I just came across this cool concept art and script for a graphic novel I was collaborating on in 2011... It was called Psi-Vamp, or Sigh Vamp, depending on the iteration of it in the timeline... I did all the writing and basic storyboard panels, which were going to be drawn up by Seattle artist Eddie Pozen, the son/daughter of an old musician friend of mine...
So it never came to be, but I thought I might share all the cool material... It may be chaotic, but it could have been an HBO series... Here you go... Psi-Vamp...
Background Info:
A group of five runaway kids (age 7-9ish) are psychic vampires, ruthlessly feeding off the life-force of people they encounter in their everyday lives... They have become so good at what they do... Each kid has a human puppet that carries them around on its back... Hence, they stand out in a crowd, but use this attention to further their prana siphoning of others... (Imagine a mindless adult with a child-size 'backpack' and you're close...)
They know better than to drain each other, and are very tight knit... With survival as their guiding compass, no ethical motives are known to them... Almost ruthless, yet they can charm the hell out of anyone, in a mesmerizing way... This is background because the goal is to quickly establish this as the context, so the story of one of them 'leaving the pack' begins...
A little girl realizes she doesn't want to be an energy leech any longer... This causes turmoil with her psi-vamp friends, the only family she knows... They turn on her and reject her attempts to give energy instead of take, though she still rides her human puppet, her 'donor'... She is forced to flee the 'clan' and wanders aimlessly, in fear of her life... She discovers new abilities growing inside her, as she weens herself of 'feeding' on other people...
Over time and with effort, she learns to call down life-force from beyond, giving it freely to the sick and elderly... She creates quite a stir, with the media attention marking her... The rest of her former 'family' finds her, and a psychic-vampire battle ensues like none other... (The battle actually plays out through the human-puppets, yelling and punching each other with the kids on their backs!) She wins in the end, sending her former clan running from her overwhelming life-giving strength...
The story closes with her attempting to release her human-puppet, only to finally find out this is really her father, who can't remember the past several years, due to her 'influence'... The final panel would show them walking toward the sunset, implying future adventures, yet also allowing for closure, and a 'happily ever after' feeling... (very important!)
Cast of characters...
Zappa-San, age 15
Sumio, age 13
Mesmerelda, age 12
Genus, age 11
Winkte, age 9
Bob Ross III, (neural-network-news commentator)
(All the art until now was by Eddie Pozen, in preparation for drawing the script... The storyboard pages after this are my crude drawings...)
Sigh Vamp
Outline...
(scene by scene)
Scene One:
Introduction with postmodern cityscape... The city is stratified, with the sky at the top, then the organic techno-urban biosphere, then the cutaway to the underground woolly-mammoth-squirrel-cage generators that powers the entire ordeal... This is to establish the near-future feeling, sort-of Philip K. Dickens...
Scene Two:
The gang is introduced... Zappa-San is the ringleader, he is age 15... Sumio is the wise confidant, she is age 13... Mesmerelda is the main character, she is age 12... Genus is the whiz-kid, he is age 11... Winkte is the little mystic, he is age 9... They are interdependent on one another, each with special gifts, though Zappa-San is the alpha, through intimidation and physical prowess... In this scene they are in an arbitrary setting, maybe their hideout withing the sewer... Their hideout is a trailer park that has been built upon and forgotten, thus is entirely enclosed... Zappa-San has a pet rat or two around him often, which he uses like homing pigeons... They are shooting the shit...
Scene Three:
The gang encounters a hobo in their territory, and Zappa-San shows the kids how to suck the tramp of all his life-energy... This should be spectacular, though not horrific... Afterwards, the gang walks away, leaving Mesmerelda staring at the withered corpse... She doesn't feel quite right...
