[issue 1 behind the scenes by amy reeder and brandon montclare] Copyright (c) 2013 Brandon Montciate and Amy Reeder. All rights reserved. ROCKET GIRL (TM), including all characters herein, the logo, and all likenesses are trademarks of Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder.XN aN NRRL a NA TS NON PREFACE If ROCKET GIRL was real, this Insider Edition would be mission control: It’s the behind-the-scenes to the first issue,-which debuted from Image Comics in October, 2013. These contents are-the-real_deal: the script Amy read; the layouts around which Brandon, tweaked the dialogue. These are the raw materials that go back and forth between the creators—a feat that might from the outside\ seem as complicated as DaYoung’s travels between her future 2013-and our 1986 past. And speaking of back and forth: you'll see the synoptic presentation of the script next to layouts inthe first section. This synthesis is the basis of all comics. So we-hope it helps demystify the creative process. Following that are the inks, unlettered colors, and) finally the finished product where it comes together. And afterthat we show you some of the early development stuff. Everything in the Rocket Girl-Insider is raw and-unedited. It’s for the fans who.want to see how these things get made—as well as the\ aspiring creators who want to make these things themselves. --Amy & Brandon - \PAGE ONE Page 1: Panel 1; Close-up on DaYoung as she’s boogie’ing through the time stream without a board! 1.Cap (DaYoung): My name is DAYOUNG JOHANSSON. 2.Cap: I'm 15 YEARS OLD and a cop from the FUTURE. 3.€ap: I'm going back in time to SAVE THE WORLD... 4Capi vu just hope I'm not TO LATE. 1:2: Close up on four hands, pointer finger’s extended over an “ENTER” key. These five hands are Quintum Mechanics engineers. Three (Annie, Ryder, and Gene) are grad students in their early-twenties; one is Professor Sharma, nearing 50}. All we see, however, are their wrists and hand. The four are poised over the “enter” key of a keyboard. It’s a momentous accasion—at least that's the plan—and all five are going to share in the honor of bringing the Q.Engine online. Since it’s the 80's, they'd all be wearing wristwatches. Annie and Ryder have Swatches; bangles &c on Annie. Gene has a Casio G-Shock; the sleeves of his labcoat rolled up, Don Johnson-style. Sharma dons a Rolex Sub-Mariner. 5.Narrator Cap: 1986. The present 6.Sharma (off panel): One small step for man— 1:3: Pull out to see the four—they are in the Quintum Mechanics lab. An entire space filled with wires and tubes, large containers with all kinds of lights flashing, A big set-up that’s as crazy as a hamster run. Computer monitors too. It’s high tech, but also looks like it’s pieced together, Professor Samir Sharma is in a three-piece suit; his eyeglasses are in his vest packet, connected by a chain toa lapel pin; graying at the temples of raven hair; crows feet at the corners of his eyes. The others wear labcoats over their 80's clothing. Gene Goldstein wears a Hard Rock Café T-shirt; his sleeves are rolled-up; big Jewfro; bigger tortoise-shell glasses; he’s the type of guy that was always awkward and his body gained 10 Ibs freshman year in college... now in gradschool he’s even pudgier, but it’s mostly just around his stomach. Ryder Jones is African American with a sense of cutting edge style; expensive tastes; willing to push the envelope with her fade and flat-top. You already know Anni¢. Their fingers still hover. Each can be focusing on a technological centerpiece—a big containment unit. Bigger than a person. A place where quantum particles bombard. 7.Annie: Professor Sharma, there're two WOMEN here! B.Sharma: I'm trying to be momentous, Annie. 9.Annie: Do you really think the Q-Engine will make history? 10.Sharma: No, At Quintum Mechanics we're making the FUTURE, and it wouldn’t have been possible without all of you. 11.Sharma (joined): Okay~on three. One.. 1 sharma jumps the gun—pressing the button before the countdown, Annie is shocked. Sharma makes the petty move so he can have the glory; maybe the hint of a smirk? Annie is surprised—but more pissed that she got suckered. If ‘we see others, all their attention is focused on the Q-Engine starting to react. 12.Sharma: Two! 13.SFX (on button): Klok! 14.Annie: HEY!fp iy ee: PS 3 2H P 9 ts A DVN Z in = J : \ 7A ( Witla pee yp ! ey hi wee) WE R last Uy Shay yt a "i S A WO]PAGE TWO: 2:1: The scientists stand around, unsure. Gene: So, wh, now what happens—? 2Sharma (cutting off Gene): QUIET! 3.Annie (small, aside): this isn’t supposed to be happening, gene. 2:2: On Annie, her face lit up by a now red-glowing containment unit. She's awestruck. A loud, rising, overpowering whir in the SFX, 4.SFX (on cracking glass): kr... krak SSFX: WHUUUUUUU, 2:3: On Annie, Panicked. G.Annie (loud): GET OUTE 2:4: The containment unit blows. More pressure and wind than fire or shrapnel. TSF: WaM! 2:5: On Annie in the rubble. 