Script: Opportunity & Knox THREE, page 6 (of 6)

The final page of Opportunity and Knox. The tall dwarf and short giant may make a reappearnce at a later date.

Coming soon, a rural police drama 'almost comic' (seriously). Then the bloody glory of Utterly Rucked, once some sets are built, jerseys made, backgrounds painted, Playmobil purchased, and large quantities of tomato sauce procured.

Page SIX

6/1
Knox commands the rose bush to wrap ...

6/2
... a small dragon flies through the whole thing ...
Knox: What? That can't be right? it's tiny.
Opp: Run!

6/3
Large frame
Roar!!! Flames everywhere.

6/4
Inset frame
The two running away, somewhat singed.
You owe me a new shirt and trousers!
It barely burnt your trousers.
Trust me, I need new trousers.

END

Script: Opportunity & Knox THREE, page 5 (of 6)

Finally, the fifth page. The universe seemed to be conspiring to stop this page ever being completed (I figure if you are going to have a conspiracy theory you may as well make something big the conspirator). Illnesses in the family, a dental procedure, poor lighting, and prickly rose thorns. But we got there.

The last page will be posted tomorrow ... universe willing.

Page FIVE

5/1
I'm sorry I ever doubted you, my tall friend.
No offense take, my short companion.

5/2
They sneak ...

5/3
They place ...

5/4
Knox pours ...

5/5
The plant grows ...

5/6
Knox has the headband on ...
(roar)

You'll notice I ignored the script. But hey, if I can't who can?

Concluded tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox THREE, page 4 (of 6)

The household has been sick with a virulent cold the past few days, but we managed to get one more page done. Those are real rose stems, and very real thorns (ouchy).

Page FOUR

Knox outlines his plan ...

4/1
Listen up and learn, my friend.

4/2
We sneak up to the dragon's lair.

4/3
We place the rose bush at the opening.

4/4
I pour this plant growth elixir onto the rose ...

4/5
then I use this headband of plant control ...

4/6
the dragon rushes out of it's lair ...

4/7
and I command the giant rose bush to wrap itself around the dragon

4/8
... thorns penetrating it at every angle.

4/9
Easy.

Continued soon ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox THREE, page 3 (of 6)

A minimalist page ...

Page THREE

3/1
Opp: Your plan is that you have a rose bush?!?

3/2
Knox: Yup.

3/3
Opp: Are you insane?!!!?!!!?

To be continued soon ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox THREE, page 2 (of 6)

The idea for this script came from an old Dragon magazine article on how to use magical items and spells in unexpected ways. However, for our heroes things don't always work out as they'd like them to.

Page TWO

2/1
Opp: So what is the great plan of yours, Knox?
Knox: It's simplicity itself really.

2/2
Knox: We know where the dragon's lair is ...

2/3
Knox ... and we know it will come put and fight us if it hears us.
Opp: Of course it will, and it will eat us whole.

2/4
Knox: It's okay. I've got a rose bush.

Continued tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox THREE, page 1 (of 6)

Finally, we got around to taking some more pics. So here's the first page of the third, and last for now, Opportunity & Knox story.

Page ONE
Our heroes walking out of town, heading into the hills toward some mountains.

1/1
Opp: "I can't believe you said we'd go and kill the marauding dragon."
Knox: "It seemed the right thing to do. Don't worry."

1/2
Opp: "Don't worry?!? Of course I'm worrying. It's a dragon. It's killed a dozen heroes of renown. We're just a dwarf who's a bit tall and giant who's a bit short. We don't stand a chance."

1/3
Knox: "I have a plan."

1/4
Opp: "You have a plan? That's meant to make me feel better?"
Knox: "Yes."

1/5
Full width title frame.
Knox: "I promise you this dragon will be but a little problem, easily defeated."
TITLES
O&K THREE
Little Problem

Continued tomorrow ...

Opportunity & Knox TWO, an almost comic

All six pages in one post.

An 'almost comic' made by taking photos of various toys, mostly Playmobil, and then throwing them into the Mac's Comic Life software and manipulating the pics a little.

In this adventure our heroes, a tall dwarf and short giant, battle a cube of jelly, annoy a faerie, and look for a good pair of shoes.

