BLACK SHUCK // SINS OF THE FATHER (part two)
Scandinavia, 815 AD. When the Anglo-Saxon warrior known as BLACK SHUCK washed up at the court of King Ivar, it was discovered he was the monarch’s bastard son, sired during a Viking raid on the town of Dunwich. Shuck successfully aided Ivar in his fight against the monstrous Jötunn, and became king himself. But his bestial curse has been passed on to his unborn sons, and his family will perish unless he seeks help…
Written by us, with pencils and inks by Steve Yeowell, colours by Chris Blythe, and letters by letters by Ellie De Ville.
Order or download 2000 AD 1984 right now. If you have already read it, join us for some extras below.
- Track Two on the Black Shuck 2 soundtrack: Invaders by Iron Maiden
Here are my roughs for Page One:
Script:
#2 “The Old Country”
Page One
This is a seven panel page with four tiers; two on the top, one in the second, three on the third and one on the bottom.
INTERIOR, CANDLE LIGHT for Panels One, Two and four, EXTERIOR, SUNSET for Three Five Six and Seven.
Panel One
This is the smaller panel on this tier and shows a newly produced illuminated manuscript (see 9th Century illuminated manuscripts for some examples). This is a copy of a much older piece of work. It would be cool if the image could have some relevance the story without being too “on the nose”, maybe just a God above and the Devil below type yin-yang thing? Up to you. We can see part of the hand of the person who is holding the piece of parchment with the image drawn upon it. There is one time/place caption and one balloon from the person holding the paper.
Cap: Dunwich, Suffolk, 815 A. D.
Thefridus: Fine work, Brother Cedric.
Panel Two
This wider shot reveals Bishop Thefridus and his younger assistant/underling Brother Cedric for the first time (both will be returning, important characters). I’m imagining Thefridus as being a tall, thin, long nosed character, his underling a young, handsome, overly eager young man. We are in a room filled with books though dimly lit by the candles which Thefridus is using to examine the page in his hands. Both men are looking up toward the ceiling in surprise. There is one FX, and they each have one balloon.
FX: DING-A-DING-A-DING
Cedric: The bell, My Lord! But…
Thefridus: Quickly, Cedric! Quickly!
Panel Three
This shallow tier wide panel shows the top of the bell tower on the left, with the bell visible and clanging to and fro. I should say that this is a completely fictional Dunwich Abbey so feel free to design the place however you like. It’s sort of the Dunnoc Abbey that no historians seem to be able to agree upon and which is long, long gone. Looking out beyond we can see the coast and the sea. There upon the sea, the setting sun behind them, we see five Viking long-ships at full sail speeding towards the land. They’re already close enough to be at the shore within 10 or 15 minutes. There are three captions, and one FX from the bell.
FX: DING-A-DING-DING-A-DING-A-DING-DING-DING
Cap: “We are under attack!”
Cap: “The Abbey must be protected!”
Cap: “Dunwich must be protected!”
Panel Three
This panel shows a small Dunwich boy wakened from his bed and rubbing his eyes sleepily. His father is up and dressed already and is picking up a rather knackered looking sword from somewhere as his wife/the boy’s mother pleads with him not to go. There are two captions.
Cap: “How many are there?”
Cap: “Five ships.”
Panel Four
This is a shot of the father rushing out of the tiny Dunwich house towards us with his sword held high. His wife is close behind him trying to grab at his clothes to stop him going. Neither see the boy who is rushing out of the door behind them and running round the side of the house. The boy is the main, most important thing here. There are two captions.
Cap: “Five? A hundred invaders!”
Cap: “We’ve not enough men to face so many!”
Panel Five
This is a shot of the young boy untying a rope that tethers a farm horse to the back of their house. He’s looking back over his shoulder towards where his father has run and we can see other men running from their houses in the same direction. There are two captions.
Cap: “If someone could reach Westleton….”
Cap: “There is no time. No time.”
Panel Six
This is a shot of the lead-most long-ship from low down on the water as if we’re there on the sea looking at the craft coming towards us, cutting through the surf. The huge skull of the dragon/wyrm from the previous episode is the ornament at the head of the ship. Because we’re so low down the shape of the boat is distorted and we can’t make out who is piloting the ship of who is aboard. There is one caption.
Cap: “The Norsemen are upon us once again.”
Steve’s inks for Page One:
And the final, coloured, lettered page:
