His Future Lay Plain Before Him - Kid Flash 8-page script #3 of second series
Characters: Bart Allen (Kid Flash), Tim Drake (Red Robin), Cassie Allen (Wonder Girl), Cissie King, Greta Hayes, Conner Kent (Superboy), and Carol Bucklen.
Rating: G.
Content: Humor.
Page Count: Eight pages of comics script.
Summary: Bart’s relatives are pushing him to take classes at Keystone Community College, so he runs off to consult with friends his own age.
Continuity: Starting from the DC Comics standard, and the news that a planned Kid Flash had been put off, I scripted a series of eight-page backup stories about Bart Allen starting here. This new series builds on that story, starting here. Bart is living in Keystone City with Jay and Joan Garrick; Barry Allen and Max Mercury are back. Since my first series, Bart has learned about Tim Drake’s new Red Robin identity.
Disclaimer: Kid Flash and his family and friends are owned by DC Comics under copyright and trademark laws. This pastiche is offered freely as entertainment for fans.
PAGE ONE (two panels)
Panel 1. Title and credits at top of page.
TITLE:
His Future Lay Plain Before Him
CREDITS
Panel 2. Medium close-up of BART talking. His hair and motion lines show that he’s running backward. It’s night, and he’s in a city.
BART:
So now Max and the Flash and the other Flash and probably the other other Flash are all saying I have to go to college!
BART:
They say I have to take two classes this year. They say it’ll be an opportunity.
BART:
But I need free time to work with the Titans! And the JLA--you never know when they might call. And my own cases, if I ever find one.
BART:
Also I was working on this independent film, which is gonna be all educational and useful. And awesome.
BART:
But now the guy I was working with has gone off to college! He told me our movie’s gonna be his class project, and I should sign up too, but I can’t sign up as Kid Flash! And besides, I’m not interested in studying movies about other people.
BART:
So what should I do now?
•
PAGE TWO (five panels)
Panel 1. TIM DRAKE as Red Robin is driving his motorcycle through the streets of Gotham City straight at us--i.e., this is BART’s point of view. TIM has a radio microphone pulled out of his cowl toward his mouth, just to answer the question of how the guys can converse like this.
TIM:
Turn left.
Panel 2. TIM has turned his motorcycle left and is heading down another street. BART’s crackle trail shows that he’s turned the opposite way.
TIM:
Sorry--my left.
BART:
Did Batman go to college? Did Nightwing? (Where is Nightwing, anyway?)
Panel 3. BART has caught up to TIM as they continue their conversation.
TIM:
They dropped out of college. But they spent those years studying and training. They knew exactly what they were looking for.
TIM:
So I guess the question is, what are you looking for?
BART:
I don’t know! What are you looking for?
Panel 4. BART passes TIM, speeding ahead down the street.
TIM:
Light blue van, plate starts KR. It’s in one of those parking garages up ahead.
Panel 5. TIM is further along the same street. BART’s crackle path shows that he’s returning.
BART:
The garage on the right--your right. Fourth floor, area D.
•
PAGE THREE (seven panels)
Panel 1. Inside the parking garage. BART has run ahead and is pointing urgently to a light blue van with the license plate KRH•237. TIM pulls up on his motorcycle.
BART:
You’re not going to college, right?
Panel 2. TIM rips open the back door of the van as BART looks on. Theoretically, TIM says “open” at the same time he yanks on the door.
TIM:
I got my G.E.D. two years ago. I took the S.A.T.s. I filled out the common application.
TIM:
So I’m keeping that option…
SFX:
Krunnnk!
TIM:
--open!
Panel 3. TIM and BART look into the back of the minivan, which is packed with explosives, metal barrels stamped with the symbol for radioactivity, and a timer that says 00:37.
BART:
What is that?
TIM:
Dirty bomb.
Panel 4. Close-up of the timer in TIM’s hands as he shoves an electrode into a slit on one side. Now the timer says 00:31.
BART:
Ooh! There are hundreds of people around! I can’t grab ’em all!
Panel 5. Close-up of the timer as TIM flicks a switch on the electrode. The timer now says 99:99.
TIM:
No need.
Panel 6. TIM gets back on his motorcycle as BART looks on, trying to process.
TIM:
We gave the bomb squad time to move the bad stuff.
TIM:
The way I see it, Bart, in the long run college opens more doors than it would close.
Panel 7. Close up of BART, still in his Kid Flash uniform. He’s no longer in the parking garage, but inside a room, standing in front of an open frame window, at night.
BART:
What would college let me do that I can’t do now?
•
PAGE FOUR (five panels)
Panel 1. Pull back to show that BART has snuck into CASSIE SANDSMARK’s dorm room at the Elias School for Girls. In the background, CISSIE KING is opening the door to the hallway, and GRETA HAYES is slipping back into the room. All three girls are in their sleepwear, eyes tired.
