Slow Down, Pay Off, a Warm Winter and a Fez

ADVENTURES IN PULP WRITER'S COMMENTARY

DICK RUBY AND THE CASE OF THE LITTLE GREEN MEN PAGE 10

http://adventuresinpulp.com/dick-ruby-page-10/

            We slow down for a minute to start the build up to the finale. This was around the time I pointed out to Matt that it was January in New York. You'll note that Dick is trying to keep warm without his jacket and a little boy is wearing a pretty heavy coat.  Beyond the date, I never mentioned weather or any cold imagery in the script so, in retrospect, I should have scripted specific elements to remind Matt to keep it cold looking.

            Matt added an additional panel stretching out the recovery of the weapon which gives the moment added weight.

            Another set up from page six plays out here. On page six I had Dick say, "I realize I've grown a tail. I manage to lose it on the way to my office, making only one quick stop along the way." The stop was to hide the weapon. I hoped it would go under the radar and that readers would think the reason he did not use the weapon in the office when the aliens came after him was because they got the drop on him but in actuality, he didn't use it because he didn't have it with him.

            One of the very few times Matt deviated from the script and it didn't work for me was in the last panel. Originally scripted as: "Close on Ruby in as the elevator doors are closing." I wanted to end the page with a beat that Dick was now determined to turn the tables. He was going to stop re-acting and start acting. I wanted to see the determination on his face. To be fair to Matt, I should have been more specific and less vague, but I must confess that I was spoiled by how intuitive Matt is to emotion when he was drawing "Jigsaw World." So naturally once I had a close shot on Ruby and the accompanying dialogue the way it read, I assumed he would get it, but the fault is mine not his. Like I said on the page three commentary, if there was no change to the intent of the scene (it's still there in the narration), and the change didn't effect the plot, so there was no reason to request a change of the artist. It's a collaborative medium. That was his take on the way to close out the page. Please don't think I'm dismissing what he did, ending the page with Dick in motion creates an urgency that virtually propels you to the next page. Apples meet oranges.

            Matt and I are both fans of "Doctor Who" so when I saw the elevator attendant wearing a fez and a bow tie, I immediately called him and said (in an absolutely horrid Matt Smith voice): "Fezzes are cool."