8.Annie (weak, wobbly):...g-got to get out... out of h... icking her way through the rubble. She’s not wearing her helm: , which she’s also carrying by the straps. we see any of it now, can be hung over her jetpa 9.DaYoune: I did it! I'm here.PAGE THREE: ig panel as DaYoung emerges from the smoke. As before, she’s carrying her helmet and jetpack, but you more notice the huge chip on her shoulder. She’s just a kid, but she’s a cop—so she can instantly control a room (or so we ‘think!). Venus in a clam shell, 1DaYoung: I'm Detective DaYoung Johansson of the New York Teen Police Departmen 2,DaYoung (joined): 've come from the year 2013 to investigate crimes against tim 3.DaYoung (joined): And you're all under arrest. 2:2-6: Reaction shots from the 5 scientists. They're all shocked, of course. A bit frozen, Not just at this girl and the funny things she says... but also at the technical failure of the Q-Engine. Years of preparations have brought them to this most UNEXPECTED moment. Sharma would be speechless—at a loss for words. Annie is by now overwhelmed, frazzled. Gene is out of his depth—he was having trouble keeping up BEFORE his whole world changed. Ryder is wide-eyed and excited. ‘Small, tight inserts are probably best—some kind of montage that works with these 4 panels and DaYoung’s next two? No Text DaYoung reacts to their reaction. She's a pip! Supremely confident, she can’t contain the hint of a sneer. NO TEXT «7; DaYoung’s face changes, her head tilts back and her eyes flutter. She's going to faint. The stress of time travel, &c, NO TEXT 2:8: DaYoung falls over backwards. She faints head-over-heals, bottom’s up—inelegantly, in stark contract after being so pretentious. Just showing her feet pointing up and a thunk would be enaugh. If you can fit it, maybe Sharma and ‘Annie looking at each other in the foreground—as if to say “what do we do now?” ASPX: ‘THUNK! S.Annie: ‘What do we do now?!PAGE FOUR: 4:1: Establishing shot of the NYtPD. The incredibly boxy 1 Police Plaza should be the inspiration behind it. It towers over the other towers—but the whole city has to look huge and advanced. The city is bigger than the Police Headquarters, and this is our first look. And we're in the new 2013: it’s not like the world you and | know... it's amazingly futuristic. The kind of 2013 that 1980's sci-fi envisioned. Flying cars and unreal skyscrapers. Wherever possible, you should see ‘Narrator Cap: 2013. The past. 2,Gomez (Long tail): Do have any idea how big this is?! 4,2: Close on DaYoung’s NYtPD badge. She’s not wearing her rocket gear, something more “street uniform”—but we hardly see beyond her chest here. The badge would have her name on it. 3.Gomez (ofp): Who do you think you are?! 4:3: Zoom down to the entrance to POLICE PLAZA 2.0, and exiting are Commissioner Jim Gomez's office, also present is a third officer, Leshawn O’Patrick. At Gomez's right is a silent enforcer android, 1-ST. Perhaps the threesome + robot are descending entry stairs. Anather pair of teen cops struggle to haul a cuffed perp into the precinct. Police-tike stuff can be near entrance: like Hologram “Wanted” posters or public service announcements like a “New York's Finest” motto. LeShawn is tall, too skinny—the half Irish in him give green eyes and reddish afro. Awkward, even though at 19 he's the oldest here. He and DaYoung are behind Gomez & 1-ST—as if they are trying to catch up/catch his attention. 1ST has his name/numbers stenciled prominently on his metal frame, it’s big and menacing—a sentinel always looking around. Commissioner Gomez looks barely 13. Even though it’s the future, he has big bucket glasses—they can be hi- ‘tech, but they also look like MC Hammer, He also has the faint edges of a puberty moustache that starts from the exterior corners of the mouth and works toward the nose... savvy? He wears a crumpled suit and overcoat, Batman’s Jim Gordon, He smokes a cigarillo, It’s obvious these three are in conflict. Gomez hardly looks back as he trudges down—dismissive like he has better places to be right now. 4,DaYoung: I'ma cop. What are you?! 5.LeShawn: Come on. Ease does it, Dayoung. 6.Gomer: You should listen to O’Patrick. He's turning TWENTY and didn’t spend seven years building his pension to see it go up in smoke just so you can point fingers at Quintum Mechanics. 8.DaYoung: The corporation is dirty, Commissioner Gomez! Cooking the history books--going back and. playing in the time stream so they can firm up their market position in the here and now. 4:4: DaYoung has gotten in front of Gomez and stops him, eye-to-eye with her demonstrative finger pointing into Gomez (where he would wear HiS star). She knows she's right, and no one is going to convince her otherwise. No one can make her doubt herself. Supremely resolved. 9.DaYoung: There's only one way to do this. And it’s not easy.LITMAN NSSPAGE FIVE: 5:1: L-ST gets defensive over DaYoung’s “aggressive” move. But Gomez shuts the robot down—literally... the pipsqueak can handle his own problems. 