FAILED-PROJECT FRIDAY: EMPOWERED AND THE MASK CITY MELTDOWN (pt.5): Issue #1 roughs & script, pp.1-6! (Patreon)

Time to begin serializing my roughs and script for an abortive two-part Guest Artist miniseries titled Empowered and the Mask City Meltdown, which  I initially wrote with one particular artist in mind back in 2017 or  so; alas, that first artist didn't end up working on it, so I pitched it to the excellent artist Rob "Robaato" Porter, who had earlier colored a  bunch of Emp covers for me.

After Rob had to turn it down, I abandoned the project entirely, though I did briefly consider drawing it myself as part of Empowered vol. 12, a plan which was soon abandoned in turn as I had no interest whatsoever in drawing all the many, many urban environments this story would've required.

And now, without further ado, our first installment of roughs and script from Empowered and the Mask City Meltdown issue #1:

PAGE 1

PANEL 1

Both issues of this miniseries alternate between two very different narrative modes. With this page (and p.2), we kick off the first storytelling technique: Namely, a so-called "STORYBOOK" approach of illustrative, borderless vignettes, as opposed to the sharply defined panels used in the other ongoing narrative thread (see page 3). LETTERING NOTE: Also playing up the fairy-tale feel is that the STORYBOOK pages feature no dialogue, but only a series of narrative text "captionless captions"; as per a STORYBOOK approach, we just see text (using both upper and lower case) against a white BG, without a outlined caption box or word balloon. You can leave open spaces for the narration to go, or the letterer can insert the text with white (diffused-edge?) space behind it.

Our first image of the page's series of borderless vignettes features a panoramic shot, with a tight close-up on the wide-eyed, exhilarated face of "CIVILIAN EMP"; that is, on this page we're seeing EMPOWERED before she became a superhero, here wearing the conventional, casual civilian clothes of your choice; nothing stunningly fashionable, but reasonable for a 22-ish young woman arriving in the big city. In this first shot, though, we just see her face up close, blue eyes wide, blonde hair loose around her joyful-looking, grinning face as she looks upward and off-panel. In the background ("BG" hereafter) on either side of the image, the soft-focus images of CITY BUILDINGS loom in the distance, possibly framed against a skyscrape of blue sky and clouds.

Note that the timeframe for pp.1-2 is daylight; could be a "golden hour" morning shot, to make the scene even more idealized. Hell, we might even see rays of sunlight streaming past her face, if you like; maybe even a few sparkly "GLITTER FX" to convey the magic of the moment for CIVILIAN EMP.

NARRATOR (AT LEFT; MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED BALLOON OR CAPTION BOX)

Once upon a time...

(continued)

(...okay, fine, two years ago...)

NARRATOR (AT RIGHT; MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

...the City of Masks welcomed a girl named Elissa.

PANEL 2

Big panel (or "image," given that the term "panel" does imply defined borders for me) showing CIVILIAN-CLOTHES EMP drinking in the sight of her rather peculiar CITY for the first time. An exaggerated worm's-eye-view camera angle shows her full-figure as she stands looking up at the CITY BUILDINGS all around her, while a diverse assortment of other urban passersby drift past her, oblivious to the beauty she apparently sees. EMP looks deliriously happy as she cranes her neck back to look up; she's dressed in the (reasonably) stylish "civilian wear" of your choice, with no sign of her SUPERSUIT as yet. Note that she could be standing on the sidewalk, or out in an open (plaza?) area or crosswalk. In any event, a bright blue sky with clouds indicates this is daytime; could be a "golden hour" morning shot, to make the scene even more idealized.

