The second chapter of Woman of A.C.T.I.O.N. is live now at the Action Age! Click on through to read it, and get a special bonus pin-up from Mitz, the artist of Plan B: A Tale of Love, Revenge and Supervillainy!
The first chapter was devoted to introducing the characters and setting the stage, and while this one may be a bit shorter at seven pages, things definitely start to pick up as Penny meets the last few players in our story. But don’t read what I’ve got to say about it, go check it out for yourself, and then leave a comment here or on the Action Age to let us know what you think. And don’t forget, next week’s installment will include a letter-column, and while we’ve gotten a few great missives from the Action Agents so far, there’s room for a couple more!
And yes: You can print out, clip ‘n’ save Page 12 for your collection.
I’m not entirely sure how Penny managed a roundhouse kick in such close quarters, but I’m certain it doesn’t matter.
I love the henchmen gambling in the background. They look so happy!
Yeah, as much as I enjoyed this installment as a whole, I’m pretty much going to unconditionally love anything where a hot redhead spy roundhouse kicks a mad scientist in the head. So, thank you for creating a comic that makes that possible, Sims and friends. I’m sure Ed Brubaker appreciates it, too, as he’s no longer the only guy who can write those scenes in a given month. And yes, I feel completely comfortable speaking for Ed Brubaker here.
Hey Chris, did you hear about Jim Shooter writing Magnus for Dark Horse?
Oh. Shit. Those were SO GI Joe filecards.
And Penny totally punched out the cameraman who took her picture, apparently.
Also, I have an unabashed love of those kinds of villains. Aristocratic almost-Nazis with monacles and “von” in their name will never go out of style. And he has Destro wrist rockets? That fucking rocks.
Woo-hoo!
(too sleepy to think of anything more clever, but still wanted to show support)
Good stories make me smile.
Great stories make me cheer.
Stories like these make me punch myself for not coming up with an idea as fundamentally brilliant as a supervillain gambling resort.
And something tells me I’ll be doing that a lot with this and the other Action Age titles. Kudos!
A holiday resort for super-villians.
Out. Standing.
Let me be the first to demand a “Gustav und Lars: Agents of D.E.A.T.H.” one-shot. If you make a holiday special I’ll squee with delight.
Seriously.
Squee.
This is crap. I want pictures. Pictures of Spider-Man!
This, sir, is AWESOME. If I could buy it I would.
And I think Adler is saying he would pay for it if it wasn’t free.
This comic is so awesome that comic book readers WANT TO PAY FOR IT.
so her brother is David Tennant?
AWESOME.
You’re in luck. Sims and I are considering printing it by the end of September.
This is now on my must-read list. How did you manage to create a comic with all of my favorite things in it? Have you been sending tiny robot spiders to read the energy signature of my brainwaves from inside my ear while I sleep, Mr. Sims? Again?
Yes, Rex, that is what I am saying. I would hand over my hard-earned monies to buy a physical copy of something I can already get for free. I doubt I’m the only one, either. I think that Warren Ellis has already proven this is a valid strategy with “FreakAngels,” which I’m led to believe also sells decently in print.
I’d buy this. Especially if it meant Solomon Stone might make it to an (un)deadtree edition eventually.
I think that Warren Ellis has already proven this is a valid strategy with “FreakAngels,†which I’m led to believe also sells decently in print.
To be fair, Warren Ellis also spent the last two decades cultivating an intensely loyal readership whose (not unwarranted) devotion to his style has allowed him to basically do whatever he wants and be assured that he’s got a built-in audience.
I, however, am a dirt-poor comic shop wageslave.
Details, details! He did it and so can you.
Count me among those who would pay for this even after reading it free.
…I love the henchmen gambling in the background. They look so happy!
Except maybe for the guy being electrocuted on page 5! But I love them, too.
Chris P, was the electrocution in the script, or was it your idea? Either way, I like it. This is probably a better question for the Action Age site than the ISB, but I’m curious about the process you guys use. I’m inferring (perhaps wrongly) from comments made that Chris S doesn’t write the kind of detailed shooting scripts that someone like Bendis uses, where camera angles and panels are all laid out in minute detail. I imagine your process being closer to the old-school Marvel “writer=writer; penciller=director” kind of model than the modern “writer=director; penciller=cinematographer” style.
I write full scripts, though I try not to get into too many “camera” details, as the artist is usually better at picking those out than someone who doesn’t think quite as visually. To use the example you pointed out, the stuff I write tends to look like this:
PANEL ONE
Killswitch walks through the casino, with Penny and her keepers following behind. He gestures around him, and we can see that one of the D.E.A.T.H. Agents using one of the slot machines is being electrocuted in the background.
KILLSWITCH: ELECTRO-SHOCK SLOT MACHINES! LASER CRAPS! I haff even found a vay to incorporate a PIRANHA TANK into ze game of BACCARAT.
KILLSWITCH: After its completion, Casino Morte vill be ze PREMIER resort destination for ze Devoted Emissaries of Avarice, Tyranny und Hatred und our allies who seek to play ze world’s DEADLIEST games!
Even though I do a full script, the artists I’ve worked with tend to add a lot, especially Smithy, who comes up with some great visual gags in Solomon Stone. Piers, for example, brought a suggestion to the table that I’m hoping to use centrally in the second (hopeful) Woman of ACTION story. I’m too in love with the sound of my own voice to do things old-school Marvel style, though I think Chad’s done stories like that for FlashBack, if not Action Age.
Now you know.
Neat! Thanks for the glimpse behind-the-scenes! I knew there was more to it than you just cracking a whip, yelling “DRAW HARDER, DAMMIT!”
Yes, but not MUCH more.
As I said on FB, this is more brilliance. From the deadly casino gear to Penny’s world-weary expression and Lars and Gunther, it is a perfect comic book.
Speaking on the script tip, it is a bit easier process working the way Chris and Chad have laid out since it’s fairly descriptive enough and especially with the dialogue attached it tends to lend to the expressions matching up to the words moreso. It’s a lot easier to visualize how a character’s face should look when you know the words and where to put the emphasis on rather than “character is visibly angry” as a cue.
Caught up on both chapters, and dig the hell outta this.
I like how the bit between Penny and her boss is straight outta some 80’s cop movie.
And I’ll second the love for the casino of doom. Great stuff!
Just wonderful to be able to read this. Thanks for putting so much effort into a this – every single page was a pure job.
Thank you, Mr. Sims.
Well, that compliment came out sounding a lot less kindly then it was meant.
The difference between an “y” and a “j” after “jo” is pretty tremendous.
The full scripts are nice because often Chris will put in little jokes in the panel descriptions that no one will see in the actual comic. It makes me feel special.
Of course Chris says that the whipping and shouting should make me feel special too…
One thing you have to do as an artist is to figure out which parts of the script are superfluous. For instance, in the first draft there was an 8-page scene where Penny bumped into a schlub in the casino named Chris Sams. She instantly fell in love and seduced him. It didn’t move the plot forward so I didn’t draw it.
“The Lacy Underzings” would be a great bandname.
It’s going to be in the Absolute Edition, Piers.