Well that was real mature...

Well that was real mature...

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Epilogue, Part 2: Fitting Finale (aka Cheap Word Play)

ADVENTURES IN PULP WRITER'S COMMENTARY

HAWK AND A HANDSAW PAGE 13

            Our final page, goes as scripted. Three simple panels. We start with a bang. Matt does a fantastic job with the action here. For a claustrophobic story with a lot of action taking place off panel, I knew I wanted one big action moment.

            Next in panel two, we see our parody of the original Captain Marvel. I think any abused kid in the world would LOVE to be able to say a word and turn the tables on their abusers (I know quite a few adults who would like ringside seats to such an event). There is something really satisfying about the switch here. Originally, I scripted the scene with Commander Miracle as an adult still in torn children's clothes, but at some point Matt and I agreed that he should be full on hero. You can see him picking up the saw which was clearly set up on panel one of the last page.

            We get to the final panel. I gotta tell ya, it is perfect. We see that the title of the story was much more than just the quote from Hamlet (as discussed on page ten), there was a double meaning. We have Hawk (Knight Hawk) and a Handsaw (or in this case a bone saw). It was a cheap naming joke to end on, but so was naming a pedophile Dr. Peters. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it. I frequently warn writers that no matter how much you write, it will never look the same as in your head. Matt achieved the unachievable here. It is EXACTLY as I imagined it. He nailed it. Our second story came to a close with a very satisfying note of perfection.
 
            That's it for the "Adventures in Pulp" commentaries for a while. I will do one for our next story "Four Horsemen" starting the weekend after it wraps. "For Horsemen" begins TOMORROW at adventuresinpulp.com. Until then, I will still periodically post about random things I find interesting. In between you can find me on twitter @BrettTHarris.

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