The Matchman
Page 1
THREE PANELS
1 - Hazy view, familiar from televised representations of
the previous war in Iraq, of an arguably military building at night seen from above through the light-gathering viewfinder, complete with crosshairs, of a “smart bomb.”
CAPTION
One fine day in March of 2003...
2 - The same view, a little closer in. The building looms
in the crosshairs.
CAPTION
Zero hour...
3 - As we zoom in closer, the building suddenly explodes
violently. A thought balloon drifts up from the bottom of the panel.
THOUGHT BALLOON
[in brackets to indicate Arabic]
[Hey, why don’t you pick on somebody your own size for a change?]
CAPTION
Target: Iraq! 2
SOUND F/X
Shhhhaaabooooom!!!
Page 2
FOUR PANELS
1 - Shot of American tanks and troops streaming across the
desert, conquering all in their path.
CAPTION
The long-awaited sequel to the original blockbuster smash!
SOUND F/X
Ratatatatat! Kaboom! Kabam! etc.
2 - The Iraqi soldiers flee in terror before the superior
strength and numbers of the invader. A Iraqi officer shouts at his troops.
IRAQI OFFICER
[Hey! You guys are jihad-ing in the wrong direction!]
CAPTION
And the crowd goes wild!
SOUND F/X
Kaboom! Aiiieeeee! Ratatatatat! etc.
3 - In the midst of the rout of the defenders, we focus in
upon one particular nondescript Iraqi soldier - a sort of Iraqi Sad Sack, if you will. An Arab Kilroy. A grunt. Everyman. He’s standing paralyzed as he watches the inexorable American advance. 3
ALI THE IRAQI SOLDIER
[thinks]
[No problem. I, ALI, loyal soldier of a corrupt, impoverished Third World nation with the GNP of Wyoming can easily take on an entire armored division of the finest troops the world’s last standing superpower has to offer. Negative perspiration. Piece of cake.]
SOUND F/X
Boom! Boom! Chud! Thukka-thukka-thuk! etc.
4 - ALI, realizing the folly of standing his ground, drops
his weapon, turns and high-tails it for the horizon as American bullets and tank shells fly all around him, barely missing him in his precipitous retreat.
ALI
[thinks]
[Aaaah, who am I kidding? Feets don’t fail me now!]
CAPTION
A wise move! But where is MATCHMAN while the invasion proceeds?
SOUND F/X
Kerpow! Pow! Zing! Pow! Kapweee! Blam! etc.
Page 3
FOUR PANELS
1 - We cut back to VALentine Complex, where we see MATCHMAN
on his knees in the lounge, holding his head in agony as man’s inhumanity to man sends him reeling. Z-GIRL watches with great concern, uncertain as to what to do about the situation. 4
MATCHMAN
Aaaaaaaargh! The pain! Can’t... take... much... more... of this! Why do people have to... fight all the time?
Z-GIRL
[greatly concerned]
Is there anything I can do, boss?
CAPTION
A valid question! Meanwhile, back at VALentine Complex, we learn the answer...
2 - Z-GIRL rushes to comfort MATCHMAN as he struggles up
from his feet, one hand still held to his throbbing skull. Suddenly, DOCTOR DENDRITE’S voice comes in from off-panel.
Z-GIRL
Is it like thousands of voicing crying out in pain all at once and then being suddenly silenced?
MATCHMAN
No, Z-GIRL...It’s more like having one’s brain removed and replaced with a broken-glass-and- habanero-sauce cocktail!
DOCTOR DENDRITE
[off-panel]
I’ve got something, or, more accurately, someone here who might help you feel a wee bit better,
MATCHMAN...
3 - MATCHMAN and Z-GIRL look up to see DOCTOR DENDRITE
standing in the doorway, as she gestures to someone to enter - someone who we can’t see, because they are standing to the immediate right of the doorway. 5
MATCHMAN
Well, DOCTOR DENDRITE, I can only hope it’s a neurosurgeon with a fistful of anesthetics, because -
DOCTOR DENDRITE
Not quite. May I have the pleasure of introducing...
