BOOK COVER
PANEL 1
A dark and mysterious silhouette of Kamigen island
NOTES
Kamigen Island is inspired by the real Camiguin island in the Philippines, having a very similar shape thanks to using the real islands height map for topography.
ISSUE 1 COVER PANEL 1 The hero of this story, Jim, is pictured on a beach and with some cute monkeys who are trying to get his attention. NOTES This cover was produced retrospectively which is why it's art style is a little bit ahead of the inner contents.
PAGE 1 PANEL 1 The Earth pictured from outer space. NARRATOR Once upon a time, this planet had many lands. PANEL 2 Silhouettes of various people, mainly families, living their lives on Earth at this time. NARRATOR Upon which billions lived. NOTES I wanted to start the story like a fairy tale to setup the kind of narrator the reader is dealing with (one that thinks he's being funny)
PAGE 2 PANEL 1 A wireframe of the Earth being struck by a water comet and torrents of water slowly gushing down on the planet from a vapour cloud in space. NARRATOR April 2077, the month a water comet came too close and left several oceans of water in our sky. NARRATOR 100 years from that day, even the highest mountains would be underwater. NOTES I knew I wanted to flood the Earth for this story but apparently there's not enough water here to do it so I opted to hurl a water ball at us.
PAGE 3 PANEL 1 The infamous moon landing is pictured with the Earth hovering over it in the background. An American astronaut is planting the flag on the moon's surface. NARRATOR In ancient times, the moon was dusty, grey and its' only water ran beneath the surface. NARRATOR You could even land there and walk around safely. NOTES My favourite moment in human history just had to be in here, what an achievement for our species!
PAGE 4 PANEL 1 The wealthy and powerful are building spacecraft to leave the cataclysm on Earth behind. Military forces guard the spacecraft and arrest protestors and refugees begging to escape the planet. NARRATOR The "really important" people found a new planet and left. PANEL 2 Children onboard a sea vessel wave to the departing scores of space craft, not knowing the heart break their parents generation feels at this moment. NARRATOR We are the descendants of the people they left behind. NOTES This was a really challenging page in the early days of producing the comic - there were so many elements that I kept playing with to try to make the perspective work while also telling the visual story I wanted to.
PAGE 5 PANEL 1 Deep below the surface - the old Manhattan skyline rises over the sea floor, the Empire State Building still being recognisable at this point in history. A submarine explores the city, trying to solidify their understanding of the cataclysm that left their parents generation without land. NARRATOR We know all of this for sure after studying the countless ancient cities at the bottom of the ocean. NOTES This scene is very easy to picture in my head - it reminds me of that moment at the end of A.I. when the advanced future robots finds Hayley Joel frozen in the remains of the old city.
PAGE 6 PANEL 1 Three symbols are shown - an assault rifle surrounded by skulls representing conflict and death, a child and parent playing representing the cycle of life and a guitar surrounded by floating notes, representing the culture and way of life that emerged on the sea. NARRATOR And from the stories passed down by our ancestors at sea. PANEL 2 The titular island is pictured, at the moment of it's discovery. Ships from across the planet flock to Kamigen Island to see the miracle and new hope. NARRATOR After centuries of living on the water, a volcanic miracle... Kamigen... changed everything. NOTES For anyone keeping track, approximately two centuries have passed since "April 2077" - but I have not decided an exact timeline as yet. Kamigen island would be composed of a vast amount of lava to have surfaced from the drowned Earth in this story.
PAGE 7 PANEL 1 Jim is lying on a hammock on the beach of Kamigen, a family of tortoises is walking by, the sun is setting and a fighter aircraft can be seen in the background. JIM / NARRATOR That's enough history... welcome to Kamigen Island! NOTES Introducing Jim - one of the main characters and narrators of this story. It should be quite apparent when the narration switches to another character later on but feel free to let me know if it isn't!
