[MV] The Super Wizard From Space #15: The Tragedy Of Sharkasaurus Rex, Part 5

Wil Alambre wilalambre at gmail.com
Fri Jul 22 08:24:18 PDT 2011


Andrew Perron wrote:
> On Wed, 20 Jul 2011 21:51:36 +0000 (UTC), Wil Alambre wrote:
>
>> The equally ethereal Theodor watched the entire sudden rending in still
>> shock. As did the rest of the infinite school, millions of fellow ghost
>> fish that had all gathered to psychically leash the mighty megalodon.
>> They didn't even realize such a thing was possible. They had survived
>> life. They had survived death. They were supposed to be free... not fragile.
>
> Yeah. o.o
>
>> Even Sharkasaurus Rex seemed surprised. The great megalodon floated in
>> the upper atmosphere aimlessly. It's pitch black eyes wide and it's
>> simple animal mind confused. It's jaws flexed open and closed. It's
>> ghostly body faded transparent and then back solid. All as if a child
>> experimenting with new experiences.
>
> This is a great moment.

Thanks. As I mentioned, the switch to Theodor's point of view helped *a 
lot*, going from a series of described events to actually having a point 
of view for a *story*.

>> The other fish were awash in their own horror, nothing but unyielding
>> blues in their minds painting over rationality. But Theodor was a blue
>> fish, used to swimming in such grim waters.
>
> ...wouldja believe I just got that?

S'okay, I only just added that connection in at that moment in the story 
:P Otherwise, Geisel would have been a happier colour himself.

>> The musical sound slammed into Theodor's wraith-like form and shook
>> every fibre. The musical sound pushed him into a more real state, a more
>> real place in the universe. For the first time since his death, for a
>> brief solid second, he felt heavy and cold and alive again.
>
> Interesting.  This suggests that the fish's ghost-forms aren't simply
> spirit, but have a matter-energy component to them.
>
> Of course, that's far too Silver Age analytical for this Golden Age jam.

That was always some of the funnest parts of a golden-age story, the 
later analysis and discussion and usage. They were great fun in and of 
themselves, but decades later, they had so much potential for successive 
writers to mine :)

>> "Sound seems to cage the near-dead," agreed Brody Dharma. "Emperor M
>> shared that secret with us. The right tone stirs the strands of the
>> universe enough to catch the spirits on our side of reality. At least
>> momentarily.
>
> Of course, it could be the soundwaves wrapping themselves around the
> ghostfish's psychic self-perception - *whaps self in head*

Damn, I missed the potential of sound*WAVES* in some sort of 
ocean-swimming related reference. Making a mental note to slip it in for 
next issue!

>> "But Rex has fed on his own students. He has added their own
>> insubstantial mass to his own. Already he's exponentially larger than he
>> was when he first arrived. And our combined harmonies did not have the
>> ability to completely manifest him."
>>
>> "Then you're gonna need a bigger gong," said the Super Wizard From Space.
>
> D'oh!
>
> It seems like the Super Wizard has moved away a bit from the unyielding
> champion of heartless justice, driven only by the mission.

I'm enjoying writing this series while trying to avoid taking the super 
wizard's point of view. As much as possible, I'm going to write these 
arcs from everyone else's point of view. Much more interesting to see 
how other characters view him and weigh in on him.

Take the ghost fish. They probably have a fairly goof opinion of the 
super wizard, as they he is assisting them as best as he can in a 
situation they themselves are unsure how to handle. At least they 
probably have a *better* opinion of him than Brody Dharma, who's 
watching him tear apart his world piecemeal in the process.

>> The switch to Theodor's point of view actually helped a lot in this
>> writing. I was correct in my discover last time, that I should have done
>> it from his point of view the whole time. I also downplayed the other
>> champions, not wanting them to clutter up the action just to have a line.
>
> Definitely works.

The others will trickle back in when I need them. I resisted having the 
undead robot be the one to explain the sound thing, giving the line to 
Brody instead. It was Emperor M who did the blatant "i can grab you with 
my claws because of sound" foreshadowing thing in issue thirteen, so it 
would have made sense, but having him pop up for a cameo-one-line I 
think it would have derailed the momentum.

Still learning. Thanks for the feedback, everyone, it's super-helpful :)

> Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, Wil continues to rock!

.........................................
Wil Alambre, follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wilalambre



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