SUPERMAN UNLIMITED 2

“Brawn, Brains and the True Application of Justice”

Writer: Neal Bailey

Pencils: Al Gianna

Inks: Al Gianna

6-23-03/12-04-2003 (Rough)

PAGE ONE

PANEL ONE: Thin strip of black running along the top of the page framing a set of words in black in white:

CAPTION
So, Kal…do you want to be responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands, or billions? Your call, of course. Tick, tock, tick, tock...

PANEL TWO: A smaller version of the full-on shot from last issue, showing Luthor holding the vial of genetic disease from the previous issue.

LUTHOR
Well, alien? Your move.

SEPERATOR: In between panel two and three, there is a WHOOSH with wind effects separating the two panels, indicating superman is passing through.

PANEL THREE: The exact same panel, save now Luthor’s fingers hold nothing.

PANEL FOUR: Superman with a VERY angry look on his face.

SUPERMAN
I’ll see you rot in jail for this.

PANEL FIVE: Luthor has a look of somewhat acknowledged defeat on his face.

LUTHOR
Very well. So it begins. I won’t be here when you get back, you know.

SUPERMAN (off)
I’m not here, now.

PANEL SIX: Smaller panel showing Luthor in an empty bunker, perhaps from slightly farther out.

END PAGE ONE

PAGE TWO AND THREE (DUAL PAGE SPREAD)

PANEL ONE: We have the same opening two page spread from the last issue...Superman, doing a flyby of Earth, looking down in alarm. This time, he sees multiple explosions from space, and gaseous clouds.

PANEL TWO: Following the pattern of the first issue, there are four panels reflecting things on Earth, only now, they’re focused upon, as Superman is aware of the threat. Panel Two, in the top left, is a picture of Zod’s troops squaring off with the armed forces, in the best scale that can be accommodated by the small panel (try from high up, if you can).

SUPERMAN (CAPTION)

Zod’s troop movement is hindered by the armed forces...

PANEL THREE: This panel is in the top right of the screen, and shows Parademons on top of the Space Needle, seemingly roaring in victory.

SUPERMAN (CAPTION)

Seattle is almost completely locked down by Darkseid...

PANEL FOUR: Bottom left. The White House, seemingly calm. President Luthor is heading for one of his special design military jets.

SUPERMAN (CAPTION)

Luthor’s on the run and...

PANEL FIVE: Bottom right. The Daily Planet, in ruins.

SUPERMAN (CAPTION)

...Lois...LOIS!

END PAGE TWO AND THREE

PAGE FOUR

PANEL ONE THROUGH FOUR: A thin bar on the top of the page shows the Daily Planet in four stages... Small, Medium, Large, and There, if that makes sense. The chaos is evident and the building is in ruins. The globe still shines. There is one caption for each panel.

CAPTION
Speed.

CAPTION
Speed can save them all.

CAPTION
It must.

CAPTION
I won’t fail them, like I did with Doomsday. Not Lois.

PANEL FIVE: Most of the rest of the page is Superman bursting into the newsroom of the Daily Planet.

SUPERMAN

Empty...blast!

PANEL SIX: Bottom left: Superman’s hand grabbing a note on the desk of Lois Lane. Her name placard is visible.

NOTE
Nice try, boy scout, but you weren’t fast enough. I knew you would come here first. Just THINK about all of those dead people down by the Space Needle. Don’t let it spoil your good time. Though really, do you think I’d ever hurt Lois? You don’t understand me NEARLY so well as you thought you did. I’ll be hanging out with my new girlfriend. Oh, and by the way, if you’re thinking about saving this note for any kind of evidence, I learned my lesson from that first encounter, fool...strike one.

PANEL SEVEN: Bottom right: Same size panel as the last. The note crumbles to dust in Superman’s hand.

END PAGE FOUR

PAGE FIVE

PANEL ONE: Superman punches a parademon.

PANEL TWO: Superman kicks a parademon.

PANEL THREE: Superman throws a parademon into a bunch of other parademons.

PANEL FOUR: Elongated, going from the left side to the right side of the page. Superman using heat vision on a whole wave of parademons. Motion drawing, if that’s possible, meaning that Superman’s head turns and the actions on the left are opaque, whereas the actions on the right are more defined, as in more towards the present.

PANEL FIVE: Superman’s hand rearing back.

PANEL SIX: Superman’s hand punching forward, with a huge BOOM behind it.

END PAGE FIVE

PAGE SIX

FULL PAGE SHOT: Superman standing before a massive, ungodly pile of parademons, knocked cold, screaming.

SUPERMAN
DARKSEID!

END PAGE SIX

PAGE SEVEN

PANEL ONE: Darkseid’s mouth.