PAGE 8 PANEL 1 Jim is now at a bar having some red wine, monkeys are bothering him for some of the bar nuts on the counter. Outside the hammock, it's clear Jim has no legs and the prosthesis he currently uses is an advanced cybernetic unicycle. JIM / NARRATOR I'm Jim, you may have noticed I have no legs. PANEL 2 In a flashback to Jim's younger adult self, we see his body fully intact as he happily explores a virtual safari environment. JIM / NARRATOR But I wasn't always this cool. PANEL 3 A crashed helicopter is pictured, upside down and in a pile of broken palm trees. It's clear Jim was piloting and crashed. JIM / NARRATOR I used to be a lousy pilot too. NOTES I initially couldn't be bothered finding legs to give Jim for the previous hammock page and just ran with it in the story. It worked better than I expected and allowed me to work in a bit of pain to an otherwise overly cheerful character.
PAGE 9 PANEL 1 Jim is at his favourite prosthetics store - NextLimbs. It's a small boutique popup store on the beach, built using natural materials and with construction techniques that don't impact the local ecology. GORDON The cheapest pair that'll fit an aircraft sea is 60,000. I'm sorry Jim. JIM It's OK Gordon, I understand. NOTES I was very apprehensive about introducing money into this futuristic world but I figured that perhaps a wheel based prosthetic might be free but advanced cyborg legs that are fit for an aircraft may have a cost to obtain - regardless of whether it was money or some other obstacle/system.
PAGE 10 PANEL 1 Jim is seen heading home as the sun sets over the Kamigen beach. His shadow moves amongst the canopy of palm tree shadows. JIM / NARRATOR It's weird being a cyborg, I was never for or against the idea. NOTES This scene started out with roads and buildings but I made a conscious decision to leave the island largely undeveloped for a later story. Kamigen island is a sacred habitat for the humans who live on nearby ships and floating cities.
PAGE 11 PANEL 1 In a flashback to soon after Jim's helicopter accident, we see him in intensive care at a medical facility. His arms and legs have been destroyed. JIM / NARRATOR I just never thought I'd be one. NOTES A striking scene where we see what remains of Jim's natural body after his piloting accident in the helicopter.
PAGE 12 PANEL 1 Jumping back to the present, Jim is now in the pilot seat of his aircraft. His hands are flipped backwards and cables extending from his cybernetic arms are connected directly to the helm. JIM / NARRATOR Flying is a lot easier thanks to the hardware though. NOTES Always finding the silver lining, Jim not only became a pilot again - he became a better pilot thanks to his enhanced ability to communicate with and sense information from the aircraft.
PAGE 13 PANEL 1 Jim's aircraft is leaving a vapour trail across the Kamigen sky, an eagle and a monkey can be seen closer to the tree line, which is mostly coconut palms. JIM / NARRATOR The bounty for the monster I'm hunting will get me legs. PANEL 2 The mission Jim is currently on is seen, it is clear he's a mercenary for hire. An elongated mutant nautilus is pictured in the report, indicating it is the kill target. MERCENARY MISSION REPORT #10517 Action: Terminate or capture Danger: High Background: Eliminate hostile fauna kjnown as Heavy nautilus Traits: Armored OECM Reward: 90,000 NOTES I really wanted to have a bottom looking up perspective from the jungle but I had no idea how to draw that so I drew a treetop view of him passing overhead. The mission brief is my first use of this story telling format in the comic.
PAGE 14 PANEL 1 Jim's aircraft is rapidly losing altitude. The Organic Electronic Counter Measures (OECM) employed by the Heavy Nautilus haven taken his aircraft generator offline. ELECTRONICS ALERT Power loss! Electromagnetic jamming detected! AVIATION ALERT Altitude loss! Main power offline. Eject! Eject! Eject! JIM / NARRATOR Rude... lucky I brought my own power supply! NOTES The monster Jim is hunting uses a super powerful bioelectromagnetic field that disrupts power generation in everything from aircraft to boats to nearby cities. I'm planning for the current most advanced technology available in the story to be a efficient and portable deuterium based cold fusion reactor.
