Orion: Issue #1
"Change"
Page 1- B&W
Panel 1
Exterior, Establishing DAVID KEEGAN HIGH SCHOOL
ALEX CAPTION
Change, I've always found, takes time. It doesn't happen
over night or in the blink of an eye.
Panel 2
Exterior, Establishing ART ROOM
ALEX CAPTION
An artist since the time I could hold a pencil, I've found
that the transition from emptiness to finished product
always ticks away in minutes, hours, or days.
Panel 3
Interior the Art Room, close up on boy sitting down, ALEX. He has hair that hangs down over his face. Led Zeppelin t-shirt. Glasses. His face is inches away from the board he's drawing on and he's focused on his assignment.
ALEX CAPTION
Not seconds.
Panel 4
Zoom back to show the drawing he's diligently working on. Ignoring the boys picking on him.
ALEX CAPTION
But every now and then, life has a way of changing the rules.
Page 2- B&W
SPLASH
Looking forward from the door. Folding tables on either side of the door, one against back wall. One student at left table stands out from the others due to his football jersey being in color. Alex has his face close to a board on which he's drawing. Kids at other table are throwing paper wads at him. A boy in aforementioned football jersey, IAN, is standing behind Alex.
IAN
What'cha got there, four eyes?
TITLE
"CHANGE"
Page 3- B&W
Panel 1
Alex grimaces with Ian over his shoulder.
ALEX
(thought)
Great. It's the capo di capo of the Pissmeoff family.
ALEX
Our assignment…
ALEX
(thought)
… dumbass.
Panel 2
Ian grabs the drawing and is looking at it. Alex turns to get to his feet.
ALEX
Give it back, Ian!
Panel 3
Ian has a hand on Alex's chest, holding him back while he looks at the picture.
CAPTION
Ian Rhodes was a senior on the football team, taking
Art II because he heard it was easy. Especially since
Mr. Young was a huge football fan that tended to think
that the school's players walked on clouds. But worse
of all, Ian had at some point decided to make Alex's
sophomore year a living hell.
Panel 4
Alex tries to grab the picture away from Ian.
CAPTION
Since the 5'9", bookish kid, who didn't take well to
athletics and had been relegated to the "loser"
crowd, never stood up for himself, Ian had been the
leader in a posse of "cool" kids to pick on the
sophomore.
Panel 5
Ian looks at his friends and pretends to sneeze, rips the picture in two.
IAN
Nice picture, dude.
SFX
Fake sneezing sound.
SFX
Rip
Panel 6
Ian looking at Alex with mock regret.
IAN
Oops.
CAPTION
Two years of being the butt of endless jokes, one year
of pure hell, culminated in twenty seconds of pure rage
and abject terror.
Page 4- B&W
Panel 1
Alex shoves Ian, he doesn't budge. There's a look of pure shock on Ian's face.
ALEX CAPTION
Looking back... I should've just walked away.
Panel 2
Ian sneers and puts Alex in a headlock. Alex's glasses fall to the floor.
IAN
Fucking punk!
ALEX CAPTION
Sat down or... done something else.
Panel 3
Ian is giving Alex a noogie while MR. YOUNG glances over, unconcerned.
MR. YOUNG
(small type)
Alright, that's enough.
Panel 4
Ian ignores the teacher and pushes Alex over to the table where his friends are.
IAN
Not so tough now, are you? I think Mr. Yaeger here needs
a spanking.
SFX
Laughter
Panel 5
Alex is being held face down on the table in a very undignified position as Ian lines up behind him and Mr. Young pretends he doesn't see what's going on.
CAPTION
The horrible twisted knot in his stomach suddenly
felt different. It was like liquid fire was spreading
from his abdomen and out through every pore of his
skin, every fiber of his being.
Page 5-B&W
Panel 1
Close up on Alex's face, furious, and his eyes are in color, hazel, but everything else is black and white.
CAPTION
His glasses had been knocked off in the struggle and,
were he clear-headed, he might have found it odd that
things were slowly coming into focus.
Panel 2
Pan back to show Alex breaking free of the boy that was holding his right arm down. The boy is flying up through the air and knocks the table over.
Panel 3
Pan back further to show entire class. People are freaking out. The posse are scrambling away from Alex. The boy slams into the far wall and leaves an indentation.
SFX
Thud
BOY
Umph!
Panel 4
Alex turns on Ian, who looks scared, with an almost evil sneer.
ALEX
(frosty balloon)
Not so tough now, are you?
ALEX CAPTION
There's not a lot about high school that I remember.
Most of it, I try to forget.
