Beginning the origin of the Smiling Man, Part 1. The Smiling Man, like Lightbringer and indeed, this whole storyline, was originally Lewis' idea. (Even though we've added so many twists and turns to it that it's veered quite a bit from the original idea.) Anyway, I was doing some storyboards of this part, based on Lewis' synopsis and Remus' preliminary script, and I knew we would have several pages of telling the villain's origin and motivations. How to do this---in a weekly comic---without losing the readers? Without the readers forgetting about the heroes, and the interaction between the heroes---which is the most fun part of this book?
Four words flashed in my mind: Mystery Science Theater 3000.
MST3K was a delightful show that took bad sf movies from decades ago, and had running commentary by continuing characters. My siblings and I used to do this all the time at home, watching bad TV---now, through the miracle of modern television, the snarkfest was done FOR us.
I pictured the five watching Smiley's origins---and making comments to each other, MST3K-style. It would not only give the origin, but further show up the way the main cast interacts. Besides, if I were a near-omnipotent cosmic whatsis, why not make your guests comfortable when you're about to explain why someone's gunning for them? Why not have them eating popcorn or whatnot?
Of the five, only Lightbringer has faced Smiling Man before (and got his butt kicked in the process) so only he would recognize Smiley. --Al, who did the art chores this page.
I was rather insistent (read: a pain-in-the-ass) with Al over the subject of eating. It's long been my theory that eating is FUNNY, especially when your lead character is not the most graceful person in the world. AUM! AUM! AUM!!!
Oh, and SPEAKING of MST3K, those of you looking for snarky (although not kid-friendly) commentaries for bad movies can head on over to Adudathuda's DVDPodBlast.com to download hilarious commentaries for today's awful, overhyped movies. I also recommend the Film Pigs. And if you're still aching for the original MST3K experience (and don't mind PAYING $4 per riff), then visit Mike Nelson's Riff Trax.
Characters created by William Adams, Ida Kirkegaard, Abby Lehrke,
Lewis Lovhaug, Neil Purcell, Al Schroeder, and Remus Shepherd.
Please do not duplicate without permission.