4 - The person who DOCTOR DENDRITE is gesturing to steps
into and is framed by the doorway. She has the entire panel to herself. It’s CHERI MARINETTI, who past readers will recognize as famed super-villainess DISCORDIA, but without her infamous Golden Apple. After all this time, she has finally recovered from the apple’s possession. No longer a uniform gold in color, she has dark brown hair, big brown innocent-looking eyes and red lips. She is dressed in normal street clothes - in fact, her entire appearance is quintessentially normal. She is the proverbial “girl next door.” Aside from her regular coloration, she looks physically precisely like DISCORDIA has always looked. Her speech patterns and mangled syntax have, however, also remained the same, as we shall soon see.
DOCTOR DENDRITE
[off-panel]
...CHERI MARINETTI - a.k.a. DISCORDIA!
CHERI MARINETTI
[shy and awkward]
Um, like, hi...
MATCHMAN
[off-panel]
Mother of mayonnaise!
Z-GIRL
[off-panel]
Mother of...um...uh...um...mango chutney! 6
Page 4
FIVE PANELS
1 - MATCHMAN, Z-GIRL, DOCTOR DENDRITE and CHERI MARINETTI
sit around on couches and chairs in the VALCom lounge, drinking coffee and talking. Their talk concerns CHERI, her past and her future. CHERI is revealed as an essentially nice, shy, ditzy, quiet and awkward young woman - totally different from her previous evil DISCORDIA personality. Her body language should be altered to reflect this. MATCHMAN’S head still hurts, but he’s trying manfully to ignore this.
CHERI MARINETTI
...And, like, I don’t really remember anything after picking up that golden apple on the beach back there in Greece. It’s like it totally wiped my mind blank, you know, like one those, like, dry-erasing marker boards they have? Um, DOCTOR DENDRITE has, like, explained a few things to me, and I’m awfully sorry for any trouble that I might have caused you guys.
MATCHMAN
It’s not your fault, CHERI...
2 - The talk continues. Close-up of CHERI as she sips her
coffee. She looks pensive.
MATCHMAN
[off-panel]
...You were possessed by that artifact of evil!
DOCTOR DENDRITE
[off-panel]
Too true! It’s a good thing that I’ve isolated it for further study!
3 - Another group shot of the discussion. DOCTOR DENDRITE
has the floor. 7
DOCTOR DENDRITE
Eventually I will be able to unlock the secrets of the Golden Apple - which should in time give us greater insight into the etiology of the disease known as “evil”!
Z-GIRL
Allowing us to combat it more effectively!
4 - The discussion continues.
CHERI MARINETTI
Well, like, I still feel kinda guilty. Thanks for letting me stay here until I find a job. I mean, as far as I know I’ve never been to New York before, and if, um, DISCORDIA has an apartment here I have like no idea where it is!
MATCHMAN
Think nothing of it, CHERI...
5 - MATCHMAN occupies most of the panel as he rises from
his chair, preparatory to leaving the lounge.
MATCHMAN
...We’re just glad to have you back among the world of law-abiding citizens! Now if you’ll all excuse me, I have a splitting headache to attend to!
CHERI
[off-panel]
Ya want some naproxen sodium? 8
Page 5
THREE PANELS
1 - We switch to the familiar interior of SERGEANT
STRIKER’S office. He sits at his desk as he briefs MATCHMAN on the impending Iraq mission.
MATCHMAN
SARGE, I hope your arm feels better than my head at this point!
SERGEANT STRIKER
Good as new; thanks for asking. Now about this invasion of Iraq...
CAPTION
Shortly thereafter, SERGEANT STRIKER gives the mission particulars in his office!
2 - SERGEANT STRIKER and MATCHMAN lean towards each other
across the former’s cluttered desk and engage in a very intense confab regarding the Iraq situation.