CASSIE:
Well, for one thing, you could visit girls in their dorm rooms without getting them in trouble.
CISSIE (whisper balloon):
Did anyone hear?
GRETA (whisper balloon):
He’s still our secret.
Panel 2. BART continues speaking to CASSIE. He’s sitting in front of the open window he came in through, and oblivious to the disruption he’s caused.
BART:
See, my guardians say I have to go to college.
CASSIE:
So…?
Panel 3. Close up on BART.
BART:
So who wants to go to college?!
Panel 4. All three girls look at each other.
Panel 5. All three girls turn back to BART.
CASSIE, CISSIE, and GRETA:
We do.
•
PAGE FIVE (five panels)
Panel 1. As BART registers surprise, the girls explain their plans.
GRETA:
I’m thinking pre-med.
CISSIE:
I’ve gotten seven athletic scholarship offers. Now I’m looking to see which school has the best business program.
CASSIE:
And I’m wondering about archeology, or maybe theater.
Panel 2. CASSIE continues to explain while BART objects strenuously.
CASSIE:
That’s one of the great things about college, Bart. It’s not like high school. You get to study what you’re interested in studying.
BART:
But I’m not interested in anything!
Panel 3. CASSIE holds one finger up to BART’s mouth.
CASSIE:
Inside voice, Bart.
CASSIE:
In fact, you’re interested in a lot. You read everything.
Panel 4. GRETA and CISSIE add their voices.
GRETA:
You draw, and you play the guitar.
CISSIE:
Did you know there are even a couple of colleges where you can major in designing video games?
Panel 5. BART reacts with wide-eyed surprise.
BART (small letters):
They’re…designed?
•
PAGE SIX (five panels)
Panel 1. BART, still in his Kid Flash uniform, is standing outside in the bright sun, talking to someone off panel.
BART:
I figure you understand how I feel about college.
Panel 2. Pull back to show that BART is talking to KON out in a field on the Kent farm. KON is wrestling with some sort of muddy irrigation equipment.
KON:
College? Oh, man, I’m so looking forward to college!
Panel 3. BART is shocked at KON’s words.
BART:
But you’re the Kid! You’re the rebel! You’re--
KON:
Stuck in Smallville, man! College is my ticket out of here!
Panel 4. KON has grabbed BART by the arms and is speaking with a touch of mad desperation in his eyes.
KON:
In Smallville, kids don’t even go cow-tipping! We sit around and wait for cows to fall over by themselves!
KON:
Last week I found myself singing along to…Shania Twain!
BART:
Ooookay.
Panel 5. KON has regained control of himself and let BART go. BART is thinking back.
KON:
Bart, you don’t know what it’s like to grow up in one of these small towns!
BART:
Well, actually…
•
PAGE SEVEN (three panels)
Panel 1. Close up of BART in his Kid Flash outfit. We’re inside once more, now in a room with beige walls and wood paneling.
BART:
So I know I haven’t visited Manchester much or answered every letter, but I was busy and then I was grown up and then I was dead, and now I’m back and I really need your advice!
Panel 2. Another close-up of BART, still talking.
BART:
All the Flashes and the Titans and everybody is telling me I should go to school or college or community college or someplace, but I want to be a hero, and how do you learn to be a hero in college, and I have important projects and cases, and deep down I’m not totally sure I can handle it.
BART:
So what you do think I should do?
Panel 3. Pull back to reveal that BART has been talking to CAROL BUCKLEN, and that they’re sitting in a lecture hall. Dozens of other young women are watching BART and CAROL in puzzlement after his interruption. A middle-aged professor has paused her lecture mid-PowerPoint; the screen shows a photograph of a 1960s civil-rights demonstration. CAROL speaks to BART gently but firmly.
CAROL:
Honey, what do you think I’m going to tell you?
•
PAGE EIGHT (four panels)
Panel 1. BART in civilian clothes opens an interior door that contains a window and is numbered “C-301”.
Panel 2. BART sits down in a classroom, placing the three thick books on the desk attached to his chair. On the blackboard is written “Prof. Annie McDonnel” and “Intro to Criminal Justice.” PROFESSOR McDONNEL--a tall black woman with short hair and glasses--stands at the lectern, watching students file in. The lectern says “Keystone Community.”
Panel 3. PROFESSOR McDONNEL (perhaps off-panel) asks a question, and BART innocently raises his hand.
PROFESSOR McDONNEL:
All right, let’s get started. Who here has done all the reading?
Panel 4: The students, who show a mix of ages, races, genders, and personal styles, look at BART with varying degrees of surprise and resentment. Only BART has his hand up. Obviously he’s going to be raising the curve. BART, hand still in the air, glances back from the corner of his eyes.