Panel 5
Alex's fist connects with Ian's chin, head snaps back.
ALEX CAPTION
But the sound of his neck snapping is something I hear
every time I clench my fist.
SFX
Snap! (Colored in red)
Page 6-B&W
Panel 1
Fist still clenched, Alex looks down at the crumpled form of Ian as the students in the background look horrified.
OFF-PANEL MR. YOUNG
R-Rick, go get the principal.
Panel 2
Alex picks up his glasses as we see Mr. Young moving over to check on Ian. The class members are pressed against the far wall, far away from Alex.
OFF-PANEL STUDENT
Oh my god.
OFF-PANEL STUDENT
Did you see that?
OFF-PANEL STUDENT
Knew he was a freak….
Panel 3
Perspective through Alex's eyes with the glass frame and everything outside of it being clear, while through the lenses everything in fuzzy.
Panel 4
Alex takes the glasses off and everything's clear, but we see that his hand is trembling.
ALEX
Huh.
Panel 5
Mr. Young is next to Ian and checking for a pulse.
MR. YOUNG
Some-somebody… Sonya, go get the nurse! Tell her we need an ambulance now!
Panel 6
Bird's eye view of the classroom with Alex by himself, the teacher behind him and the students huddled against the far wall, all of them staring at him.
MR. YOUNG
Alex… just… go to my office.
Page 7
Panel 1
Alex in Mr. Young's office, his head in his hands and everything in the office is black and white.
Panel 2
In color, Alex's hair is longer now. He's sitting at a table in front of a window and writing in a journal.
JOURNAL TEXT
There's not a lot about high school that I remember.
Most of it, I try to forget. But the sound of his neck
snapping is something I hear every time I clench my fist.
Panel 3
Continuing to write.
CAPTION
Back then, I didn't think it would've been possible for my life
to suck any more than it already did. Oh, how I was wrong.
Panel 4
Black and white, sitting in the principal's office. Sound of door closing as PRINCIPAL BUTCHER walks in.
SFX
Door closing
Panel 5
Black and white. Principal Butcher is sitting at his desk, just looking at Alex, who is sitting with his hands on his knees and his eyes on the floor.
Panel 6
Black and white. Principal Butcher opens his mouth, but says nothing. Alex looks up.
ALEX
Mister… Principal Butcher… it was an accident….
Page 8- B&W
Panel 1
Principal Butcher is looking directly at Alex now, who is holding his gaze.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
Alex, I just don't…. I just don't know what to say.
This is… you know that fighting… Alex….
ALEX CAPTION
Principal Butcher? He was never what you'd consider a
suave guy. But he's a practiced speaker. Hell, he was
pastor at some Church of Christ and used to teach history
before becoming Principal. But it seemed that he just
couldn't figure out what to say.
Panel 2
Principal Butcher is looking at the desk now, his hands kind of in the air and looking for something? Perhaps, trying to grab something to say. Alex's eyes are back on the floor. The bell is going off and the clock on the wall shows that it's 3:00.
SFX
Bell
Panel 3
Alex looks up at the Principal, who now has his hands on the desk and is shaking his head.
ALEX
Ian was... picking on me and... I sud- I... just... yeah,
I... I fought back, but... I've never been in a fight in
my life! I've certainly never... done that...
Panel 4
Principal Butcher is flushed and slaps his hands on the desk.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
Alex!
SFX
Smack
Panel 5
A look of fear is on the Principal's face as he watches Alex, who is just looking at him with a troubled expression.
Panel 6
Principal deflates and slides his hands off the table.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
There is never an excuse to hit another student….
Page 9- B&W
Panel 1
Principal is staring at Alex. Alex is looking uncomfortable under his scrutiny.
Panel 2
Principal still staring. Alex rubbing his hands on his pants and glancing at the clock. 3:04.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
Mr. Young tells me you, uh, hit Ian. And he... he flew
across the room. Is this correct?
ALEX
Not… exactly. Jeremy and some of his friends were
pinning me to the table. Then... all of a sudden, I... broke
free. Jeremy went... flying across the room and then...
I... turned on Ian.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
And you hit him?
Panel 3
Alex looks at the ground.
ALEX
Yeah.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
With your hand?
ALEX
F-fist.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
Is that all you did? You hit him just once? You didn't
hit him with anything, or anything like that?
ALEX
No sir. My fist. Just once.
Panel 4
Principal Butcher looks worried.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
Alex… Ian's neck is broken. He may never walk again….
ALEX
Prin-Principal… I di-didn't… I couldn't…!
