This is a short script that I wrote recently, a science-fiction horror that I feel would be a good fit for someone like 2000AD…:)

Some of the formatting went a bit squiffy in the translation to Tumblr, but it still reads okay, I think.

Enjoy!

________________________________________________

‘The Other Man In The Mirror’

by

Michael Gordon

Draft 1.0 - 27/08/15

12 Lisnoe Park, Lisburn, BT27 5NS
07908831755
mikeonfire@hotmail.com

5 PANELS

PANEL 1

Full-tier establishing shot, roughly one third of the page in size.
We see an elevated view of a futuristic cityscape at night. There are several large skyscrapers looming imposingly over a city filled with bright, neon lights. A few cars fly between the buildings, their headlights illuminating the night sky and reflecting off the skyscrapers’ windows.
It should be along the lines of Los Angeles’ depiction in Blade Runner, only not quite so oppressive and dirty; this city is cleaner and less frightening.

CAPTION
It all started a few months ago.

PANEL 2

We have pulled in closer to one of the skyscrapers, an apartment building, and are looking into the penthouse area through it’s large windows, which stretch horizontally along the entire upper floor of the building.
A man is leaning slightly against the window, forearm and head resting on the glass as he gazes out upon the city. He is in his underwear, and though we can tell he is fairly young (early 30’s), he looks haggard.
He sports a bushy beard and long, straggly hair that hasn’t been trimmed or tidied in quite some time. He looks tired; the overall impression is of someone who needs to sleep for a week, but can’t.

CAPTION
At first, I thought I was imagining things.

PANEL 3

Apartment interior. The man, in the far right of the panel, casts his gaze wearily over his living room, which looks like something out of a high-class furniture catalogue. There is beautiful framed artwork on the walls (with a soft, glowing light emanating from behind the frames) and expensive ornamental items adorn the areas around a plush sofa and matching chairs.
A television screen, of sorts, floats in the middle of the room in front of the sofa; it looks like a hologram, simply hanging in midair. Across the room from the man, on the opposite wall, hangs a gorgeous mirror with the same glow emanating from behind it.

CAPTION
Or that I was having…extremely lucid waking dreams.

PANEL 4

Close-up on the man’s tired, fearful face as he looks at something off-panel. We can see his eyes are bloodshot.

CAPTION
But now I know the truth. I’m not imagining anything.

PANEL 5
Close-up on the large mirror hanging on the wall across the room.

CAPTION
When I look in the mirror…

CAPTION
…it isn’t me staring back.

5 PANELS

**Page 2 and most of Page 3 are made up of flashback panels.**

PANEL 1

Side-on shot of the man in his bathroom, at the sink, cheeks puffed out as he swirls mouthwash before bed. He is looking in the mirror above the sink, and looks completely different to how we saw him on page 1: clean shaven, with short hair styled in a side-parting. He looks well-rested, like he hasn’t a care in the world.

CAPTION
It’s sometimes hard to remember what life was like before I was scared all the time…

PANEL 2

A slightly angled shot, to show the man with his back to the reader but also show his reflection in the mirror looking back at him. His back is arched as he spits mouthwash in the sink.

CAPTION
…but before this…I was happy.

CAPTION
When I looked in the mirror, I liked what I saw.

PANEL 3

Another angled shot, but this time we see the man has leaned in slightly towards the mirror. We can see his reflection’s facial expression has changed somewhat; his brow has furrowed and his eyes have narrowed.

CAPTION
I didn’t realize what was happening that first time. Something just felt…off.

PANEL 4

Another angled shot. The reflection in the mirror now looks cruel, with an unnerving leer and dead eyes staring back at the man.

CAPTION
Suddenly, I was looking at me, but…not.

CAPTION
I didn’t recognize the look in my own eyes.

CAPTION
I looked…cruel. My blood ran cold.

PANEL 5

Full-tier panel along the bottom of the page. The man has backed away from the mirror, fear etched on his face, but we can see that his reflection is still leering at him menacingly.

CAPTION
I felt an unnatural sense of oppression…a dread that gripped my bones and refused to let go.

5 PANELS

PANEL 1

The man is now walking the city streets in the daytime. His beard has begun to form and his hair is longer, denoting that some time has passed from page 2. He has his shoulders and coat collar pulled up high to his chin, and looks nervous. A few people bustle around him, paying him little attention.

CAPTION
Over the next few months, I became a wreck.

PANEL 2

The man is passing a shop window. He is looking straight ahead, purposefully avoiding looking in the window, where we can see his reflection is turned towards him, still leering with evil intent.

CAPTION
Reflective surfaces became a thing of the past.

CAPTION
The other man in the mirror was always there.

PANEL 3

The man is in his home, sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands, shoulders trembling.

CAPTION
I stopped going to work. Stopped going outside, period.

CAPTION
This penthouse became my whole world. My own home became my prison.

CAPTION
I finally spoke to my therapist. Apparently, it’s a very common dream phenomena to see someone other than yourself in the mirror.

PANEL 4

Angled shot, showing the man anxiously looking in the living room mirror. His beard and hair are now longer still, showing even more time has passed.
His reflection is giving that familiar leer, but we can also see that behind the reflection is what looks like a swirling, black liquid. His reflection’s skin colour has also changed slightly, with a faint purplish hue.

CAPTION
It could be my subconscious showing me what I desire; an image of myself I wish I had.

CAPTION
Another option was a dopamine imbalance in my brain and this was the beginning of a dissociative personality disorder. She prescribed me some medication…

PANEL 5

Back to the present day. Similar panel to page 1, panel 4, with the man looking fearfully towards the mirror across the room.

CAPTION
I knew then that she couldn’t help me.

CAPTION
I wasn’t dreaming and I didn’t have any disorder.

CAPTION
Something evil had entered my life and no pills would make it go away.

5 PANELS

PANEL 1

Close-up of the mirror, which is entirely filled with the swirling, black liquid. It should be oddly beautiful and hypnotic. There is no reflection now.

CAPTION
I knew that even if the man in the mirror seemed to leave…if he stopped tormenting me for a brief moment…

CAPTION
…it was just a trick. He was simply toying with me, waiting to return worse than ever.

PANEL 2

The man is now standing very close to the mirror, seemingly transfixed by the swirling liquid.

CAPTION
I felt it in my soul. He was still in there.

PANEL 3

Biggest, most important panel on this page.
We see a side-on shot of our man on the right of the panel with the swirling black vortex now taking up the middle section of the panel. Behind the vortex, on the left, we can see another man, or rather, an alien; bald, with purple skin and green eyes.
He is holding up a large sci-fi style ray-gun with both hands, and has fired a bullet from it, so our man on the right side of the panel is being shot in the forehead. His head is snapping back and blood is spattering.

SFX
BLAM!

PANEL 4

Close-up on the alien, who is sporting that familiar unnerving leer.

PANEL 5

The alien has his hand up to his ear, talking into an earpiece of some sort in his own language (which we will translate to English).

ALIEN (JAGGED)
Target eliminated, Emperor.
(link)
Yes, he’d been catching glimpses through the veil for some time, but he’d begun to see further…it had to be done.
(link)
Thank you, sir.
(link)
I’m calling in Zay’s team to seal up the breach now.
(link)
End transmission.

// END