The setting gives a bit of a Times Square feel, as several of the BUILDINGS looming over her sport big, prominent, video-board SIGNS displaying faux advertisements of various sorts. The tricky bit, here, is that EMP will perceive that the CITY is addressing her throughout the story via such SIGNS sporting ad messages with suspiciously serendipitous content. Sometimes-- maybe most times-- you can leave these open for just text to be added by the letterer, but occasionally we'll see art elements as part of the SIGNS' ads, for that Blade Runner/ Times Square feel. Here, one sign displays a random SUPERHERO making a thumbs-up gesture to the camera, with the text "WELCOME TO THE BIG CITY, KID" next to him or her.

A few more elements make it clear that this is no ordinary CITY. For one thing, we see the wee figures of several random, cape-flapping SUPERHEROES flying overhead to and fro around and above the BUILDINGS; you might even fit in the distant, airborne form of the giant metallic winged snake "MECHZACOATL," as seen in Empowered vol.1, p.176.

Another anomalous element, though it might not yet seem all that bizarre, is that we see several of the BUILDINGS are in states of apparent reconstruction. As the narration will make clear shortly, this CITY is the ultimate sandbox for superheroes because its often-damaged (or outright destroyed) structures are able to magically restore themselves in a matter of a week or so. Here, we see the skeletonized forms of a few self-restoring BUILDINGS as they reassemble themselves from bare girder frameworks to gradually pieced-together facades, perhaps with a scattering of sparkly "GLITTER FX" around the renewing structural members to hopefully emphasize the unearthly nature of the reconstruction.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

Upon seeing the wondrous city for the first time...

(continued)

...Elissa was exhilarated.

(continued)

She was terrified.

(continued)

She was, technically speaking, spazzing out.

SIGN ON BUILDING

Welcome to the big city, kid.

SIGN ON BUILDING

Let's begin, shall we?

PANEL 3

Close-up on CIVILIAN EMP looking up into the camera with a look of wide-eyed exhilaration and adoration, while impassive urban passersby stream by her. For extra emphasis, you might have sparkly "GLITTER FX" or the like around her, for a manga-like "emotionally expressive" visual riff; or, come to think of it, a few cartoons hearts floating around her.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

Elissa had fallen in love, you see.

(continued)

With the city, that is.

PANEL 4

Panoramic image. Up-angled shot, with CIVILIAN EMP at FG left, in profile as she looks up happily (with cartoon hearts again?) to see a series of the CITY BUILDINGS magically regenerating themselves as they loom (in 3-point perspective) in the BG. A few more faux-advertisement SIGNS appear on the self-restoring structures, helpfully echoing the sentiment of the narration. Meanwhile, the wee figures of several more random SUPERHEROES are flying hither and yon in the blue sky beyond, capes-a flapping as they zip about.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

This was love at first sight, even though the city wasn't looking its best while spontaneously regenerating itself after a disastrous crossover.

SIGN ON BUILDING

Pardon our mess!

SIGN ON BUILDING

Reconstruction will be completed by Tuesday. Sorry for the inconvenience!

PAGE 2

PANEL 1

Another STORYBOOK page of illustrative, borderless vignettes. Here, a montage of civilian EMP's imagined life fills up the top half of the page. I'll describe the elements as (mostly) separate panels, but arrange this montage material as you see fit.

In the FG of this up-angled image, CIVILIAN EMP (same outfit as page 1) looks dreamily happy, perhaps clasping her hands together in an exaggerated gesture of joy and satisfaction. She's imagining herself as a superhero, which we see as another image in the BG beyond her. This is IMAGINARY SUPERHERO EMP, whose practical, "non-cheesecakey" costume looks much, much different from her real-life SUPERSUIT; think "Batgirl of Burnside," though perhaps a fair bit goofier and more eclectic. Hair up in a ponytail and sporting a mask that shows her eyes (unlike her SUPERSUIT mask), IMAGINARY EMP wears a superhero outfit shows little skin, skewing towards modern sportswear, if not body armor. Over a bodysuit, she's wearing a leather jacket under a long, flowing cape, with heavy (chromed?) Doc Marten boots completing the ensemble.

