RIC McCLUNE: THE BAD LANDS
Danny Nolan
Ric McClune is taking a short cut
through lands that are technically Indian territories, but they say rea cursed,
so Ric believes he won’t meet any resistance. When a lady stumbles on to his
camp suffering some strange sickness, he is forced to kill her.
Following her trail Ric finds a
family whose story of woe will change his life.
NOTE: This story is written with
the assumption that the artist is aware of Ric McClune, his dog and his horses
general appearance.
ALL SOND EFFECTS ARE NEGOITABLE.
SETOUT OF PANELS ARE AT THE
DESCRETION OF THE ARTIST.
PAGE ONE:
Panel 1:
ESTABLISHING SHOT
Large panel – up to the artists
discretion- either from a distance or from overhead, Ric McClune and dog have
set up camp in a semi desert environment. It is a cloudy night, so there are no
stars or moon. Ric’s horse is tied to a large cactus to one side. Ric is lying
on a blanket with his back against his pack. Dog is lying to his side. A nice
fire is burning, Ric is smoking a cigar and talking to dog.
Panel 2:
Closer POV with Ric talking to
dog.
RIC:
You can never go crazy with man’s best friend to yack at.
Link
No
arguments either.
Panel 3:
Ric continues talking. Looking up at the sky.
RIC: Won’t be cold
tonight boy, not with this cloud cover. Don’t know why the Injun’s stay clear
of this place but it sure gonna cut a good day of our travels.
Panel 4
Ric continues to talk, this time he is relighting his cigar.
RIC: No Coyotes to
worry about with you and this roaring fire, hey boy?
Panel 5:
Dog turns with his fur ruffled. He is alert, but more in a
fearful sense, as opposed to a fearsome look.
DOG: Whine!
PAGE TWO
Panel 1:
Ric sits upright and draws his gun. Dog is still whimpering.
Panel 2:
Ric stands but the fire glare is blocking his view. The
horse has started to panic.
Panel 3:
Ric moves to the other side of the fire to calm the horse.
Dog is still crouched near the fire.
Panel 4:
POV from Ric looking out into the darkness in the distance
you can just make out a figure
Panel 5:
With his gun drawn Ric watches while securing the upset
horse more tightly to the cactus.
RIC: Woah, boy.
PAGE THREE:
6 panels this page 5 in tandem for the top half and
one half page panel for the bottom section. This panel can also have the title
and credits.
Panel 1:
Silhouette of figure approaching in distance
Panel 2:
Same shot but closer, there is less shadow and it appears
that it is a woman.
Panel 3:
Closer again, more light. It is a woman wearing a dirty torn
dress. She isn’t wearing shoes
Panel 4:
She is struggling to walk/stand. She is skinny and appears
ill.
Panel 5:
Close up of women . From the torso upwards. The lady looks
like she has the plague with all visible skin and her mouth covered in sores , large chunks of hair
are missing from her scalp.
LADY: HEP ME! HEP
ME!
Panel 6:
Larger panel showing the lady walking passed Ric and the
horse towards the fire. Dog has backed away from his previous position. But is
not snarling.Ric has a look of complete disbelief on his face.
RIC: Lady?!
PAGE FOUR
Panel 1:
Ric watches in amazement as the lady walks into the fire.
Dog scurries back and finally reacts by barking.
DOG: Woof!
Panel 2:
Ric finishes securing the horse as the lady’s filthy clothes
erupt in flames and engulf her.
Panel 3:
Ric in close up as he yells.
RIC: NO
SFX of LADY:
EEEEEH!!
Panel 4:
The Lady is ablaze in the middle of the fire. Screaming.
Ric moves towards the fire and his blanket.
Panel 5:
Ric grabs his blanket and using it as protection tackles the
lady knocking her out onto the ground.
Panel 6:
Ric and the lady roll on the ground as Ric tries to
extinguish the fire by wrapping her with the blanket.
PAGE FIVE
Panel 1:
Ric stands over the lady wrapped in the smouldering blanket.
He looks distressed and is covered in sand. He may be in shock. The lady is
still screaming.
SFX of LADY:
EEEEEH!! (smaller due to smothering)
Panel 2:
Ric starts to unroll the blanket but the ladies skin and
clothes and hair all come away with it.