BART (small letters, small balloon):
What?
Continued here.
Rating: G.
Content: Humor.
Page Count: Eight pages of comics script.
Summary: Bart’s relatives are pushing him to take classes at Keystone Community College, so he runs off to consult with friends his own age.
Continuity: Starting from the DC Comics standard, and the news that a planned Kid Flash had been put off, I scripted a series of eight-page backup stories about Bart Allen starting here. This new series builds on that story, starting here. Bart is living in Keystone City with Jay and Joan Garrick; Barry Allen and Max Mercury are back. Since my first series, Bart has learned about Tim Drake’s new Red Robin identity.
Disclaimer: Kid Flash and his family and friends are owned by DC Comics under copyright and trademark laws. This pastiche is offered freely as entertainment for fans.
PAGE ONE (two panels)
Panel 1. Title and credits at top of page.
TITLE:
His Future Lay Plain Before Him
CREDITS
Panel 2. Medium close-up of BART talking. His hair and motion lines show that he’s running backward. It’s night, and he’s in a city.
BART:
So now Max and the Flash and the other Flash and probably the other other Flash are all saying I have to go to college!
BART:
They say I have to take two classes this year. They say it’ll be an opportunity.
BART:
But I need free time to work with the Titans! And the JLA--you never know when they might call. And my own cases, if I ever find one.
BART:
Also I was working on this independent film, which is gonna be all educational and useful. And awesome.
BART:
But now the guy I was working with has gone off to college! He told me our movie’s gonna be his class project, and I should sign up too, but I can’t sign up as Kid Flash! And besides, I’m not interested in studying movies about other people.
BART:
So what should I do now?
•
PAGE TWO (five panels)
Panel 1. TIM DRAKE as Red Robin is driving his motorcycle through the streets of Gotham City straight at us--i.e., this is BART’s point of view. TIM has a radio microphone pulled out of his cowl toward his mouth, just to answer the question of how the guys can converse like this.
TIM:
Turn left.
Panel 2. TIM has turned his motorcycle left and is heading down another street. BART’s crackle trail shows that he’s turned the opposite way.
TIM:
Sorry--my left.
BART:
Did Batman go to college? Did Nightwing? (Where is Nightwing, anyway?)
Panel 3. BART has caught up to TIM as they continue their conversation.
TIM:
They dropped out of college. But they spent those years studying and training. They knew exactly what they were looking for.
TIM:
So I guess the question is, what are you looking for?
BART:
I don’t know! What are you looking for?
Panel 4. BART passes TIM, speeding ahead down the street.
TIM:
Light blue van, plate starts KR. It’s in one of those parking garages up ahead.
Panel 5. TIM is further along the same street. BART’s crackle path shows that he’s returning.
BART:
The garage on the right--your right. Fourth floor, area D.
•
PAGE THREE (seven panels)
Panel 1. Inside the parking garage. BART has run ahead and is pointing urgently to a light blue van with the license plate KRH•237. TIM pulls up on his motorcycle.
BART:
You’re not going to college, right?
Panel 2. TIM rips open the back door of the van as BART looks on. Theoretically, TIM says “open” at the same time he yanks on the door.
TIM:
I got my G.E.D. two years ago. I took the S.A.T.s. I filled out the common application.
TIM:
So I’m keeping that option…
SFX:
Krunnnk!
TIM:
--open!
Panel 3. TIM and BART look into the back of the minivan, which is packed with explosives, metal barrels stamped with the symbol for radioactivity, and a timer that says 00:37.
BART:
What is that?
TIM:
Dirty bomb.
Panel 4. Close-up of the timer in TIM’s hands as he shoves an electrode into a slit on one side. Now the timer says 00:31.
BART:
Ooh! There are hundreds of people around! I can’t grab ’em all!
Panel 5. Close-up of the timer as TIM flicks a switch on the electrode. The timer now says 99:99.
TIM:
No need.
Panel 6. TIM gets back on his motorcycle as BART looks on, trying to process.
TIM:
We gave the bomb squad time to move the bad stuff.
TIM:
The way I see it, Bart, in the long run college opens more doors than it would close.
Panel 7. Close up of BART, still in his Kid Flash uniform. He’s no longer in the parking garage, but inside a room, standing in front of an open frame window, at night.
BART:
What would college let me do that I can’t do now?
•
PAGE FOUR (five panels)
Panel 1. Pull back to show that BART has snuck into CASSIE SANDSMARK’s dorm room at the Elias School for Girls. In the background, CISSIE KING is opening the door to the hallway, and GRETA HAYES is slipping back into the room. All three girls are in their sleepwear, eyes tired.
