. Nightcrawler is smiling back. These two are such good, trusted friends... that if Wolverine vouches for Stacy X, that's good enough for him.

  Panel 5: Wide shot. Wolverine is already headed back for the couch as Nightcrawler teleports away. Stacy X in the background, watching.

  Panel 6: Wolverine in the foreground, sitting back on the sofa, drinking his beer. In the background, Stacy X is watching him, still dumbfounded at what he's just done for her.

  PAGE SEVENTEEN

  THREE PANELS

  Panel 1: Big, panoramic panel. We cut to Paris, France. A fleet of huge, twin-rotor, black and red helicopters (like a military copter, but a bit more hi-tech) are roaring toward us. There are cables attached underneath each helicopter, carrying something off-panel (below the bottom panel border, so we don't see what they're carrying). The Paris skyline in the background (the Eiffel Tower, etc... remember, this is a silent issue, so we need to pull out all the tricks to establish location). The sun setting at the horizon, burning behind the buildings of the Paris skyline. Very cinematic...

  Panel 2: Close on the front of one of the helicopters. Looking in through the front windshield, we see two of the X-Corps' "Madrox shock troops" (just like the ones we saw abducting Mastermind earlier... remember they're all identical) stoically piloting the helicopter.

  Panel 3: Reverse angle from Panel One. Now the helicopters (smaller in the shot) are flying away from us, toward the background. Now we see that they are carrying something underneath them (the Blob, hanging from heavy cables, but we shouldn't see him too clearly here). Having left Paris behind, we're now over the French countryside as night falls. In the distance, we see a tiny shape, indicating a huge complex/instillation miles away. Maybe some thin beams of light around it -- spotlights pointing straight up into the sky.

  PAGE EIGHTEEN

  TWO PANELS

  Panel 1: Huge panel. The X-Corps H.Q. reveal. A very sleek, hi-tech, corporate look here... a cross between the Tyrell Corporation from BLADE RUNNER (the slanted, pyramid-styled walls) and the Convention Center in San Diego. Also a healthy dose of Nazi-era German architecture thrown in to give it that fascist vibe. All polished steel and glass and concrete. Spotlights shining up from its base, some of them shining on the underbelly of the Blob as the helicopters lower him down, descending from the top of the panel. A huge, steel "X" adorns the front of the main building (and there is a main building, with several smaller buildings surrounding it). We shouldn't even see the ground in this shot, we're just seeing the upper portions of the buildings.

  Panel 2: We cut to a wide, cavernous hallway. High ceilings. Reflective floor. Moonlight filtering in through tiny slit windows in the walls. Tiny in the shot, we see the Blob walking toward us, escorted on either side by Avalanche and Radius (Avalanche, if you recall, was a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants... and Radius was a member of Alpha Flight, Vol. 2). These two are wearing the standard X-Corps uniform (although Avalanche still wears his classic helmet from his original costume). Nazi-style "X" tapestries hang on the walls of the hallway (whatever the X-Corps symbol ends up being). The Blob's appearance is typical from what we've seen before... he's a fat mess. His hair is a tangled matt (this will be important for later... he gets a crew cut when he's "recruited" into the X-Corps). He's wearing an oversized hospital gown, ripping in places due to his size.

  PAGE NINETEEN

  FOUR PANELS

  Panel 1: Side view, as these three continue down the hall. Blob is turning to look down at Avalanche, cracking a joke (since these two know each other already). Avalanche keeps a stone face (yeah, he's wearing a helmet, but we can see from his mouth and from the way he continues to face forward that he's not responding to the Blob's attempt to break the ice).

  Panel 2: Closer on Avalanche (maybe from Blob's POV, so we're looking more down at Avalanche from the reverse angle). The stone face, cold shoulder treatment continues.

  Panel 3: Reaction shot of the Blob, a bit confused (and maybe a little hurt) that Avalanche won't respond.

  Panel 4: Another wide shot, as the Blob and his escorts are walking through a set of steel double-doors, leading into a main room.