PAGE 15 PANEL 1 Using his cyborg body battery, Jim is able to give his aircraft just enough power to target the Heavy Nautilus and power the main weapons. JIM / NARRATOR I have to get this over with now. SYSTEM ALERTS Power low... Target acquired... Warning - 3 minutes of power remain... PANEL 2 Jim looks down at his arm to see the dangerous speed his body is losing power at, if he keeps going he will die and the aircraft will crash anyway. JIM / NARRATOR I can't power this thing for long. CYBORG DIAGNOSTIC DISPLAY Warning! Unsustainable power use, disengage immediately to avoid injury and death. NOTES For those interested in the science - Jim's cyborg body has a portable power generator and a battery in case his generator goes offline or a burst of power is needed. In this case, his own generator is offline too and he's supplying the last of his power to the aircraft. If the battery runs out, various medical devices within his body will fail and he will die. In my head, the warning in the second panel is being said out loud by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry - The voice of the computer in Star Trek.
PAGE 16 PANEL 1 A wide shot of Jim's falling aircraft firing off a missile at the Heavy Nautilus and managing a direct hit. SYSTEM ALERT Missiles away! NOTES It may not be clear but Jim's aircraft is actually still falling too fast to recover without engines, he was barely able to get enough power to manouvre into a target lock and fire the missiles.
PAGE 17 PANEL 1 The camera centers on the remains of the Heavy Nautilus, its giant shell and tentacles still partially intact and recognisable from afar. SYSTEM ALERT Kill confirmed. SYSTEM ALERT Main power online. NOTES The carcass depicted here would be at least 50 metres long meaning that its ability to turn off power generation combined with its natural armour and massive size make it a threat to anything manmade at sea.
PAGE 18 PANEL 1 Jim's aircraft is once again flying at full speed, center stage heading back to Kamigen island. The island is clearly visible in the distance. JIM / NARRATOR Time to go home. PANEL 2 Jim is at a clothing store trying on some clothes in a mirror. JIM / NARRATOR I haven't worn pants in years... NOTES The top panel is another scene I wanted to do from a different angle but settled for this one as it was suitable for the assets at hand. In future I'll look find a way to re-use the 2D assets I have from different perspective.
PAGE 19 PANEL 1 Jim seems pleased with his choice of shorts, not caring that most of what's visible from his beach outfit are robot parts. JIM (to the storekeeer) I'll take it! JIM / NARRATOR Shorts are way better though... PANEL 2 Just offshore Kamigen Island, the mysterious old flotilla city known as Old Turtle City is pictured. NARRATOR Meanwhile, in the slums of Old Turtle City... NOTES Like many other cities parked next to the island, Old Turtle City is a flotilla of connected ships and platforms. It was my way to get dense urban areas into the story without harming the island.
PAGE 20 PANEL 1 The silhouette of a mysterious henchman stands in a doorway, addressing his boss who has a cyborg hand and is stroking his pet cat. HENCHMAN M'lord, the Nautilus has been destroyed! BOSS How! NOTES Jim's nemesis has a cyborg hand and a cat. Older fans may recognise this as Claw from Inspector Gadget, but it isn't.
PAGE 21 PANEL 1 The mysterious henchman continues to stand in the doorway. The cat has moved closer to his owners cybernetic hand and purrs. HENCHMAN A.. cyborg. Mercenary.. He overcame the jammi... BOSS And what happens with anyone else who has a spare battery? NOTES I'm torn between adding more detail to this scene to make it look like a throne room and adding more dark contrasts to make it look like a lair.
PAGE 22 PANEL 1 The mysterious henchman is taking up the full frame as he exits the throne room, he recalls the ending of the conversation he had with his boss. BOSS Find this mercenary. Erase all traces of this mission. No one can know. HENCHMAN No one will know. NOTES I wanted to have Tom, the henchman, walk out of the previously dark room with his boss out of focus but I haven't come up with those designs yet.