We have started work on the third, and last for now, adventure of O&K. After that we are focused on making all 24 episodes of Utterly Rucked into an 'almost comic'.

Script: Opportunity & Knox TWO, page 5 (of 6)

This page has me holding a kitchen knife ... the ultimate in special effects.

The boots our heroes seek are actually from a Xena warrior princess toy that was found at the $2 shop with some other assorted warriors. Xena gave her life for this page, as we snipped the boots off her with a pair of scissors.

Page FIVE

5/1
One more frame of them making their way through the temple dungeon.
Knox: "Why was it is High-elven? Everything else was in the human low-tongue."

5/2
The see the boots on a dais/pedestal thing.
Opp: There they are. The Boots of Size Alteration. Just think what we can do with those.

5/3
Opp and Knox prodding the floor and checking for traps.
Opp: "It all looks safe enough.
Knox: "Hmm, I wonder if ... "

5/4
They creep forward, but step on something, a pressure plate, that makes a click
FX: (click)

5/5
They jump up just as a blade sweeps under them.
Knox: "Jump!"
FX: Swish!

5/6
They duck as another blade goes over their heads.
Knox: "Duck!"
FX: "Swish!"

Concluded tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox TWO, page 4 (of 6)

Epic photo-shoot today to get the last three pages done. We are a bit time-poor, as they say, just at the moment. However, we've started laying out the next episode already. There's work being done on Utterly Rucked. Some Playmobil has been acquired from various and cheap sources. Little rugby jerseys are being made ...

On top of all this we (well, mainly my wife) are also restoring an old guitar (a beat up Suzuki No.6), as well as all the day-to-day business that life brings.

Page FOUR

4/1
Large frame of some evil temple in the mid-distance with our two heroes standing looking at it. Multiple speech bubbles.

Opp: "So that's a temple?"
Knox: "Yup."
Opp: "What god is that for?"
Knox: "A bad one."
Opp: "They're all bad in some way."
Knox: "True enough."

4/2
The two heroes making their way past traps and skeletons and dungeon trash.
Knox: "I just wish we'd gotten that bit of text translated."

4/3
More of the same, they avoid some pit or something.
Knox: "I'm sure it's important."

Continued tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox TWO, page 1 (of 6)

The start of a second O&K 'almost comic' ... featuring jelly. You'll have to wait for page three to see the jelly.

If you bother to read the script you'll notice that even I don't stick to my own layout suggestions.

The overall plan is for this O&K story, then one more, then possibly a wee break while we get ready to do UTTERLY RUCKED as an 'almost comic' -- Rugby, Playmobil, Blood and Guts. If UR is looking like it might take a while to do (there's a demand for higher production values from those involved) I'll see if I can fill in with something else I've been working on, a police drama story with a Lovecraftian twist.

O&K TWO
Size Tens ... or The Epic Quest for the Boots of Size Alteration
Story: David Tulloch

Page ONE
Opportunity and Knox are in the house of Big Bertha to get a map translated. Bertha is a very skinny woman.
TITLES at the top (or bottom) of the page.
Opportunity & Knox
Two: Size Tens ... or The Epic Quest for the Boots of Size Alteration

1/1
Knox showing the very skinny Big Bertha a strange map with odd writing.
Knox: "Can you help us out, Big Bertha? We know the location is a temple but we need a translation of this bit of the map."

1/2
Knox and Bertha talking while Opportunity watches with a somewhat bemused and quizzical look.
Big Bertha: "Hmm, it's in High-elven."
Knox: "What's the difference from normal elven?"

1/3
Bertha makes a joke, Knox takes it all seriously. Opp looks on with confusion.
Big Bertha: "It's much more complex and long-winded ... I think elves write High-elven after taking lots of drugs.
Knox: "I see."

1/4
Opportunity has been watching this and now finally speaks up. Knox looks worried, and is trying to make that 'please stop' motion people make when they want someone to shut up.
Opp: "I don't get it? Why do they call you Big Bertha? You're as skinny as a rake."

Continued tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox ONE, page 6 (of 6)

Final page. Tomorrow I'll put up a click-through summary version, if I can work out how to do that.

The 'explosion' panel is rather lame when compared to the script directions, but laying out a whole townscape just for one picture seemed like a bad idea.

