Mr. Sandman (18 page)

 

 

 

Page 3 panel 7

 

Dream Lord (gazing out over the destruction): Each polluted Field represents a person...a mind afflicted with unbearable visions...or madness. Look out there, Stacy. They go on and on. There are hundreds,
thousands
of them already. Think about it--think of the
catastrophe
the Bogeyman has begun!

 

Lullaby: Wow... (She is amazed, taken aback by the staggering thought of the disaster.)

 

 

 

 

Page 4 (6
panels)

 

Page 4 panel 1

 

Wide shot of the Dream Lord and Lullaby, standing on the border of the change, between darkness and light. The border is uneven, flowing visibly past then like a dark liquid. It is clearly moving, the shadows already covering both observers as they stand on the bank of the Stream.

 

Dream Lord: And it's only the
start
. The darkness, the decay is expanding. it's moving out into the rest of the Dream Zone! We're on the edge of it and it's already rushing past us.

 

Lullaby: Hey, you're right! How can we stop it? What are we gonna do?

 

 

 

Page 4 panel 2

 

Dream Lord: Only one possibility, and you know it. Kill the bastard behind all this...if we can. Then clean it up, if we can. I've got the feeling it's already too late.

 

Lullaby: If you kill Bogeyman, how will you find out those secrets you need? You said it yourself--he's the only one who knows the whole
truth
about your life.

 

 

 

Page 4 panel 3

 

Dream Lord (staring anxiously into the distance): Of course I want my answers... but this all comes first.
This
is important.
This
is my duty. I'm the Dream Lord, and this is the world that I have to protect.

 

Lullaby: Things are tough all over, huh?

 

 

 

Page 4 panel 4

 

Suddenly, the Dream Lord bursts into motion, walking briskly past Lullaby along the bank of the Dream Stream. The water here (it's actually energy) is black and boiling.

 

Dream Lord: Come on! We've got to go
now
, before it's impossible to break through to his territory. The wreckage and overgrowth keep getting thicker.

 

Lullaby: Aw, don't tell me we have to
walk
through all this! Dream Lord, we've got a
long way
to go--and this is
not
my idea of a fun hike through the woods! This stuff is
nasty
!

 

 

 

Page 4 panel 5

 

Dream Lord frowns in concentration and focuses his right hand on a point outside the panel. His arm and hand glow with a yellow aura.

 

Dream Lord: Of course we can't walk through this. We need to save time...move
fast
...and save our strength for the Bogeyman. Since I banished the Night Brigade, my power has been restoring itself...regaining control over matter and energy...

 

 

 

Page 4 panel 6

 

Dream Lord: ...so I can do
this
!

 

In a flash of bright yellow energy, a big propeller boat appears on the dark slime of the Dream Stream. The boat is the type used to travel quickly through the brush and muck of swamps.

 

Lullaby: Hey,
hey
! Nice work, buster! We're goin' on a first-class
cruise
!

 

 

 

 

Page 5 (7
panels)

 

Page 5 panel 1

 

Dream Lord takes his seat on the right side of the boat and starts the engine and propeller. Lullaby starts to sit down on the left.

 

Lullaby: I might actually
enjoy
this trip! Just give me the porthole, the shuffleboard, my bikini...

 

 

 

Page 5 panel 2

 

The engine starts and the boat begins moving. Medium shot of Lullaby as a pair of big, colorful sunglasses appears on her face with a flash. She leans back and lounges in her seat.

 

Lullaby: ...my awesome
shades
...

 

 

 

Page 5 panel 3

 

As the boat moves into the thick, thorny foliage, a nest of black snakes--4 or 5 of them--dangles down from the tangled branches, wriggling and baring their fangs just 2 feet from Lullaby.

 

Lullaby (suddenly more subdued, the novelty gone): ...and a nice, loaded shotgun...

 

 

 

Page 5 panel 4

 

Wide shot of the propeller boat carrying Dream Lord and Lullaby quickly over the polluted Dream Stream. They move fast, kicking up a spray of tar-like water/energy behind them. The gnarled, sinister groves of weeds and black, thorny vines and branches are close around them; there is only a small tunnel through which they can move, a crawlspace through the deadly, dark growth. The place is pitch-black except for the glow from a lantern which Lullaby has created, which she carries in her hand to light the way.

 

Quote: From
Heart o
f Darkness
, by Joseph Conrad: "Going up that river was like travelling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish."

 

 

 

Page 5 panel 5

 

Medium, closer shot of Dream Lord and Lullaby, from behind, gazing out into the unknown reaches of the sickened stream. The only thing they can see is an arc of light from the lantern.

 

Quote: "The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of overshadowed distances."

 

 

 

Page 5 panel 6

 

Closeup of Lullaby, half-illuminated by the lantern. She stares silently ahead, scared and deep in thought.

 

Quote: "There were moments when one's past came back to one, as it will sometimes when you have not a moment to spare to yourself; but it came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream, remembered with wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of this strange world of plants, and water, and silence."

 

 

 

Page 5 panel 7

 

Closeup of the Dream Lord looking up and around himself at the thorns and black tangles. He looks determined, angry, alert.