SERGEANT STRIKER
...You can’t be too careful with this one, MATCHY! We’re operating without official government clearance! They’ll see you as a loose cannon! Try to stay out of sight!
MATCHMAN
Subtle is my strong suit, SARGE! I’ll do what I can to alleviate conflict in the region - without sticking my neck out so far that the Pentagon might want to slap a noose around it!
3 - Meanwhile, back in the VALCom lounge, Z-GIRL and CHERI
enjoy a girl-to-girl chat alone on the sofa. CHERI is worried and Z-GIRL is being supportive. 9
CHERI
...I just don’t know, AZUSA. I mean, like, a whole year of my life has just like gone up in smoke and I don’t know where it went, or what’s next, ya know?
Z-GIRL
It’ll be okay, CHERI, really! VALentine Complex specializes in helping people - we’ll have you adjusted to normal society again in no time flat! Let me show you your new room!
Page 6
FOUR PANELS
1 - The skies over Iraq teem with aircraft - strafing and
bombing. Among them flies MATCHMAN, mostly unnoticed. He is thinking.
MATCHMAN
[thinks]
Ow, my aching head! All of this...and for what?
SOUND F/X
Zoooooosh! Shreeee! Kaboom! etc.
CAPTION
And so, quicker than you can say “CNN”...
2 - As the tiny figure of MATCHMAN flies far overhead, on
the ground ALI breaks away from the mass of fleeing refugees being strafed on the main road and heads for the hills.
ALI
[thinks]
[If I stay with that crowd on the road I’m just asking to be strafed! I’m taking to the high ground!] 10
MATCHMAN
[thinks high overhead]
Money and blood have a really lousy exchange rate, if you ask me!
SOUND F/X
Zoooooosh! Ratatatat! Aiiieeeee! Kabooom! etc.
CAPTION
...MATCHMAN arrives in war-torn Iraq!
3 - MATCHMAN dodges American and British aircraft in the
sky, as they appear to be mostly unaware of his presence.
MATCHMAN
[thinks]
Got to be careful! Their in-flight radar may not know what to make of me, but that doesn’t rule out the chance of a midair collision!
PASSING JET PLANE
[thinks]
?
4 - MATCHMAN flies on past the plane that just narrowly
missed him.
MATCHMAN
[thinks]
My best course of action is to alleviate the anguish of the refugees! Only by reuniting families with their surviving loved ones can the healing process begin - for all concerned! 11
PASSING JET PLANE
[radio voice]
Uh, this is Foxtrot Six to Foxtrot Base, over..uh, Foxtrot Base, you’re not gonna believe this but I think I just saw...aaaah, never mind. Over and out.
Page 7
SIX PANELS
1 - This page is devoted, in alternate panels, to showing
MATCHMAN helping refugees and ALI making his way home to his family. The first panel depicts MATCHMAN rescuing an old Iraqi woman from the path of an American tank’s advance as it smashes through her wattle-and-daub village.
MATCHMAN
[thinks]
What is heroism, anyway?
SOUND F/X
Grum grum grum grum...Karunch!
2 - ALI moves by moonlight across barren hillsides, as
explosions resound in the river valleys beyond.
ALI
[thinks]
[In the words of the Prophet, this blows! The route to my village and my family has been cut off by the American armored advance to Baghdad!]
3 - In the light-collecting viewfinder of a “smart bomb,”
MATCHMAN takes a direct hit in order to spare a Baghdad hospital. 12
MATCHMAN
[thinks]
Good or bad, a hospital is still a hospital, whether it’s got a red cross or a red crescent on it! Urrrrrmmmmfff! Whew, that smarts!
4 - ALI lurks through the streets of a deserted village.
ALI
[thinks]
[Good - I think I’m finally out of the direct path of the assault! Now, if I can only find my wife and daughter once again! Allah knows where they might be now!]