The photo-shoot for the next episode of O&K starts tomorrow, assuming the jelly sets in time.

There has been some pressure put upon me to do Utterly Rucked (see February's posts) as an 'Almost Comic'. That would be an epic undertaking, but seems to be gaining momentum. But that's for another month.

Page SIX
Three small panels at the top of the page to start with.

6/1
Our heroes sitting on the curb, dripping and slumped.
Opportunity: "So what's the plan now, Knox?"
Knox: '"First, my giant friend, we wait ... "

6/2
SImilar frame as before, but nothing happening.

6/3
As the previous frame.
Opportunity: "What are we waiting for?"

6/4
A large frame that shows the sewer manhole cover being blown sky high as some large explosion takes place in the sewers.
BOOM!
Knox: "Their torches to interact with ...
... the sewer gas I smelt down there."

6/5
Our heroes sitting on the curb again.
Knox: "... now we go and collect the dead rats."
Opportunity: "That's a really good plan."

6/6
Our two height-challenged heroes stand up and head towards the manhole opening.
Knox: "An' we're looting their bodies too. They should've known better than to laugh at a dwarf!"

END

Script: Opportunity & Knox ONE, page 5 (of 6)

Just got some Playmobil on TradeMe to help out with a planned story (next month?). Meanwhile, the green jelly has been acquired to make a prop for the next O&K story, the photo-shoot for that one will happen this weekend, we hope. A trip to the hardware store is planned to get some other props.

Are we taking this all a little too seriously? Nah ... we're having way too much fun.

Page FIVE
A group of heroic (and cliched) adventurers push past our heroes to go into the sewers themselves.

5/1
A group of aristocratic knight adventurers are heading into the sewers. They have lit torches, and are well kitted out with armour, weapons, etc.
Hero: "Make way, smelly peasants."

5/2
Knox: "Going into the sewers after the rat bounty, are ye?
Hero: "Why yes, we are."

5/3
Knox: "I wouldn't take those torches in if I was you.
Hero: "Why ever not? They light the way and the rats are frightened by fire."

5/4
The 'heroes' looking at Knox in disbelief.
Knox: "Just trust me. I'm a dwarf."

5/5
They all laugh at Knox.
(Laughter)

5/6
The heroes go down into the sewers, still chuckling at Knox. O&K watch them go.
Hero2: "A dwarf ... he's taller than me."
Hero1: "Absolute nonsense."

Concluded tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox ONE, page 4 (of 6)

Epic photo shoot today to do the last three pages of this strip. Having a one-year old in the mix made it a bit more epic than it should have been. My wonderful wife did most of the setup and photo-taking. I got to be artistic director and child-wrangler.

We modified some of the frames so they differ from the script directions, mostly for the sake of simplicity. We're going for something vaguely illustrative here, not exact.

Page FOUR
We start with three small frames at the top of the page.

4/1
A street scene in a fantasy town. Coaches, horses, knights, men-at-arms, etc. Make sure there's a manhole cover somewhere in the scene.

4/2
A manhole cover being shifted out from below.

4/3
Climbing out of the sewers hole come our heroes, dripping and bedraggled.

4/4
Our two heroes in the street with other people around them so we can see they are normal sized in comparison.
Opportunity: "I can't believe you got lost in the sewers."

4/5
Knox: "It was hard to keep track when running that fast."
Opportunity: "Yeah, but you're a dwarf. You were raised underground."

4/6
Another panel whose point is to show visually that they are both normal-sized in comparison to everyone else around them. You could even put in small-people, such as halflings and dwarfs, or some large beast like an orge, to add to this.
Knox: "So? You're a giant, Opportunity, yet one little ol' rat frightens you off.
Opportunity: "Little? That was big enough for my father to ride on.

Continued tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox ONE, page 3 (of 6)

This page of 'almost comic' contains my lame attempt to get some movement into the picture without actually doing anything time-consuming. I used parentheses. Does it make the page come alive? No. But I'm too lazy to start getting into photoshopping the pictures at this point.

Opportunity (the short giant) is using a large wooden spoon as a club, simply because it was the closest thing to a club we had in our Playmobil arsenal. We tried drumsticks, the handle of a morning star, and a tribal stick. I liked the spoon. My wife didn't, so she got to choose the helmet he wears.