1.1-ST (robot font): WATCH WHERE YOU ARE POINTING THAT THING! ‘Stand down, 1-ST! 3,Gomez: know what...? SHUT DOWN, | don’t want eyes and ears recording this... 5:2: Gomez continues tearing into DaYoung as 1-ST goes into sleep mode. 4ST: Initiating SLEEP MODE, Commissioner Gomez, 5.1-ST Goined, sfx): Derz222. 6.Gomez: Do you know what you're saying, Johannson? Do you know how BIG Qunintum Mechanincs is? They're EVERYTHING. 7.DaYoung: Everything. Including dirty. 5:3: LaShawn tries to mediate. Dayoung stays hard as nails, but Gomez just rolls his eyes incredulously beneath those funky goggles. 8.LaShawn: ‘What DaYoung is saying, sir, is she can make the case. ‘9.LaShawn: ‘There's an INFORMANT. A member of the Quintum Mechanics Board of Directors-- 10.Gome: (cutting off): Really?! Who? 5:4: On DaYoung, for the first time a little bit sunken. 11.DaYoung: don't know. 12.DaYoung (joined): ‘They won't come forward, but they've been feeding my inbox with all kinds of info— 13,Gomez: You don’t know because NO ONE knows. The identity of Board members is kept a TRADE SECRET. 5:5: On DaYoung again: this time she picks up her usual pluck. 14.DaYoung: But they ARE somebody. And NOBODY is above the law, Commissioner.PAGE SIX: 6:1: The two are face-to-face. Dayoung isn’t backing down, and maybe Gomez knows deep down she’s right—but he's still holding his ground too. NO TEXT 6:2: Gomez turns so it’s a two shot, Dayoung behind Gomez as both face the reader. Gomez’ demeanor has changed: he’s much softer; a bit wistful, looking at the huge expanse of the city (off panel) in front of him. L.Gomez: Turning back the clock, Johansson... you have no idea what you're facing. 6:3: Spin around 180 degrees. Now we see what Gomez sees: the city beyond. Al three have their backs to the reader—or we otherwise feel as though we're right there with them. The juxtaposition we're supposed to feel, of course, is that this tough talk is coming from a kid. Quintum Mechanics advertisements should be prominent in the bg details. 2.Gomez: .-Twenty-Seven years ago this city was a cesspool--the Big Apple was rotten to the core. 3.Gomez: It made the Wild West look like Woody's Roundup. 4,Gomer: Quintum Mechanics brought NYC back from the brink.xi y)) \ LTT 7 yf ty thy Zjp : Ah =e AN A SS . Vy) bbe Z D\VG Ee TTPAGE SEVEN: ‘7:1: On three upturned faces, each bathed in the light of the future world. 1.DaYoung: That doesn’t make it right. :2: Gomez has turned enough over his shoulder to face Dayoung. We can see Gomez's doubt in his posture and droopy face. We see DaYoung from behind—rigid and firm, posture reflecting beliefs. 2.Gomez: “Right”? What IS right, anyway..? 3.Gomez (joined): You're going back to a time before any of us were born. Who knows what could happen? 4.DaYoung: What's RIGHT is RIGHT. 7:3: The three stand in silence. O'Patrick and Gomez know DaYoung is probably right, and this is the moment it takes, for that realization to sink in. Dayoung remains self-satisfied. Maybe a bird’s eye view of all of them in this crazy world? NOTEXT ‘7:4: Jim Gomez relents and agrees. The Commissioner remains wary; LeShawn takes a deep breath, hoping DaYoung is making the right choice to pursue this; DaYoung can’t help but being a bit over-jazzed... ike a fist-pulled close and a “yes! savy? 5,Gomez; OK,PAGE EIGHT (4-pane sample script): Page 8: Panel: 1; Inside NYC skyline at twilight, as some electric illumination coming out of square windows, While the sky still has some blue init, it darkens. It's ike we're in another office downtown—looking out the window. There’s a pinpoint of are flare—an odd, futuristic color that arrests the eye. It’s DaYoung Johansson. Helmet off. Sitting Indian- style out on the ledge. She’s working a mini blowtorch thingamabob on here busted jetpack. It needs a tune-up. And with the sparks flying it’s not the type of thing you do indoors. As much as we can see here (it’s ok if you save this for later panels), she’s next to an open window; it’s the offices of Quintum Mechanics. We definitely DON'T see her, but Annie is inside the window. A half eaten hot dog from Papaya King anda paper cup with a bendy-straw weighs-down a few comics from 1986 like Love & Rockets and Grendel and Dark Knight Returns. It’s casual. She would also have an “ipad”—these are of course, very ‘2013’: so let’s make them look like what we have today, only amped up enough to show that Da¥oung’s 2013 is very different from Amy's. 1.Cap (DaYoung): There's something wrong with the forward thrust. 2.Cap: It keeps getting stuck and | can’t move right. 