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A Descriptive Comic Screenplay for the Blind and Visually-Impaired.
"Newt and John" Comic - Episode 03 - "Newt Suit"
Created By Mike Hogue - June 18th / 2007 - Transcribed April 12th / 2010
Characters:
John - A red Ant with big glasses and a red bow-tie. John is a brainy Scientist and Inventor.
Newt - A green Newt with six orange spots on his back. Newt is John's sarcastic Roommate.
Setting: John's House - Living-room - Late Afternoon
Panel 1 - Newt and John are sitting on opposite ends of the sofa. Newt is looking bored and lazy, sinking into the cushions on the right side of the sofa. He's holding the remote control on his knee, which is pointed at the Television in the foreground. John is sitting on the left side, working on a book of crossword puzzles with a big pencil, and isn't watching TV at all.
Panel 2 - Without looking up from his book, John asks, "Newt, would you mind changing the channel?" Newt continues to stare blankly at the television, ignoring John.
Panel 3 - Closeup on John as he looks up and over at Newt, asking again, "Newt? Please you've been watching those infomercials all day."
Panel 4 - John is getting angry at Newt for ignoring him, and leans in closer, demanding "NEWT?!"
Panel 5 - John puts his book down, and hops down on the floor in front of the sofa, facing the opposite direction with his hands on his hips. Choosing to ignore him back. John angrily says "Fine then. I won't talk to you either."
Panel 6 - John stays in the same place with his back to Newt on the couch, and doesn't say a word... but glances back at him waiting for a response. Newt continues to ignore him, staring blankly at the Television.
Panel 7 - Finally, John can't take it any more, and turns around loudly saying "ANSWER ME!!!"
Panel 8 - A closeup view of Newt, as he enters the room, rubbing his sleepy eyes. Newt says "Geez, John. What's with all the noise?! I was trying to Sleep!"
Panel 9 - Newt is standing on the floor in front of the sofa. There is a duplicate Newt still sitting up on the sofa staring blankly at the television. John looks confused how Newt can be in two places at once and asks "What the?!... How?". Newt smiles at him and replies, "I am a newt, you know... Every now and then I have to shed my skin."
Panel 10 - John looks mad at Newt and points his pencil at the dead skin on the sofa, saying "Ewww, gross!.. and you just left it there?!" adding, "I've been sitting next to it all day!" Newt simply replies with "I was going to clean it up later!"
Panel 11 - Newt pulls the duplicate Newt down to the floor between him and John. He holds it up by the scruff of the neck for John to get a better look. John leans in closer, squinting at it, and he pokes it in the eye with his pencil. John says, "I'm amazed how much it looks like you... it even has pupils!" Newt smiles and replies with "I drew those on with a marker."
Panel 12 - Newt hands it over to John, saying "But you're right, it is a nice one. Here, hold this... I'll be back in a minute." John is a little grossed out, and has a surprised look on his face as the duplicate Newt dangles from his left hand.
Panel 13 - Newt returns to the living room, holding a big book called "Memories". The book is bulging at the seams as old pieces of Newt skin are sticking out between the pages. Flies are buzzing around the book at the obvious odor. With a big Smile on his face, Newt reveals to John,
"This is definitely one for the Scrapbook!"
THE END.
Original Comic Created and Transcribed by the artist, Mike Hogue (c) 2010
Comic Website: www.newtandjohn.com
Artist's Commentary
Welcome back for episode #3!... Stay tuned for some big adventures!
Ok... this story was actually based on a memory from my childhood. I had a pet newt. Green with orange spots just like "Newt". I kept him in a plastic pet dish with the fake island and a plastic palm tree in the center (just like I used in the first episode of this comic series!).
One day I went to feed it, and he looked as though he had a white rubber band stuck around his waist. He kept wiggling around and trying to push it further down using his fingers and toes. This went on for at least an hour...so I became bored with it and left. I came back to find the newt on one side of the pet dish, and a duplicate transparent newt on the other. I didn't know they shed their skin, but I was amazed at how every detail of the newt was there. The skin had full arms and fingers, and tail... it looked just like him, but was see through and off-white in colour. So, when I was writing out ideas for this series, I knew I had to have one story where Newt sheds his skin, and leaves his 'double' for John to find.
The comic was supposed to be one of the easy ones...because I knew that Newt wouldn't need a lot of posing for this episode... but I spent so much time on the background...only to find that all of the detail I put into the carpeting, doesn't really show up at web-resolution. Since the other rooms of Newt and John's place are more colourful, I thought I'd have the living-room be a neutral colour... which allows the characters to stand out.
I also wrote more dialogue for this one, but had to edit some lines to keep the comic at 5 rows. Originally, I had John reading the newspaper, and then I thought it might be funny to show him poking the 'newt suit' in the eye...he needed a 'poking' stick', so I gave him the pencil. I figured with a book of crossword puzzles, he'd be sitting there for a long time, just like if he were reading the paper.
Lastly, the name of this comic, changed many times... I don't like to give away the punchline, or twist in the story by making it obvious in the name. At the last minute, I decided to call this comic "Newt Suit"...even though there's a chance it might give the joke away, I thought it was vague enough....but also a suitable name for the comic when you're looking for it in the archive. I thought of many other names but they were less fun. Anyways... I figured I'd take my chances... with the more memorable title.
Come back for the next episode this Monday!
Mike Hogue - Commentary originally written on June 18th/2007