The lady’s face is almost a skull as her skeletal hands claw
at the sky. She is STILL screaming.
SFX of LADY: ARGGGHHHH!!
Panel 3:
Ric draws his
revolver and aims.
RIC: God Forgive
me.
Panel 4:
Close up of Ric firing his pistols with an anguished
look on his face.
SFX: BANG!
PAGE SIX
Panel 1
It is now early
morning. The sky has cleared somewhat. Ricis digging a shallow grave in the
sand. The lady is in the background wrapped in the blanket. Dog is sitting
watching. Calm as can be.
Panel 2
Rick is now standing
next to the finished grave. The body has been covered by small boulders and
rocks.
RIC: Needed a new blanket anyhows!
Panel 3
Dog comes up to Ric
with aa worrisome look. (or the dog equivalent) Rick address the dog but is
staring down at the grave.
RIC: She really had you and the horse rattled. I’ve never seen YOU like
that before!
Panel 4
Ric and the dog look
at the ground and see the trail the lady left from the night before. It is
almost one long drag mark from her dragging her feet.
RIC: Looks like she came from where we’re going!
Panel 5
From a distance: Ric
is on his horse and dog walks beside him. In the foreground the grave is
visible.
PAGE SEVEN
Pane l
Ric is riding
towards a rocky outcrop. The day has progressed to afternoon. There is a bit
more vegetation and a few more trees around. It still looks uninviting country.
Panel 2
Ric on his horse come around some large rocks.
Panel 3
Close up of Ric
chomping his cigar with a concerned look on his face.
Panel 4
POV from Ric. A few
trees give a bit of shade to three tents lined up next to each other. A small
cooking fire and simple tables are set up. A few tools like shovels and pickaxes
are leaning against a wooden stand. A couple of barrels stand just beyond the
tents.
Panel 5
Ric rides up to and
dismounts in front of the camp kitchen. Dog sniffs the tents.
PAGE EIGHT
Panel 1
Dog whines outside
of the middle tent.
Panel 2
Ric approaches the
tent with his pistol drawn and grabs the tent curtain.
Panel 3
Close up of Ric
after opening the tent. He is emotionless.
Panel 4
POV Ric: Two children holding each other under a
blanket up against the tent wall. The girl 11 years old the boy younger about
9. Both looked petrified.
PAGE NINE
Panel 1
Ric is standing over
the camp fire cooking. The children are huddled together. The dog is lying next
to them sleeping.
Panel 2
Ric is cooking eggs
and bacon and frying bread. The kids are watching, not with fear but curiosity.
Panel 3
POV of Ric handing the kids plates of food, they
look grateful.
Panel 4
Ric watches as the
kids greedily attack their plates of food.
RIC: That’s a well stocked panty in that storage tent you have there.
Why is it you kids look like you haven’t eaten in a week?
Panel 5
Little girl looking
up but still devouring her food.
GIRL : ‘cause Papa said not to come out under no circumstances till he
got back.
PAGE TEN
Panel 1
Ric (off) asks the
children as the eat but they pretend to not hear him and continue eating.
RIC: What about your Ma?
Panel 2
Ric stares at the children and decides to dig further.
RIC: Where can I find your Pa now?
Panel 3
The kids stop eating
and turn serious. The little girl replies.
GIRL: He’s at the lab, but we don’t go there. You can’t go there either
mister.
Panel 4
Ric leans forward a
bit more interested.
RIC: And why’s that?
Panel 5
The little boy talks
now.
BOY: ‘Cause it’s not what it should’ve been, and the Injun’s were right
about this place.
Panel 6
Ric same as panel 4
RIC: Is that your pa talking?
Panel 7
Both boy and girl
reply.
GIRL & BOY: Yep!
PAGE ELEVEN
Panel 1
Ric takes a bite of
his dinner from the plate.
RIC: You didn’t mention your Ma!
Panel 2
The girl looks away,
while the boy starts eating again.
GIRL: Ma stopped being Ma and went away
Panel 3
Pull back to see the
camp site the girl still looking away, the boy eating and Ric also looking away
as if he is deep in thought.
Ric: Hmm, is that so!