It's also rather hard to make Playmobil look like they are running. Exit stage left chased by a toy rat.

Page THREE

3/1
The 'giant', Opportunity, wallops the giant rat square in the face with his over-sized club. Some suitable sound effect would be good here.

3/2
The rat snarling and foaming at the mouth, looking more vicious than ever.
Opportunity: "That just made it angry. What now?"

3/3
They flee. Maybe the two of them running, the rat behind them in all it's large, angry glory.
Knox: "Run!"

continued tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox ONE, page 2 (of 6)

This page shows the limitations of the 'taking photos of toys' approach to comic book visualization. This should be a dynamic action page with our heroes in mortal combat with a giant rat. Playmobil don't do dynamic that well. Nor does a crazy catnip-stuffed cat-toy mouse.

Still, it is odd and funny looking. Which is good enough for me.

Page TWO
A big fight page as 'dwarf' tries to block the rat and swing his axe, while the giant berates his companion. Make it action-packed, with them leaping and bits of the sewer being demolished by the rat, etc.

2/1
Opportunity: "A simple bounty on rats, you said."

2/2
Opportunity: "Just a quick in an out, you said."

2/3
Opportunity: "Easy money, you said."
Knox: "Well now I'm saying hit the damn rat."

continued tomorrow ...

Script: Opportunity & Knox ONE, page 1 (of 6)

Almost a comic page.

Below is the script for a new comic idea called Opportunity & Knox. Opportunity is a short giant. Knox is a tall dwarf. They fight monsters and stuff in a fantasy world. Hopefully some of it is funny.

Also included is the solution we have come up with to the absence of active drawing of any of my scripts. I may not have any artistic talent, but I do own a camera and a bunch of toys. My wonderful wife whipped up some backgrounds, dressed some Playmobil, found a toy rat, and helped orchestrate the photo-shoot.

So, this is the way forward, I hope. I'll still write and post scripts, but a page at a time, and with a silly photo-comic to illustrate it.

The photos are not meant to replace actual artwork, or even be accurate to the script. However, they are 'almost' a comic, so I can feel I'm almost a comic book writer.

We are already planning a shopping trip to get some specific Playmobil for the next story ...

Opportunity & Knox ONE
Big Rat

This is a swords and fantasy parody (yes, there are already too many of them) about the tallest dwarf and shortest giant. As such there is plenty of room in the artwork for visual jokes and small silly details. Such as half-visable graffiti proclaiming 'Groo is a mendicant", or a shop sign proclaiming to sell the One Ring. I can add in details if you like, or leave it up to your own sense of humour.

Disclaimer: Like anything I write, the panel breakdowns are just suggestions. The photo panels are really there as a bit of fun, they are not to be taken seriously. If you want to group some panels together so there are multiple speech bubbles, or break them apart so there are more panels with less words, feel free. Layout suggestions are just that. You're the artist, feel free to play with the layout.


Page ONE
Three smallish frames at the top, then a large title frame.

1/1
[ It begins with rats. It almost always begins with rats. ]
A rat with some stolen food in its mouth running into a sewer grate.

1/2
[ Rats are simple. ]
The rat running down a wide, tiled underground sewer

1/3
[ Rats are small. ]
The rat coming up to an archway that opens into something larger ...

1/4
[ ... most of the time. ]
Large Title frame. The rat is a bystander to a fight between our two heroes and a giant rat. The rat should be huge. Fending off the rat with his shield is Knox.
Knox is a dwarf, but is tall for his race, so is human-sized. He has a thick beard, wears chain mail, uses a shield and axe, and does other things like a dwarf, it's just that he grew tall. He is a tall dwarf.
Behind Knox is Opportunity, a short giant. He is also human-sized, but carries a large over-sized club and likes to throw rocks at things.
Together they form a size-themed fantasy fighting duo ... so it is appropriate that their first adventure pits them against a big rat.
Opportunity: "I thought you said this was gonna be easy, Knox?"
Knox: "Shut up an' hit it!"
TITLES
Opportunity & Knox
ONE: Big Rat

continued tomorrow ...