3.Cap: «I shouldn’t complain. | can fix it myself. It’s just that back home any junior tech could have me ready-to-go lickety-split. But here..? 8:2: Reverse angle to inside the window. Interior of Quintum Mechanics. It can be laboratory. Annie (one of the Q-Engineers, and who will become DaYoung’s closest friend in 1986. She'd be in her mid- twenties. A Ph.D student—smart, and not totally socialized—but she should be in fitting 80's paraphrer ‘And she’s wearing a labcoat with Quintum Mechanic's corporate symbol on it) is on the phone. It’s an analog phone with a curly cord. In the background we see DaYoung. In the foreground Annie faces us, her back to DaYoung—she’s cupping the receiver with her hand, bunching her shoulders... like she doesn’t want DaYoung to overhear. She's a bit wild-eyed— leaning toward panic because only a few minutes before, years of work resulted in the Q-Engine blowing up, and when the smoke cleared there was a girl from the future standing there. We only hear her half of the conversation, tific, but not a full blown Aap: .-here they're hopeless. S.Annie: wnllty telling you—she just appeared out of nowhere. 6.Annie: we booted up the Q-Engine and the containment chamber blew! | spent a semester just double-checking the protocols. This wasn’t supposed to happen. 7.Annie: wal don’t know what happened... ‘8:3; On DaYoung again. Her nimble fingers work a mini, high-tech blowtorch... maybe it’s a component of a space-age ‘Swiss Army knife. She's tweaking the circuit board of her jetpack. Whatever details you couldn't get into 1:1, you can maybe fill in here. We especially need the iPad. 8.Cap: In 1986 a bunch of scientists at Quintum Mechanics made history. Their discovery ‘would change everything, forever. 9.Cap: But they didn’t know what they were doing. It was never meant tobe. So someone had to go back in time to stop it. 10.Cap volunteered. 1LiPad (radio font): asqwake 8:4: On Annie. 12.Annie: n't not crazy... ..Professor Sharma is in the lab—with everyone else. 13.Annie: she's with me... she’s like 15!PAGE NINE: 9:1: Back on DaYoung. She hears a radio report picked up on her iPad—cops calling for back-up. Even though she has specific mission in 1986, she’s not going to ignore fellow officers in peril. She has already snapped off her blowtorch and closed upa compartment or whatever on her jetpack, She's alert—paying attention to the alarm. But she’s also rough with her pack—maybe closing it up with a thumping fist—in contrast to the careful work she was performing in 1:3. Cap: lam 15. iPad: >sqwak< ...officers in need of assistance...>sqwak< OFFICER DOWN! OFFICER DOWN! 9:2: Annie rushes to the window, ignoring her call--worried as to what the curious future girl is about to do! We see DaYoung has stood up on the edge of the ledge. She's shouldering her jetpack on, like a kid might sling a back-pack. 3.iPad: >sqwake ..all available units please respond. 4.Annie (bold): DaYoung! What are you doing?! 5.DaYoung: My gear is picking up the old emergency bands. They need help down there. 6.Annie (bold): ‘Come back in here! Let the police handle it. 9:3: Close up on DaYoung, who has now pulled her helmet over her face. Grim determination. ‘7.DaYoung: lam the police. 9:4: On spring heeled sneakers as DaYoung doesn’t so much jump as she merely steps off the ledge NO TEXT 9:5: DaYoung falls like a stone downward toward off-panel oblivion. NO TEXT 9:6: Inside with Annie. She's rushed all the way to the window, which is now empty, DaYoung seemingly have plummeted. Annie is leaning out all that she can, looking down teward the street--the curly cord is stretched, the phone's base is suspended in air as the wall-connecting cord is also stretched to the max. 8.Annie (bold): DAYOUNG!PAGE Tet ELEVEN (double-page spread} 10-11:1: Splash page (oF splash panel). It’s a second later, and we see DaYoung rocketing up toward us. The traill of smoke and sparks originates 25 or so feet below the open window where Annie now looks up and out—wide-eyed at the flying Rocket Girl, DaYoung can wink or salute or both—but it’s not campy. She's a serious teen—filled with confidence; moreover, a faux-maturity where she doesn’t get too excited at things which SHOULD clearly excite her. Like a cops attitude: ‘move along, there's nothing to see here.’ Maybe those comics get caught up in her tail wind and flap about like pigeons. As DaYoung blasts toward the scene of the police emergency (coming at the reader, of course), you can cap this page as a single panel. Or you can have her maneuver in flight for a few panels, swerving in the canyons of buildings and/or near the street level. If you don’t start that maneuvering here, we need to start it on page 4. You could also, therefore, draw this as a spread (note, since this is the sample, these pages in the final draft would hopefully not be starting on an add page number). Oodles of Noodles steaming on the top of Times Square. Mayor Koch. Her rocketing to-and-fro. ll have DaYoung’s interior monologue go over it a bit. But more important is to get her down to the street level: people looking up in awe as she zooms by. But more important stil: getting it to be very 1986. Adidas without laces. Bigger Taxicabs. Walkman and boom boxes. More graphitti, Mets jackets in satin blue with orange script. Three- piece suits in brown. Feathered hair and Kajagoogoo kids 1.DaYoung Don't worry, Annie. I'm here to save everyone. 2.SFX (off jetpack: PEEL! 3.Cap: I get to fly. 4Cap: vwit's why [joined the NYTPD, 10-11:2: DaYoung soars. Climbing she almost hits her peak. 5.Cap: used to lay in bed thinking all about it. Hoping when fell asleep I'd be rocketing ‘through my dreams. 6.Cap: Force it. Focus. Fantasize real hard and hope when your eyes shut you don’t know the difference. 10-11:3: DaYoung crests. It feels like she’s Floating; suspended in air before the plunge. 7.£ap: Usually didn’t work! My concentration would drift off... 10-11:4: She falls. Gravity pulling her downward—but she’s poised perfectly in her descent. Like an Olympic diver. 8.Cap! No matter how | tried, when my head got up in the clouds | couldn’t ever control what came next. 10-11:5: She zooms. DaYoung rockets through Times Square. People are shocked—literally some are nearly blown ‘over, It’s not so much fear as amazement. But she moves so fast, some of the civilians can’t even trust what their eyes just saw. 9.Cap: But right now..? 10.Cap: now I'm living the dream.PAGE TWELVE: 12:1: DaYoung is pulling in for a landing on 42nd between 7th & 8th; a couple of paramedics are loading a shot, plain- clothes detective into an ambulance. There’s two beat cops on the scene; we should see at least part of the facade fora video game arcade, The crowd watches in amazement as DaYoung comes down from the sky: they thought they'd be in for a good show with the shooting—but now they're almost floored. The two cops couldn't possible control this situation ifit ever got out of hand—they’d be overwhelmed. 1.Cap: ‘Something's gaing down on 42nd Street between 7th and ath. 2.€ap: | access the police log archives: 2300 crimes on this block in the last year. 3.Cap’ ‘That only counts what's been reported. 5.cap: 400 of them were felonies. 12:2: DaYoung has just landed and is removing her helmet to address the stunned officers; lots of others standing by-—all look much bigger than DaYoung. They need to look fresh and young here—like pictures fram the past. SIMMS is white and blond and pale; tall with long arms and clean cut; deadpan; early 20's, TAYLOR is black with a neat beard shaved such that it’s a goatee connected to his sideburns—emphasising his big tooth smile; build like a linebacker; a little wildness in his eyes; early 30's. 6.Cap: ‘Wonder which one this is... TTaylor: Remember when | said you'd see everything on this beat..? 8.Simms: Yeah. 9.Taylor: well. 10Simms: Yeah. ALTaylor: ‘We're seeing this, right? 12.Simms: Oh yeah, 12:3: On Taylor and DaYoung. Taylor is assertive, like a cop. He wants to dominate the situation. The irony is his choice to focus on little flying girl situation instead of the shot officer situation. DaYoung is right now taking off her helmet non-chalantly (we can even see her from behind—which might give us our first close look at her jetpack?)... she'll turn tthe tables in the next panel. 13.Taylor: ‘What the hell is this?! 14.DaYoung: This..? This looks like a ten-double-zero.. 12:4: Continuing—Dayoung shoves her helmet into Taylor’s gut. The move surprises Taylor, and will knock him off his game. DaYoung knows exactly what she’s doing—she’s about to daminate the situation, showing she’s the better cop. 15.Dayoung (bold): +S0 why don’t you give me a situation report! 16.Taylor (bolder): ortPAGE THIRTEI 13:1: Continuing—DaYoung’s forecefullness has given her control of the now almost sheepish officers. She stands there, arms akimbo. Patient, even though there’s a pressing crisis. Not knowing what else they can do, Taylor and ‘Simms find themselves trying to catch up and get with the program. If you can fititin the foreground or background, the shot detective is getting wheeled by on his gurney. Taylor: This detective guy that got shot—we don’t even know him. He's from up in the Bronx. No telling what he’s doing in Times Square. 2.Taylor (joined): Half these plain-clothes are on the take... or he could be scoring some blow. 3.Simms: You can never tell. He could be scoring A blow— 4.DaYoung (cutting off): What about the shooter?! 18:2: Closer on Dayoung and the two cops. Taylor points to the arcade across the street. DaYoung is determined. S.Taylor: He ducked inte the arcade, There’s na other exit...freaking firetrap if you ask me— 6.DaYoung: We're going 13:3: Same shot, different reactions. Taylor and Simms are pussying out with fumbling excuses. DaYoung rolls her ‘eyes. She no longer has time for their bullshit. 7Taylor: Um... Well... 8.Simms: Yeah. WELL. 13:6: Bullet crashes window: 8.5.5FX BLAM! 13:5: Bullets start to fly from arcade. Simms & Taylor clumsily dive for cover. DaYoung charges in. 9.DaYoung (bold): COVER ME! 10.Taylor: This isn’t regulation. Reverse angle, we see Taylor and Simms huddling for cover from the bullets. DaYoung is off panel except for her trailing arm and hand, flipping the bird to the two chickens. Savvy? Taylor would still be holding her helmet. Maybe he balls around it in a fetal position, 11.Simms: Is she NYPD? 12.Taylor: Shut up.ae a | > } | 7 Ny | | Ad N | OO a Af | a5 VA | ABOS ve | Fake t “ ee | 4 = Yi g y = i qd | “ / b i | | - | | od v i = Z NEN rt = vPAGE FOURTEEN: 14:1: DaYoung does a sweet-looking crouching slide into the arcade. Some kind of a move that only a supercop in an action movie would make. 1.eap: Haven’t had two cops act like that before. 14:2: Standing up but en garde—DaYoung is at a long aisle of arcade games. On one side are pinball machines, on the other are wooden cabinets for standup video games. In the foreground: the shooter is behind the closest cabinet, ready to ambush her, He should be crazy looking—whatever type of guy scares you when you're alone on the street. ‘And of course: play up the lights and shadows and designs of a videogame arcade. It's abandoned due to the shootout, but the lights are still blinking. If comies readers had ears they'd her the beeping an electro beats. 2.€ap: But right now I have a creep to deal with... 14:3: DaYoung moves cautiously through the twinkling landscape. 3.Cap: The Commissioner was right. And LeShawn. This is a different world. 4.Cap: And here | don’t have two partners like them. 14:4: DaYoung stops for a moment, looking at herself reflected in the glass of a pinball machine surface. 5.Cap! What am | going to do for back-up..? 14:5: Uh-oh. The perp’s gun is put to the back of DaYoung’s head, pulling the hammer back. She’s surprised, and the bad guy got her dead to rights. G.SFX (hammer): lik, sa 1 i} 4 fh 1PAGE FIFTEEN: 15:1: Cut outside to 42nd—Taylor & Simms are outside wondering what's going on. Simms: What are we going to do about her? Taylor: Don’t know yet. 3.Taylor (joined) Need more time to thi— 15:2: Wide shot—Taylor and Simms crouch and draw their weapons as the door peeps open. We don’t yet see who's coming out. Taylor: On the door! Someone's coming out! 15:3: Close up on the creep, with an ugly looking face coming out the door. As we'll see next panel, he’s been beat up by Rocket Girl. But here we should have a panel of suspense. He looks mean still—and evil. But... 5.SFX (on the door) creeeeak 15:4: Pull back a bit: the thug falls flat on his fac her hands. She kicked his ass real good—off panel: be asking “how?” Behind him is DaYoung. Not a scratch on her, and she’s dusting-off it’s obvious she can handle herself, but the reader here should still G.SFX (on impact): CRAK! 15:5: Simms has taken the already-knocked-out thug of DaYoung’s hands. DaYoung looks to exit, but Taylor isn’t hhaving it. Taylor (and later Simms, but to a lesser extent) obviously had his pride wounded, DaYoung is stil just as cool—doesn’t need him... doesn’t need anyone. 7Taylor (bold): HOLD IT! 8.DaYoung: Yeah? And what are you going to do about it... 15:6: Close-up on DaYoung: she’s mugs a bit. Shows she’s a girl—supposed to be helpless. She holds out her arms, wrists together and up—‘cuff me.’ This is DaYoung setting a trap. 9.DaYoung: arrest me?PAGE SIXTEEN-SEVENTEEN: This is an action spread—throughout the series Amy designed these pages from a light description. It starts from the very next moment after p15 and ends with Taylor & Simms cross-cuffed to one another—helpless as Day- Jo skips away. The beats: Taylor has his cuffs out in one hand, the other hand is taking one of DaYoung’s wrists. But in a counter move: DaYoung twists and uses his momentum against the huge cop. She pulls and Taylor winds up cuffing his opposite wrist. Simms comes charging in, also with cuffs at the ready. DaYoung uses Taylor like a pommel horse to do some GymKata kicking to Simms. She seriously outclasses these guys. The only hope they have is to crowd her with their size, But as they close in we can see DaYoung getting Taylor's loose end of the cuff around Simms wrist. The cops dogpile. But DaYoung slips out. When she’s gone, we see the two cops are cuffed to each other—Simms right wrist cuffed to Taylor's right wrist; left to left... so their arms are X'd and they're ridiculously facing each other. The game of twister gone horribly wrong. Savvy? After seeing the finished layout, Brandon wrote the dialogue and captions—the old “Marvel Style” or collaboration. 16-17:1 1.Cap: I guess | asked for this. 2.Taylor: Little girl, just who do you think— 16-17:2 3.Cap: Changing history is bound to be complicated. 4.Taylor: ~-you are? S.SFK: click 16-17:3 6Simms: Watch it! She's tricky. 16-17:4 7.Cap: There's gonna to be twists. Cap: And turns. 9.Simms: Gah! 1G-17:5: 11.SFX: clack 12.Cap: Gotta pay close attention 16-17:6 12.Tayloi Vilget that... 16-17:7 13.Cap: It's time to get serious. | will not miss anything in all the chaos. 14-Taylor (bold): sabitch! 