Panel 4
Rick looks back at
the girl who has continued eating. The boy is sneaking dog a piece of bacon.
RIC: What is it that your papa does anyway?
Panel 5
The boy answers
quickly and excitedly leaving dog hanging.
BOY: Both Ma & Pa are Natural Philosophers.
Panel 6
Same as panel 5 but
the girl adds in.
GIRL: But Mama liked the new term Scientist better.
PAGE TWELVE
Panel 1
Ric collects the
plates off the children.
RIC: You go clean these dishes and we’ll think about some shut eye.
Panel 2
The sun has set. Ric
kneels in front of the children.
RIC: Tomorrow I think we better go look for your daddy.
Panel 3
Same as panel 2 But
the kids look at each other uncertain Ric then adds
RIC: Maybe find your Ma too.
Panel 4
Same as Panel 2 but
both kids look away sad.
Panel 5
IT is nightfall and
Ric is lying outside the tent with dog trying to sleep. He has a worried look
on his face.
Ric (to himself) : What the hell happened out here?
PAGE THIRTEEN
Panel 1
It is morning and
Ric is preparing the horse, the kids are playing with dog, who genuinely seems
to like their company.
Panel 2
Ric has finished and
calls the kids to get ready to leave.
RIC: Come on you two, let’s go find your parents.
Panel 2
The kids stop dead
in their tracks and look at Ric with no emotion.
GIRL: Sorry mister, we will tell you where to go, it’s not far, but
we’re staying here.
Panel 3
Ric is taken aback.
He wasn’t expecting defiance.
RIC: My, if talked to my elders like that when I was your age…
Panel 4
The girl and boy
stand firm, the girl is tearing up.
GIRL: I don’t want pa
if he’s gonna come back like momma. Papa said never to go there.
BOY: He made us swear, pinky
swear.
Panel 5
Ric stares at his
feet and thinks a bit as the kids watch him, both now visibly upset.
Panel 6
Ric mounts his horse
and speaks down to the kids.
RIC: Fair enough, I can’t make you. But promise me if I come back
alone.
Panel 7
POV Ric down at the
children. Both who look very serious.
RIC (off): We leave this place.
PAGE FOURTEEN
Panel 1
Ric rides with dog
following, the kids and the camp in the background.
Panel 2
POV Ric. A rocky
outcrop rises out of the desert. The trees here are feeble or dying.
Panel 3
Ric is now riding
through a narrow pass, roughly 5 metres wide. Craggy red rocks rise to about 3
metres. There is little vegetation.
Panel 4
Ric comes across a
dead rotting carcass of a horse.
Panel 5
Close up of the
horse, there is evidence of the body of
a coyote and a vulture nearby.
PAGE FIFTEEN
Panel 1
Ric has dismounted
and is standing over the three carcass’.
RIC: Some critters just don’t know when to stop.
SFX (off) DOG: whining.
Panel 2
Ric turns to see
both the horse and dog backing away from the bodies.
Panel 3
Ric is now
shovelling sand over the bodies as horse and dog look on.
Panel 4
Ric riding away from
the sandy lump in the distance the Pass appears t to open up.
PAGE SIXTEEN
Panel 1 LARGE half page splash.
POV Ric: He
appears at the exit of the pass into a wider flatter area. Here there is
a campsite. A small wagon to one side. Printed on the torn canvas is a sign E.A
& L.T TELLER PROSPECTING EXPEDITION.
There is no horse. The campsite has a tent which has collapsed. A kiln
and several pots on uprights over a dead fire pits. There is also a rough table
and two stools. Boxes are littered all over the site.
Panel 2
Ric leaves the horse
at the exit to the pass and walks towards the site. Ric kicks some clear
stones, they look like quartz.
Panel 3
As Ric approaches
the wagon dog starts to whine.
DOG SFX: whine!
Panel 4
Ric looks at dog.
RIC: Well, that’s starting to be a good indicator that somethings not
right.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
Panel 1
Ric pulls back the
canvas to the wagon, but it is empty. Except for some boxes and blankets.
Panel 2
Rick is now looking
at the kiln. He has the door open and sees rocks inside. Rocks are piled up
beside it.
