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I'm up way later than I intended. Just couldn't sleep. Anyway, while I was tossing and turning, I started brainstorming this rough - very rough - idea. I just posted it at Digital Webbing, a place where artists and writers can get critiqued and collaborate, but of course, we have some amazing artists here as well, who might be up for the challenge.

I wrote a brief script. Do please keep in mind that it's a first draft, written as is in the span of 15 minutes and at four in the morning.

Here's the link, followed by a copy/paste job of the post:
Digital Webbing Forums - Writer wanting to colab with artist

Couldn't sleep tonight for some reason. Be warned; this may get rambly. I was rolling around in bed and started brainstorming an idea for a comic. It's still in a very, VERY early stage of conception. I like that, though, because I'd like to find an artist to collaborate with at the ground floor, as a co-creator.

At the moment, I'm picturing this comic to be published online, maybe two or three times a week. The concept is a semi-autobiographical story - and by "semi", I mean very loosely - about a kid in middle school who keeps imagining his troubles being sovled with superpowers. I have some other rough ideas, but I'm going to sleep on it.

For an artist, I'd like to find someone who already has an understanding of comic storytelling as a medium. In other words, understanding of panel-to-panel storytelling, not just sketches and spreads. You don't need to have heavily detailed art. In fact, the simpler and more stylized, the better. If you're familiar with Scott McLeod's comic essays such as Understanding Comics, then you will understand that more meaning can be found in icongraphy, rather than looking as realistic as possible.

For this comic, I'm picturing two different kinds of art style: one for the "real" world that the kid lives in, the other of the fantastical world. The "real" world would be low key, little in the way of flashy action, etc. The fantastical world would be more exaggerated, with bulging, veiny muscles, long capes and gritted teeth. If you can draw both, that would be absolutely fantastic. If not, maybe we can collaborate with a third artist, who will draw one of the two worlds.

I really want to play around with not just the story, but with the medium of comics, itself. I've taken a couple of courses on comics at York University and have studied their history and form. I want to play around with different ways the panels work, in size, shape, flow.

If you've managed to get this far and don't mind this 3:30 AM free-writing rambling, do throw me an e-mail. I'd prefer my hotmail address (nick underscore piers) than DW's internal message system.

Here's a sample script of what I have in mind. The script is being written off the top of my head right now, so feel free to play around with it, yourself. Some of the guidelines are pretty specific, but they're not written in stone.

[1] Interior shot of main character – age 13(ish), male – looking out the school bus window. He’s moping, with a face of slight dread for the start of a new school year. The shot is a close-up side profile of his head, with a clear, center view of the window. It’s an early autumn morning. The view is of a wide, empty farm field, recently harvested.

In the reflection of the window, we see a blur of motion. It’s clearly humanoid in form, but it’s rough – drawn in the style of a rough sketch. Like a track runner, it is running at high speeds across the fields.

This, and the second and third panels, would be long, near page-wide width.

Caption 1: Sigh. Maybe this year will be different.

[2] Similar, side profile shot, only from a lower viewpoint to give a better look at the sky.

Another rough-sketch figure is reflected in the window. It has a long cape; their arms are outstretched and it is flying. This could also be a cloud in the rough shape of a flying figure.

Caption 1: My imprisonment here is already one-thirds done.

[3] A third similar shot, with both rough-sketch characters featured. The “runner” is running off further into the distance and is already starting to dissipate. The “flyer” is being dissipated by the runner’s wake (using the cloud, it’s that the cloud is being parted, maybe even cut clean in half).

Our main character’s head is lowered slightly, now. He’s biting his bottom lip, as if trying to fight showing any emotion.

Bully (off screen): Well, lookee here!
Caption 1: Sometimes, I wish I could just escape.

[4] Scrunch! Another middle school kid, about the same age but a bit larger in height and girth, crushes our character against the window with a hockey-like body check. The force is hard enough to cause our character to hit their head against the window.

Bully: OH! What a hit!
Character: (Small lettering) Oof.
SFX: Klunk. (tiny, against the window)

Caption 1: But I’m still trapped here. With them.

[5] Still squashing him against the window, the bully yammers on. Our character winces, his eyes shut tight, trying to ignore everything.

Bully: I tell ya, I don’t think we picked on you enough last year. Gotta make sure on that this year, eh?

Caption 1: Once; just once, I wish that…but it’ll never happen, will it?
Caption 2: Kids’ dreams, that’s all.

[6] Very hard close-up of our character, with only him and his reflection in view. Looking at himself in the reflection of the window, his reflection’s eyes start to glow.

The captions are gradually growing larger and larger, overwhelming the bully’s speech.

Bully 1: Like last year, when we shoved all those leaves in your mouth? Oh, man, you were puked for hours man. Hours!
Bully 2: Why’d you keep wearing the same pair of jeans every day?
Bully 3: Those aren’t the same pair, are they?!

Caption 1: Just dreams…
Caption 2: If only…
Caption 3: If only…
Caption 4: If only…
Caption 5: If only…

[6] Close up of the bully, his face puffed up very cartoon-like. He can’t breathe…

…because there’s a giant, bulging, veined hand wrapped around his throat.

Caption 1: IF ONLY…

[7] One last, long panel, like the first three above. A giant, monstrous figure with long hair, horns, a long forked tongue, sharp teeth and maybe wings is tearing through the roof of the school bus with all the students inside screaming in terror. It’s making a throwing motion with one hand, the bully now bursting through the other side of the bus like a watermelon seed.

[8] A tiny panel, in the far right corner, brings us back to reality. The bully is continuing to berate our character, who is still looking down solemnly, trying not to react at all to give the bully any kind of reward.

Bully 1: (Dialogue is incomprehensible squiggles, to show that he’s going on and on and on.)

Caption 1: (Very bottom of the panel) If only…
Caption 2: But it never does.
Caption 3: And never will.

NOTE: Some of the formatting of the script didn't come out as well after I pasted it over from MS Word.

Mind if I play around with this a bit Nick?

I'm not a fantastic comic artist (YET!) but I have a love for sequential art.

I just want to see if I can make the panels work.

Sure, knock yourself out.