Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

Pencils. Will update with inks when they are done. Inks are done!

This is a favorite scene I cut out of issue one for lack of time. I love it because its pointing out that this comic shares the same universe as our other works BUT You don’t need to read those other works to know what’s going on here.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
Around an oval table are seated several women talking and having a great time. They are drinking whatever LIZA has her hair down and is pouring from a pitcher into their glasses. We’ll just say it’s Sweet Tea. There is chips and dip (the dish GWEN brought), and veggie trays. They are eating and talking throughout this scene. Seated from left to right; LIZA, FLARE, LIBERTY, JOLT, and GWEN. No one is in costume. FLARE is irish and slightly older then LIZA. Flare dresses flashy. JOLT is japanese and half FLARE’s age, she dresses like she’s going to a club. They are exactly like they look in HARDCASE. LIBERTY is african american (new character, have fun). She dresses professionally, and has glasses. GWEN dresses like a hippy.

LIZA
It’s been too long since we’ve done this.

FLARE
If you’d move back to New York we could do this every night.

LIBERTY
Everyone misses you.

Panel 2
LIZA has stopped serving and has sat down.

LIZA
I like my home here. Columbus is nice.

FLARE
Hawaii is nice. This is just an overgrown suburb.

LIBERTY
Be nice Flare. Oh wait. I forgot who I was talking to.

Panel 3
GWEN is talking to JOLT. JOLT looks like she wants to hide under the table.

GWEN
I was reading in the checkout line that you’re dating that hunk from my soap ‘All the Restless’. Please tell me that’s true Jolt! Please tell me what he’s like. Be very very specific.

Panel 4
Same.

LIZA
Gwen, leave Jolt alone. That’s the deal. No celebrity stuff. This is just us girls hanging out.

GWEN
Flare and Liberty broke the rules first. They’re trying to talk you out of retiring again.

FLARE
Of course we are. We’re outnumbered by boys ten to one. We need the Paragon back.

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

Pencils are up for now. Ink will be along shortly.
Inks are in!

Summit City Comic Con is this weekend. We might have Paragon show up for pictures! If so we’ll put a few on FB. BTW, we have an RSS feed and a Facebook page for you to keep up to date on our comic.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
GAIL is on top of a fancy wooden backyard swingset. She’s dangling down a stuffed rabbit, holding it by the ears. MARK is trying to jump up and reach it.

GAIL
You’re not even trying. Jump higher.

MARK
Give it back!

Panel 2
GAIL is sitting on top of a large, closed, toy chest.

MARK
(From inside the toy chest)
Let me out! I’ll tell mom!

GAIL
Just push it open. I’m not that heavy.

Panel 3
GWEN is at the front door. She’s wearing a light coat and carrying a covered dish. LIZA is letting her in.

GWEN
Where are the kids? Usually they run to the door before anyone else.

LIZA
I don’t know. They’ve been playing quietly all day. I’ve barely seen them. Which probably means they’re up to no good.

Panel 4
LIZA takes GWEN’s coat and hangs it in a closet by the front door.

GWEN
Am I early? I’m early aren’t I. I’m always early. I can never figure out that fall forward spring time thing so half the year I’m always early.

Panel 5
A high tech VTOL craft descends on the driveway in a low rumble. LIZA ducks her head out the front door to see it.

LIZA
I’d say you’re right on time.

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

Well I have pencils but no ink. I’ll upload the inked page when I get it.UPDATE: We have ink!

I went back and forth on censoring or cutting this page because kids will do this kind of thing, and I don’t want them copying it. I split my own chin open doing something similar from far less height. I almost put a “Don’t try this at home” warning, but that goes for anything in a comic, and compared to what’s on cable cartoons these days, this is nothing. So I let it go.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
Inside of a tree house. GAIL is tying a towel around MARK’s neck. MARK is fidgeting and rebelling.

LIZA
(Voice over)
I took my son to every doctor and specialist I could find.

Panel 2
GAIL is admiring the handiwork. MARK has his arms crossed and frowning.