Via an appropriately dramatic if not Alex Ross-ian up-angled shot, IMAGINARY SUPERHERO EMP is depicted in flight, with energy glowing around her clenched, gloved fists, a smirk of serene confidence on her masked face. She's framed against a backdrop of blue sky and clouds (perhaps with a passing bird or two in flight nearby), with a few city buildings looming in the middleground beyond her.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

More accurately, Elissa was in love with her imagined life in the city.

(continued)

This, she dreamed, would be a life of superheroic adventure and challenges bravely overcome.

PANEL 2

Here, an image of superheroic camaraderie, with IMAGINARY SUPERHERO EMP laughing amid a friendly group of her fellow "capes." They're fellow members of the SUPERHOMEYS team, as seen elsewhere in the issue: The towering CAPITAN RIVET and equally tall MECHANISMO loom in the back row, while the shorter MAJOR HAVOC, blobby GLORPP and diminutive DWARF! are on either side of EMP; we might also see SISTAH SPOOKY and SYNDABLOKK in the shot, if space allows. A manga-style "emotional background" motif might surround them all, to further emphasize the friendliness and sociability of the scene.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

Surely she would find camaraderie and acceptance.

PANEL 3

One last image of IMAGINARY SUPERHERO EMP concludes this half-page montage. Here, she's depicted in a romantic clinch with MAJOR HAVOC, with both "capes" staring lovingly into each other's (masked) eyes. Might use another manga-style "emotional BG" here, too; possibly with flowers, or flower petals, at least.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

And perhaps a little glamour and romance, too.

PANEL 4

Back to a happy-looking, beaming CIVILIAN EMP in the downtown setting, strolling along amongst passersby at street level. Beyond her loom city buildings, with another giant, lit-up sign or two spicing up the backdrop for that New York Times Square feel. As mentioned on page 1, one sign features a prominent message that EMP presumably feels is addressed to her.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

After all, the city had rewarded much less worthygirls and boys with lives of wonderand passion and amazement.

(continued)

Could a good girl like Elissa expect any less?

(continued)

(SMALL) (Not that she would ever say that out loud, lest she sound catty and/or pretentious.)

SIGN ON BUILDING

You can do anything.

You can be anything.

PANEL 5

Our final STORYBOOK image for a while features a shot of CIVILIAN EMP, but this time as COLLEGE GRADUATION DAY EMP, in that she's wearing the tasseled mortarboard headpiece and billowing black robe of a freshly minted college grad on commencement day. Grinning intensely into the camera, she's dramatically holding out a scrolled diploma/ college degree in one hand, as if it were a magic scroll; furthering that visual riff, we see glowing "magical FX" swirling around the diploma scroll.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

Armed with boundless enthusiasm, endless pluck, and a brand-new Bachelor's Degree in Superhuman Studies...

(continued)

...Elissa felt certain that she would take the city by storm.

(continued)

But that's not what happened.

PAGE 3

PANEL 1

Okay. We exit the "STORYBOOK mode" of the previous two pages, and commence the miniseries' other ongoing narrative thread: A catastrophically disastrous "real-world action scene" taking place in EMP's CITY. This thread, unlike the STORYBOOK material, features conventional panel structures and actual word balloons. The timeframe is, well, DAYLIGHT; this could be under the bright sun of midday, or the more idealized "golden hour" light of the early morning or late afternoon, if you prefer.

Four panoramic panels kick off our first page, leading into the issue's first (and only) double-page spread. Here, we see a slightly ambiguous image of chaotic urban catastrophe, with an Akira vol.3-worthy panorama of multiple office buildings crashing and bashing about, amid billowing clouds of dust and gouts of shattering concrete and window glass. (We shouldn't yet be able to quite tell that some of the lurching BUILDINGS are, in fact, animated and ambulatory.)

CAPTION (WHITE TEXT IN A BLACK CAPTION BOX)

NOW

CAPITAN RIVET (SQUARED-OFF BALLOON; NO TAIL)

Hello?

(continued)

Can any Superhomeys hear me?