Scene Four:
Time has passed (weeks or months)... Neural-Network-News is introduced, with the anchorman Bob Ross III talking about the weather in the form of 'Happy Little Clouds'... He is the face people see in their minds when NNN transmits its broadcasts directly to everyone's minds... This is key, that the transmissions are obligatory, just as everyone in our real-life culture must have a social security card... Bob Ross III also mentions how the battle fares with the self-replicating-nano-cockroaches, and warns everyone to update their Digital-Influenza-Protection, or face the possibility of coughing up code which leads to death...
Scene Five:
Back to the gang, getting some R&R at a hover-skating rink... Here is a good place to have them pick their puppets... Zappa-San, being the biggest, selects a hulk to carry him... Maybe the features of the puppets resembles the kids, the way dogs and owners resemble each other... Mesmerelda feels a little guilty at the abuse she sees happening, but chooses a nerdy man whom she feels a strange kinship with... (This is her father, though she has NO idea until the epilogue...) This scene will develop the characters in various ways, with Genus improving his hover-skates so he can glide on the ceiling...
Scene Six:
Sumio and Zappa-San have a private conversation about Winkte... He has just lost control of his puppet's bodily functions, resulting in the puppet peeing its pants... It's obvious that for all Winkte's mystical gifts, he is possibly too young to run with them... Sumio encourages Zappa-San to keep him, using flattery and wisdom... The matter is settled, and we see Zappa-San reflect on his existence for a moment, until he hardens and walls off again...
Scene Seven:
Zappa-San is absent from this scene, taking place in the hideout... He is scouting for 'food sources', and while the cat's away, the mice are at play... Genus is crossing lines with the trained rats, and has actually dissected one and mechanized it... The other kids warn him that Zappa-San is going to blow a fuse when he finds out, but Genus is so focused he doesn't even notice their leader's return... Of course Zappa-San finds out, as Winkte can't help but spill the beans... Zappa-San is visibly furious for a moment, though we can observe the wheels turning in his mind as he imagines what the whiz-kid is capable of... Also in this scene, Winkte blurts out that he had a prophetic dream, of doom and gloom for their gang... The other kids scoff at him, though Mesmerelda is again thunderstruck... (He is foretelling her departure and eventual victory over their control...)
Scene Eight:
Mesmerelda is sent by herself to get some food for everyone, probably as a final initiation into the gang... She goes down deep into the bowels of the city, instead of upwards... She discovers the sinister generating sytem that the techno-city uses to power everything, a series of cross-bred woolly-mammoth-squirrels, forced to run perpetually in cage-wheels... She forgets to search for food, and rushes back to try to convince the others of a plan to free the creatures...
Scene Nine:
Upon her return, Mesmerelda babbles about what she's seen... Winkte is sympathetic, yet chooses like usual to kiss Zappa-San's ass... Sumio listens objectively but doesn't weigh in... Genus shows his dastardly nature, suggesting they move deeper and start feeding directly off of the creatures... Zappa-San ponders all of this heated discussion, finally exerting his psychic-will on them, forcing them to be silent... He stands up, declaring that no, they won't be moving downward, but that now Mesmerelda has to go get twice as much food-supply as before, and that she is forbidden to go downwards or even think in that direction... Something about the depths disturbs him...
Scene Ten:
Neural-Network-Newsflash with Bob Ross III... He charms his way into everyone's brains, as they stare blankly at nothing... This transmission mentions that the Capsule-Hotel-Hospital has need of soul-donors, and that every spirit counts towards some death-after-life-after-death... He also mentions how happiness is up 10 points on the Tao Jones Stock Market, so buy some today before it gets too costly... Lastly, he ends with a blurb about missing persons and depleted corpses found near many sewer entrances...
Scene Eleven:
Just before Mesmerelda is sent out again for her double-initiation, Sumio pulls her aside for a private discussion... She mentions how Zappa-San is really a quality guy, but that she needs to tow the line or they will feed on her... Mesmerelda and Sumio have a bit of a falling out, and Sumio's last words are, "Don't come back emptyhanded, you little bitch!!!" This should shock us, because Sumio is the most level-headed of them all... She is crushing on Zappa-San, though she'd never admit it...