Panel 5
Principal Butcher's gaze hardens as he looks at Alex.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
What are you?
Page 10- B&W
Panel 1
Alex looking at the Principal, confused, while Butcher still looks stern.
ALEX
What…? I'm a boy.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
Alex, what you did... what you did to Ian... that is not
natural. No child of God could have done that. You...
you're... you are not.…
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
Are you a mutant, Alex?
ALEX CAPTION
It was almost like Butcher was asking me that in the
same way he might have asked someone if they were
secretly sacrificing animals to Satan.
Panel 2
Alex looking stricken. Principal looking at Alex like he's never seen him before, like the boy is some kind of thing he's never witnessed.
ALEX
I'm… just a boy.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
You are not just a boy. You maimed Ian. He might die.
You might be a murderer. But you are likely something
far worse.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
I don't know if there is any place in God's plan for you,
Alex. I don't know at all.
Panel 3
Alex's gaze hardens and he glares at the Principal, his eyes in color again while everything else is in black and white.
ALEX
Is that all, sir?
Page 11
Panel 1
Black and white. Principal Butcher's eyes widen and he takes an involuntary step backwards.
PRINCIPAL BUTCHER
I've called your parents. You're being suspended for
the rest of the week while we figure out what to do.
Panel 2
In color. Alex sitting at the desk and writing.
OFF-PANEL STUDENT
Hey, Mondo, do you know where all the baseballs are?
OFF-PANEL MONDO
Oh. Alex was pissed a little earlier.
Panel 3
Close up of journal.
JOURNAL TEXT
I guess it's a small comfort that Ian didn't die. Last
I heard, he was going to be spending the rest of his
life sucking his food through a tube, but I didn't kill
him.
OFF-PANEL STUDENT
And?
Panel 4
Journal.
JOURNAL TEXT
However, what I had wrought was opening myself up to
more abuse. And my fear of taking action made it where
I had to suck it up. The whole school was looking at me
like I was some freak.
OFF-STAGE MONDO
… And… they're probably in Peru by now.
Panel 5
Black and white. Alex in a field having swung a bat and a ball rocketing into the sky.
ALEX CAPTION
And I was. Am. I am a mutant and Ian provided the trigger
that released my latent abilities.
Page 12- B&W
Panel 1
Alex walking down the hall of school. Kids casting furtive looks his way.
ALEX CAPTION
I spent the rest of the school year hearing "freak,"
or "mutie" whenever I went down the hall. I ended up
having to paint over my locker so many times I just
gave up and let "fucking mutie" remain there.
Panel 2
Alex at his locker, the door open. A teacher looking in his direction, obviously not blind to the writing on the door.
ALEX CAPTION
The principal and teachers didn't say anything about
it. Surprising for a "Christian" school, but I guess
they're only human after all. And I didn't really care
anymore.
Panel 3
Alex standing in McDonald's talking to a manager, who is holding an application and is shaking his head.
ALEX CAPTION
Since even McDonald's wouldn't hire a mutant (equal
opportunity my ass), I ended up being at home during
the summer and watching television.
Panel 4
Alex sitting in a recliner and watching television. It shows a shark circling a bleeding fish. The blood is in color.
ALEX CAPTION
I remember one Saturday where I was watching
Discovery Channel and there was this show about
sharks and how they smell blood in the water. They
can sense a weakness.
Panel 5
Alex getting tripped and other boys high fiveing each other.
ALEX CAPTION
Well, that's how it was for these assholes the rest
of my time at school. They were sharks circling me
because they knew I was weak.
Page 13-B&W
Panel 1
Alex in his room, there are posters of the Offspring and Nine Inch Nails on the wall. Clothes all over the floor and a couple bookshelves full of books, waterbed. He's got on pants but no shirt and he's well defined, a Bruce Lee physique.
ALEX CAPTION
Not physically, of course. No, besides my hella strength,
I also found that all that baby fat on my body had in just
a few seconds turned into muscle. Yeah, I looked good.
Panel 2
Alex standing with a tray at a table in cafeteria. His friends are all sitting down and turning their backs on him.
ALEX CAPTION
I went from chubby to athlete over night. But when you
lose all your friends, the kinda looking good stuff doesn't
seem so great anymore.
Panel 3
Alex sitting on a doctor's table. The nurse is trying to take a blood sample but the needle bends on his skin.
ALEX CAPTION
When the doctors started doing all their little tests
to figure me out, the nurses couldn't even draw blood.
I guess you could say I was thick-skinned. Literally,
not figuratively.