SFX

KTHOOM

PANEL 2

Here, we're down at street level, for a scene of the towering (8'-10' tall) CAPITAN RIVET ushering (if not "shoo"-ing) a stream of urban CIVILIANS into a glowing, circular LOTUS NODES PORTAL in the background (BG, hereafter). While waving the passing crowd towards the PORTAL with one chromed, riveted hand, the CAPITAN is holding his other hand up to the side of his face in the familiar, thumb-and-pinkie-extended "telephone" gesture, which will visually indicate long-range communication hereafter. Meanwhile, wisps of dust and bits of debris are streaming by, and the nearby buildings, traffic lights, signage and so on are being shaken and vibrated by some off-panel disaster.

The CIVILIANS making their way towards the PORTAL are a diverse mixture of urban crowd types, with a equally diverse set of reactions to this crisis. Some are visibly panicking as they push towards the PORTAL, while others appear nonchalant or even weary. (Your average citizen has seen many a crisis in this bizarre city, we'll see.) More than a few are breaking out smartphones to record the unfolding disaster; one or two might even be stopping to snap selfies with CAPITAN RIVET.

Reference: CAPITAN RIVET has appeared in color on the cover of Empowered #1 and Empowered Deluxe#1, and in vol.4, pp.12 & 16, but his color scheme's not complex: Silver/ chrome armor with a bright red cape. He also appeared in color in the Ryan Kinnaird one-shot Empowered: Hell Bent or Heaven Sent, collected in the TPB Empowered: Unchained. For up-to-date versions of how I draw him, try vol.9's pp.35-36, 63, 76. Note that he has the prominent lettering CAPITAN RIVET (note spelling) on his chest plate, but his cape and/or pose often partially obscures this type.

The LOTUS NODES PORTAL first appeared in vol.4, on pp.125, 153, 162, 165, 190-91, 195. Note that, early on, it looked more "lotus-like," with fewer but more distinct "petals"; current versions, such as vol.9's pp.33, 46-47, 69-71 and 108-09, make the outer edges almost fractal in the number of increasingly teeny petals, so the outer edge is perfectly circular. Feel free to go back to the older, fewer-petal version, if that's easier. Note that the PORTALS have a circular sign interrupting the top of the alien symbols outlining the gate's inner edge, where the "LOTUS NODES" type goes; feel free to leave this open for the letterer, if you want. The LOTUS NODES PORTAL also appeared in color in Ryan Kinnaird's one-shot Empowered: Hell Bent or Heaven Sent.

CAPITAN RIVET (SQUARED-OFF BALLOON)

This is Rivet checking in, all right?

(continued)

I'm down at street level, evac'ing civilians via portal!

ON RIVET'S CHEST

CAPITAN RIVET

ON PORTAL SIGN

Lotus Nodes

SFX

RMBB

PANEL 3

Up-angled shot, showing CAPITAN RIVET at foreground ("FG" hereafter) left looking upward to the looming BUILDINGS in the BG, which are being jarred and shaken by some still-unseen catastrophe, while framed against the blue sky and clouds beyond. Billowing dust clouds and flying bits of debris stream out around the BUILDINGS. Note that the CAPITAN is still holding one hand up to the side of his face in the familiar, thumb-and-pinkie-extended "telephone" gesture. Note also that this panel could echo the not dissimilar layout of page 1's panel 4, the one with CIVILIAN EMP looking up at the cityscape.

CAPITAN RIVET (SQUARED-OFF BALLOON)

Does anyone up at rooftop level  have a sitrep for me?

(continued)

Can you confirm a giant monster rampage scenario, or not?