PAGE 23 PANEL 1 The Kamigen council is the center of power of the island, it's members meet at a roundtable in the capital building in Old Turtle City. NARRATOR Mysterious ship losses at sea have the Kamigen Council very worried. COUNCILLOR #1 I can't speak for the others but... COUNCILLOR #2 Trillions in sales lost to terrorists. COUNCILLOR #3 This threatens the safety of the island! NOTES The Kamigen Council is democratically elected with its leader also acting as head of the Kamigen state.
PAGE 24 PANEL 1 The beautiful leader of Kamigen, President Serena Barbate interrupts the various arguments breaking out across the council roundtable. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE Monsters are attacking my people and you squabble like children! PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE Listen - we need to get to the bottom of this and soon. NOTES President Barbate was originally meant to be a Pacific Island haggard intellectual however I opted to make her a bit more fabulous and a bit more Filipino. I used a photo of my lola as a reference so hopefully her Pinay features came through in this!
PAGE 25 PANEL 1 The henchman from the previous scene is seen in the shadows and addresses the frustrated leader. It's clear he is on this political council as her colleague. HENCHMAN President Barbate, contain yourself. PANEL 2 The henchman's facial features are revealed. He is a fair skinned man with glasses and long black hair. HENCHMAN There is no need to panic. I will lead our shared intel efforts to find the truth. NARRATOR Idiots. NOTES The evil henchman's face is revealed but it wasn't immediately clear that that's who he was so I threw in some exposition from the narrator. My intention is to have the narrator of each issue actually be the cover character, but it's a little bit unclear to me when and how Jim would be retelling this story (for now!).
PAGE 26 PANEL 1 The President is satisfied that the henchman (Tom) will take care of things, since he is an accomplished and trustworthy person from her perspective. She decides to end the meeting and begins to leave the room. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE Good. I know I can trust you Tom. NARRATOR Seriously, he's the "bad guy" from a few pages back. NOTES Like all good leaders, President Barbate has a lot of trust in her fellow council members who also act as her advisors. Unfortunately in this case, as Jim's narration confirms, Tom's the bad guy.
PAGE 27 PANEL 1 Jim is seen on his own on the beach, staring out as seemingly every living creature on the island is enjoying romantic bliss. There are multiple snakes, tortoises, beetles, crabs, monkeys, whales, dolphins and eagles all falling in love as Jim watches on in despair. NOTES Originally conceived as multiple panels, I wanted to show a personal and vulnerable side of Jim beyond his physical injury. In the end, it seemed funniest and simplest to just have animals coupling around him.
PAGE 28 PANEL 1 Jim is seen at a night club with what appears to be Tom. Tom is wearing a suggestive outfit and seems to be flirting with Jim. PANEL 2 Jim is seen happily lying in bed alone. As he slowly wakes he reaches over to greet the person he came home with from the club but they're gone. KAMIGEN ISLAND PEACE KEEPING (Police) This is Peace-Keeping! Open your open door. You are wanted for questioning! NOTES Tom seduces Jim in a club in order to gain access to his person and property. An LGBT twist on a well worn plot where we usually see a femme fatale seduce the male hero.
PAGE 29 PANEL 1 In a broadcast to the whole island, the President confirms that the man responsible for creating the Heavy Nautilus monsters has been caught. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE The terrorist who engineered these monsters has been brought to justice!!! NOTES This announcement is both broadcasted and in front of a gathered crowd at the government building.
PAGE 30 PANEL 1 The island wide broadcast continues as the scene switches to the prison where Jim is being held under constant guard. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE The threat remains, but I assure you we will find a way to stop these monsters. PANEL 2 Jim is lying on his bunk in the prison cell, seemingly brainwashed as he has no recollection of being a pilot and believes the lie that the villains have put out that he is the terrorist. JIM / NARRATOR My name is Jim, I'm *that* infamous bio-terrorist. I've never flown but you know... I always wanted to be a pilot. NOTES To cover up the weakness of the Nautilus creatures, Tom altered Jim's memory and erased all traces of the mission he went on from the public record.
