Everything Abridged, page 6
1. CAPTION—DUTCH: We used to have a hero.
2. CAPTION—DUTCH: We used to have a future.
PANEL 2
DUTCH thunders across the desiccated expanse on Liberty, his well-worn BattleCycle. The sidecar holds his latest kill’s severed head. Jagged tribal tattoos mark said head as a Collective slave trainer.
1. CAPTION—DUTCH: They’re both dead.
PAGE 2 (5 PANELS)
PANEL 1
DUTCH parks his bike outside the Black Skull Saloon. The bullet-scarred door features a painted black skull. Beneath the logo hangs a scorched human skull.
1. CAPTION—DUTCH: I’m a merc. Just a little dead on the inside.
PANEL 2
The clientele sizes up DUTCH as he strides to the counter. They’ve all got bounties on their heads, and he might collect.
1. CAPTION—DUTCH: For a price, I make Collective raiders dead . . . on the outside.
PANEL 3
The bartender STILETTO loads a sawed-off shotgun. If looks could kill, DUTCH would be melting.
1. STILETTO: Dutch, you fucking fuck, what the fuck are you doing here?
2. DUTCH: Fucking you, I’d say.
PANEL 4
The ache of heartbreak reaches STILETTO’s gaze. She lowers the weapon, revealing the “Dutch” tattoo on her arm.
1. STILETTO: You broke my heart, Dutch.
PANEL 5
STILETTO slides DUTCH a drink. Perhaps something’s still there.
1. DUTCH: Sorry.
2. STILETTO: Okay.
PAGE 3 (6 PANELS)
PANEL 1
A hulking, thuggish GORILLOID headbutts through the wall. It’s an enforcer of the Collective, out for blood.
PANEL 2
With his quarry in sight, the GORILLOID raises an assault rifle in each of its four hands. DUTCH sips.
1. GORILLOID: Dutch Bronzer, you are wanted for the crimes of murder and democracy.
2. GORILLOID: You will come to a Reeducation Pit for gelding.
PANEL 3
DUTCH hucks his drink into the air. The GORILLOID, easily distracted like most of his kind, stares at the diversion.
PANEL 4
DUTCH shoots the falling glass in midair. A new, full glass already sits in his free hand.
PANEL 5
Shards of falling glass shred the GORILLOID’s eyes.
PANEL 6
Seizing the opening, DUTCH jump-kicks the GORILLOID. He doesn’t spill a drop.
1. CAPTION—DUTCH: Battle calculator. Almost makes it too easy.
This script is the sole property of Jeremy Ruvola.
To: TrashCan@DuChampPress.com
From: J.Ruvola@gmail.com
Subject: Pitch—What is . . . The Radiotron Equation?
Dear Ms. Seville,
Synthesis. It sounds complex, but it’s perfectly elegant. The joining of two opposites to create something greater.
At a glance, I look like an odd partner for DuChamp Press. I’ve written on half the imageboards out there about the need for simpler, more relatable comics for young men. So why am I reaching out to the flagship of experimental graphic novels?
Synthesis, through The Radiotron Equation.
Is Xander Rollins a hero? Yes. Is he a lost young man looking for meaning in a fractured psychedelic mindscape? Yes. Is this the perfect fusion of my classic sensibility and DuChamp Press’s madcap creativity? Absolutely. The Radiotron Equation paints Xander’s journey to save his people and memories. As Xander hallucinates his childhood hero, fiction becomes reality.
At first, I wrote your books off as postmodern nonsense. Reading Inverse Dreams in WanderSleep taught me better. The new weird is a vital, thriving route to readers left behind by the mainstream. That speaks to me, and you’ll find each sample page marked by effort and innovation. It would be a shame for either of us to keep missing out.
I know I can do this.
Sincerely,
J.X.R.
Jeremy Xavier Ruvola is ready to make his mark. His work has appeared in several journals and anthologies of note, making him a rising star in the Free Panels movement. He also hosts Ink and You, a podcast covering the life of Alpha Man creator and free thought icon Arin Jacobs. His cat Nebula can do a handstand.