Scene Twelve:
Mesmerelda runs away, simply to escape Sumio's condemning words... She has no idea where she's going, though she ends up heading up instead of down... She is confused, tired, and hungry... She is scared to return without the food for her gang, but is also furious with how the others acted towards her and others... In a moment of decisive stupidity, she realizes she needs to find her own way, even if she dies trying...
Scene Thirteen:
Mesmerelda's first night on the streets leaves her huddled in an alley, shivering... The moon is even glaring at her, and she feels the most alone in her entire life, even though her puppet is still with her... She finds a real pigeon and sucks it dry, experiencing its fright as she does so... She feels ashamed...
Scene Fourteen:
As the days pass, Mesmerelda begins to ween herself of feeding on others... She gets the idea that she might have the gift of reversing the vampiric tendency, and attempts to give instead of take... Her first experiment is on a 'dead' flower... In a moment of accidental benevolence, she manages to revive the flower, which begins to radiate with her newfound joy... This is the first moment where things begin to brighten in the story... She gains some confidence...
Scene Fifteen:
Back to the hideout, where time has passed since Mesmerelda's departure... The gang feels her absence, and is discussing the situation... Zappa-San asks his groupies to use their individual strengths to find her, even bring her back to face judgment... He asks Winkte to search the dreamworld, demands Genus use the mechanized rat (which has a farther range, and has become Genus' pet...) to track her, and specifically asks Sumio for any insight about the problem... It's here that Sumio admits she drove Mesmerelda away with her confrontation, and an argument ensues... Sumio is forced to admit she was jealous of Mesmerelda's growing feminity, and is nearly breaking down in tears before Zappa-San consoles her... They begin to formulate a plan...
Scene Sixteen:
Neural-Network-Newsflash with Bob Ross III... This transmission covers the grand-opening of Sentimental-Park, with an invitation for people to come visit and get their DNA tested for antimatter-botox-surgery compatability... He warns the public NOT to feed the holographic swans, or swim in the flouride fountain... Lastly, he announces that the Lord Dominatrix of the world is going to war against shadows, starting with the one cast by the upcoming lunar eclipse... He adds that this will not affect the logo branded on the moon's surface, which is endorsed and funded by NNN...
Scene Seventeen:
Mesmerelda is on a random street, feeding good vibes to an autistic-looking Charlie Brown... What she doesn't see is the mechanized rat which has located her, watching her every move... Genus can see what the rat sees, but is witholding the information from Zappa-San because he's a pain in the ass...
Scene Eighteen:
Mesmerelda has her pinnacle moment, thus far... She has somewhat mastered the art of getting her energy from the sun, similar to Skywalker building his own Jedi lightsaber... This is an, 'AHA!!' moment, like a choir of angels singing to celebrate her enlightenment... She decides that she wants to free the underground creatures, now that she has become empowered... But she realizes that she needs to practice more first, and heads to the Capsule-Hotel-Hospital...
Scene Nineteen:
In the Capsule-Hotel-Hospital, Mesmerelda begins to heal the sick, re-animate the downloaded (dead), and even creates a stir by helping some who do not want to be healed... After several successful endeavors, she has to leave because people are beginning to follow her and crowd around her... Possibly a riot about to occur...
Scene Twenty:
Mesmerelda has her messiah moment, sorta fleeing to Sentimental-Park, where masses of people are wanting her attention... We see overhead shots from the perspective of news-rocketships, and Mesmerelda is about to escape the crowd when Bob Ross III corners her for an interview... She is momentarily distracted, because the transmission is directly in her brain, as well as in front of her... Bob Ross III begins a series of sensational questions, (borrowing heavily from the language style of the painter in real-life...) She excuses herself amid great confusion, and disappears into the crowd... To escape, she has to use some of her mind-control, which makes her feel sad afterward... (This is where Act II would likely begin...)