LIZA
(Voice over)
Markie showed no signs of powers after that one soccer game.

Panel 3
GAIL is pushing MARK out the door of the tree house. MARK is gripping the door frame for dear life.

LIZA
(Voice over)
Genetic tests showed nothing unusual – aside from the obvious – blond hair and pale skin.

GAIL
Mom can fly, so you can too!

Panel 4
MARK is face down in a pile of couch cushions piled at the base of the tree. GAIL has hands on her hips, frustrated.

LIZA
(Voice over)
I’m not a blond, and Leon’s Mexican, so it’s never made sense, but they ARE our kids.

GAIL
I was sure that would work. Maybe you need a better cape.

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

This is the promo comic we gave away at Lexington Comic and Toy Convention and C2E2. Issue 2 starts next week.

There were several changes to the script as we went back ad forth on this promo. We didn’t have enough room for all of the panels, and I thought my own script crossed the lines on what we should put into this comic. So we pared it down.

When I got the art back, I added the Scottcomics logo to the podium and added the crowd text. I was just going to add noise sound efx, but I couldn’t resist. This became our favorite part.

The panelists became Flare, Night, and Jolt, with an empty seat for Hardcase. Yes, this comic is canon.

The autograph session, in addition to a tip of the hat to ourselves, was a nod to many famous creators who get female heroes right. At C2E2, I tried to give Gail Simone a copy, but I could never get past her line as it was huge and I had my own booth to run. I left a signed copy on her table, don’t know if it ever got to her or was pitched by someone.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
Outside a comic convention center entrance. People queued up to get in, people being dropped off, cars everywhere. A GUEST LIASON is waiting outside with a clipboard. PARAGON in costume is touching down from flying. LIASON is smiling and friendly. PARAGON has her game face on, she’s smiling but cautious.

CAPTION
Moments before the comic convention opens.

PARAGON
Sorry. Was held up by a plane I LITERALLY had to catch.

LIASON
We’re just happy to have you here as our Guest of Honor Paragon.

PARAGON
You can just call me Liza.

Panel 2
PARAGON is standing at a podium taking questions in a jam packed convention conference room hall. To her side is a video screen with the con logo. To the other side is a table with mics and sitting at each is a superhero. They are all masked and some are whispering to each other. You can use any hero you or I have rights to (Hardcase included) or make some up. PARAGON looks nervous but trying to smile.

PARAGON
So yeah. That’s kinda what it was like to be a superhero. Any questions?

Panel 3
A FAN asking a question from the aisle between the chairs.

FAN
In your classic battle with the Serpent Lord back in 1997 where you were dealing with his crippling venom strikes while simultaneously holding up the Golden Gate bridge, what exactly was going through your mind at the time?

Panel 4
PARAGON at the podium shrugging.

PARAGON
It’s really heavy?

Panel 5
A female FAN asking a question. Her head is cut off by the panel. She’s in a Psylocke brokeback pose.

FAN
Doesn’t it bother you to see women in comics posed so that their heads are off panel while their back is broken to get both their breasts and rear ends on panel?

Panel 6
PARAGON looks like she’s feeling very awkard.

CAPTION
Sixty questions later.

PARAGON
That’s um… nice of you to say sir… but I’m happily married. Twelve years. Two kids.

Panel 7
PARAGON is signing a stack of photo’s at super speed as queued fans pass by. A sign behind her says “all proceeds go to ‘For the cure’” with a pink ribbon logo. CONVENTION STAFF hands out the photo to the next fan in line.

CAPTION
The next three hours.

PARAGON
To Sarah, it was nice meeting you, lovely work. To Scott, good luck on your career. To Simone, all the best. To Brian, thanks for the kind words. To Rucka, it was nice meeting you. To Nicola, it was nice meeting you…

Panel 8
A tired but horrified PARAGON savoring a coffee is sitting at a judges table looking onto a stage with a parade of cosplayers going past. They are all wearing homemade variants of PARAGON’s current costume. However. A young GIRL is posing in front of PARAGON in a cheesy 90s costume of PARAGON. Give her a short blue jacket leather jacket with stars on the puffy sholders. The shirt under it is low cut with a star shaped belly window. Swim suit pants with stars on them. bare legs and thigh high boots. She has a wig with lots of big hair.