P.S.: “TrashCan” is an . . . odd submission address. Perhaps more insulting than intended?
[Attachment: TRE.docx]
Excerpt: The Radiotron Equation
PAGE 1 (4 PANELS)
PANEL 1
XANDER enters his open office, passing identical plastic seats beside identical plastic tables. He’s dressed identically to his identical coworkers, but he’s in color.
PANEL 2
XANDER sees a metallic version of his own face in his monitor. Very mind-bending. XANDER, just as mind-bent as the reader, gapes in befuddlement.
1. XANDER: Who are you?
2. REFLECTION: I am you.
PANEL 3
XANDER stares down at his chest, alienated from his own himselfness. What could all this mean?
1. XANDER: Who am I?
PANEL 4
The REFLECTION changes into a skull before pointing at XANDER and sharing a profound truth.
1. REFLECTION: You are Radiotron.
PAGE 2 (3 PANELS)
PANEL 1
XANDER hangs from a tree by his foot à la the Hanged Man tarot card. He’s still at eye level with his workplace monitor.
1. XANDER: Why am I Radiotron?
2. REFLECTION: Death.
PANEL 2
The discourse continues. Stick with me here. The full issue will include an interpretation guide for slow readers.
1. XANDER: What is death?
2. REFLECTION: The lack of Radiotron. While you sleep, your people burn.
PANEL 3
XANDER shares his perspective. A fruit falls from the tree onto his keyboard.
1. XANDER: I don’t understand what you’re saying, even slightly. Like, at all.
PAGE 3 (1 PANEL)
PANEL 1
XANDER and his REFLECTION trade faces.
1. REFLECTION: But you do.
2. REFLECTION: You’re Radiotron, after all.
PAGE 4 (1 PANEL)
PANEL 1
This might seem a little abstract, but smart readers will follow along.
XANDER and company are replaced by a black void, lit only by the radiant letters of the Radiotron Equation.
The equation reads:
Radiotron = Hope + Joy – Deviance + Power + Actualization^Legacy * Nation = You = Metaverse = Radiotron
Note: Given the limits of a four-page sample, you might wonder what this all means. In full context, it’s quite straightforward. You know who to come to for the rest.
Owned in entirety by Ruvola ThoughtWorks in the United States of America and abroad.
To: MayuIshida@tanoshiibooks.com
From: J.Ruvola@gmail.com
Subject: If you read one pitch today, make it this
Dear Ms. Ishida,
Some of your catalog makes me retch. The claim that manga is a creative movement beyond nation is false on its face. Tanoshii is an American publisher and should produce American-style comics to inspire and uplift Americans.
That said, I have a message that should shine through in any visual style. In fact, I think the contrast in tone and aesthetic will elevate both. Critics are fixated on eroding tradition, and I’m ready to meet them halfway.
Manga can’t change me. But I can change manga.
That change is called Radiotron Sentai. After inheriting a pair of cursed blades, two estranged brothers discover the family secret: when the swords cross, wielders fuse into Radiotron, the nation’s eternal defender. It falls to them to face Vexus, his thirteen demon kings, and the plan to rewrite everything that makes America exceptional.
Sample pages are attached as a PDF, per instructions. Read with an open mind.
Best,
J. X. Ruvola
J. X. Ruvola is what’s coming next. After leaving New York’s moral panic behind, he’s found new creative life in the Free Panels movement. Credits for his trailblazing work include Glass Jaw, Uncucked, and Patriot’s Corner. His cat Nebula is getting up there in years.
P.S.: I know how you usually do things, but could this get some color?
[Attachment: For Your Consideration.pdf]
Excerpt: Radiotron Sentai
Note: For clarity, I’ve used the scripting format popularized by the American writer Arin Jacobs. It’s a clear cut above Tanoshii’s suggested template. I suggest adopting it company-wide. The stories will improve.
PAGE 1 (4 PANELS)
PANEL 1
An anonymous shinobi limps into a forest clearing. He’s dragging something behind him.
1. CAP—NARRATOR: America . . . the true birthplace of ninjutsu.
PANEL 2
The shinobi removes his mask, revealing GENERAL WASHINGTON’s chiseled features.
