SCRIPTS  16

             TOM STRONG : MOONDAY

                         SECOND DRAFT  - by Peter Hogan

CHRIS :  As the title hints, we’re off to the moon for this one … and for most of it, our heroes will be wearing spacesuits. Now you could use the same suits that we’ve seen before (in # 14) or else maybe they could be red this time ? It’s up to you, but I just think a bit of colour might brighten things up, given that we’ve got an entire issue set mainly against a background of lunar dust ! Svetlana will be wearing one of the Strongs’ spare suits, while Dimi’s suit should definitely be a different colour, and/or more like the one Svetlana wore in TERRIFIC TALES # 2.

(art by Italian comics artist Claudio Villa.
This illustration was included in the "Alan Moore:
Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman" book (Abiogenesis Press)." )

For the 1949 flashback, it’d be nice if Tom’s spacesuit – and maybe the Hypersaucer as well – were early prototypes, a bit clunky/awkward and not so streamlined. The saucer could be more basic, more like a ‘classic’ Adamski-style flying saucer. And maybe this interlude could look a bit like EC-era Wally Wood. Just a thought ! IMPORTANT ! Tom’s 1949 spacesuit should have his triangle insignia featured quite prominently on his chest – maybe even as much as on his normal shirt. Ideally, this should be the case with his present-day spacesuit as well.

  A word about lighting : if you look at photos taken on the moon, it’s obvious that there are only three light sources : (a) the Sun, which is a lot brighter than we see it on Earth, since there’s no atmosphere there ; (b) the Earth, which is probably comparable to moonlight as we see it here ; and (c) whatever light source has been brought along with them by the astronauts. The result of that is that – deprived of the first two light

  sources – only a limited amount of ground is visible, in a pool of light. A bit like shining a flashlight in a desert at night. The reason I mention this is that it gives a really bleak, desolate and eerie feel, and it’d be nice to convey some of that, rather than have everything brightly lit. And maybe the flashback should be paler and bleaker than the present-day stuff, just to convey a slightly different mood.

  The only other suggestions I have is that for the Apollo 11 stuff and general atmosphere you should maybe check out some reference (there’s a good book of NASA moon photos titled FULL MOON) and that maybe the cover could be a pastiche of the Tintin ‘Explorers On The Moon’ book … And if you want an excuse to watch Kubrick’s 2001 again, the moon scenes in that are very evocative (I thought).

  TODD : We’ll be needing crackly/radio speech balloons throughout, whenever anyone’s in a spacesuit. And for the 1949 flashback, it might be nice to have some EC or Eisner-style lettering. 

Okay, off we go :

MOONDAY/3

PAGE ONE

Five slimline horizontal panels, each showing an identical view : Earthrise over the lunar horizon. Earth’s quite low in the sky (there are some famous shots of this from one of the Apollo missions, so I’m sure you can find reference quite easily).

Dialogue all comes from below the lunar horizon – Val and Tesla are the speakers here, and they’re both off-panel below this view. 

Panel 1.

Is a silent panel.

Panel 2.

VAL (off) : IT LOOKS VERY ROMANCEFUL …

Panel 3

TESLA (off) : Hmmm ?

TESLA (off) : OH, YOU MEAN THE EARTH.

Panel 4.

TESLA (off) : WELL, YEAH, IN OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES I’D PROBABLY AGREE, BUT THIS REALLY ISN’T THE TIME …

TESLA (off) : AND THE WORD IS ‘ROMANTIC’. PASS ME THAT SOCKET WRENCH, WOULD YOU ?

MOONDAY/4 

Panel 5.

TESLA (off) : THERE.

TESLA (off) : THAT SHOULD FIX IT.

MOONDAY/5 

PAGE TWO

Panel 1.

Full-page shot of Tesla and Val on the moon. In fact, they’re in the Sea of Tranquility, right by the place where the Eagle landed. And they’re slightly separated – Tesla is standing by the sensor she’s just assembled (more explanation in a minute), while Val is examining all the Apollo 11 stuff that got left behind : the Eagle LEM descent module, the artificially-stiffened U.S. flag and other debris (they abandoned their boots and backpacks, and various other bits and pieces). Here we could have Val curiously touching the flag. Now, I’ve no idea what the module bit that got left behind looks like, but maybe the NASA website has some info.

Near Tesla is the sensor : an odd radio dish/aerial thing, which is one of several sensors she and Tom are planting all over the moon. These things are bio-sensors, created to detect (a) movement and/or (b) living organisms, or possibly even a dead living organism. So, have fun designing one !

I’ll leave it up to you which of them is in the foreground. Finally, we also want to see the star-sleigh parked nearby – and it should have another one of those sensors (folded up, probably) strapped to the side of it.

TESLA : HELLO, DAD ?