DARKSEID

I have torn worlds, and you stand here and bellow my name like calling to me will mean anything other than your own immediate death. Kal-El of Krypton, I will now make your species extinct. Then I will kill your adopted world. Then I will burn it in the flames of Apokolips. As so you now shall burn.

PANEL TWO: Superman’s mouth.

SUPERMAN
NOW, STEEL!

PANEL THREE: Superman and Darkseid, leaping into the air at each other.

DARKSEID
FOR APOKOLIPS!

SUPERMAN
FOR JUSTICE!

PANEL FOUR: Superman’s foot, colliding with Darkseid.

PANEL FIVE: Darkseid being sucked into the Fortress of Solitude, which, unbeknownst to him, has been lowered behind him.

DARKSEID
NOOOOOOOOOO!

This is a strange little page, so I made a little sketch of what I was thinking so I wouldn’t have to write ten paragraphs explaining. Here’s the sketch...

Okay, that’s really a light sketch (it didn’t come out like I expected), but it conveys the general idea, I think. If you have any questions, let me know…

END PAGE SEVEN

PAGE EIGHT

PANEL ONE: Superman reaching into his cape. Smaller panel.

PANEL TWO: Superman holds the transceiver he pulled from his cape up. Larger panel.

STEEL (in transmitter lines from the transceiver)
What’s the status, Supes?

SUPERMAN
It worked. Darkseid is trapped in the Fortress of Solitude. Thanks for the help.

STEEL (same lines)

You know we believe in you, Superman. We...

SUPERMAN
What is it, John?

STEEL (lines continue)
You’re my best friend, man. You know I have nothing against you, but the DMA issued a warrant. They want your head. Something about Luthor and the Cyborg.

SUPERMAN
I know all about it, Steel. I can’t ask you to apprehend Luthor now, but take my word for it, he’s behind this.

STEEL (lines)
This?

SUPERMAN
ALL of this. The death, the destruction, Doomsday, Zod, Darkseid.

STEEL (lines)
Sounds a little paranoid.

SUPERMAN
I know, old friend. That’s exactly what he wants. See you in Seattle.

STEEL (lines)
We’re on our way. Wrapping up with the Cyborg as we speak. Steel out.

SUPERMAN
Superman out.

PANEL THREE: Superman leaping into the air, with the city in ruins below him. His face is a mask of grief.

END PAGE EIGHT

PAGE NINE

PANEL ONE: Zod’s face in a camera, helmet off.

ZOD
Come to me, Superman! I defy you!

PANEL TWO: A blue and red blur impacting with Zod, knocking him out of the camera’s range.

PANEL THREE: The camera is showing what was behind Zod. Noises are heard, through the camera, BIFF!, BAM!, SOCK!s and the like. Just beating up sounds.

PANEL FOUR: The camera tips at a forty-five degree angle with one more onomatopoeia (KROOM!), we see the edge of Superman’s cape.

PANEL FIVE: The camera is now on the ground, on its side, recording Superman over Zod. Zod has his back to the floor and his head is lolled out at the camera.

SUPERMAN
THOSE PEOPLE! How could you hurt all those PEOPLE!?

ZOD (weak lettering)
Why do you say this to me when you know I shall only kill you for it?

END PAGE NINE

PAGE TEN

PANEL ONE: Shot of Superman, from behind, with a pair of black hands reaching for his throat.

PANEL TWO: Ignition takes Superman by the back of his neck and lifts him high into the air.

IGNITION
Remove your filth from the General at once!

PANEL THREE: Shot of Faora running towards the both of them.

PANEL FOUR: Small: Superman grabs Ignition’s arm.

PANEL FIVE: Superman flings Ignition into Faora.

FAORA
OOOMPH!

PANEL SIX: Both knocked senseless in a corner.

END PAGE TEN

PAGE ELEVEN

PANEL ONE: Superman turning sideways to where Zod was.

SUPERMAN

Now, to finish off Zo-

PANEL TWO: A red blur hitting Superman.

SUPERMAN
OOF!

THE BLUR
KNEEL!

PANEL THREE: Zod’s fist punching Superman.

PANEL FOUR: Zod’s eye lasers blasting Superman back through the air, out of the store, and into the streets, from the side. Superman is obviously hurt.

ZOD
DIE, AS YOU DESERVE TO!

PANEL FIVE: A black gloved hand reaches towards the shoulder of a standing Zod.

VOICE
Excuse me.

PANEL SIX: Zod turning his head back.

ZOD
Eh?

END PAGE ELEVEN

PAGE TWELVE

PANEL ONE: Large shot of the Batman, wrapped in shadows, with nothing inside his cape showing except a small, green glow.

BATMAN
You’re hurting someone very close to me. That’s not a very wise thing to do.

PANEL TWO: Batman’s fist knocks Zod through the air, in a similar side view from the previous shot of Zod smashing Superman, except wider in scope. Zod actually flies over the down and awestruck Superman.

PANEL THREE: Zod smashes into a building.

PANEL FOUR: The building falls down on top of him. This panel takes up most of the rest of the page. Superman, small in comparison, watches it fall.

END PAGE TWELVE

PAGE THIRTEEN

PANEL ONE: An obviously injured Superman begins to stand next to Batman, who is putting the kryptonite ring back into its case.

SUPERMAN
I thought he...he said he was human.

BATMAN
You said he had Zod’s spirit. If he is Zod, in a sense, I figured the ring might affect him like it affects you.

SUPERMAN
But the chances of that are slim. What if it hadn’t worked?

BATMAN
I have backups.

PANEL TWO: Superman smiles at Batman. He picks himself up a little more. Batman looks a little put out.

BATMAN
What? I do.

OFF
Hey, you guys done wagging your mouths? This isn’t easy, you know!

END PAGE THIRTEEN

PAGE FOURTEEN

FULL PAGE SHOT: Green Lantern, in the forefront of the shot, holds his arm in the air. His ring is projecting a giant prison over thousands of Zod troops trying to escape, pounding on the bars, etc.

LANTERN
And I thought drawing comics was hard…

END PAGE FOURTEEN

PAGE FIFTEEN

PANEL ONE: Superman, standing with Batman behind him, recoils slightly as the JLA of last issue arrive, from above. It’s an over the shoulder shot of both Batman and Superman, looking up.

PANEL TWO: Over the shoulder shot of the entire JLA, looking at Superman, whose arms are now folded.

SUPERMAN
I did break into the White House. I did threaten Luthor. I don’t have the time to explain this to you right now, just know that I will have words for you, and good words, soon. I’ve never consciously led you wrong. I’m within my mind. J’onn?

PANEL THREE: Shot of the JLA, over the shoulder from Superman and Batman’s standpoint.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER
He tells the truth.

WONDER WOMAN
But that’s not really the point, now, is it? We trust you, Clark. You’re...well, you’re our leader. If you go down, we all go down. And we all know the truth about Luthor. We always have.

PANEL FOUR: Superman, straight on, with Batman, looking flattered and taken aback at the same time. Not over the shoulder, just a straight-on.

SUPERMAN
I...don’t know what to say. Thank you. Thank you all. I’ve stopped the crisis...why don’t you all see to securing these forces and I’ll get the evidence I need.

PANEL FIVE: Superman rising up from the crowd of heroes, determined.

SUEPRMAN (DIALOGUE ONE)
One way...

SUPERMAN (DIALOGUE TWO)
...or another.

END PAGE FIFTEEN

PAGE SIXTEEN

PANEL ONE: Superman over Metropolis, looking down on Lexcorp Tower from high up. Extreme perspective. It is dark out, and raining. Tiny red lines, many of them, run down the streets and into the main oriface of the ediface...the front door. They are heat contrails.

SUPERMAN (DIALOGUE ONE)
Thermal trails indicate that they came here...but why here? Surely Luthor has better means of fortifying...uh-oh.

PANEL TWO: Over the shoulder shot of Superman. A large armada of Lexcorp military planes comes straight for Superman, guns blazing, from about half a mile away. Superman has his hands up, but several of the bullets are already hitting him.

SUPERMAN

GAH!

PANEL THREE: A side shot of the Man of Steel, with the planes much closer now, loosing missiles. Basically, it looks like this: At the far left of the panel, Superman is flying backwards, reeling from the bullets (obviously high caliber loads), flying backwards. The Lexcorp planes are entering the panel on the far right en masse, and the missiles are already halfway across the panel nearing Superman.

END PAGE SIXTEEN

PAGE SEVENTEEN

PANEL ONE: A dozen or so high-powered missiles impacting Superman. This is a shot of Superman from the front, doubled over, with missiles hitting his stomach, his legs, his arms, even his head. They haven’t exploded yet, they are just impacting. Many missiles are not impacting Superman, and in fact are going past him.

PANEL TWO: The same panel, basically, only the missiles are exploding, and all that is visible is Superman’s silhouette, cape torn apart and strung in all directions, body contorted, and nothing buy agony.

PANEL THREE: A behind shot of the Lexcorp jets flying through the cloud of smoke left in Superman’s wake.

PANEL FOUR: A frontal shot of the planes pulling up and out of the smoke.

CAPTION
”Mission accomplished, sir. Packages delivered. Man of Tomorrow down. Repeat: Man of Tomorrow down. Returning to base.”

END PAGE SEVENTEEN

PAGE EIGHTEEN

PANEL ONE: Small panel of Superman’s eyes, shut.

PANEL TWO: Small panel of the eyes opening, slightly.