1. CAP—NARRATOR: Warriors that mastered the shadows and used them to defeat a king.
PANEL 3
WASHINGTON lifts his prize overhead: the severed head of a Redcoat commander. The Continental Army stares, awed.
1. CAP—NARRATOR: The founders handed down secrets from father to son. Their sons followed suit.
PANEL 4
The Revolutionaries raise their swords and cheer. History may forget the details, but nothing can steal this victory.
1. CAP—NARRATOR: Until it reached us.
PAGE 2 (1 PANEL)
PANEL 1
The modern-day exterior of the Jackson household. It’s an old Colonial home, with a soft yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” welcome mat. A telltale ninja star sticks out of the wall, hinting at trouble on the home front.
PAGE 3 (4 PANELS)
PANEL 1
Our lead, GEORGE JACKSON, lies awake beneath the covers. There’s no dialogue on this page because we’re showing instead of telling.
PANEL 2
The bedroom door explodes. THOMAS JACKSON has thrust-kicked it open in a patriotic rage.
1. THOMAS: You’re still lying here? Dishonoring us?
PANEL 3
Close on THOMAS, who twirls the top link of a three-section staff. He hoped to find a fight, and only sees a broken man.
1. THOMAS: Grandpa raised fighters.
PANEL 4
GEORGE lies still, driving THOMAS to even greater fury. There are a few emotional plates spinning here at once. You see, THOMAS actually likes his brother and wants to motivate him. A platonic execution of the “tsundere” archetype.
1. THOMAS: He stayed up every night, honing your swordplay and reading your scripts. Quitting now would be a betrayal.
PAGE 4 (3 PANELS)
PANEL 1
Like any proper ninja or American, GEORGE rises to defend his honor. He flies out of bed with a Dragon Claw strike.
1. GEORGE: Things don’t work the way he thought. We’re not just surrounded by demons, we’re outnumbered by them.
2. GEORGE: It’s best to start over somewhere.
PANEL 2
THOMAS deflects the blow. The rivalry between the pair forms a central theme, alongside patriotism and preserving the family unit.
1. THOMAS: Like cowards? No.
PANEL 3
THOMAS lovingly hurls his brother through a plate glass window. It’s good bonding, but they’ll need more to survive what’s to come.
1. THOMAS: If demons truly own the world . . .
2. THOMAS: It’s best to kill them all.
These words and ideas belong to J. X. Ruvola. Theft will be punished with the full weight of the law.
Folder: D/Documents/Templates
File: AnotherPitch.docx
Dear [Editor/Agent],
It’s getting hard to breathe out there. We’ve lost more people and prosperity than anyone can admit. Yet we’re expected to keep going, like it’s fine. As if no one’s to blame.
[Radiotron Rising/Radiotron Force/The Radiotron Equation/Radiotron Sentai/Radiotron High] is a lifeline of hope for the people. Without the light of [superhero/science fiction/experimental/shonen/teen romance] comics, I’d be just another cynic. A spiritual nothing. Instead, I believe in dreams. I want to share them, because they’re all you need to keep going.
Radiotron echoes an era that made sense. What’s not to love? If you know what it’s like to be invisible, to have your future given away on a whim, then Radiotron has your signal. I talk to real fans all over the country every day. They’re ready to see themselves in heroes again.
An open question: Who benefits from America losing its spine and voice, its guiding lights since the beginning? I think we all know. Be brave, fight back, and choose Radiotron.
Sample pages attached. Thank you for your time, and for considering my work.
Best,
Jeremy Xavier Ruvola
Jeremy writes. While he might not check off the right demographic boxes, his work has a spirit that can’t be found anywhere else. Stories in Freer Thought and more recall the best of the comic book and American golden ages. His cat Nebula is missed.
To: TestBlast@Panhandle.com
From: J.Ruvola@gmail.com
Subject: Triumph of our will: Radiotron smashes stretch goals
Dear Backers,
I’d given up. Everywhere I turned, I found rejection or censorship. I felt my dreams dying in my hands. Before I could follow them, the people saved me.
Thanks to you, Radiotron: Aryan Champion lives.
When someone chooses writing, or the lesser arts, they bet everything. They assume the game is fair. That ability, vision, and talent win out. But that’s not how the industry works today. Comics, like all mainstream publishing, has devolved into propaganda. And there’s no room for ideas outside the agenda.
In a sense, I’m glad it happened. I never saw how the puppeteers tilted things their way until I became a victim of it. That experience brought me to Free Panels, where I found other forgotten voices. And together, through crowdfunding, we’ve made a $150,000 statement.
I don’t know when every editor became a woman, or “woman,” but it’s a dead end. The industry’s terminal spiral won’t stop until someone important wakes up. I hope our success teaches them, but I won’t wait to find out. It’s clear that we don’t need them anymore. I doubt we ever did.
My father said that the future is invincible. It can’t be squashed, perverted, or ignored. Those words kept me alive when there wasn’t much food. When I sold furniture and fluid to survive. I imagined his future, free of the shame, failure, and deviance we accept as facts of life today.
That’s how Radiotron survived. These ideas are the future. The glory America has inched toward for decades can finally breathe free.
I thought I didn’t have a place. That I was put here to fail. But my dream, and our message will continue. We’re going to take it all back.
I see you, remember you, and love you.
Jeremy
friendship: A popular game show following tight-knit social groups. Half the contestants are eliminated every episode, until one winner is left alone in a retirement community lobby.
future, the: You don’t want to know.
futurism: Betting on the singularity upstaging the hydrogen bomb.
G
gangbusters: An expression so successful it inspired a 1936 radio drama lasting over twenty years.
Garfield: Cartoonist Jim Davis’s furious polemic against the “fat cat” politicians of his era.
gender: A spectrum measuring enjoyment of the film Bloodsport.
Genghis Khan: 1. An inspiration to drunks everywhere.
2. Grandpa.
Germany: Bronze medalists in the race to conquer the Earth.
gerrymandering: The reason nothing positive happens anymore.
God: One guy, or a woman, or a bunch of people, or a vague force that created the earth, or the universe, or just sort of found both and brushed the dust off, that loves you, or is more indifferent, or is harshly judgmental of everything you do, or hates you with a cruel coldness unfathomable to mortal minds.
gold: Currently valued at fifty-six child slaves/kg.
graduate education: 1. An attempt to reverse four years of alcohol poisoning.
2. An attempt to extend four years of alcohol poisoning.
gravity: The force that keeps you orbiting an office for sixty years.
Grease: 1. A remarkably bad play. Stunningly bad. Sublimely bad. A collective stroke that audiences limp out of as one, forever changed by their shared mental decay.
2. Widely beloved.
Great Depression, the: A hard-earned lesson about the something-or-other of a bear market, and the potential of whatever to lead to stuff.
green card: One of the few sensible motives for marriage.
guillotine: The second-greatest equalizer.
guilt: You’re better off not knowing.
Gundam: An argument over a girl escalates a little.
guns: 1. The citizen’s defense against automated fleets of high-atmosphere bombers.
2. The end of murderers with decent cardio.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: A dark fantasy epic depicting the rise of a global empire of metal-worshipping beasts. Considered overly dry and cynical by the wider speculative fiction community.
H
Hades: A Greek deity condemned to play a toga-wearing version of Satan for the rest of entertainment history.
Halloween: The one holiday equally beloved by toddlers, cosplayers, and alcoholics.
hara-kiri: An underrated pastime among failed public servants.
Hawaii: The state farthest from the fallout zone.
heaven: Spacious.
heavy metal: 1. A genre lambasted as the devil’s music.
2. A genre beloved as the devil’s music.
hell: Crowded.
Hell in an Inkwell
I’d like to thank the Princeton University trustees for inviting me to speak. I’m not sure why they’ve done that and hope they don’t come to regret it. This is the first time I’ve been in this lecture hall without a hangover.
I had a lecture about Neal Stephenson prepared. Then I read the program and discovered that this weekend’s theme is “Women of Color in the Visual Arts.” I might love Cryptonomicon, but I don’t have the charisma to convince you he fits that niche.
