Plotting the Fate of a little Town in Ohio

As I've said before, I've been writing ACTION, OHIO ever since it was old enough to cry. The story's gone through multiple iterations since it's inception, but at it's heart it's always been about hiding the truth and sacrificing freedom in order to save the world.

To me, that's also at the heart of what drives many good superheroes - whether it's abstaining from relationships or wearing masks to protect the ones they love or even setting limits on their fantastic abilities, doing what they can to even blot out their gifts (and curses) for the sake of mankind. But how can you and I, the average Joes and Janes, relate to something like that? We don't have powers to hide. We don't have secret identities. What do we know about sacrificing for the greater good?

That's what I want to explore with our heroine, Andrea Bruce. Andi, a tough-talking Detroit homicide detective who appears on the very next page of our comic (she actually shows up on page eight, but her dialogue and story start on page nine!), has not always been a tough-talking homicide detective. She's been a reporter, forced to rein in her devotion to the freedom of the press. She was a hero's daughter, keeping herself in exile from town and friends so that she didn't accidentally spill the beans. But all of those seemed forced to me... and when Paul and I sat down to really hammer out our outline, we decided that Andi, our window into a world of amazing people with amazing abilities, not only had to sacrifice beliefs and ideas throughout the story, but also discovers what it means to be a hero in every sense of the word. From the tough decisions to the triumphant victories, Andi - a woman who enters our story without much use for 'heroes' - learns that any one of us can be one - you, me, her, them.

Why Ohio? I'm from Michigan (Detroit, do or die) and have spent most of my life in and around the Upper Midwest states - Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, parts of Pennsylvania. Though I've been a New Yorker since before Y2K, the Midwest sticks with me, flat accent, love for Faygo Pop, Tigers ball cap and all. Though tempted to set our tale in Detroit, I felt using any major city would take away the wonder and the small town aura Action was going to present. I needed - no, craved - screen doors, cut lawns and hidden woods. General stores and schoolhouses that, long ago, only taught a single class. Sure - this is a town that's kept up with the times. They're wireless and up on current events, but they also dig a nice ice cream soda down at the soda shop and pick up their papers from the newsagent (newsagents of s.h.i.e...?). I chose Ohio for this reason alone; it's flat. Ohio, to yours truly... a driver of Interstate 75, I-80 and the like... has always been the longest stretch of highway with nothing but cornfields, wheat, trees and truck stops. When driving from Detroit to New York, I tend to bear down when hitting the Buckeye State and ready myself for a long four hour haul until I hit Pennsylvania's mountains and some ground that isn't PERFECTLY. LEVEL. Miles and miles of country radio stations mixed with identical rest stops featuring Starbucks, gift shops, Boston market and eight vending machines. It's forever. Forever and several miles. And it's the perfect place to hide if you're a superhero because, dear lord, most people just want to drive on through.

Not to say there aren't great parts of Ohio - like Liz Lemon, I love the Cleve. I dig drinking in Berwick when in Columbus and I've been to the Air museum in Dayton (quick Ohio joke - where's Engagement, Ohio? Between Dayton and Marion!) Cedar Point in Sandusky is one of my favorite theme parks but you have to admit - if you're from Bowling Green, Youngstown or even good ol' Cincy - there's a LOT of land and most of it is flat, green and dull.

Quiet town, driven heroine, secret superheroes. Nice mix, right? Well, what about you? What about the folks who aren't central to the story... the folks who discover there are superheroes living nearby? One of the things that really interested me with Action's premise was how the world would react. Obviously, the military would jump at the chance to recruit these superhumans while the government would want to examine them — all the sci-fi cliches and Stephen King horror stories would descend on our little Ohio hamlet. Let's step back further: public relations firms? Hollywood? The comic book companies — especially the companies that have been putting out books BASED on these people's lives?! Wouldn't they claim ownership, to some extent? And most importantly to you and I... how would the comic book FANS react?

Here we are, in a day and age where (who would've ever thought?!) a comic book fan is bombarded by posters, billboards, ads and endorsements featuring their favorite hero or heroine — Batman, Iron Man, Hulk, Spidey, Superman, The Spirit and more. I drive down the West Side Highway and there, big as life and four stories high, is the gleaming mug of the Golden Avenger. blocks away, grinning from the side of the building, is the screaming mad smile of the Joker. Doesn't it feel like superheroes are here? Isn't it slightly surreal?

Imagine if they did, kids. Imagine if CNN revealed the existence of these men and women, these heroes and heroines, and then moments later one of them streaked across the sky? How would you react? Would you run to the internet or would you read about them in tabloids?

And, worse, knowing years of history - of secret crises and world devourers and final nights and insane genocidal clowns - wouldn't you want to run beneath your bed and hide?