SFX

RMBB RMBB

PANEL 4

Final panoramic panel of the page. New setting, as we're up at rooftop level with our heroine EMPOWERED in her familiar SUPERSUIT (or SUPERSUITED EMP, as I'll often indicate). Here, a close-up, head-and-shoulders shot of EMP at panel center (and possibly overlapping the panel above), one SUIT-clad hand held up to the side of her masked face in the same thumb-and-pinkie-extended "telephone" gesture made by CAPITAN RIVET. Hair blowing wildly in the rooftop-level wind, she shows a slightly plaintive, slightly confused expression as she stares into the camera.

The BG beyond her is mostly blue sky and clouds, thanks to the up-tilted camera angle, but we might see the tops of a few taller BUILDINGs in the distance. Wisps of dust and bits of debris are definitely streaming by, too. Finally, at upper right in the BG, we see the airborne form of the flying character MAJOR HAVOC, cape whipping wildly about in the wind as he stares off-panel, a look of gape-mouthed astonishment on his masked face. HAVOC appeared very briefly in color in vol.4, pp.12 & 16, but feel free to mess with his costume's color scheme as you see fit; as long as he has the distinct red hair, we're good.

EMPOWERED

Um, Empowered here, sir!

(continued)

And, well, negative on the giant monster dealie as such, okay?

MAJOR HAVOC (SMALL)

Whoa.

SFX

WHKOOM

PAGE 4

PANEL 1

Pages 4 and 5 make up a single double-page spread, dramatically displaying the bizarre spectacle of the CITY'S BUILDINGS-- well, at least some of them, though certainly not all-- having sprung to life and begun juddering and lurching and lumbering about. I recommend a clockwise tilt to the skyline, so as to maximize space on the other (right) side of the spread, for reasons that will become obvious.

On this page, a FG left we see SUPERSUITED EMPOWERED standing on the edge of a rooftop parapet, the better to avoid obscuring very much of the unfolding spectacle beyond and below. The condition of her SUPERSUIT throughout this issue's real-world action scenes is a bit flexible; I find the fully intact SUIT visually boring, and almost always show it with a few tears here and there. However, if you wish to show it fully intact, feel free, though it will need to display a bit of damage later in the story, as the action gets hairier and hairier for EMP.

Here, EMP strikes a bold pose on the parapet, with one SUIT-clad hand held up to the side of her masked face in the same thumb-and-pinkie-extended "telephone" gesture from page 3. Hair blowing wildly in the rooftop-level wind, she's staring out at the spectacle beyond with an expression of astonishment on her masked, profiled face as she speaks into her hand-gesture "telephone."

Floating in the immediate middleground beyond her is the airborne MAJOR HAVOC, cape whipping wildly about in the wind as he too stares out at the unfolding panorama, with look of astonishment on his masked face as well. An INSERT PANEL (with an arrow pointing to his smaller figure) features a close-up of HAVOC's masked face as he splutters in "WTF?" fashion. Note that, due to frequent long shots throughout this setting in which we can barely make out the superheroes' wee figures, we'll have to use INSERT CLOSE-UPS quite a bit.

Now, for the catastrophic panorama of bizarre cityscape chaos... Basically, on this side of the spread, we're seeing a handful of OFFICE BUILDINGS that have sprung to life and are lumbering and crashing about, while occasionally bumping into other, still-stationary BUILDINGS that remain as yet "unanimated." Great clouds of dust and debris are billowing up around the ambulatory BUILDINGS. Some of these structures may just be leaning and lurching to and fro like doomed buildings from Akira vol.3's disastrous ending, but others may have changed their appearance and structure to allow for their movement. That is, the lower halves of some animated BUILDINGS have split into two (or more!) "legs," allowing them to stumble about in a vaguely humanoid manner. Some might have separate stacks of floors "accordioning" or unfolding apart; or sport complex facades opening up like the petals of a flower; or extrude beams and girders like threatening spikes from their glassy faces.

Two more elements I should mention: For one, somewhere in this panorama we need to see a BUILDING that is topped with a very prominent pair of towering ANTENNA stanchions, akin to Chicago's famous Sears tower (or the Willis tower, nowadays). This "TWIN-ANTENNA BUILDING" eventually goes on the attack on page 20, if you wanna skip ahead to take a look, and the two ANTENNAE are a key part of its assault.