5 - MATCHMAN flies over a barren landscape dotted with
burning oil well fires. Columns of black smoke twist in the wind and smudge the sky. Across the desert lies a pall of waste. Troops swarm over the barren terrain. Explosions dot the horizon.
MATCHMAN
[thinks]
I can do very little to alleviate the mass human agony of war - but anything is better than nothing in situations like this!
6 - ALI stands, hand over his eyes, at what was once the
doorway of what was once his home - long since destroyed by American bombs and shellfire.
ALI
[thinks]
[May my family be spared this destruction! This war has nothing to do with us! I can only hope that she has taken the child and fled to her mother’s village in the northeastern mountains, as we discussed! Mercy upon us! Could there be even one other who knows the name of true suffering?] 13
Page 8
FOUR PANELS
1 - CHERI MARINETTI writhes sleepless in her bed, in her
spartan new quarters at VALCom in the dead of night. A stray beam of moonlight falls across her from the window. All is silent.
CAPTION
Perhaps...
2 - CHERI throws back the covers and gets out of bed.
CAPTION
Perhaps the greatest degree of suffering...
3 - CHERI wanders along the deserted corridors of Valentine
Complex until she comes to the door of DOCTOR DENDRITE’S laboratory.
CAPTION
...Is to have known great power...
4 - We look from CHERI’S fevered point of view through the
little window in the laboratory door. DOCTOR DENDRITE is inside examining the Golden Apple. She is wearing thick black protective rubber gloves. The apple has all sorts of wires and telemetric instruments hooked up to it. It glows with an oddly compelling golden light. The viewer is as fixated upon it as CHERI happens to be at this point.
CAPTION
...And to have lost even the memory of it!
Page 9
FOUR PANELS
1 - Close-up of a clock-radio alarm clock going off at six
o’clock in the morning. CHERI’S mundane day begins. 14
CAPTION
The following day...
2 - CHERI at the Department of Motor Vehicles getting her
new driver’s license. Long lines strain behind her as her unique circumstances give the fat black woman civil servant at the window pause.
BLACK WOMAN CIVIL SERVANT
[irate]
Now what do you mean you ain’t got no social security number, girl? Where’s your card?
CHERI MARINETTI
I...I lost my memory...I...
PERSON AT THE REAR OF THE LINE
C’mon, lady! Yer holding up the line here!
CAPTION
...Is one of unrelieved torment for poor CHERI!
3 - CHERI sits and fidgets before a desk official at the
temp agency where she is applying for work. Again, she is at a loss to describe her recent past.
TEMP AGENCY DESK FLUNKY
...So what you’re saying is, you have no recollection as to what your last job was or how said employment was terminated? None at all?
CHERI MARINETTI
[near to tears]
I...I’m sorry...no...I...
CAPTION
The surest way to punish the powerful for their past misdeeds... 15
4 - Pathetic shot of an exhausted CHERI bawling her eyes
out amongst a crowd of disinterested commuters on a crowded subway car as she journeys back downtown to VALentine Complex at the end of the day. Her head is bowed in her hands and her shoulders shake with sobs.
SOUND F/X
Sob!
CAPTION
...Is to render them powerless once again!
Page 10
ONE PANEL
1 - Great big splash page featuring the American forces
fighting their way through the streets of Baghdad. Explosions roar, buildings topple. Iraqi and American soldiers scream, shoot at each other, stagger and fall. Refugees run for cover. It’s total chaos. MATCHMAN hangs in midair, paralyzed in the face of such devastation. He marvels sorrowfully at the situation.
MATCHMAN
[thinks]
Against cruelty and stupidity even MATCHMAN contends in vain!
SOUND F/X
Kabam! Boom! Thud! Kathoom! Aiiieeee! Ratatatat! etc.
Page 11
FOUR PANELS
1 - ALI searches amidst the shadowy rooms of his deserted
and ruined house. It’s night, with a full moon, and the shadows are long. 16
ALI
[thinks]
[First things first! Time to ditch this military uniform...]