ISSUE 1 COVER PANEL 1 The hero of this story, Jim, is pictured on a beach and with some cute monkeys who are trying to get his attention. NOTES This cover was produced retrospectively which is why it's art style is a little bit ahead of the inner contents.
PAGE 1 PANEL 1 The Earth pictured from outer space. NARRATOR Once upon a time, this planet had many lands. PANEL 2 Silhouettes of various people, mainly families, living their lives on Earth at this time. NARRATOR Upon which billions lived. NOTES I wanted to start the story like a fairy tale to setup the kind of narrator the reader is dealing with (one that thinks he's being funny)
PAGE 2 PANEL 1 A wireframe of the Earth being struck by a water comet and torrents of water slowly gushing down on the planet from a vapour cloud in space. NARRATOR April 2077, the month a water comet came too close and left several oceans of water in our sky. NARRATOR 100 years from that day, even the highest mountains would be underwater. NOTES I knew I wanted to flood the Earth for this story but apparently there's not enough water here to do it so I opted to hurl a water ball at us.
PAGE 3 PANEL 1 The infamous moon landing is pictured with the Earth hovering over it in the background. An American astronaut is planting the flag on the moon's surface. NARRATOR In ancient times, the moon was dusty, grey and its' only water ran beneath the surface. NARRATOR You could even land there and walk around safely. NOTES My favourite moment in human history just had to be in here, what an achievement for our species!
PAGE 4 PANEL 1 The wealthy and powerful are building spacecraft to leave the cataclysm on Earth behind. Military forces guard the spacecraft and arrest protestors and refugees begging to escape the planet. NARRATOR The "really important" people found a new planet and left. PANEL 2 Children onboard a sea vessel wave to the departing scores of space craft, not knowing the heart break their parents generation feels at this moment. NARRATOR We are the descendants of the people they left behind. NOTES This was a really challenging page in the early days of producing the comic - there were so many elements that I kept playing with to try to make the perspective work while also telling the visual story I wanted to.
PAGE 5 PANEL 1 Deep below the surface - the old Manhattan skyline rises over the sea floor, the Empire State Building still being recognisable at this point in history. A submarine explores the city, trying to solidify their understanding of the cataclysm that left their parents generation without land. NARRATOR We know all of this for sure after studying the countless ancient cities at the bottom of the ocean. NOTES This scene is very easy to picture in my head - it reminds me of that moment at the end of A.I. when the advanced future robots finds Hayley Joel frozen in the remains of the old city.
PAGE 6 PANEL 1 Three symbols are shown - an assault rifle surrounded by skulls representing conflict and death, a child and parent playing representing the cycle of life and a guitar surrounded by floating notes, representing the culture and way of life that emerged on the sea. NARRATOR And from the stories passed down by our ancestors at sea. PANEL 2 The titular island is pictured, at the moment of it's discovery. Ships from across the planet flock to Kamigen Island to see the miracle and new hope. NARRATOR After centuries of living on the water, a volcanic miracle... Kamigen... changed everything. NOTES For anyone keeping track, approximately two centuries have passed since "April 2077" - but I have not decided an exact timeline as yet. Kamigen island would be composed of a vast amount of lava to have surfaced from the drowned Earth in this story.
PAGE 7 PANEL 1 Jim is lying on a hammock on the beach of Kamigen, a family of tortoises is walking by, the sun is setting and a fighter aircraft can be seen in the background. JIM / NARRATOR That's enough history... welcome to Kamigen Island! NOTES Introducing Jim - one of the main characters and narrators of this story. It should be quite apparent when the narration switches to another character later on but feel free to let me know if it isn't!