Panel 4
Alex sitting down at a desk and a boy is hitting him in the back of his head with a backpack, by "accident."
ALEX CAPTION
I wouldn't fight back because of what might happen if
I lost control. I knew I might hurt them like I did Ian.
Then I'd be out of school and probably headed to jail.
So I sat there and let them hit me, which they
realized did exactly jackshit, except hurting their own
hand.
Panel 5
Boys getting up in his face all around him, not touching him.
BOY
What you goin' do, huh? Nothing!
OTHER BOY
Yeah, you're worthless Yaeger! Nothing but a goddamn mutie.
ALEX CAPTION
So they started verbally assaulting me instead. All the
fucking time. I let them grind my self-esteem into nothing
and the sadistic little fuckers enjoyed every minute of it.
Page 14-B&W
Panel 1
Alex sitting in an office and DOC SAMSON is sitting behind the desk.
ALEX CAPTION
Doc says that it was probably their way of dealing with
their own fear. Prove they weren't afraid by trying to get
a rise out of me. I don't know if he's trying to make me
feel better by making them seem more human or if he's
just full of shit.
Panel 2
Landon is standing next to him by his locker. A smile on his face as other boys glower at the two of them, including a couple of his former friends.
ALEX CAPTION
I don't know what I would've done if it weren't for
Landon. He remained my only friend.
Panel 3
Some boy with his arm around Alex's shoulders, a bully glowering at the boy's back.
ALEX CAPTION
A true friend and not somebody who kissed up to me
because they wanted me to protect them from some
bully.
Panel 4
Landon with a weird t-shirt on and camouflage jacket with smiley face button. He's gesturing with one hand and holding a steering wheel in the other.
ALEX CAPTION
He didn't care that I was a freak. Maybe because he
was a freak too. Not a mutie, just weird. But he was a
year ahead of me and so most of my time at school
was on my own.
Panel 5
Alex at a table in art class, the boys are throwing things at him and he's not working on his art, just staring at his board.
ALEX CAPTION
The loneliness and the feelings of helplessness just
wore me down and the constant degradation drove
me into depression.
Page 15
Panel 1
Alex sitting at his desk at school, writing.
ALEX CAPTION
Which, of course, is the reason I'm writing in this
goddamn journal. 'An affirmation of life,' is what Doc
calls this thing. I think it's bullshit, but he's my
psychiatrist. So what the fuck do I know?
Panel 2
Rolling his neck, he moves over to the bookshelf. On the shelf is a metal tin.
ALEX CAPTION
Being a mutant in America pretty much sucks. I was
having a hard time finding work and the tension between
my parents and me wasn't helping matters. It was like
they felt someone had taken their good son and replaced
him with a monster. And my temper didn't help matters.
There were times when I came home from a day of
everyone ridiculing me and put my fist through the
concrete wall.
Panel 3
Opens the tin and pulls out some white pills, from underneath a pile of cards and letters, which are, in turn, underneath art supplies.
ALEX CAPTION
Between the pressure put on me by my parents to get a job
and get out of the house, my inability to get said job due to
my being a mutant, and my constantly bottling my emotions,
it was only a matter of time before that bottle would break.
Panel 4
Tilts his head back and swallows the pills.
ALEX CAPTION
As it turned out, it wasn't so much a break as it was a deliberate
attempt to destroy the bottle. My parents and sister had
gone to my grandparents for the holidays, leaving me here in
hopes of finding a job. I was alone, sitting in the basement of
my parent's house and watching early morning television.
I wasn't sure where the thought came from. What I had
been thinking about that brought this up. But the desire to
kill myself started to take hold.
Page 16-B&W
Panel 1
Alex in his room at home, looking at a flyer for a rave. A Christmas tree on the flyer and some other things are in color.
ALEX CAPTION
There's a curious thing that happens when you take
XTC. I had never seen any of these people before,
but I felt like I was truly accepted for the first time
since my powers surfaced. I felt so goddamn happy,
as opposed to my default state of miserable.
Panel 2
Alex at a rave club dancing with lots of people around. Some of the glow sticks are in color.
ALEX CAPTION
I went there with the intent of killing myself and
when I kept popping the pills, I just had this sense
that this was the most important thing I had ever
done with my life, ironically enough. It didn't feel
like a bad or a wrong thing.
Panel 3
He's smiling and looking carefree. Still dancing, but sweat is beading up on his forehead.
ALEX CAPTION
It felt good. I felt good. I felt young again. Like I
was back home in Columbia where I never heard the
word mutie. I was the child my parents had wanted,
the perfect son, not the fuckup I became.