2 - ALI holds up a regular civilian djellaba in triumph.
Standard street mufti for Arab noncombatants.
ALI
[thinks]
[...For something a bit more practical, under the circumstances!]
3 - ALI, off-panel, begins to remove his regular military
uniform. Pieces of clothing fly through the air of the panel - pants, shoes, socks, beret etc.
ALI
[thinks]
[This idiotic war should never have happened in the first place! Or the second place, come to think of it!]
4 - ALI leaves his house, dressed like an average everyday
Arab in his new-found civilian outfit. It is still night, and the full moon high in the sky illuminates the area.
ALI
[thinks]
[There! Now, Allah be praised, I will find my wife and daughter once more, even if I have to walk to the Mountains of the Moon and back again!]
Page 12
THREE PANELS
1 - MATCHMAN is featured helping dig survivors out of the
rubble of a building in Baghdad that has been bombed. Iraqi emergency crews are glad of the assistance, even if our hero does get a few strange glances from onlookers. 17
CAPTION
And so we have here three desperate trials...
2 - ALI strides purposefully across the dusty plains toward
the Zagros Mountains looming in the distance.
CAPTION
...In which the exterior dangers...
3 - CHERI sits up in her bed in the middle of the night,
her tear-stained eyes as large as saucers. She appears to be listening for something that she can’t quite make out, in the depths of her apprehension.
CAPTION
...Are matched only by the dangers inside!
Page 13
FIVE PANELS
1 - Exterior view of the VALentine Complex headquarters
skyscraper in the light of early morning.
CAPTION
VALentine Complex, A.M.
2 - Switch to interior, where we are treated to a close-up
shot of Z-GIRL’S hand and arm as she reaches to pick up a steaming hot cup of coffee near the coffee machine in the small kitchenette near the VALCom lounge area.
3 - Z-GIRL, coffee in hand, is startled as a voice speaks
softly from behind her, off-panel.
CHERI
[off-panel]
...AZUSA?
18
Z-GIRL
What the - ?
4 - Z-GIRL turns and sees a limp and dishevelled and
obviously sleep-deprived CHERI sitting morosely on the sofa in the lounge area, looking toward her with a haunted look in her eyes.
Z-GIRL
Oh, it’s you, CHERI! You startled me - !
CHERI
What...what was she like?
5 - Close-up of CHERI’S haunted face.
Z-GIRL
[off-panel]
Huh? What do you -?
CHERI
Her. Me. DISCORDIA. What was she like? What did she...do?
Page 14
THREE PANELS
1 - Z-GIRL and CHERI sitting on the sofa together. Z-GIRL
sips her coffee as she attempts to comfort CHERI verbally. CHERI is obviously going through some difficult mental calisthenics right about now.
Z-GIRL
Hon, DISCORDIA was an evil, amoral woman who systematically attempted to make the world an even lousier place than it already is with her callous and systematic disregard for human life. Believe me, you’re better off with a real job! 19
CHERI
I...I don’t know about that. I’ve, like, been having a rilly, rilly rough week. It’s like, I don’t even know who I am anymore. And these dreams...
2 - Closer in, as the two women commiserate. Faces of each.
Z-GIRL
CHERI, it will get better. Trust me. All you have to do is get through this transition period, and that’s obviously going to take some time. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you again - not somebody else’s! Isn’t that a step in the right direction?
CHERI
Like, let me ask you this, AZUSA...
3 - Slightly more distant shot from across the lounge.
Dramatic interplay of light and shadow as the morning sun streams in through the curtained windows and casts itself across the sofa where the two women sit. They are partly silhouetted by the contrasting light levels.
CHERI
...If you could get rid of all your powers and be normal again - would you?