Panel 3
Rick turns and has
his gun drawn through sheer reflexes when he hears a voice behind him.
MAN: (in a weak shaky font) Move away from there cowboy, it will melt
your mind.
Panel 4
A man is under the
wagon trying to support himself with his elbow. He has the same sores that the
lady had Ric met earlier but not as bad.
MAN:Sometimes you just gotta let nature be!
Panel 5
The man props
himself up higher, smiling.
MAN: Don’t think you could make a pot of coffee?
Panel 1
Ric has a fire going
and a pot is brewing above it. The man is sitting on one of the stools, using
the table to support himself. Ric is standing by the fire. Dog can be seen in
the distance by the wagon. The man is indicating towards dog.
MAN: seems they have a better
survival instinct than us.
Panel 2
Ric hands the man a
cup of coffee.
RIC: I found your two kids and promised I’d find you. You must have
some story to abandon them like that.
MAN: It’s for their safety. I never knew it would all turn so foul.
Panel 3
An old time sepia
photograph of the man and lady from a time when they were healthier. The two
children are standing in front of them. They are all dressed in their Sunday
best.
CAPTION: I always thought I was a lucky man. Great wife, family AND
career. Something we could all share adventures together.
Panel 4
Both the man and his
wife are in a laboratory looking at a beaker of boiling something. They are
making eyes at each other. Almost romantic.
CAPTION: I met Laurel at College. We were both obsessed with science.
Me geology, She Chemistry. We both became quite prolific in our fields.
Panel 5
The wife is nursing
a baby whilst reading a textbook. Man is cooking in kitchen.
CAPTION: Laurel was always more dedicated than me. I’m surprised she even
had time for children.
PAGE NINETEEN
Panel 1
They are once again
in the laboratory; both the man and lady are looking at the new periodic table.
They appear to be discussing details of it.
CAPTION: When DIMITRI MENCELEEV published his periodic table rating the
elements back in ’69 Laurel was ecstatic. Menceleev had left gaps for where he
predicted new elements would fit. Laurel believed it was a discovery that we
could both share with a combination of our specialties.
Panel 2
Wife and man seated
in front of a table of old white men with beards. The wife is talking
enthusiastically.
CAPTION: Laurel convinced the University board to fund a field
excursion to gather samples to conduct in house laboratory studies.
Panel 3
The family all
gathered in front of the wagon (with signage) having their photo taken ,
getting ready to leave to the wild country.
CAPTION: We could
even take the children now they were old enough.
Panel 4
The Family arrive at
the site. The father is driving the horse & wagon. The Mother is pointing
to the rocks. The children excitedly look from inside the wagon.
CAPTION: we chose these bad lands because of studies done a few years
earlier by myself and field operatives. These lands were similar in history to
those in Southern Africa where I proposed there would be more likely chance of
finding the raw element Laurel needed to conduct her experiments. Uranium.
Panel 5
Man and children
setting up tents while wife looks out at landscape.
CAPTION: We also heard there were little to no Indian activity in these
parts. That made us feel more comfortable in our well being.
Panel 6
Close up of man
telling story
MAN: Or so we thought.
PAGE TWENTY
Panel 1
The man and lady are
setting up the laboratory/camp, the look hot but happy. The kids are still in
the wagon looking on.
CAPTION: A quick tour around found this place and we set up this little
lab. I don’t like working where I eat and sleep so we kept the main camp back
yonder on the other side of the pass.
Panel 2
Back to the man now.
He looks tired and weary. He uses the table for support. Talking into his
coffee.
MAN: It was good to go back to the camp. There’s something not right
about this place.
Panel 3
The man looks up to
Ric
MAN: You can feel it, can’t you? Your animals sure can.
Panel 4
Same as panel 3
MAN: No birds or critters crawling around on this side of the pass.
That’s why I insisted the children stay back at base.
Panel 5
Man and lady digging
around some rocks the lady has a small miners pick chipping off samples, while
the man is swinging a larger pickaxe.
CAPTION: We weren’t having much luck at first and this kinda riled up
Laurel a lot. She really thought we’d have better luck sourcing the minerals.
Panel 6
Back to base camp.
Man is telling stories and enjoying the children’s company. Whilst the lady is
on the other side arms crossed and brooding.