Panel 4
Darkness is starting to creep in around the edges of the panel as we see him dancing with a girl, more sweat on his forehead.
ALEX CAPTION
As I danced with girls on the floor of the club, I
felt the pressures of my life slipping away…
Panel 5
More darkness as he's no longer dancing, but rather falling to the ground.
ALEX CAPTION
… and my head was held high as I felt my life
slipping away as the club and everything around me
went black and I passed out.
Page 17-B&W
Panel 1
Alex lying in a hospital bed and there are two people in the room. A woman with dark hair and dark skin, STORM, and a guy with glasses, the lenses are colored red, CYCLOPS. Storm is sitting by the bed while Cyclops is leaning against the wall.
STORM
Scott? I think he's waking up.
Panel 2
Storm is leaning over the bed, a hand on the rail.
STORM
How do you feel?
ALEX
Pa-parched. Where am I?
Panel 3
Storm pours him a cup of water as Cyclops moves over to the bedside.
STORM
Vanderbilt Medical. You've been here a few days now.
ALEX
Where are my parents?
CYCLOPS
In the hall talking with the doctor.
ALEX
Wh-who are you?
Panel 4
Storm hands him the cup and he sips from it.
CYCLOPS
My name is Scott Summers and this is Ororo Munroe.
ALEX
Are you shrinks?
Panel 5
Cyclops has a small smile on his face, as does Storm.
CYCLOPS
No. We're teachers at a school for people like you.
ALEX
Suicidal nutcases?
Page 18- B&W
Panel 1
Cyclops looks like he just swallowed something distasteful, while Storm steps forward with a kind smile and lays a hand on top of his.
STORM
No. Mutants.
ALEX
The glasses. Are you…?
CYCLOPS
A mutant? Yeah. If I took these off and opened my
eyes, I'd punch a hole right through that wall with…
what the students like to call an 'optic blast.'
Panel 2
Cyclops is smiling and Storm is grinning at him, pulling a brochure out of her purse.
ALEX
Really? Because I'm tired of looking at that wall and
would really like a view of the outside.
STORM
Why don't you look this over with your parents and call
us at this number. That's the hotel we're staying at while
we're here in town. We'd be happy to come by and speak
with your parents about the school.
Panel 3
Alex reading over the brochure as he speaks with them.
ALEX
Well, first off, I'm 21 and don't need my parent's consent.
Second, what… what do you mean it's a school for mutants?
There's only mutants at this school?
Panel 4
Storm standing next to Cyclops as he looks at the door.
STORM
Yes. Professor Xavier founded the Institute to be a place
where we can be free to be ourselves among our peers and
be free of the prejudice that is so prevalent in other schools.
Page 19- B&W
Panel 1
Alex frowning slightly as he's still looking at the brochure.
ALEX
(small type)
Where we you five years ago?
ALEX
So… is it a high school?
CYCLOPS
That and much more. It's an independent school for
ages ten through eighteen. We know you've already
graduated from school, but there are other things
that we can teach you there. Like how to control your
powers.
Panel 2
Alex is looking up at Cyclops with obvious interest and a hopeful expression.
ALEX
Yeah. I, uh, I've had some trouble with my powers. I
mean, I've done okay. I don't accidentally rip the door
off my car anymore and it's been a couple months
since I destroyed an alarm clock, but I do still have
trouble with fragile things. Like… glass and stuff.
Panel 3
Alex turns to look at Storm as she speaks.
STORM
We can help you with that. A number of our students
have increased strength like you, Alex, and they are
learning to adapt. You can too.
Panel 4
Thoughtful look on Alex's expression as Cyclops smiles.
CYCLOPS
You don't have to do this on your own anymore. You're
not alone.
ALEX CAPTION
Of everything they said, those last two words stuck in
my head long after they left.
Page 20
Panel 1
Cut panel. On one half, in color, Alex sitting back down at the desk to write. On other half, black and white, Alex talking to a guy in jeans, t-shirt, leather jacket, dark hair. He's handing Alex a small bag and receiving cash in return.
ALEX CAPTION
So much has happened to me since I became a mutant.
Panel 2
Cut panel. Half in color, wide angle of the room with a look outside onto a beautiful lawn. Other half in black and white, Alex putting the pills in the metal tin on his bookshelf.
ALEX CAPTION
(in colored half)
Change, I've found, can sometimes be good.
ALEX CAPTION
(in b&w half)
Sometimes bad.
Panel 3
In color, the interior of the tin and showing that the pills are XTC tablets.
ALEX CAPTION
But almost always, life-altering.