Villainous Villains Part 1

It's been four years and I'm still not keen on that title.

So this is a bit of an odd one. When I graduated high school in 2016, I took a gap year in which I worked at a library. My hours quickly declined to the point where I was working one and a half to two days a week. Long story short, I was very bored and very lonely. So I came up with an unorthodox solution to my problems.

I decided to write a graphic novel about supervillains. Aimed at ages 9-12.

This was the first (and at the time of this post, only) full-length piece of writing I've ever done. Perpetually labelled as A1 on my computer, it racks in at a planned 158 pages and is the story of four lame villains who are accused of a robbery they didn't do and rocket to the top of the national villain list overnight as a result. And also they become friends. The characters are weird, the humour is odd, I had barely any plan when I wrote it, I have eight different versions of it saved, and lovingly referred to it as trash for a year or two.

But how I love it.

The plan is to post a few pages of the story every few days and maybe write a bit about the process and how this mostly final version changed over time. Because it has. A lot.

I hope you enjoy it because I genuinely do. This story means so much to me just because of what I was going through when I wrote it. In some ways, it's deeply emotional and in some ways, it's just a dumb funny story. It will always have a special place in my life. And I always cry at the end. Every time. Though I can't tell you why; that would be spoilers.

So here's the first part for you to read. The format might look a bit odd because I only wrote it, never drew it. I can't draw good enough for that. But it's easy to read, it just requires a bit of imagination.

Villainous Villains

PAGE 1

Panel 1: An intense battle between a legion of colourful superheroes and a massive army of large, identical robots rages in the streets of a town deserted by its residents.

Panel 2: One of the superheroes punches a robot in the face, shattering it and sending it to the ground.

Panel 3: As the fight continues, a smaller, skinny, slightly different looking robot tries desperately to flee from the battle.

Panel 4: The skinny robot watches, terrified, from behind the corner of a building.

PAGE 2

Panel 1: A superhero in red and white clutches a robot by the head. The skinny robot watches him from his hiding place.

Panel 2: The superhero crushes the robot’s head with his bare hand as if it were nothing. The skinny robot looks on in a paralyzed horror.

Panel 3: As the robot’s body crumples to the ground the superhero looks over to the skinny robot who scrambles to get away.

Panel 4: The superhero suddenly slams the skinny robot against the wall of the building.

Panel 5: The superhero pins the skinny robot to the wall, arm against his neck.

SKINNY ROBOT: P-p-please-

Panel 6: The superhero leans in menacingly to the skinny robot, eyes narrowed.

SUPERHERO: Where is he?

PAGE 3

Panel 1: On a TV screen a news anchor sits behind a desk.

CAPTION: Two Years Later…          

NEWS ANCHOR: Celebrations are taking place across the Magnum City today as citizens celebrate the two year anniversary of the disappearance of the country’s number one supervillain.

Panel 2: The skinny robot from the superhero battle stands in front of an electronics store and watches the news report on TV sets in the window. This is Tinman.

NEWS ANCHOR: Presumed dead in the explosion of a force field generator of his own creation, he had been planning to use this machine to trap Magnum City’s superheroes outside of the city, leaving it defenceless.

Panel 3: A large, blond, muscular man in a green and yellow costume leans against a tall metal gate lining an impressive looking building, a Canadian flag flying out in front. A plaque on the gate identifies the building as the Magnum City Superhero Headquarters. He watches the news report on his phone. This is Spam Man.

NEWS ANCHOR: Fortunately, the superheroes, led by Captain Wonder, managed to return in time from a false report outside the city and destroy his machine.

Panel 4: An anthropomorphic brain (i.e. eyes, a mouth, and two tendril-like arms) suspended in blue fluid inside a large scientific jar sits in a garbage dump watching the news report on a cracked old portable TV. This is Brain.

NEWS ANCHOR: No other supervillain has yet made an effort to claim his spot as the city and the country’s top villain.

Panel 5: A slender, brown-skinned man sits in an apartment hunched over on a couch watching the TV news report in front of him with the curtains drawn. He looks like he hasn’t left his apartment in days and doesn’t care. Near him, a blue superhero suit sits crumpled up, tossed aside carelessly. This is Technomancer.

NEWS ANCHOR: In other news, the government has given a piece of extremely valuable experimental technology to the city’s superheroes for protection. Our own Jane Epps attended a press conference on the subject held by the city’s superheroes earlier today-

Panel 6: Technomancer stands up and points the remote at the TV in one hand, turning it off. He picks up his superhero suit in his other hand.

PAGE 4

Panel 1: Close up of a file on Technomancer. Paper clipped to the corner of a few pages of writing is a picture of him wearing the superhero suit that was in his apartment. On the pages, stamped in screaming red letters is the word DENIED.

CAPTAIN WONDER: Look-

Panel 2: Four colourful superheroes sit at a table in a conference room The one holding Technomancer’s file is the red and white superhero that questioned Tinman in the beginning. This is Captain Wonder. They look at him with a forced expression of sympathy that is barely masking their exasperation.

CAPTAIN WONDER: -we’ve said this to you this before.

Panel 3: Technomancer stands before the panel of superheroes, arms hanging at his side.

CAPTAIN WONDER: Your power set isn’t really… useful. You’re not exactly superhero material.

Panel 4: Captain Wonder talks to Technomancer, his face truly sympathetic.

CAPTAIN WONDER: Now, I’m going to tell you this nicely because a lot of people won’t: please, go home and do something else. You’re just not meant for this.

Panel 5: Technomancer storms out of the room.

TECHNOMANCER: Fine.

PAGE 5

Panel 1: Captain Wonder gathers up the file while one of the other superheroes talks to him. The superhero stares at where Technomancer exited. The others are leaving the table.

SUPERHERO 1: …Captain Wonder… why do you think he keeps coming back?

CAPTAIN WONDER: He seems to think he can become a superhero.

Panel 2: Captain Wonder and the other superhero talk.

SUPERHERO 1: You don’t think he can?

Panel 3: Captain Wonder puts down the papers and looks tired.

CAPTAIN WONDER: …I mean, no. He doesn’t have super strength, he can’t fly or shoot lasers from his eyes, and the only so-called “powers” he has don’t really do anything. I can’t help him.

Panel 4: The other superhero looks at Captain Wonder, who avoids eye contact.

SUPERHERO 1: What do you think he’s gonna do then?

Panel 5: Captain Wonder finishes gathering up the pages.

CAPTAIN WONDER: Knowing him, he’s probably just going to keep coming back. Go and escort him out. Oh, and once you’re done, go check on the thing the government gave us, we’re supposed to be keeping a close eye on it.

To be continued...