Chrysanthemum Dawn: comic script preview

Here’s what I’ve been working on in between episodes of The Well Below the Valley. (The text is recreated below, for screen readers and/or people who don’t want to squint.)

Right now, I’m still learning how this process is going to work. For a traditionally published comic, the writer would hand a script like this to the lead artist(s), but since I am a team of one, I just need to have enough information that future me can remember what I was thinking. I also haven’t started storyboarding yet, so I’m guessing on layout and panel styles. Pacing in sequential art is a complex process of guiding the reader’s eye around the page, and it’s something I’m going to have to learn by doing.

Thanks for coming along on this journey with me! I hope this little snapshot intrigues you.

Text is recreated below the cut:

---

Nightfall on the cursed land

Page 1

Panel 1

FLY-BY VIEW OF SHIBA, WITH THE PALACE PROMINENT AGAINST A FULL MOON. A FLOURISHING MEDIEVAL CAPITAL, WITH TILED ROOFS SPREAD OUT AROUND THE CASTLE WALLS, EMPHASIZING BEAUTY AND DEFENSIBILITY. A FEW TENDRILS OF SMOKE REACH TOWARD THE SKY. MOST WINDOWS ARE DARK, BUT THE STREET LEADING UP TO THE PALACE IS LINED WITH LANTERNS. THIN WISPS OF CLOUD DISRUPT AN OTHERWISE CLEAR SKY. THE STARS ARE BRIGHT.

Caption: Shiba. 

Page 2

Panel 1

LONG, HORIZONTAL PANEL. THE UPPERMOST FLOOR OF THE PALACE, SEEN THROUGH A WINDOW. THIS IS AN ARMORY FOR THE ARCHERS WHO WOULD DEFEND THE CASTLE. A SINGLE SAMURAI LOOKS OUT OVER THE CITY. A RACK OF BOWS STANDS BEHIND HIM. 

Caption: Late winter. 

Panel 2

ANOTHER HORIZONTAL PANEL. WE GO DOWN THE PALACE FLOOR BY FLOOR. THIS IS A BEDROOM, MUCH TOO LARGE FOR ITS OCCUPANTS: A WOMAN WITH BANDAGED ARMS AND AN ELDERLY NURSE TENDING TO HER. DESPITE HER YOUTH, ELABORATE HAIR, AND RICH CLOTHING, THE WOMAN LOOKS SICKLY AND DRAWN. THE WINDOW BEHIND HER SHOWS THE HEIGHT OF THE MOON AND THE SURROUNDING BUILDINGS. 

Caption: The three hundred and fifty-first year of the reign of the Emperor Ohomata, son of the raging earth and the lamenting sky.

Panel 3

HORIZONTAL PANEL. ANOTHER FLOOR DOWN, TWO MAIDSERVANTS SWEEP THE HALL, HEADS BOWED. ANOTHER WINDOW SHOWS WE HAVE DESCENDED AGAIN.

Caption: Vessel of the gods and holy father of the land. 

Panel 4

HORIZONTAL PANEL. WE ARE JUST ABOVE THE GROUND FLOOR. TWO SAMURAI SIT AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF A TABLE, A BOTTLE AND TWO CUPS BETWEEN THEM. THEIR BODY LANGUAGE SUGGESTS LONG, FRUSTRATING DISCUSSION: HAND TO FOREHEAD, CROSSED ARMS, SLIGHT SLOUCH. THEY ARE TALL, WITH POINTED EARS. 

Caption: May his reign endure forever. 

Page 3

Panel 1

THE SHŌGUN SITS ON HIS THRONE, ALONE. ONE HAND GRIPS HIS (SHEATHED) SWORD, STANDING IT UP ON THE GROUND BESIDE HIM, WHILE THE OTHER CLUTCHES A SCROLL. HE IS ALSO TALL AND ELFIN, AND LOOKS NO OLDER THAN HIS MID-FORTIES. THE NARROW WINDOW SHOWS THAT WE ARE ON THE GROUND FLOOR. A WILLOW TREE FROM THE GARDEN CASTS A SHADOW INTO THE ROOM. 

Caption: And of the reign of the Shōgun, Teramune Nobuo, the thirty-ninth year.

Panel 2

SIDE BY SIDE WITH PANEL 1. CLOSE-UP OF THE SHŌGUN’S HAND ON HIS SWORD. TENSION MAKES THE BONES IN HIS HAND STAND OUT. 

Caption: Likely the last. 

Panel 3

WE DESCEND FURTHER INTO THE PALACE. THERE ARE NO WINDOWS ON THIS FLOOR, AND THE ONLY LIGHT IS A LANTERN CARRIED BY A MASKED PRIEST. IN THE DARKNESS, WE ONLY SEE A SUGGESTION OF HIS ROBES AND THE SHAPE OF HIS MASK. OVERHEAD, THE FAINT OUTLINE OF INDUSTRIAL PIPING CAN BE SEEN. 

Panel 4

LARGER PANEL—HALF PAGE? A GRAND STAIRCASE. TOMOYA DAICHI, FLANKED BY A PAIR OF MASKED PRIESTS, DESCENDS THE STAIRS INTO THE EMPEROR’S CHAMBER. HARSH LIGHT HITS THEM IN THE FACE, ILLUMINATING THE PRIESTS’ ENTIRE COSTUMES, INCLUDING THE TUBING JUST VISIBLE FROM THE BACK OF THEIR HEADS & NECKS. TOMOYA DAICHI IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS TALLER THAN THE PRIESTS, AND CARRIES HIMSELF WITH A REGAL BEARING. HE HOLDS A STAFF ADORNED WITH PRAYER BEADS. MORE INDUSTRIAL TUBING RUNS ACROSS THE CEILING TOWARD THE VIEWER.

Page 4

Panel 1