 

Quote: "And this stillness of life did not in the least resemble a peace. It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention."

 

 

 

 

Page 6 (7
panels)

 

Page 6 panel 1

 

Suddenly, a twisted, awful, insane gray face springs into the beam of Lullaby's lantern, just a few feet from her. She leaps away and shouts with surprise.

 

Quote: "It looked at you with a vengeful aspect."

 

Lullaby: Yiii! Dream Lord! Help!

 

 

 

Page 6 panel 2

 

The crazed, bestial thing leaps out of the dark, dead forest, jibbering madly. It grabs Lullaby, while the Dream Lord reacts with a split-second of panic, losing control of the boat and letting it cut in a wild circle on the black stream

 

Lullaby: Let
go
, you goon! Come on, get
away
! Dream Lord!

 

Beast: RRAAAALLL!!!

 

Dream Lord: Oh my God. This is terrible!

 

 

 

Page 6 panel 3

 

Lullaby tries to push the thing away with her single arm, but the creature just keeps clawing at her.

 

Lullaby: You're tellin'
me
! Will you please get rid of this goofball?

 

Dream Lord: We can't hurt it! Oh God...Stacy, that's a
dreamer
! It's been transformed by the Bogeyman's corruption, changed into some deformed, demented beast! If we injure it now, we'll damage it for
life
! Even if we can change it back to its original form, it will be crippled forever!

 

 

 

Page 6 panel 4

 

Lullaby:
Who
would you rather see
crippled
, dummy? Hurry up!

 

The creature rams a huge, hairy fist down at the girl, which she blocks by materializing a garbage can lid in the air above her body. The creature's fist drives into the lid--hard--but it doesn't break through to hurt her.

 

Dream Lord: Here, I'll just brush it away, right back into the Fields... (He extends a glowing hand, preparing to use his power to throw the beast off the boat.)

 

 

 

Page 6 panel 5

 

The Dream Lord releases a golden bolt of energy--but the beast grabs Lullaby by the waist and leaps away, so the bolt disappears harmlessly into the dense foliage.

 

Lullaby: Help! Dream Lord, you
owe
me, buster!

 

Dream Lord: No! Stacy!

 

 

 

Page 6 panel 6

 

Grabbing a vine with one arm, the beast jumps onto the shore, carrying Lullaby off into the darkness.

 

Dream Lord (running over the boat after them): Damn it! Stacy, I'm
sorry
... I'm
coming
!

 

 

 

Page 6 panel 7

 

The Dream Lord launches himself into the woods, flying with two whirling buzz saws chopping away the undergrowth before him. He is furious--at himself, at the beast, and at Bogeyman.

 

Dream Lord: Hang on, Stacy! I'm right here!

 

Lullaby (off-panel, racing away into the black woods with the beast): I can't...break away from it!

 

 

 

 

Page 7 (8
panels)

 

Page 7 panel 1

 

Still flying swiftly through the tangled growth, Dream Lord loses sight of Lullaby and her captor. He has no idea which direction he should go to catch up with them.

 

Dream Lord: Stacy? Stacy, where are you?

 

Lullaby (faintly, in the distance): Nooo! Let me..

 

 

 

Page 7 panel 2

 

Dream Lord pauses in mid-flight, the buzz saws whirling in front of him. He listens for any sound that will point him toward Lullaby.

 

Dream Lord: Stacy? Lullaby?

 

 

 

Page 7 panel 3

 

Closeup of the Dream Lord as he screams at the top of his lungs.

 

Dream Lord:
Stacy
!!!

 

 

 

Page 7 panel 4

 

Dream Lord aims both hands before him and releases a tremendous blast of energy into the dense woods. The blast sears through the black trees and undergrowth, burning a path through it, sending shards of wood flying everywhere.

 

Dream Lord: I am not...going to
lose
you.

 

 

 

Page 7 panel 5

 

Plunging feverishly into the tunnel he has just ripped out of the jungle, the Dream Lord looks straight ahead for his friend.

 

Dream Lord: Stacy! Lullaby, where are you?

 

A shriek suddenly cuts through the jungle around him--a piercing, inhuman scream: RREEEEAARRRGG!!!

 

 

 

Page 7 panel 6

 

Another shriek bursts through the foliage, surprising the Dream Lord with its sheer volume and animal quality: AAARRRRKKEEEE!!

 

Quote: From
Heart o
f Darkness
: "...a cry, a very loud cry, as of infinite desolation, soared slowly in the opaque air."

 

 

 

Page 7 panel 7

 

The Dream Lord continues to fly through the hole in the foliage, grim and prepared to battle whatever creature is emitting that sound. There is another loud, inhuman scream.

 

Quote: "A complaining clamor, modulated in savage discords, filled our ears. The sheer unexpectedness of it made my hair stir under my cap."

 

 

 

Page 7 panel 8

 

The Dream Lord continues flying, aiming at a distant light, an apparent end to the dense jungle. Yet another shriek erupts from the jungle.

 

Quote: "...to me it seemed as though the mist itself had screamed, so suddenly, and apparently from all sides at once, did this tumultuous and mournful uproar arise."