Also, in this panorama we see a few more prominent SIGNS with serendipitous (though ominous) advertising messages, as previously seen in the STORYBOOK pages 1-2. Here, one BUILDING SIGN features an image of a joyful-looking BABY, with the scene-relevant text "I'M ALIVE, BABY!" Another sign features a GUITAR with musical notes, accompanied by the text "DOWNTOWN IS ROCKIN'!"

MAJOR HAVOC (IN INSERT PANEL)

(Black "censored" block over indicated text) Don't see this s**t every day...

EMPOWERED

While we definitely have a megascale urban rampage underway, sir--

(continued)

--This scenario's quite a bit different from what we're used to seeing--!

(continued)

Like, massively different--!

(continued)

(Small) Pun unintended.

SFX

RRMMBB RRMMBB

SFX (SMALLER)

SKREEEEK

SIGN ON BUILDING

I'm alive, baby!

PAGE 5

PANEL 1

The double-page panorama of the chaotically animated city continues here. However, in the extra space allowed by the clockwise tilt of the entire image, a single, cyclopean monstrosity dominates this page, looming in the BG and dwarfing the smaller BUILDINGS (both ambulatory and stationary) in the middleground. This is the jumbled-together, animated architectural hodgepodge I'll call the OFFICE BUILDING KAIJŪ, a misshapen but vaguely humanoid assembly made up of (at least) a half-dozen or more skyscrapers and office buildings awkwardly joined (smashed, really) together to form torso, limbs and head. It's "decorated" with spires and antenna towers spiking up from head, shoulders and back. Notably, on the BUILDING that forms its "head," another glowing SIGN forms its "face," but we can't make out what it reads, as yet; we might also see a few more such bright but currently unreadable sIGNS scattered across its body. Gouts of shattering glass and concrete debris spilling out at its "joints" and all across its vast body, the KAIJŪ is stumbling across the cityscape amid vast billows of dust and churned-up wreckage, waving its gigantic "arms" in a vaguely threatening gesture.

Also, in this half of the panorama, an FG (or middleground, really) BUILDING sports another serendipitous SIGN, this one featuring a GUITAR with musical notes, accompanied by the text "DOWNTOWN IS ROCKIN'!"

SFX

KTHOOM SKREEEK

SFX

RMBB RMBB

SIGN ON BUILDING

Downtown is ROCKIN'!

PANEL 2

Smallish, panoramic insert panel at the bottom of the page, with another shot of a freaked-out EMP speaking (almost yelling), with the same SUIT-gloved hand up to the side of her face in the thumb-and-pinkie-extended "telephone" gesture.

EMPOWERED

Um, here's the freaky and unprecedented part, sir:

(continued)

(Burst balloon) A bunch of the buildings themselves are rampaging, this time!

(continued)

(Burst balloon) Like, yikes--!

PAGE 6

PANEL 1

Another STORYBOOK page of illustrative, borderless vignettes. These first three "panels" could comprise a single tier of images, but I'll describe 'em separately. Here, we're seeing shots of EMP in her civilian identity, working various crappy part-time jobs.

First off, we see an image of (civilian) EMP behind the counter of a fast-food joint, cringing as she's being yelled at by an angry, unpleasant-looking CUSTOMER. EMP is wearing a garish fast-food uniform with short-sleeved shirt and (paper?) hat. This could be for the BURGER ELF franchise I once used in GEN13; in that case, the uniform would include fake pointy ears, too.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

Alas, the city stubbornly refused to be stormed by Elissa.