CASSIE:
Well, for one thing, you could visit girls in their dorm rooms without getting them in trouble.
CISSIE (whisper balloon):
Did anyone hear?
GRETA (whisper balloon):
He’s still our secret.
Panel 2. BART continues speaking to CASSIE. He’s sitting in front of the open window he came in through, and oblivious to the disruption he’s caused.
BART:
See, my guardians say I have to go to college.
CASSIE:
So…?
Panel 3. Close up on BART.
BART:
So who wants to go to college?!
Panel 4. All three girls look at each other.
Panel 5. All three girls turn back to BART.
CASSIE, CISSIE, and GRETA:
We do.
•
PAGE FIVE (five panels)
Panel 1. As BART registers surprise, the girls explain their plans.
GRETA:
I’m thinking pre-med.
CISSIE:
I’ve gotten seven athletic scholarship offers. Now I’m looking to see which school has the best business program.
CASSIE:
And I’m wondering about archeology, or maybe theater.
Panel 2. CASSIE continues to explain while BART objects strenuously.
CASSIE:
That’s one of the great things about college, Bart. It’s not like high school. You get to study what you’re interested in studying.
BART:
But I’m not interested in anything!
Panel 3. CASSIE holds one finger up to BART’s mouth.
CASSIE:
Inside voice, Bart.
CASSIE:
In fact, you’re interested in a lot. You read everything.
Panel 4. GRETA and CISSIE add their voices.
GRETA:
You draw, and you play the guitar.
CISSIE:
Did you know there are even a couple of colleges where you can major in designing video games?
Panel 5. BART reacts with wide-eyed surprise.
BART (small letters):
They’re…designed?
•
PAGE SIX (five panels)
Panel 1. BART, still in his Kid Flash uniform, is standing outside in the bright sun, talking to someone off panel.
BART:
I figure you understand how I feel about college.
Panel 2. Pull back to show that BART is talking to KON out in a field on the Kent farm. KON is wrestling with some sort of muddy irrigation equipment.
KON:
College? Oh, man, I’m so looking forward to college!
Panel 3. BART is shocked at KON’s words.
BART:
But you’re the Kid! You’re the rebel! You’re--
KON:
Stuck in Smallville, man! College is my ticket out of here!
Panel 4. KON has grabbed BART by the arms and is speaking with a touch of mad desperation in his eyes.
KON:
In Smallville, kids don’t even go cow-tipping! We sit around and wait for cows to fall over by themselves!
KON:
Last week I found myself singing along to…Shania Twain!
BART:
Ooookay.
Panel 5. KON has regained control of himself and let BART go. BART is thinking back.
KON:
Bart, you don’t know what it’s like to grow up in one of these small towns!
BART:
Well, actually…
•
PAGE SEVEN (three panels)
Panel 1. Close up of BART in his Kid Flash outfit. We’re inside once more, now in a room with beige walls and wood paneling.
BART:
So I know I haven’t visited Manchester much or answered every letter, but I was busy and then I was grown up and then I was dead, and now I’m back and I really need your advice!
Panel 2. Another close-up of BART, still talking.
BART:
All the Flashes and the Titans and everybody is telling me I should go to school or college or community college or someplace, but I want to be a hero, and how do you learn to be a hero in college, and I have important projects and cases, and deep down I’m not totally sure I can handle it.
BART:
So what you do think I should do?
Panel 3. Pull back to reveal that BART has been talking to CAROL BUCKLEN, and that they’re sitting in a lecture hall. Dozens of other young women are watching BART and CAROL in puzzlement after his interruption. A middle-aged professor has paused her lecture mid-PowerPoint; the screen shows a photograph of a 1960s civil-rights demonstration. CAROL speaks to BART gently but firmly.
CAROL:
Honey, what do you think I’m going to tell you?
•
PAGE EIGHT (four panels)
Panel 1. BART in civilian clothes opens an interior door that contains a window and is numbered “C-301”.
Panel 2. BART sits down in a classroom, placing the three thick books on the desk attached to his chair. On the blackboard is written “Prof. Annie McDonnel” and “Intro to Criminal Justice.” PROFESSOR McDONNEL--a tall black woman with short hair and glasses--stands at the lectern, watching students file in. The lectern says “Keystone Community.”
Panel 3. PROFESSOR McDONNEL (perhaps off-panel) asks a question, and BART innocently raises his hand.
PROFESSOR McDONNEL:
All right, let’s get started. Who here has done all the reading?
Panel 4: The students, who show a mix of ages, races, genders, and personal styles, look at BART with varying degrees of surprise and resentment. Only BART has his hand up. Obviously he’s going to be raising the curve. BART, hand still in the air, glances back from the corner of his eyes.
BART (small letters, small balloon):
What?
Continued here.