16-17:8: LAS: click 16-17:9: 15.Six: clack 16-17:1 16.Cap: Inever miss.PAGE EIGHTEEN: 18:1: A yellow Cab skids into the scene. Leaning WAAAAY out of the drivers-side rear window is Annie—screaming for DaYoung’s attention. She's leaning over Chaz who's seated immediately next to the window—he’s basically holding her in. Annie (bold): DAYOUNG! What the hell are you doing!? 18:2: Cabis stopped. Door Open. Annie leads the trail running toward DaYoung. Following in the order they were seated is Chaz and Ryder. Gene is sitting in the cab’s back seat, but facing out with both feet on the pavement, holding, the cab/talking to the cabbie. 2.Dayoung: Annie? 3.DaYoung (joined): How’d you guys find me!? 4.Annie: don't know about where you come from, but around here a flying girl in Times Square is big mews on the radio, 18:3: From within the tangled arms of Taylor & Simms, we see Annie already shuffling DaYoung toward the cab. With a big-sister-type tenderness, Annie is able to do what the cops couldn't: corral DaYoung. The older girl has her hands on the younger’s shoulders, guiding her away—gentle but firm. Annie should be looking back over her own shoulder at the semi-off-panel cops. 5.DaYoung: But where are the rest of the police? 6.Annie: | guess they've got better things to do. 18:4: They're piling in the cab; DaYoung now hesitates. Annie is butt-firsting it into the cab—pushing Gene in with her posterior. She's now dragging DaYoung by the wrist—DaYoung has come to her senses and feels she needs to stay. Ryder and Chaz are outside, trying to persuade and (gently) push DaYoung into the cab. 7.DaYoung: I should probably wait. They'll want a report— 8.Annie (cutting off): Are you insane?! Getin here before we all get locked up and they throw away the key! 9.Chaz: Get in, Kid. Get in!PAGE NINETEEN: 19:1: All five stuffed in the back seat. We see the cabbie in the foreground. They barely all fit—it’s awkward. The game of Twister gone wrong (again!)—but it’s the start of a bonding moment. ‘1.Cabbie: Only four allowed in a cab! 19:2: Gene is already outside the cab, trying the passenger-side front door, but it’s locked. Annie berates him from the back seat. 2.5fx bompf 3.Annie: Gene! 4.Annie (joined): We've got to make like a tree...! 5.Gene: But | didn’t even have time to bring my wallet! 19:3: From her big handbag Annie is throwing some change {including dimes for the phone) at the hapless gene. It’s sloppy and hurried—maybe some lipstick, &c goes flying. 6.Annie: Don’t be a pain in the ass, Gene! Here's a dime-call Sharma and tell him we got her! 18:4: Backseat with four, now; re-stuffed. More settled for the ride, it still looks uncomfortable. DaYoung would be 1g on the laps of a squeezed together Ryder and Annie. Chaz has his own space. We don't need to see the cabbie whom Annie is addressing. 7.¢haz: Just the four of us? | like my chances, BAnnie: Chaz--You're going on the F-train home to your Bensonhurst girlfriend, 9.Annie: Ryder and are going home. This shit needs figuring out. 10.Cap: Who are these people. LAnnie: 4th Street and 6th... and step on it!PAGE TWENTY: 20:1: Continuing; the cab has screetched away and the riders flop about. Annie: ‘You know you're turning my world upside-down, 2.Dayoung: Annie—it’s the Q-Engine that's going to flip everything you know about anything, 3.€ap: They don’t get it. 20:2: 1986. 4.DaYoune: New York is what itis. You shouldn't try to change that. 5.Annie: wish I knew what you were going on about, Rocket Girl 6.Cap: not yet, at least... 7.€ap: but maybe Ican help them understand... 20:3: 2013. 8.Gomez: | shouldn't have let her go alone...what in blue blazes was I thinking? 9.LeShawn: Dayoung can handle it, Commissioner. 10.Gomez: Fingers crossed, Detective... fingers crossed! 11.Gomer (joined): Besides...who would be crazy enough to go with her, eh? 12.Cap: before time runs out. 13.end: TO BE CONTINUED.A M S 1 e| RR |Ye brandon MONTCLARE ee amy REEDERud) iN eel RAWATCH WHERE YOU ARE POINTING Ra] KNON WaT? eves ano 6426 RECORDING THIS. 120 YOU ENON WHAT YOURE Gavin, JOKANKGON? 120 vou KNOW HOW Ba. ‘OUNINTUM MECHANINES (9? THEYRE EVERYTHING. AVOUNG 16 SAVIN, 612, 1g SHE CAN MaKe THe INDE OF NEO: YOU GOK’ KNOW 6eC.AUSE NO ONE KNOWS, THE IDENTITY (OF 6OBEO MEMBERS (Skeet A TRADE ‘SECEET. twene’s an a OF THE aMeusen OUINTUM MEcHANIe Ae? OF be comuissionee1 mm uso a ee cam | Sarit ae pg Sa |C- Se;‘THERE'S SOMETHING WONG WITH THE FORWARD THEUST. Ir Keeps GETTING STUCK AND E CAN'T MOVE aise F GHOULON'* COMPLAIN. E CaN Fic It MYSELF. 176 Just THAT BACK HOME ‘ANY JUNIOR TECH COULD. Have Me geaoy-T0-30 lickery-Geuir. 