Page 15
SIX PANELS
1 - The next three pages are a dramatic montage of shots
featuring CHERI at the office, with the Golden Apple preying on her mind. Aside from the occasional caption and sound effect, they are intended to be relatively free of dialogue, in order to heighten the impact. This first panel shows CHERI, face worn, looking at herself in the mirror in her new professional outfit bracing herself for the day at the office. She squares her shoulders and addresses her reflection in the mirror. 20
CHERI
[talking to herself]
O.K., like, give ‘em hell, tiger!
2 - Exterior shot of CHERI leaving the VALCom building and
heading down the sidewalk.
3 - CHERI stands hanging from a strap in a crowded subway
car where she is crammed uncomfortably between numerous surly office workers who are packed in like sardines. No one is even aware of her existence. She is a nullity among nullities.
4 - Close-up of CHERI’S face on the crowded subway car.
Stress, misery, and - is that a tiny flash of - malevolence?
5 - Extreme close-up of CHERI’S right eye. In its depths we
see a small, twinkling touch of golden light.
6 - Shot of the Golden Apple itself, glowing inside of its
protective container, surrounded by telemetry in DOCTOR DENDRITE’S laboratory.
CAPTION
Yes.
Page 16
FOUR PANELS
1 - CHERI at her secretary’s desk - she appears to working
as an office temp. A man in a suit - her boss - is seen talking as he hands her a thick file folder. Her face is trying to be professionally happy at the large amount of unjustified work that he’s just dumped in her lap. His face combines the worst aspects of smarminess and authoritarianism. Since this is just a snapshot from her workday, we’re not able to actually read what he says, if you see what I mean. All part of the effect. 21
CAPTION
Oh my yes indeed.
2 - CHERI waits behind a big fat man in a business suit to
get a drink of water from the water cooler. The man is really, obnoxiously fat and looks as though he might have questionable grooming habits, especially with regard to his deodorant. CHERI has an increasingly faraway look in her big brown eyes.
CAPTION
I think you do understand.
3 - Two other female office drones gossip behind their
hands, obviously in regard to CHERI. The rumor mill has been active this past week, it appears. CHERI notices that they are deriving amusement from her past, but pretends not to notice them. She’s not doing a very good job, however, and we notice that she looks a little annoyed and frustrated.
CAPTION
What’s the matter, little girl?
4 - Close-up of the Golden Apple, flashing with a brilliant
golden light, hanging in a black void. If fruit can look maleficent, then this particular specimen most certainly does. Chock full of vitamins and evil!
CAPTION
Don’t you want to be REAL?
Page 17
TEN VERY SMALL PANELS
1 - Still life of a small jar full of pencils and pens.
2 - A mug of cold coffee spilled over some documents on a
desk.
3 - A woman’s dress shoe with a broken heel.
22
4 - The Golden Apple, spinning in space.
5 - A wilted flower in a nondescript vase.
6 - A half-eaten sandwich sitting in the nest of its bag
and the accompanying crumpled napkin.
7 - The Golden Apple, spinning in space. It’s a little
closer to the viewer now.
8 - A close-up of CHER’S right eye. The golden fleck or
flaw is still there, unobtrusive, in its depths.
9 - A hand hanging from a subway strap amid a forest of
similar hanging hands.
10 - This final panel on the page is nothing but golden
light, pure golden light that fills the entire panel and blots everything else out.
Page 18
FOUR PANELS
1 - Night inside CHERI’S room at VALentine Complex. She
lies in her bed sleepless, staring at the ceiling. She is thinking so hard that we can hear her thoughts without the necessity of captions at this point. Her eyes are haunted pools.
2 - Throwing off the covers, CHERI gets up and out of bed
in her nightgown.
3 - CHERI walks down the deserted and night-strewn
corridors of VALentine Complex.
4 - Ahead is the door to DOCTOR DENDRITE’S laboratory.