SUPERMAN
UNNNN

PANEL THREE: A shot from the top down of Superman, lying on the ground, blood coming from his ears. It looks a lot like the picture Jimmy Olsen took of Superman just after he’d died. Medium sized panel.

PANEL FOUR: A shot from the side of Superman sitting up, holding his head. A small robot of some B13 design comes in from off panel.

SUPERMAN
What do you want?

PANEL FIVE: A straight-on shot of the robot, speaking.

LUTHOR/BOT
You survived. A pity. And I thought nuclear might do you a little worse, given the past...but you HAVE been getting more powerful lately. No matter. The plot thickens. Noticed anything about the Lexcorp building yet?

END PAGE EIGHTEEN

PAGE NINETEEN

PANEL ONE: Shot of Superman’s head, looking up. Small.

SUPERMAN
It’s...collapsing. THE PEOPLE!

BOT (OFF)

That’s right, boy scout. Don’t worry. I cleared the building. But you’d better shield me, or your last lead goes out the window.

PANEL TWO: The most dynamic shot you can come up with of the Lexcorp Towers falling in, from over Superman’s shoulder. Preferably, the towers are falling right on top of him.

END PAGE NINETEEN

PAGE TWENTY

PANEL ONE: Superman, dust covered and strewn about the rubble, with the bot tucked into his abdomen. Front on shot. His head is down, and he is covered in rubble.

PANEL TWO: He stands, still holding the bot, and debris falls off.

BOT
Pretty cool, huh? Never did like that logic minded twerp Braniac’s design. But that’s neither here nor there. This building has been nothing but a shell to me for years, and this is merely a symbolic gesture.

SUPERMAN
Tell me where you are!

PANEL THREE: Close-up of the bot.

BOT
Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you. But you know what I like? I like sitting here, from far away, and watching you suffer. I like watching that normally smug look on your face fade away as you realize that you’ve been bested by the brains of a human. I may not be able to kill you, alien, but I CAN make you life a living hell, and I plan on it. In fact, I could sit here and talk about it all night long, and you’d have to listen now, wouldn’t you? Yes, you would, because your girl...our girl, she means so much to the both of us, doesn’t she?

PANEL FOUR: Shot of the Bot, projecting a holographic image of Lois. She is on the left, in a light blue (Star Wars color scheme style), and the bot is on the right. Superman is in the middle, looking at Lois. Lois is tied to a chair and has a gag in her mouth.

LOIS
MMMPH!

BOT
That’s right, dear, MMMPH! away! Soon, your little knight in shining armor here will be nothing more than dust, and we can get to know each other again...as we once did. Because that’s all this has ever really been about, hasn’t it, boy scout? This woman? You fight like a God and I’m the Nazi Hitler just to impress a girl, a girl imperiled. Well, good. Onward, then. You’ll find her in the depths of the B13 complex, along with me. So get digging.

PANEL FIVE: Same panel, but the Bot self-destructs.

END PAGE TWENTY

PAGE TWENTY-ONE

PANEL ONE: Superman, rising into the air. We’re looking down on him from above. The rubble is all about. Small panel, a box. Top left.

PANEL TWO: Similar panel, from above. We’re looking up from below, and there is rubble on the edges of the panel. A small panel. Top Right.

PANEL THREE: Superman, on the far left of the page, as in the previous issue, descends through the underground towards a B13 bunker. Similar in size to last issue.

PANEL FOUR: Like page fifteen of last issue, Superman smashes through a ceiling, only this time into a much more technological hovel. This time, Luthor is not in the foreground, however. True to form, Superman screams, as before:

SUPERMAN
LUTHOR!

END PAGE TWENTY-ONE

PAGE TWENTY-TWO

FULL-PAGE SHOT: Superman over-the-shoulder. Luthor, decked out in a Kryptonian battlesuit designed to very closely mimic the Luthor of the 80s (purple and green in design, and not huge, like previous Kryptonian battlesuits, but human sized) points a gaultlet at Superman, covered in rubble and weakened, but standing tall. His cape is shreds. Lois is tied to a chair nearby, in the same situation as the bot showed. The place is a mishmash of machinery, inventions, and weaponry that could only come from the mind of a criminally insane genius. Luthor has the head of Metallo on the chest of his suit, kind of like a crest.

LUTHOR
Hello, Superman. Welcome to my underground lair. I’ll have Braniac get in touch with you for the ceiling, since you seem to be stark raving literary in your repetition of common themes. I can’t say I don’t find it poetic, but I do find it moronic that you, depleted of energy, low on strength, and separated by ten good hours from the power-up of a sun, would deign to come and confront me at top form in my private domain. Foolhardy, to say the least. But at least it will be over quickly. I’m sad to see you go, honestly. I truly am. We were the stuff of legends, old friend. Goodbye.

CAPTION (BOTTOM RIGHT)
TO BE CONCLUDED...