PAGE 8 PANEL 1 Jim is now at a bar having some red wine, monkeys are bothering him for some of the bar nuts on the counter. Outside the hammock, it's clear Jim has no legs and the prosthesis he currently uses is an advanced cybernetic unicycle. JIM / NARRATOR I'm Jim, you may have noticed I have no legs. PANEL 2 In a flashback to Jim's younger adult self, we see his body fully intact as he happily explores a virtual safari environment. JIM / NARRATOR But I wasn't always this cool. PANEL 3 A crashed helicopter is pictured, upside down and in a pile of broken palm trees. It's clear Jim was piloting and crashed. JIM / NARRATOR I used to be a lousy pilot too. NOTES I initially couldn't be bothered finding legs to give Jim for the previous hammock page and just ran with it in the story. It worked better than I expected and allowed me to work in a bit of pain to an otherwise overly cheerful character.
PAGE 9 PANEL 1 Jim is at his favourite prosthetics store - NextLimbs. It's a small boutique popup store on the beach, built using natural materials and with construction techniques that don't impact the local ecology. GORDON The cheapest pair that'll fit an aircraft sea is 60,000. I'm sorry Jim. JIM It's OK Gordon, I understand. NOTES I was very apprehensive about introducing money into this futuristic world but I figured that perhaps a wheel based prosthetic might be free but advanced cyborg legs that are fit for an aircraft may have a cost to obtain - regardless of whether it was money or some other obstacle/system.
PAGE 10 PANEL 1 Jim is seen heading home as the sun sets over the Kamigen beach. His shadow moves amongst the canopy of palm tree shadows. JIM / NARRATOR It's weird being a cyborg, I was never for or against the idea. NOTES This scene started out with roads and buildings but I made a conscious decision to leave the island largely undeveloped for a later story. Kamigen island is a sacred habitat for the humans who live on nearby ships and floating cities.
PAGE 11 PANEL 1 In a flashback to soon after Jim's helicopter accident, we see him in intensive care at a medical facility. His arms and legs have been destroyed. JIM / NARRATOR I just never thought I'd be one. NOTES A striking scene where we see what remains of Jim's natural body after his piloting accident in the helicopter.
PAGE 12 PANEL 1 Jumping back to the present, Jim is now in the pilot seat of his aircraft. His hands are flipped backwards and cables extending from his cybernetic arms are connected directly to the helm. JIM / NARRATOR Flying is a lot easier thanks to the hardware though. NOTES Always finding the silver lining, Jim not only became a pilot again - he became a better pilot thanks to his enhanced ability to communicate with and sense information from the aircraft.
PAGE 13 PANEL 1 Jim's aircraft is leaving a vapour trail across the Kamigen sky, an eagle and a monkey can be seen closer to the tree line, which is mostly coconut palms. JIM / NARRATOR The bounty for the monster I'm hunting will get me legs. PANEL 2 The mission Jim is currently on is seen, it is clear he's a mercenary for hire. An elongated mutant nautilus is pictured in the report, indicating it is the kill target. MERCENARY MISSION REPORT #10517 Action: Terminate or capture Danger: High Background: Eliminate hostile fauna kjnown as Heavy nautilus Traits: Armored OECM Reward: 90,000 NOTES I really wanted to have a bottom looking up perspective from the jungle but I had no idea how to draw that so I drew a treetop view of him passing overhead. The mission brief is my first use of this story telling format in the comic.
PAGE 14 PANEL 1 Jim's aircraft is rapidly losing altitude. The Organic Electronic Counter Measures (OECM) employed by the Heavy Nautilus haven taken his aircraft generator offline. ELECTRONICS ALERT Power loss! Electromagnetic jamming detected! AVIATION ALERT Altitude loss! Main power offline. Eject! Eject! Eject! JIM / NARRATOR Rude... lucky I brought my own power supply! NOTES The monster Jim is hunting uses a super powerful bioelectromagnetic field that disrupts power generation in everything from aircraft to boats to nearby cities. I'm planning for the current most advanced technology available in the story to be a efficient and portable deuterium based cold fusion reactor.