PARAGON
(to herself)
Oh no. This is what I get for letting a designer make my first costume. I’ll never live it down. I wore it for what, a month?

Panel 9
Close up of the PARAGON answering her cellphone at the judges table as we partially see a man wearing a spandex Wolverine like cosplay that shouldn’t be worn given his body type.

PARAGON
(to phone)
Awesome! I mean TERRIBLE that’s happening to such an awesome city…

Panel 10
PARAGON is in the air punching a Godzilla lookalike in the nose, knocking him back amoungst the city buildings.

PARAGON
If you were gonna attack anyways, couldn’t you have done it sooner?

CAPTION
The end

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

Poor little Markie. His whole world has changed in an instance. Poor Lorax who was hiding behind that tree! (kidding.)

Sneaky writer, making the story seem like we’re dealing with gifted Gail, but it’s Markie’s gifts that will dominate their attention from now on. That writer also wanted to establish that Markie is an average kid, and that having super powers would be scary not only to him, but to us. More on that in issue 2.

Issue 2 has super hero guest stars, more powers, more conflict with trying to juggle being a mom and a super hero. Yes she’s retired, but will that retired life let her go? Plus the usual humor and a new cast member!

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
From high up we can see the shot is wide of the goal. It’s also flying out of the park like a missile, shredding a tree in it’s path.

(sfx)
SHRAK!

Panel 2
LIZA sees the ball rocket past in the distance. The whistle drops from her mouth to flap on the chain as she stares open mouthed.

Panel 3
LEON is running over to a stunned MARK as the referee tries to coach the goalie out of a shivering fetal crouch.

GOALIE
(muttering)
I quit I quit I quit I quit

Panel 4
LIZA lands as LEON has picked up MARK, who’s hugging dad with a panicked death grip.

Panel 5
LIZA is holding LEON and MARK as the parents look at a tree with a soccer ball shaped hole in it and leaves and debris fluttering down. MARK has his face buried in dad’s shirt.

LIZA
What happened?

LEON
Well. I’d say we have TWO gifted children now.

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

OOooo A post on Friday the 13th that worked! Phew.

FYI: Simmons invented all of the uniforms and the team logos, and grumbled about how tough it is to draw soccer balls, but this entire sequence is perfect.

The poor goalie. Kids at this age are mostly terrified to be goalies. He’s going to be traumatized for life over this day. It’s friday the 13th for him!

One concern I had was that maybe we don’t realize the kick is a super powered kick, or worse, we think Markie could always kick with super strength and we simply never mentioned it before. The truth is that this is the first time Markie has ever done something like this, and the implications will be huge. The last page establishes that this is a unique thing, and issue 2 will be all about the consequences. It’s like there’s a story there or something!

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
MARK is concentrating on his kick. The goalie is now covering one hand over his face, the other over his crotch. The referee has her hand raised ready to fall and seems about to blow her whistle. The other kids are gathered in a pack watching.

Panel 2
LEON is standing up and yelling. Some of the other parents are too. Some have cameras out. GAIL is covering her ears from the noise.

LEON
You can do it Markie! You can do it! Just concentrate!

Panel 3
MARK excessively winds up for a big kick.

Panel 4
MARK kicks the ball and it fires off like a canon shot. This should be unexpected by anyone you put in the shot. MARK has his eyes squeezed closed in concentration. The goalie is hiding and shivering.

(sfx)
BOOM

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

This page came out exactly as I pictured it, Simmons nailed it. I’ve also sat through MANY soccer games as my kids grew up so this brings back a lot of memories. I’ve also refereed, and the idea of reffing 3 games at once to me is as difficult and impressive as lifting an SUV over your head.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
LEON is sitting in a folding chair,the kind with arms and a bottle of soda in the cup holder. He’s wearing a cap to shield his eyes from the sun and he’s wearing casual clothes. He’s surrounded by the other parents watching the game. GAIL is next to him on a blanket playing her Gameboy facing away from the sun and the field.