CAPTION: The lack of instant success seemed to really drag Laurel down.
Her temper more likely to come to the
fore, than ever I knew her.
PAGE TWENTY-ONE
Panel 1
Man and lady are
having a heated argument back at the Lab camp.
CAPTION: We got to arguing a lot and Laurel wanted to explore further
out. I kept telling: In the field it all comes down to procedure and patience!
Panel 2
Laurel on horse
riding away as man looks on frustrated.
CAPTION: She did it anyway.
Panel 3
The lady holds horse
which is carrying on as if spooked, she is also trying to look at a large black
and grey speckled rock about one metre in diameter sticking out of the ground
all around it are traces of opaque rock and dead bushes.
CAPTION: It didn’t take her long to find something that wasn’t of this
world. Her new element.
Panel 4
Lady on horse back
excitedly telling her husband the news.
Panel 5
Both Laurel and her
husband are looking at the rock, both excited at the find.
CAPTION: We knew what she had found was something unique and had to get
it back to the campsite.
Panel 6
Man collecting some
of the opaque stones. While Laurel studies the rock.
CAPTION: The black
rock I knew nothing about but I had suspicions about the stones scattered
around this strange specimen. I just needed to be sure.
Panel 1
The horse has
pulling the rock from the ground and is bolting as if to get away from it. The
man astride the horse is struggling to contain it. The lady is panicking and
yelling.
Whether for safety
of her husband, the horse or the rock. It is not clear.
CAPTION: When we finally hitched a sling to move the sample back to
basecamp the horse near had a fit. Though it wasn’t a dense or heavy rock, just
unmanageable by one man, we only got it back because the horse thought it was
being chased by it and was running away from it.
Panel 2
The horse back
beyond the wagon back at the lab camp. The rock , basically a sphere, is
situated on a piece of ground behind some brush and dead vegetation just beyond
the labsite. Laurel, wearing glasses is chipping away with her little miners
pick. The man is studying the stones he collected.
CAPTION: This rock became her obsession. She believed it was
extra-terrestrial, that means from off the planet. She believed it was a new
element and could contain undiscovered chemical compounds. It just made me feel
nervous.
Panel 3
Laurel is standing by the rock her husband is pulling
Laurel by her arm, she is refusing him. They appear to be having a heated
argument. Again.
CAPTION: I couldn’t get her to come back to the children, she just
wanted to study the sample and do more and more tests. Where my scientific
interests were being overridden by my fraternal instincts. Laurel was turning
the opposite.
Panel 4
The man is setting up a small tent next to him
is a small box of supplies. His wife is busy at the table with a magnifying
glaas looking t samples on a plate.
CAPTION: She took to staying at the lab camp. She ate sparingly. She
would only talk to me if it was related to scientific study.
Panel 5 (5+6+7 run in
sequence)
Man carrying Laurel, who looks ill but struggling. The
children are standing together looking at the couple approach, the looked
scared.
Panel 6
Laurel is screaming at her husband and her children like a
mad woman.
Panel 7
Laurel is running towards the pass back to the lab site. The
children are huddled crying. The man is just staring watching her leave.
CAPTION: I dragged
her back to the children once and she fought me all the way, when she saw the children,
she screamed horrible unmentionable things at them and ran back to the lab site.
PAGE TWENTY-THREE
Panel 1
The Man coughs it looks very uncomfortable.
Panel 2
He continues to talk to Ric, who sits opposite him
emotionless.
MAN: Something had
changed in her, she was wasting away. Even I didn’t feel well most of the time.
The horse refused to go through the pass to the other side. The children were
healthy but were not feeling safe.
Panel 3 (Back to the
story)
The man on the horse he is coming through the pass.
CAPTION: I waited
a day and spent time with children , I then decided I had to check on my wife.
I was quite sure it was the rock that was causing us all this grief.
Panel 4
POV from the Man on horse, he is approaching the pass exit
and Laurel is standing there with her hands outstretched. Her condition is
closer to that of her first appearance on page 3. She is holding a piece of the rock in each
hand.
CAPTION: The Horse
saw her and went berserk.
Panel 5
She steps forward and the horse rears and panics, throwing
the man off.