PAGE 15 PANEL 1 Using his cyborg body battery, Jim is able to give his aircraft just enough power to target the Heavy Nautilus and power the main weapons. JIM / NARRATOR I have to get this over with now. SYSTEM ALERTS Power low... Target acquired... Warning - 3 minutes of power remain... PANEL 2 Jim looks down at his arm to see the dangerous speed his body is losing power at, if he keeps going he will die and the aircraft will crash anyway. JIM / NARRATOR I can't power this thing for long. CYBORG DIAGNOSTIC DISPLAY Warning! Unsustainable power use, disengage immediately to avoid injury and death. NOTES For those interested in the science - Jim's cyborg body has a portable power generator and a battery in case his generator goes offline or a burst of power is needed. In this case, his own generator is offline too and he's supplying the last of his power to the aircraft. If the battery runs out, various medical devices within his body will fail and he will die. In my head, the warning in the second panel is being said out loud by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry - The voice of the computer in Star Trek.
PAGE 16 PANEL 1 A wide shot of Jim's falling aircraft firing off a missile at the Heavy Nautilus and managing a direct hit. SYSTEM ALERT Missiles away! NOTES It may not be clear but Jim's aircraft is actually still falling too fast to recover without engines, he was barely able to get enough power to manouvre into a target lock and fire the missiles.
PAGE 17 PANEL 1 The camera centers on the remains of the Heavy Nautilus, its giant shell and tentacles still partially intact and recognisable from afar. SYSTEM ALERT Kill confirmed. SYSTEM ALERT Main power online. NOTES The carcass depicted here would be at least 50 metres long meaning that its ability to turn off power generation combined with its natural armour and massive size make it a threat to anything manmade at sea.
PAGE 18 PANEL 1 Jim's aircraft is once again flying at full speed, center stage heading back to Kamigen island. The island is clearly visible in the distance. JIM / NARRATOR Time to go home. PANEL 2 Jim is at a clothing store trying on some clothes in a mirror. JIM / NARRATOR I haven't worn pants in years... NOTES The top panel is another scene I wanted to do from a different angle but settled for this one as it was suitable for the assets at hand. In future I'll look find a way to re-use the 2D assets I have from different perspective.
PAGE 19 PANEL 1 Jim seems pleased with his choice of shorts, not caring that most of what's visible from his beach outfit are robot parts. JIM (to the storekeeer) I'll take it! JIM / NARRATOR Shorts are way better though... PANEL 2 Just offshore Kamigen Island, the mysterious old flotilla city known as Old Turtle City is pictured. NARRATOR Meanwhile, in the slums of Old Turtle City... NOTES Like many other cities parked next to the island, Old Turtle City is a flotilla of connected ships and platforms. It was my way to get dense urban areas into the story without harming the island.
PAGE 20 PANEL 1 The silhouette of a mysterious henchman stands in a doorway, addressing his boss who has a cyborg hand and is stroking his pet cat. HENCHMAN M'lord, the Nautilus has been destroyed! BOSS How! NOTES Jim's nemesis has a cyborg hand and a cat. Older fans may recognise this as Claw from Inspector Gadget, but it isn't.
PAGE 21 PANEL 1 The mysterious henchman continues to stand in the doorway. The cat has moved closer to his owners cybernetic hand and purrs. HENCHMAN A.. cyborg. Mercenary.. He overcame the jammi... BOSS And what happens with anyone else who has a spare battery? NOTES I'm torn between adding more detail to this scene to make it look like a throne room and adding more dark contrasts to make it look like a lair.
PAGE 22 PANEL 1 The mysterious henchman is taking up the full frame as he exits the throne room, he recalls the ending of the conversation he had with his boss. BOSS Find this mercenary. Erase all traces of this mission. No one can know. HENCHMAN No one will know. NOTES I wanted to have Tom, the henchman, walk out of the previously dark room with his boss out of focus but I haven't come up with those designs yet.