TESLA : YEAH, WE’VE PLANTED THE SENSOR HERE, SO WE’RE ABOU TO LEAVE TRANQUILITY AND HEAD FOR THE SEA OF CRISES. 

TESLA : WE’LL CALL AGAIN WHEN WE’RE THERE.

TITLE : MOONDAY

PLUS CREDITS

PAGE THREE

Panel 1.

Smallish close-up of Val looking puzzled, maybe with head slightly on one side. 

VAL : WHY ARE THEY CALLED SEAS WHEN THERE IS NO WATER ?

Panel 2.

Medium two-shot : Tesla’s in the background, walking towards Val ; he’s in the foreground, and is pointing at the plaque on the side of the LEM.

TESLA : BECAUSE THEY LOOK DARK FROM THE EARTH, SO ANCIENTASTRONOMERS THOUGHT THEY MIGHT BE SEAS.

TESLA : I GUESS THE NAME JUST STUCK.

VAL : AND THESE WORDS … THEY ARE TRUE ?

MOONDAY/7 

Panel 3

Medium : a close-up of that plaque. I couldn’t find any actual reference for it, but I’m sure it must exist somewhere. I seem to remember that below the inscription it was signed by all the Apollo astronauts, and by Richard M. Nixon, which is kind of ironic (his name could even survive the destruction of the Earth). That aspect doesn’t really matter here, so you could just cut it off below the inscription.

PLAQUE : HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON

THE MOON

PLAQUE : JULY 1969 A.D.

PLAQUE : WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND.

TESLA (off) : YEAH, KIND OF …

Panel 4.

Medium close-up of Tesla, serious and impressed. 

TESLA : OF COURSE, DAD WAS HERE TWENTY YEARS EARLIER, BUT  THAT WAS A SECRET … AND ANYWAY, IT DOESN’T TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM WHAT THESE GUYS DID.

TESLA : THEY FLEW UP HERE IN THIS, LIKE, REALLY PRIMITIVE BUCKET. IT MUST HAVE TAKEN REAL GUTS …

MOONDAY/8

Panel 5

Smallish two-shot : maybe a rear view, as they approach/mount the star sleigh. Tesla in the lead – she’d be driving.

VAL : BUCKET IS LIKE ROCKET ?

TESLA : I JUST MEANT THEY KIND OF ROUGHED IT.

TESLA : OKAY, ENOUGH TOURIST STUFF – WE’D BETTER GET MOVING AGAIN. 

PAGE FOUR

Panel 1.

Medium/large panel : We’re inside the Hypersaucer, where Tom is kneeling, making some adjustments to one of those sensors. Nearby, Svetlana is seated at a control panel, flipping overhead switches. She looks worried/concerned, trying to simply focus on what she’s doing.

TOM : JUST TWO MORE SENSORS TO PLANT, AND THEN WE CAN ACTIVATE THE BIO-GRID.

TOM : WE WILL FIND HIM, SVETLANA.

Panel 2.

Smallish two-shot : Tom with an eyebrow raised and/or the merest suspicion of a wry smile. He’s now standing behind Svetlana, who is worried/grouchy.

TOM : THOUGH IT WOULD HELP IF HE’D LEFT SOME CLUE AS TO WHERE HE WAS GOING …

SVETLANA : YOU KNOW DIMI – ALWAYS THE ALONE WOLF.

MOONDAY/10 

Panel 3.

Medium close-up of Svetlana, suddenly exploding with anger, banging one fist into the palm of her other hand.

SVETLANA : VNYEBRACHNYI LITTLE COSSACK ! HE WON’T EVEN CARRY A CELL PHONE … 

SVETLANA : SO THIS TIME I MAKE HIM PROMISE …

SVETLANA : YOU GO TO THE DAMN MOON, YOU CALL HOME LIKE E.T. EVERY NIGHT, I TELL HIM. 

Panel 4.

Smallish close-up of Svetlana, now much quieter, as if the outburst has taken a lot out of her.

SVETLANA : AND HE DOES, UNTIL YESTERDAY …

SVETLANA : THEN NOTHING. IT IS LIKE HE JUST VANISH INTO SKINNY AIR.  SO I CALL YOU …

MOONDAY/11 

Panel 5.

Medium two-shot : Both are now standing up, Svetlana with head bowed, low-level anger again, maybe busying herself with something ; Tom making some comforting gesture – maybe squeezing her shoulder. 

TOM : AND I’M HAPPY TO HELP. YOU KNOW THAT.

SVETLANA : WHEN WE FIND HIM, I WILL GIVE HIM SUCH A BIT OF MY, BRAIN FOR SCARING ME LIKE THIS.

SVETLANA : IF HE IS NOT ALREADY DEAD, I MAY KILL HIM.