CAPTION: I wasn’t
badly hurt but it made walking hard.
Panel 6
The Horse turns awkwardly due to the man holding the reins
and the sheer fear of the lady holding the rocks and falls breaking its leg.
PAGE TWENTY-FOUR
Panel 1
The man turns to see his wife walk back to the lab camp.
Panel 2
The man limps over to the horse and takes off a bag from the
saddle.
MAN: I’m sorry
girl.
Panel 3
The man limps after his wife.
CAPTION: I knew
what I had to do.
Panel 4
The man approaches the camp site where the wife is busy
putting rocks into the kiln. She pays no attention to him.
CAPTION: I don’t
know who’d she’d become but this wasn’t my Laurel anymore.
Panel 5
The man has walked passed Laurel to behind the brush where the rock is situated
,the man stares at the rock whilst taking the pack off his shoulder.
Panel 6
The man has pulled several sticks of dynamite from his pack
and places them around the rock.
PAGE TWENTY-FIVE
Panel 1
The man appears next to his wife at the kiln
Panel 2
He grabs her and they both are flung to the ground, The man
covering his wife.
Panel 3
An explosion behind them covers them with dirt and dust as
the rock is destroyed by the dynamite
Panel 4
The wife looks up screaming.
WIFE: Noooo!
CAPTION: I did
what I had to do.
Panel 5
The man still on the ground looks at his wife who is shaking
and staring at the site where the rock once was.
Panel 6
Laurel turns and walks away
Panel 7
The man realises he is being covered in black dust from the
rock.
PAGE TWENTY-SIX
Panel 1
The man looks at Ric
Man: That’s it, she
left. I don’t know where. You say the kids are alone. Maybe her mind snapped.
Panel 2
The man looking more forlorn now.
Man: She is
obviously contaminated like me, more so!
Panel 3
The man sups a bottle
from his pocket.
Panel 4
The man puts the large opaque stone on the table. He stare at Ric.
Man: Take this, it
will be a full payment if you take me back to the children. Let them say
goodbye and take them somewhere safe. Please!
Panel 5
The man collapses on the table in his hand a bottle of
cyanide.
Panel 6
Rick on his horse coming out of the pass dragging the man on
a blanket behind his horse. Dog is a long way behind.
Panel 7
The children and Ric stand over a make shift grave with a
cross obviously made by a child.
Panel 8
Rick goes back to the pass with a bag on his shoulder
PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN
Panel 1
Rick walking with his horse with the two kids astride. In
the background the pass entrance is exploding outward.
Panel 2
Ric, this time on the horse with the kids in front of him
ride into a small town.
Panel 3
Ric is talking to the Sheriff, the kids are standing next to
him.
Panel 4
Ric, the Sherriff and the two kids are introduced to an
older couple (possibly (40ish) They are standing on the porch of a lovely
cottage with a veranda and tall trees in the yard.
Panel 5
The kids are hugging Ric goodbye. He looks very embarrassed.
Panel 6
Ric pulls the stone out of his pocket and hands it to the
girl.
Panel 7
Close up Ric. Talking to girl.
RIC: This is from
your Pa you’ll know what to do with it when you get older and get a good
education.
PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT
Panel 1
Picture of girl at a graduation ceremony with an older
couple and her younger brother. She is 19 he is 17. Both good looking healthy
and grown up.
CAPTION: That
couple loved us like their own and gave us every opportunity in life.
Panel 2
Pictures of the girl doing lab work similar to her mother.
The boy in a picture of him at the graduation as a policeman.
CAPTION: I went
onto to University to study the sciences
just like Papa and Ma. My brother joined the constabulary.
Panel 3
The girl is in a study room the blackboard has GEOLOGY
written across it. She looks up surprised from her text book.
CAPTION: It was
during this time I realised the gift daddy and Mr McClune had given me all
those years ago.
Panel 4
The boy and the girl now in their early 20s are traveling in
a first class coach, dressed immaculately and being served tea. They have
documents on the table in front of them. Both are talking happily.
CAPTION: The
diamond was raw and uncut but one of the largest ever found in America. The
money it was sold for has set my brother and I for life. Now we want to seek
out Mister Ric McClune and repay our debt of thanks.
FIN