  PAGE TWENTY

  SIX PANELS

  Panel 1: Wide shot of the "main office". Once again, I'll bust out the BLADE RUNNER reference. This office should resemble Tyrell's office (where Harrison Ford meets Sean Young for the first time) in size and scale. High ceilings, huge windows. More tapestries hanging from the walls. Huge tinted windows. A very neo-Nazi vibe going on in here. Standing in front of his very large desk -- but with his back to the Blob (and us) -- is Banshee (dressed in his own X-Corps uniform). The Blob and his escorts stand on the other side of the room, just inside the still-open double doors. There's about fifty feet between them, and they're all tiny in the shot (so we shouldn't even know it's Banshee here... let's save that reveal for later in this sequence). Important detail: Along the walls are marble pedestals with tiny statues on them (I'm thinking these statues are things like Magneto heads, Professor X, the original X-Men, Cerebro, etc.). This will be important in a minute.

  Panel 2: Angle from behind the Blob, with the back of his head and shoulders in the foreground. In the far background, we see the tiny, mostly-silhouetted figure of Banshee still standing calmly in front of his desk, still with his back to the Blob.

  Panel 3: Angle on the Blob, barking angrily, wondering what the hell he's doing here. At the same time, we see that Avalanche and Radius have turned to leave (through the still-open double doors in the background).

  Panel 4: Angle on Banshee, his back still to us, mostly in shadow. But he's beginning to turn and face us, so this is probably the first time the reader actually gets a sense that this IS Banshee. From what we can see of his face here, he's got a stone cold expression.

  Panel 5: Angle on the Blob, even angrier now, snarling and pointing in a threatening manner, "If you don't tell me what the @#*& is going on here, I'll-"

  Panel 6: Small panel. Angle on the double doors as they close. If we had sound, we'd throw in a cryptic "DOOM" sound effect.

  PAGE TWENTY-ONE

  FOUR PANELS

  Ron, I think this page might work best as four tier-wide panels, stacked.

  Panel 1: Waist-up shot of Banshee, now fully visible to both the Blob (off-panel) and the reader. He's got a stern, smug look on his face. But he remains perfectly calm. The X-Corps tapestries waving in the breeze in the background.

  Panel 2: A wave of recognition crosses the Blob's face. Thinking he's been led into a trap, he immediately strikes a threatening pose, like he's about to kick Banshee's butt and tear this whole building down!

  Panel 3: Profile view of Banshee, off to one side of the panel (so most of the panel consists of the background... this will make sense in a bit). He's screaming, his mouth opened unnaturally wide and his eyes shut tight. Now, instead of going for the typical action lines or special effects that artists usually draw to depict Banshee's sonic scream, I thought we might try something different. We have no special effect, no action lines, we simply show Banshee's mouth open (maybe a little spittle flying out of his mouth) and the background shaking from the scream's effects. The tiny sculptures on the pedestals are shattering like glass in the background.

  Panel 4: Head-on shot of the Blob, physically rocked by the sonic scream. His knees are buckling. It should look like he's being hit by a sudden blast of air. It doesn't send him flying backwards (he is the Blob, after all), but it definitely hits him hard enough to cause serious damage. His nose is bleeding. He reaches up in vain to cover his ears from the scream, but to no avail. In this panel, as well, we should see the sculptures shattering in the background. For someone that's supposed to be immovable, he is definitely being moved. If this sequence plays like I'm picturing it, it'll be the coolest Banshee moment we've ever seen...!

  PAGE TWENTY-TWO

  FIVE PANELS

  Panel 1: The Blob slumps to the ground, a heap of useless fat. Maybe his body is actually smoldering a little bit. He's drooling from the mouth, head loped over to one side. This #&$*# is useless at this point.

  Panel 2: Wide shot. Banshee calmly walks across the office toward the Blob. Banshee is rubbing his hands together, calmly but somewhat diabolically ("Everything is going according to plan...").

  Panel 3: Close on the Blob's head. Banshee's hand has entered from off-panel, grabbing a clump of Blob's hair to lift his head up (so we can see his face). The Blob's expression is pitiful. His eyes are rolled back in his head. Drool dripping from his open mouth. He looks completely out of it.

  Panel 4: Pull back. Kind of an up-angle, very dramatic. Blob's head and shoulders at the bottom of the panel. Standing over him, still holding his head up by the hair, is Banshee, who wears a calm but confident expression. He looks darn oppressive here. The "X" tapestries hanging in the background above and behind him.

  Panel 5: Final panel. We zoom in tight on Banshee's arm band, which displays the new, Nazi-style X-Corps' "X" logo. Black on blood red. A symbol of a new regime, and a glimpse of things to come.

  TO BE CONTINUED...