Black Shuck part seven is out today in Prog 1897. Written by us, with pencils and inks by Steve Yeowell, colours by Chris Blythe, and letters by Simon Bowland.
BLACK SHUCK // PART SEVEN
Scandinavia, 813 AD. A Viking raid on the settlement of Dunwich in East Anglia led to the warrior
known as BLACK SHUCK being captured. But he has washed up at the court of King Ivar the lone
survivor – what terrible calamity befell the others during the sea crossing? Now Shuck has been
dragged into the war between Ivar’s people and the monstrous Jötnar, thanks to a curse…
Order or download 2000 AD 1897 right now. If you have already read it, please join us for some Spolier filled extras after the cut.
- Track 6 on the Black Shuck soundtrack – Trollhammaren by Finntroll
At last it is revealed that Black Shuck too has succumbed to Grendel’s curse. He still likes to mash up Trolls though.
Leah’s roughs for Page Two:
Script for Page Two:
Page Two
This is a five panel page with two tiers; two on the top, and three on the bottom.
EXTERIOR MOONLIGHT throughout.
Panel One
This is a large panel showing Shuck on the ground in a crouching position already 90% transformed into his were-beast form. His clawed hands are held out before him, his head bowed as he undergoes the final agonies of the transformation. He still has his weapons strapped to his back. The full moon is huge behind him, the spiky tips of trees seeming to reach out to it. There is one balloon/FX from Shuck.
Shuck: GRAW
Panel Two
This is a shot looking down at Shuck bathed in bright moonlight and now fully transformed as he throws his head back and roars up at the moon and us with all his might. He has one balloon/FX.
Shuck: ROOOOAAR
Panel Three
This panel shows the back of a Troll’s head in the left foreground with another Troll emerging from the shadows of a thick grove of trees in the midground. They are both looking off into the middle distance where we can see a flock of birds which have been disturbed from their roost by Shuck’s roar flying up in front of the full moon. One Norse style caption.
Cap: Wake they did.
Panel Four
This is the larger panel on this tier. Here we have a shot looking down slightly on the two Trolls who are looking up at us/the birds and listening. They seem angry. A third Troll might be emerging from some hidey-hole (they turn to stone if the sunlight hits them remember) to join the first two. Two Norse style captions.
Cap: A bestial cry rang out across the land.
Cap: Emerging from their daylight retreats, the great Jötnar heard the sound.
Panel Five
This panel mirrors panel one on the first page. It is the massive foot of one of the Trolls stamping down onto the ground as the beast begins to run towards the sound of Shuck’s roar. One Norse caption.
Cap: And moving as one, they sought its source.
I’ve been having all kinds of PC problems recently owing largely to the fact that the computer I was working on was the one we bought in 2002 when Leah started writing for Amercia’s Best Comics. On Monday I finally caved in a bought a new PC which is running Windows 8.1 and is proving to be a bit of a pain in the arse to get used to. Anyway, the reason I mention all this is that, due to the switchover, I haven’t got Steve Yeowell’s inks for this page to drop in here this week. Apologies.
The finished page:
Slight layout change by Steve (for the better, as per usual), and some altered vocalisations for the transforming Shuck, but otherwise all very much in keeping with the layout and script.
See you next week for the penultimate installment of Black Shuck!