ON HAT

Burger Elf

PANEL 2

An image of EMP's next civilian-identity job, this time showing her waitressing at "P.J. McJIGGLES," a Hooters-style "breastaurant" (hey, I didn't make up the term). As glimpsed in a single panel in Empowered vol. 1 (p.59, panel 5), the McJIGGLES waitress outfit consists of a midriff-baring tank top displaying plenty of cleavage, along with a pair of low-rise short shorts. Visibly flustered and embarrassed, EMP is anxiously struggling to balance a pair of trays loaded down with drink orders. If you wanna show any BG around EMP, we might see some indication of male patrons leering at her.

ON TANK TOP

P.J. McJiggles

PANEL 3

A final image of civilian EMP's part-time jobs, this time showing her wearing the furry mascot suit for VALUE MAMMOTH, as seen in Empowered vol.1, pp.37-38. With one fur-suited paw, EMP is lifting the mascot's baseball-cap-topped MAMMOTH headpiece, showing her sweating profusely and gasping for breath inside the (air-conditioning-less) suit. If you wanna show some BG, she might be out on the sidewalk in front of the VALUE MAMMOTH store (as on vol.1's p.37), with a passerby or two pointing and staring (and/or laughing) at her.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

The only costumes she ever donned were for a series of increasingly crappy part-time jobs.

ON SIGN

I'm the VALUE MAMMOTH®

ON SMALLER SIGN

10% OFF

PANEL 4

New vignette setting for the rest of the page. This time, we're seeing images based on Empowered vol.6's pp.115-16, a scene showing how EMP acquired her supersuit via a mysterious FedEx delivery.

First off, here we see a shot of a weary-looking EMP brushing her teeth while looking down at a piece of mail (unfolded sheet of paper and opened envelope) held in her other hand with a dispirited expression. As in vol.6's p.115-16, she's wearing a CAPITAN RIVET T-shirt and a pair of floral-patterned shorts; for once, her long hair is tied into a pair of loose braids cascading down the front of her T-shirt.

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

Her college degree proved useless, save for incurring threatening letters from the dreaded supervillainess Sallie Mae.

T-SHIRT (SEE VOL.6, P.115-116)

CAPITAN RIVET

CAPTION (WITH ARROW POINTING TO LETTER IN EMP'S HAND)

This month's scary letter from Sallie Mae

PANEL 5

Based on Empoweredvol.6's pp.115, panel 7, we see a smallish image of civilian EMP crouching and reaching down to pick up a 9" X 13" FedEx envelope (or "FexEd," as per the vol.6 cover illo, to avoid trademark issues) apparently left on the hallway in front of her (now-open) apartment door, while continuing to brush her teeth, a look of mild curiosity on her face as she regards the mystery package.

ON ENVELOPE

FexEd

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

But one day, a mysterious package arrived at her door...

PANEL 6

A final, larger vignette image finishes off this STORYBOOK page. Here, in an image based on Empowered vol.6's pp.116, panels 5-6, a wide-eyed, startled-looking EMP is holding up her SUPERSUIT with one hand after having pulled it free from the FedEx envelope held in her other hand. (I showed her holding the suit with her left hand in vol.6's image, but feel free to switch that to her right hand if necessary.) The empty, fully intact SUPERSUIT's loose limbs and leggings are swaying hither and yon as she raises it up; its eyepiece "lenses", mask facial opening and triangles at forehead and chest are prominent in the shot. Note that the toothbrush is still stuck in EMP's mouth as she stares up at the SUPERSUIT.

ON ENVELOPE

FexEd

NARRATOR (MIXED-CASE LETTERING; NO OUTLINED CAPTION BOX)

...and all of a sudden, Elissa felt that the city had smiled upon her at last.

(continued)

(Or so she thought.)

END PART 1

Anyhoo, there's your first installment of Mask City Meltdown, folks! In our next excerpt, stand by for urban mayhem and what will, I think, be a crowd-pleasing moment for many readers.

NEXT TIME ON THIS HERE PATREON: Big Spenders of the $10 & $20 tiers, stand by for your Exclusive Monthly Bonus Post either later today or tomorrow, which will in part feature some sketch sets based on the $20 tier's recently solicited art requests.