Through the small window in the door, we see with CHERI’S point of view DOCTOR DENDRITE herself sitting before a small table making notes on a pad of paper. Before her on the table is the Golden Apple in its protective vitrine, surrounded by telemetric equipment as before. 23
Page 19
FOUR PANELS
1 - From inside the lab, at the opposite vantage point
across the room from the door, we see DOCTOR DENDRITE sitting happily making notes and studying the Golden Apple, completely oblivious to the fact that behind her the door to the lab is being opened softly and soundlessly. We see CHERI quietly begin to insert herself into the room behind the DOCTOR.
2 - CHERI’S hand grabs a solid piece of laboratory
apparatus.
3 - Shot of CHERI MARINETTI as she swings the heavy lab
prop up and back over her head. Her eyes gleam with rage. Her entire face is contorted with hatred and sheer need. Very dramatic light and shadow at this point.
4 - We see DOCTOR DENDRITE slumped unconscious over her
laboratory table. Her glasses are awry. In front of her, the broken vitrine is empty. The Golden Apple is gone. The door to the room is half open. CHERI and her prize are nowhere to be seen.
Page 20
FOUR PANELS
1 - MATCHMAN energetically remonstrating with a group of
U.S. soldiers who are pointing assault rifles at the backs of the heads of a group of Iraqi citizens who are kneeling on the ground with their hands on their heads.
2 - MATCHMAN pulling a confused and bloody U.S. infantryman
out of a massive volley of exploding artillery shells.
3 - MATCHMAN bitch-smacking an antiaircraft missile out of
the sky. Jets roar around him in some consternation. The sky is full of explosions.
4 - MATCHMAN sits, tired and dirty, his costume soiled and
torn, on top of a pile of rubble as he surveys the ruined cityscape of Baghdad. The sun goes down in the west in a red haze, and clouds of smoke dot the horizon. MATCHMAN 24
looks both unhappy and tired - definitely not his usual manic and peppy self. He seems to realize that his best efforts are of no avail in this situation, although we are not explicitly told that.
Page 21
SIX PANELS
1 - Here we see a bedraggled and exhausted ALI crest the
top of a hill, somewhere in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains in northeastern Iraq. It is a rugged landscape, with a degree of natural majesty. Here is a haven far from the war.
2 - Looking down the slope, we see what ALI sees - a small
rustic village, now overwhelmed with the tents of refugees from the combat area.
3 - ALI approaches the village with haste, anxious to find
out what happened to his wife and his daughter.
4 - Outside of a meager refugee tent, a woman clad in
traditional Arab garb but with face and eyes uncovered and unveiled, looks up from cooking dinner in a pot over a fire. Her face, though slightly worn by the exigencies of the war, is stately, noble and beautiful. Beside her sits her adorable little daughter, also clad native style.
5 - ALI approaches, a joyous and expectant look on his
face.
6 - The beautiful woman, who is indeed ALI’S wife, drops
the spoon with which she had been stirring the cooking pot, turns, and moves toward ALI as though in a dream. Her daughter follows.
Page 22
THREE PANELS
1 - ALI embraces his wife and daughter in the middle of a
crowd of dusty refugees in their dreary but safe mountain village. All three are so happy that they are crying tears 25
of joy to see each other alive again after weeks of uncertainty.
CAPTION
In this strange world that we have made for ourselves...
2 - DOCTOR DENDRITE lies, head bandaged, unconscious in a
hospital bed. Beside the bed, MATCHMAN and a teary-eyed Z- GIRL embrace due to her joy to see him back safe and sound from Iraq, coupled with their mutual concern for the poor DOCTOR’S delicate state.
CAPTION
...There is nothing stranger to us than that we should both love and be loved in return.
3 - DISCORDIA standing on top of a tall building in the
downtown area of Manhattan, just as we knew her of old. Her eyes are closed with the strength of her emotions and one golden tear falls as she kisses her Golden Apple ecstatically hello again - as though it were a long-lost lover. It is night, and the stars twinkle as the city beneath them radiates light all up around the building. The villainess that we have missed for so long has returned!
CAPTION
What is love?
THE END