1986 4 guKcH Of ScleNTiCTS at NTU, cs 6 (ADE HISTORY. THEIL Nw otgcoveRy WOULD cHaKGe EVERYTHING , FOREVER, UT THEY 10K" AON WAT THEY WEZE DOING. ST Ae NEVER MEANT 70 BE '$0 SOMEONE HA? TO 0 pace neriMe "10 610? IT.400 0F tue | wete FELONIES.ed i, y ee | : at LT Oe m Ss ¢7 Doo My name is DaYoung Johansson. Sy I'm 15 Years old anda cop i; the future ~~ ver pf nll time to[se to/Save — world— \ as still too late.ROCKET GIRL By Brandon Montclare & Amy Reeder For Eric Stephenson, Image Comics Short pitch for ongoing series January 2, 2013 In short: A teenage cop from a high-tech future is sent back in time to 1986, She's investigating the Quintum Mechanics megacorporation for crimes against time. As she pieces together the clues, she discovers that the “future”—her home as she knows it—shouldn’t exist at all but unlike the world you and | live in, There’re robots and jetpacks and incredible science. DaYoung is a freshman member of the New York Teen Police Department: recruited as one of the most brilliant young minds and ablest bodies. The NY¢PD enlists adolescents because of their innate bravery and incorruptible ideals—tife experience hasn't yet tarnished them. What makes DaYoung’s world so different is history: in 1986 something amazing happened. Researchers at Quintum Mechanics created the Q-Engine. Light-years ahead of its time, it opened the door to new forms of energy and broke the laws of physics. The corporation, of course, cashed in—big time. Alk technology advanced with Newtonian velocity. It was the greatest discovery ever. But it was never meant to be. DaYoung doesn’t start with all the facts, but she'll discover the Q-Engine wasn’t the product of regular human ingenuity. Instead, Quintum Mechanics 2013 Board of Directors seeded it in the past. They want to cook the history books and make sure QM’s position as market leader lasts forever. So DaYoung time travels to 1986 (our “real” world, back then). Her crazy technology, her tender age, and her outlandish story are all hard to believe. She can’t gain anyone's trust. The 80's scientists at Quintum Mechanics don't know the world-changing magnitude of what they're about to do, They're simply good people with big dreams for the future. And while DaYoung sees them all as “adults," they're almost children themselves: young PhD candidates in their early 20's. And like anyone, they live in the “present”—immersed in 80's culture and customs. To them the future—any future—is still a mystery. DaYoung will find allies and make enemies in 1986. ‘The story will also flashback to the future: showing an advanced, alternate 2013. Right and wrong; good guys and bad—it all gets complicated. DaYoung learns that the world isn’t black and white—in essence this case will force her to grow up. Throughout the story, DaYoung's conflicted between fulfilling her mission and questioning it. Does she prevent the Q- Engine from being activated? Change her fantastic version of 2013 into the plainer world where we, the readers, currently live? And the biggest question of all: if she succeeds, she might also cease to exist! The world(s): Rocket Girl is a fast-paced and high-flying action/thriller. It’s also a hyper-detailed period piece. Parts of Rocket Girl are a love letter to 1986: the culture, and specifically the watershed year it was for comics. The rest of the story is set in an alternate reality “future” 2013. The design of this fantastic world is influenced by 80's sci-fi visions of the 21st Century: right now we're living in the time of Blade Runner or Terminator or Back to the Future. Today's real world doesn’t live up the expectations of those futurists— but DaYoung’s home (thanks to the Q-Engine subplot) is those dreams come true. The Rocket Girl: DaYoung Johansson embraces the stuck-up rigidity and exactness of the police force. A huge chip on that slight shoulder comes with her from the future, She plays rough—but despite her best efforts she’s no hardened cop. Instead she's fueled by youthful enthusiasm and driven by a teenage instinct for excitement. She's brimming with confidence, attitude, and ability—but she can't mask her age. And she can’t escape growing up either. Manipulated in 2013 NYtPD and betrayed in 1986—she’s asked to make compromises in an increasingly complex world, DaYoung is cutoff from everything she knows; she's away from home and has to start thinking about her future—literally. She sees in 1986 a society that allows 15-year-olds to be kids. Back home in 2013, teens were the police because everyone knew grown-ups couldn't be trusted. But now DaYoung is compelled to grow up. As jaded adults, we'd call her youthful idealism naivety—something you naturally outgrow. But a stiff backbone is what always defined her self-image. It’s nat easy to give that up—especially with her life (in more ways than one) on the line. Throughout the series, the tension between whether DaYoung sticks to her basic principles or matures will be a major conflict. Her youthful exuberance will be an appealing purity that readers root for... but the naivety will cause increasingly clase calls... if she'd only back off and open up her perspective, she ight just survive this whole ordeal.Listen to us every week: podcornpodcast.com Follow us: @amyreeder " @bmontclare \ /OUT OA OUTLCOdR hoS ode