LEON
Are you watching? Markie’s got a foul shot.

GAIL
Uh huh. How much longer?

Leon
Ten more minutes for this game, but we have another hour to wait on mom.

Panel 2
LIZA is wearing a baggy soccer referee uniform and is blowing a whistle and holding a megaphone ready to yell. She’s hovering high in the air over three soccer fields with different age kids and she’s watching over all of them. Parents are whooping and hollering.

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

After the six page promo, I knew I could pull off a wordless page with Simmons as his storytelling skills are strong. Script wise, I couldn’t pull that off until this scene. AND greedy writer that I am, I still added some sound efx in that wasn’t in the script so that I could get some words on the page!

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
A pack of pre-school children of mixed gender and race are attempting to play soccer on a small soccer field. 4 in striped shirts, 4 in solid, chasing the ball in a pack, all kicking at it. MARK is one them and he’s intensely focused.

Panel 2
The pack has shuffled around a bit and moved a bit down field.

Panel 3
For unfathomable reasons the ball is going back the other direction but the kids look unchanged in focus. They have no idea what they are doing other than kicking a ball somewhere. Anywhere. The bored referee just watches the pack drift past. (Make the referee female and Afican American.)

Panel 4
The ball escapes the pack and they all sort of watch it roll away.

Panel 5
The referee has set the ball in front of the goalie at the edge of the goal box and MARK is pointed at the ball to kick it. MARK looks stunned. The goalie is covering his face.

Story: Scott A. Bachmann | Art: Scott D.M. Simmons

To me, this page is why this story exists. It’s about Liza trying to give her children a better life than she had, and feeling the tug of fate pulling against her. This page is also the most real page in that any parent has gone through this ‘are we that old’ moment.

There will be more super powered moments in issue 2, but I needed to establish the life Liza has before I start messing with it. Speaking of which, the last arc in issue one is up next, and we begin to do that messing with Liza’s life.

I’ll also add that this page is where Simmons and I have seemed to find our rhythm. He left me enough space for dialog, and still gave me an intimate page so that overall the words look like they belong on the page.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Panel 1
LIZA hugs them both. GAIL tries to look miserable but secretly likes it.

LIZA
Being special isn’t easy Gail, not for anyone. Being different is hard. Very hard. Being different scares people.

Panel 2
LIZA is counting of points on her fingers.

LIZA
They’ll call you names like nerd. They’ll pick on you cause your younger. Your friends won’t be in your class. School will get harder because you’ll be doing harder stuff. You probably won’t be the best in the class anymore.

Panel 3
GAIL gives an eyebrow raise.

GAIL
I’ll always be the best. Duh. And it’s not like the old days anymore mom! Nerds are awesome now.

Panel 4
LEON and LIZA give each other a “are we that old” look.

Panel 5
LEON and LIZA look at each other as they tease GAIL.

Liza
You’ve got your daddy’s pride alright.

Leon
And your mom’s attitude.

Liza
And your mommy’s brains.

Panel 6
MARK is in the doorway to GAIL’s room. He’s dragging a stuffed monster and wearing footie PJs. His mouth is foaming from toothpaste.

MARK
Ah need ah new toof-bruff! Mahn awksahdenfwuhly fwell in uh pahtty.

We’re putting together the full issue of Our Super Mom so we can get it to the printers and have it in time for C2E2. So I decided to take a break from the weekly comic to show you the awesome wraparound cover from Marisa.

I should point out that this cover concept was all Marisa’s brilliant idea. She did try to sketch me what I asked for, then she showed me this, which she said was the first thing that came to mind when she heard about the comic and I said ignore me, make this.

Marisa Livingston is a student studying the arts in Detroit, Michigan. She hopes to work on more comics and animation in the future.

You can see more of her work at: http://conniiption.deviantart.com