PAGE 23 PANEL 1 The Kamigen council is the center of power of the island, it's members meet at a roundtable in the capital building in Old Turtle City. NARRATOR Mysterious ship losses at sea have the Kamigen Council very worried. COUNCILLOR #1 I can't speak for the others but... COUNCILLOR #2 Trillions in sales lost to terrorists. COUNCILLOR #3 This threatens the safety of the island! NOTES The Kamigen Council is democratically elected with its leader also acting as head of the Kamigen state.
PAGE 24 PANEL 1 The beautiful leader of Kamigen, President Serena Barbate interrupts the various arguments breaking out across the council roundtable. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE Monsters are attacking my people and you squabble like children! PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE Listen - we need to get to the bottom of this and soon. NOTES President Barbate was originally meant to be a Pacific Island haggard intellectual however I opted to make her a bit more fabulous and a bit more Filipino. I used a photo of my lola as a reference so hopefully her Pinay features came through in this!
PAGE 25 PANEL 1 The henchman from the previous scene is seen in the shadows and addresses the frustrated leader. It's clear he is on this political council as her colleague. HENCHMAN President Barbate, contain yourself. PANEL 2 The henchman's facial features are revealed. He is a fair skinned man with glasses and long black hair. HENCHMAN There is no need to panic. I will lead our shared intel efforts to find the truth. NARRATOR Idiots. NOTES The evil henchman's face is revealed but it wasn't immediately clear that that's who he was so I threw in some exposition from the narrator. My intention is to have the narrator of each issue actually be the cover character, but it's a little bit unclear to me when and how Jim would be retelling this story (for now!).
PAGE 26 PANEL 1 The President is satisfied that the henchman (Tom) will take care of things, since he is an accomplished and trustworthy person from her perspective. She decides to end the meeting and begins to leave the room. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE Good. I know I can trust you Tom. NARRATOR Seriously, he's the "bad guy" from a few pages back. NOTES Like all good leaders, President Barbate has a lot of trust in her fellow council members who also act as her advisors. Unfortunately in this case, as Jim's narration confirms, Tom's the bad guy.
PAGE 27 PANEL 1 Jim is seen on his own on the beach, staring out as seemingly every living creature on the island is enjoying romantic bliss. There are multiple snakes, tortoises, beetles, crabs, monkeys, whales, dolphins and eagles all falling in love as Jim watches on in despair. NOTES Originally conceived as multiple panels, I wanted to show a personal and vulnerable side of Jim beyond his physical injury. In the end, it seemed funniest and simplest to just have animals coupling around him.
PAGE 28 PANEL 1 Jim is seen at a night club with what appears to be Tom. Tom is wearing a suggestive outfit and seems to be flirting with Jim. PANEL 2 Jim is seen happily lying in bed alone. As he slowly wakes he reaches over to greet the person he came home with from the club but they're gone. KAMIGEN ISLAND PEACE KEEPING (Police) This is Peace-Keeping! Open your open door. You are wanted for questioning! NOTES Tom seduces Jim in a club in order to gain access to his person and property. An LGBT twist on a well worn plot where we usually see a femme fatale seduce the male hero.
PAGE 29 PANEL 1 In a broadcast to the whole island, the President confirms that the man responsible for creating the Heavy Nautilus monsters has been caught. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE The terrorist who engineered these monsters has been brought to justice!!! NOTES This announcement is both broadcasted and in front of a gathered crowd at the government building.
PAGE 30 PANEL 1 The island wide broadcast continues as the scene switches to the prison where Jim is being held under constant guard. PRESIDENT SERENA BARBATE The threat remains, but I assure you we will find a way to stop these monsters. PANEL 2 Jim is lying on his bunk in the prison cell, seemingly brainwashed as he has no recollection of being a pilot and believes the lie that the villains have put out that he is the terrorist. JIM / NARRATOR My name is Jim, I'm *that* infamous bio-terrorist. I've never flown but you know... I always wanted to be a pilot. NOTES To cover up the weakness of the Nautilus creatures, Tom altered Jim's memory and erased all traces of the mission he went on from the public record.
