Annnnnd...that's all, folks! I know that's a horrible, horrible place to stop. No cliffhanger, no nothing. So, let me give you a little more. Here's the pages I had scripted that David never got a chance to draw:
Page 19-
1- Lina out from behind the podium and walking in front of the staff. She’s on the left side of the panel. In the foreground of the panel, in the right side, we see Bitsy and Ken. Ken is stretching (as if he’s yawning—he’s trying to do the cheesy move of putting his arm around Bitsy)
LINA
You shouldn’t see
me or the Ishiro Corp.
as your enemy.
We’re here to help.
KEN
Yawn!
2- Ken now has his arm wrapped around Bitsy’s shoulders.
LINA (from off-panel)
It has been many
years since Corman
Cinemas turned
a profit.
3- Bitsy pushes Ken’s hand off of her.
LINA (from off-panel)
I believe that by
thinking outside of
the box that can
change.
4- Bitsy punches Ken in the stomach and he doubles over in pain. A worm flies out of his mouth.
LINA (from off-panel)
Together, we
can turn things around.
5- On Lina. An angled-up shot on her face. Think Hitler and Citizen Kane. A real dictator-like shot.
LINA
There’s an obvious
revenue stream that Corman
has never tapped into.
Here this now:
Size. Matters.
I think it’s time for
Corman Cinemas to
start showing high profit
Giant Monster
Movies.
6- Ryan is up out of his chair. He can’t believe what he’s hearing. The glasses on his head are about to fly off. Priscilla next to him is surprised and recoiling.
RYAN
WHAT!?!?
Page 20-
1- Medium on Ryan still out of his chair and shouting. He tosses aside his sunglasses angrily.
RYAN
Lady, are you off
your nut?
You can’t show Giant Monster
Movies in here!
2- Medium shot on Lina. She’s smallish in the panel.
LINA
And why not?
3- Ryan making his way down the aisle towards Lina. He’s clearly upset. The other employees watch with fear and shock as he walks by.
RYAN
Do you have any idea
what would happen if a giant
lizard or ape came through
the portal?
They’d tear this place
apart in minutes!
4- Lina and Ryan now face-to-face. It’s a stare down. (Not a profile shot though. Let’s find another approach.)
LINA
That won’t be a problem.
RYAN
How do you figure?
LINA
We’ll simply show
the movies without
the monsters present.
5- Ryan looks like he’s going to pop a vessel on his forhead.
RYAN
“Show the movies
without the…”
6- Lower on Ryan now, and looking past him to Ken with Sludge right behind him.
KEN
Go to your happy
place, boss.
Imagine
Sludge going
down the toilet.
SLUDGE
Hey!
And that's truly all that was scripted. In then next several pages you would have seen Lina trying to enforce her rules even while all the Corman employees appealed to Ryan to "do something about this." Then, the worst possible thing was going to happen. Aunt Ant was going to make a run for it and escape Corman Cinemas. Lina then would have split everyone up into teams. She and Cooper would go east and Ryan, Priscilla and Wolf would have gone west. Bitsy and Ken would have stayed behind to "mind the store" and make sure Sludge stays out of trouble. The stakes were gonna get high--we were going to learn from Cooper that a monster escaping had only happened one other time before, during 1970's. That monster's name? Well, we knew him as the Zodiac Killer.
Needless to say...Season One of Monsterplex was not going to end well for one of the staff.
But the hunt and its consequences were all in the second half of the Season...which you, for the time being, will not be seeing. Will there be more MONSTERPLEX? I still don't know. There wasn't a huge response to these pages and traffic was low, which tells me that if we were to start MP back up then there would be a lot of work to be done not only in production, but also, just like any other webcomic, in getting the word out and promoting it. Without the Zuda Machine behind us, it would be tough going.
I said after we won that it felt like I was suddenly living in my own alternate reality. I was a surreal--and good--feeling. Maybe there's another reality where the contract wasn't pulled away from us and all of our plans got to come to pass.
A big shout out to my co-conspirators, artist David Schlotterback and colorist Michael DeVito. They did the kind of work I was so proud of and so excited to share with all of you.
A hearty thanks to all of you for your support and enthusiasm. That's the thing I take away from this in the end--all the goodwill that rose up in our favor and the time and effort you all put into it for no other reason than you liked what we were doing. It was tremendous.
-Brock
P.S. I can always be found doing my thing over at superfogeys.com. Hope to see you there.