THESE are the questions this story will explore, should we get the chance. These are questions we'll ask together starting on page nine.

Hey - would you like to read three pages of abandoned script? Sure you would! Here's a few pages I wrote when I was playing around with Andi's introduction. It's still fairly heavy on the captions and mood, and I have long since decided to revise, but I thought you, our intrepid reader, might appreciate it. Enjoy!

Page 1 (SPLASH)

SPLASH
EXT. DETROIT ALLEY - NIGHT
Shot of Detective ANDREA BRUCE, kneeling in a dark alley in her leather coat and bloodstained jeans, cradling a small boy – her brother, in fact – in her arms as his blood seeps out from between her fingers and onto the ground. We’re looking down at her, as if standing to one side like a passive viewer, and we see that we’re actually in a circle of anonymous costumed heroes, ringing Detective Bruce and her brother. We can’t see much of the heroes – boots, capes, leggings, etc. But it boils down to this – a boy died, and none of these heroes were able to help.

CAP: THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS HEROES.


Page 2 (5 PANELS)

PANEL ONE
Shot of several gang bangers holding out their guns, pointing them at us, angry and menacing. We see the heroes behind them – there, but darker than them, grayer… like shades that cannot stop what’s to come.

CAP: NO SAVIORS. NO ROLE MODELS.

CAP: ONLY VILLAINS.

PANEL TWO
Reverse angle – we see Andrea’s brother is alive now, standing in front of her, protecting her as he moves to confront the gang. He’s got be all of seventeen, attitude and bluster. She’s on her knees, trying to get him to stop, to come back, to stop from dying again… but he slips from her fingers. And silently watching, the heroes stand behind them, a wall of silent sinners.

CAP: ONLY HEARTBREAK.

PANEL THREE
Andrea’s brother is pushed around by the gangbangers as she gets to her feet. She’s unprepared, out of her element. The heroes walk towards Andrea’s brother as the gang bangers start to whale on him with bats and crowbars … but their faces are blank and silent.

CAP: THE DREAMS RECUR, DESPERATE AND TERRIBLE, TRAGIC VISIONS I CAN’T LET GO.

CAP: EVERY NIGHT, MY BROTHER FIGHTS THE ODDS—

PANEL FOUR
Different angle as Andrea tries to get her gun out, but she fumbles with the clasp, still down on the ground.

CAP: — AND EVERY NIGHT, I HELP HIM LOSE.

PANEL FIVE
Andrea pushes her way through the heroes, the slate grey, indistinguishable heroes, to get to her brother in the center of the melee.

CAP: SOMEWHERE, SOMEONE CALLS FOR HELP. BEGS SOMEBODY TO SAVE HER.

CAP: AFTER, HEART HAMMERING INSIDE MY CHEST, I’LL REALIZE IT WAS ME.


Page 3 (5 PANELS)

PANEL ONE
Andrea reaches her brother through the golem-like heroes, and grabs his shoulder to spin him away from the clutching, pummeling hands of the thugs.

CAP: I’VE NEVER BELIEVED IN HEROES. I BELIEVE IN ME

CAP: MY STRENGTHS, MY WEAKNESSES. MY LAUGHABLE IDEALS AND MY SECRET, SELFISH DESIRES.

CAP; I BLAME MYSELF FOR NEVER BEING THERE WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT.

PANEL TWO
The heroes crowd in and separate her from her brother, pull her back, away from his reaching fingers.

CAP: AND FOR ALWAYS BEING THERE WHEN THE TIME IS WRONG.

SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ

PANEL THREE
Andrea is dragged from her brother, back into a sea of silent heroes. Her fingers reach towards us, stretching and screaming for her brother.

CAP: MICAH, MY YOUNGER BROTHER, DIED TEN YEARS AGO, SHOT IN THE HEART ON HIS WAY TO A MOVIE.

CAP: IF I’D BEEN THERE, MAYBE HE WOULDN’T FILL MY NIGHTMARES.

SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ

PANEL FOUR
Andrea is pulled deeper and deeper into the sea of costumed heroes.

CAP: IF I’D BEEN THERE, MAYBE I WOULD DREAM OF HEROES.

SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ

PANEL FIVE
INT. ANDREA’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
It’s dark and lonely. Andrea is sitting up in bed, the covers thrown back. Her apartment is messy and tossed about, hockey gear mixed with clothes and a backpack. Her jacket is thrown over the other side of her bed. The window is open behind her and we can see out past her fire escape into the grimy, filthy moonlight. Her cell phone, sitting on a nightstand, is ringing and that’s what’s been buzzing all this time.

CAP: INSTEAD OF WAKING TO FAILURE.

SFX: BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZