Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Prophet, Issue 1


1. (Splash Page)

It is a rainy night. A large internally illuminated church sign dominates the page, with a trim woman in a scarlet trench coat and wide brimmed scarlet hat mostly silhouetted. Dominating the sign is a picture of a smiling mid-30’s black man. The woman has one long finger nailed hand stretched out toward the picture, roughly toward the man’s left eye. Under the glowing picture is the name, “Rev. Samuel T. Watson, Prophet of God” The top of the church sign carries the name, “Word of Faith Church” with a modest cross somewhere on the sign.

2. Meet the Pastor

Rev. Samuel T. Watson leaning back at his desk, fiddling with a large pinky ring. He is watching a financial channel on a huge, wall mounted plasma TV with his feet up on his desk. His feet are actually sitting on a closed Bible. A chart is in view on an easel in the background displaying attendance, offering, and book sales. All trends on the charts are up. A flat screen monitor computer is on the desk as well with a blurry lewd picture still up (obviously a porn site).

3. Sprucing Up

The intercom buzzes. Rev. Watson immediately close the porn site and mutes the TV before answering the intercom. “Your six o’clock appointment, Miss Kabbi is here, Reverend.” “Bless you, Monique, I’ll see her in just a second.” The Reverend slides closed two panels that cover the wall mounted TV and reveal shelves of books. He moves the Bible to the middle of his desk and puts a notebook with some writing and pen next to it.

4. Enter Sue.

The Reverend opens the door wearing a suit jacket and extending his arm into his office. “How can a humble, servant of God be of service, Miss Kabbi?” Miss Kabbi is the woman in scarlet from the splash page. She is wearing those stylish oversized sunglasses. What we can see of her is very attractive. As she moves past him, she says, “Please, Reverend, call me Sue.” Reverand Watson clearly ogles Miss Kabbi’s bottom as he follows her into his office.

5. Polite Banter

"Well, Sue, you can call me what you want, just don't call me late for dinner!
Let me take your hat and coat, Miss Kabbi."

"Thank you, Reverend, but its a bit chilly in here for my taste, I'll keep my coat for now."

"Please, take a seat and get comfortable. Now, what can I do for such a fine young woman as yourself?"

6. Getting Down to Business

“I’m here about some debts that you need to make good on, Reverend.” - K “Surely not, Doris in business is very punctual about that kind of thing. Even with the hard times, we’ve got plenty of cash flow.”-W “These aren’t the kinds of debts Doris can pay for you, Reverend.”-K “Now personal expenses are a little different. My wife normally hands our household things, and I know we just paid off the Volvo…”-W

7. Nine Faces of Sin

*Each of the next phrases comes from a different face (most young and attractive females of various ethnicities, but an elderly man and elderly woman are included as well). Each face has the same distinctive scarlet coat collar and office background as the demoness takes on a different forms*

“You’ve got to give” / “the Devil his due.” / “Come on” / “Sammy” / “You didn’t think” / “You could get” / “All these” / “things” / “Without paying the price” (the last in her original form, but with horns poking up from her hair).

8. Unprotected by Unrighteous Mammon

“Holy shhhh….” Watson fumbles for his golden crucifix and finally pulls it out and holds it out toward the demoness.

“Really, Sammy. Do you think a hunk of mammon in the shape of a dead man is going to do you any good here? I thought you’d at least…”

“HE’S NOT DEAD!” Watson has dropped his necklace and is staring at the demoness in disbelief.


9. Dead as a Doornail

“Take it from me, Sammy, that Jew…” (The demoness stalks toward a picture of an black Jesus on one of the panels covering the TV) “…is dead as a doornail.”

Looking thoughtfully down at her hands where she is pressing her long index finger nail into her other wrist, “Although I don’t think they used doornails, more like tent pegs the way Beezle tells it.” Evil grin and chuckle.

“ His little toadies came along and stole his rotting corpse out of that tomb. Everybody knows that where I come from…” (The demoness turns and glares at Rev. Watson) “…and where you’re going.”


10. Smoking Poke

The demoness stalks over from the black Jesus picture, dropping her trench coat to reveal a black AC/DC t-shirt (AC/DC logo over a highway sign labeled 666), short skirt, and boots. A forked tail flicks up from under the skirt in one panel, black feathered wings unfurl from her back in the next panel. She is still wearing the large sunglasses. “You haven’t exactly lived like he was alive, have you, Sammy?” She pokes her finger in his chest, right next to the cross and we see a curl of smoke rise from his scorching shirt.”

11. Oh God…

With eyes wide and full of terror, the Reverend can only whisper, “Oh God…” “No, no, no, Sammy!” The demoness sits back on his desk, crossing her legs and wagging her finger at him. “You don’t owe God anything. It’s the Prince of this World you have to pay and I’m here to collect.”

12. Bargaining in Denial

“Oh Jesus…”

Watson tugs open a draw in the desk and pulls out bundles of dollar bills, porn DVDs, and a liquor bottle.

“You can have it all, I’ll turn from my ways, take the cars and the house and boat and, and, and…”

“Sammy, you really don’t get it? This isn’t Dickens, not that you would know who that is… We get it all.

But, my boss didn’t say what order I had to go in…”

13. Big Reveal

The demoness moves her hand up to her sunglasses and begins to tip them down. She pulls down the sunglasses to reveal what look like two open toothy maws in place of her eyes. Slowly the maws slink out of her skull, revealing long worm like appendages that end in the mouths. “Where do you think I’m going to start?”

14. Blackness

The next page is made up of pars of panels. The one on the left is only filled with dark muddled colors and the odd types of patterns you see when you close your eye and press on the eyelid. The right one starts off with a blurry red haze over an image of the demoness looking down. The next right panel is dark, then next is clear of the haze. The last panel has the demoness bending down and reaching toward the viewer. Down the middle of the page is scrawled, “This can’t be happening…”

15. Intercession

Hard cut away to an interior of a small, shabby house or apartment. An old woman is down on her knees by her bed with her head down in prayer. She suddenly starts up in surprise. “I need to pray for that preacher man, don’t I Lord…” She looks up at the same picture of a black Jesus on her wall as the Reverend has in his office. “I’ll call Bernice, too.” She reaches for the phone.

16. Hands

This page has panels in pairs as well, with one panel showing a hand reaching for a ringing phone, and the next panel showing that same hand laced in prayer.

17. Chaos

Back to the office. The pastor is huddled on the floor in front of the demoness, blood running from between his hands which are clasped over his face. The office is in complete disarray, the desk tossed across the room, books strewn. The demoness has streaks of blood down each cheek and “eye worms” protruding from each socket.

“Oh the taste of fear, the guilt, the pain!” - Demoness

18. Cavalry

A flash and a thunder crack and the room is filled with a brilliant golden light. A statuesque man burning with orange golden flame has appeared in front of Samuel Watson and the demoness. His flesh appears to be glowing white hot.

“NOOO!” shrieks the demoness, eye worms squirming to get out of the light, “You cannot interfere!

“He is my rightful prize! He is ours!”

19. For the Saints

“If not for the faithful saints, it would be so.” “It has pleased my living Lord, the Lamb Who Was Slain to send me to this place and to do these things.” “And to you, *unintelligible symbols* the Alpha and Omega has commanded, ‘Go.’”

“I will not leave my meal half finished! I will not…” *puff, sulfur and fumes and she is gone*

20. Vision

Black box with caption “Take your hands from your eyes.”

Image of angel with hand shaped blocked out parts. “What eyes! That b--- ate them you stupid…”

Full image of angel on black field. The Reverend asks “Why…”

“You are called a teacher, Samuel Tobias Watson. Do you know how many prophets of God there have been?”

“I, ah, I…do you count that Islam guy as one or not?…”

“Samuel Tobias Watson, by my Lord’s pleasure and for His incomparable glory, you will receive a sight granted to few men or angels or demons.”

21. Explanation

“You will see the future and the past as the Lord has need of you.
“You will see angels, loyal and fallen as the Lord has need of you.
“You will be a prophet of the Most High God, for His Glory, and not your own.”
“And now, you will need to see a doctor. Go to County Hospital now, without delay.”

22. Alone

Black panel again.
“But, why? How, I can’t drive? I’ve got no eyes!”
The intercom suddenly buzzes to life again. “Reverend Watson, is everything all right in there?”
“No, Monique, its not. I’m going to need some help getting to the hospital.”
“HOSPITAL?!?”

23. Blind Man Walking

Monique leads Reverend Watson into the emergency room waiting area. On his way in, the Reverend nearly trips over the leg of a boy being held by his mother. “What was that?” he asks Monique. “Just some sick kid, I’ll try to call your wife again after I get you checked in. You said she should be home by 8:00.” Monique sits Sam down in a chair with a hand towel pressed to his face. Sam suddenly grimaces.

24. Vision – Golden Days of Yestersecond

In a gold tinted view, Sam sees himself run into the sick child. He notices that the sick child is wearing a distinctive orange sweatshirt and his mother is very large with blonde highlights in dark hair. The vision passes quickly and we see blood spots on the towel covering Sam’s eyes. “What the…” He turns in the direction he thinks the woman and child maybe sitting and says, “Ahh, sorry about running into you.” Monique has returned with a nurse and they lead Sam out of the waiting area to a bed. “I listen to you on the radio, Reverend Watson. I hope they catch the witch that did this to you!” says the nurse (somewhat explaining the quick admission).

25. Vision – Spheres

Suddenly, Sam can see again, there is a blue tint to everything. He is beside an emergency room bed like he was just sitting in, and there are doctors swarming around the young boy from the waiting area outside. One doctor looks at an x-ray on a display and says, “What the hell are these things in his intestines? Magnets? Why didn’t somebody X-ray this kid sooner!” Sam looks up at the wall clock. It says 3:17. “Probably AM…” he says to himself. Suddenly the beeeeeeeeeep of the EKG starts and the doctors try to resuscitate but fail.

26. Back to Now

Sam is back in his own time. He is blind again and grasps around wildly, catching onto a nurse. “Doctor, doctor, you’ve got to see that boy out in the emergency room! He needs to be x-rayed! He’s going to die if you don’t!” The nurse doubts him at first, but Sam is persistent and begs to trade turns with the boy in the waiting room.

27. Saving the Day

Finally, giving the nurse a full description of the boy and his mother’s visual appearance weirds the nurse out. “Did you tell him what that kid looked like?” the nurse asks Monique. When Monique replies with a confused look, the nurse relents. Sam is getting his empty eye sockets bandaged by another doctor later who tells him how they found magnets cause a nearly lethal blockage in the boy’s intestines. “If we hadn’t x-rayed him just then, he probably would have been dead in a few hours.”

28. So It Begins...

The Prophet walks out of the hospital while putting on his fedora hat. His eyes have clean bandages. He awkwardly starts taping with a cane. “I have a feeling this is going to be weird.” His hand suddenly grabs the hand rail. A trickle of blood can be seen running down his cheek from under his bandages as he has another vision.

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