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ADVENTURES IN PULP WRITER'S COMMENTARY

 

DICK RUBY AND THE CASE OF THE LITTLE GREEN MEN PAGE 4

http://adventuresinpulp.com/dick-ruby-page-4/

            Now we were cooking. The first big action panel. So big we used it on posters and flyers to promote the series. I am still pretty proud of some of the lines on this one, particularly "nightmare with teeth" and "lead to the head will stop anything." Again Matt added another panel - the actual splatter of the alien head. Originally it was scripted that Dick would have the muzzle of the gun at the alien's head in panel two. Then in panel three, when he was in the other alien's sights, the body would be falling away (which would leave the actual violence between panels and to the readers imagination). We see the alien weapon for the first time. Originally scripted to be "organic" looking, my idea was that these aliens would use living technology, but Matt went with a nice chrome-retro look. It makes a nice contrast with the aliens themselves and is a great tip of the hat to classic 50's sci-fi. I was pretty happy with the cliffhanger, especially since I was able to tie it into Dick's past.

            A little story here: Let me preface by saying Matt is one of the most even keel, level headed guys I know. I joke that being an artistic type, he might fly off on a tangent, but he's not one to fly off the handle or get worked up (unlike yours truly who is a volcanic hot head who erupts lava from his ears, fire from his nostrils and ash from his eyeballs). Matt is so calm, cool and collected that you can place an ice cube on his head and not only will it not melt, if you look closely it will shiver (if you ever meet him at a convention, get some ice and ask him to demonstrate, I'm sure he won't mind). Now, note Dick uses his right hand with the gun. I asked Matt why the switch from page one and he had not even realized he did it. He then started spit balling why Dick shoots right handed. I don't remember the details on that specifically but I do recall it seemed overly complicated (he was rattling it off the top of his head, so give him a break). It came out in a frenzied sentence that if typeset would look like onesinglewordwithnospacesor-roomtobreathatall. When he finished (or got dizzy from lack or oxygen) I just said, "or he could be a switch hitter or ambidextrous." Long pause. I thought his cell phone had dropped the call. Then finally: "That works."