Scene Twenty-One:
The gang is in a pizza parlor, which is actually a public place to download memories of real pizza... They are celebrating Winkte's 10th birthday, and he seems to have finally learned control of his puppet's bodily functions... Instead of blowing out his candles, he has a psychic vision, and nearly panics with the new information about Mesmerelda... But just as he is sharing it, the NNN transmission with the Mesmerelda interview comes into their brains... Afterward, before anyone can say anything, Genus blurts out that he's known for days now about her, but that Zappa-San is a dick so why share it?... Zappa-San has a moment of revenge on the whiz-twit, making his pet rats devour Genus' mechanical one... When Genus tries to stop this, Zappa-San gives him a bloody nose and a black eye... Sumio watches this and simply smiles...
Scene Twenty-Two:
The gang forms battle plans... Since they don't have the mech-rat any longer, Zappa-San implores Winkte to reach deeply inward and locate Mesmerelda once again... The little mystic does this, predicting she is going deep into the underground... They make preparations to ambush her... Before they leave the parlor, they drain the soda-jerk dry of his life-energy, just to feel high... (Like 'Lost Boys' meets Harry Potter?)
Scene Twenty-Three:
Mesmerelda prepares to go underground and free the Wooly-Mammoth-Squirrels... She and her puppet enter the sewers, which she has not been in since she left the gang... Zappa-San's rats catch up with her, and a mini pre-battle ensues... Instead of killing them, she frees them of their bond with Zappa-San, and they run off as happy little feral creatures once again...
Scene Twenty-Four:
The final battle takes place with the woolly-mammoth-squirrels as a backdrop (if possible)... The gang ambushes Mesmerelda, and she is forced to halt her rescue attempt, to protect herself from the other Sigh Vamps... She uses hand gestures, as well as a flaming mental-sword (defense only)... Her defenses hold off the onslaught of the other 4 combined, for awhile... Then Genus pulls away and wanders toward the mammoth-squirrels, despite Zappa-San's barking orders to come back... Genus gives Zappa-San the bird, and disappears...
Scene Twenty-Five:
When Genus leaves, the tides turn... The gang of Sigh Vamps are dependent on the collective approach, so are thus weakened as their numbers diminish... The tide of the battle goes back and forth, but eventually Mesmerelda not only deflects their suckage, but begins to feed them raw psi-power, overloading them... Sumio grabs Winkte and runs away toward the surface, calling for Zappa-San to get the hell out of there... Zappa-San is determined to fight to the death, however, and stands alone to face Mesmerelda... He is revealed in all his Vampiric Lordship in this scene, very menacing and out to destroy... Just before the two go head to head, Genus yells from across the cavern and sets the mammoth-squirrels free, one by one... This is partly out of revenge on Zappa-San, partly because he's trying to still get in Mesmerelda's pants, and partly because he knows if the lights go out he has a better chance of escaping Zappa-San, should he kill Mesmerelda... The power for the entire city flickers and the lights go out... A rumbling stampede is heard in the distance...
Scene Twenty-Six:
Mesmerelda has been fighting for her life, and is now in darkness with an evil psi-vamp out to kill her... She runs toward the sound of the mammoths... She can hear footsteps behind her... (They can sort of see in the dark, but only a few feet in front of them) Everything is chaos, and she has to time perfectly in order to grab onto one of the mammoths at the crucial moment... Zappa-San is not so lucky, for he attempts to mind-control the woolly-mammoth-squirrels and gets trampled... (He doesn't die, but that's for another story...) The scene ends with Genus snickering alone, in the dark...
Scene Twenty-Seven:
Mesmerelda emerges from the underground on her mammoth with her puppet behind her... The world is vastly different with no power, and she sees she has much to accomplish to help her fellow humans... She suddenly realizes that she never set the puppet free, and thus releases him... He regains consciousness, and wants to stay with her... She keeps trying to shew him away, until he calls her by name, which she never told him... They soon discover that he is Mesmerelda's father, and they decide to help the world together... First and foremost is the sudden explosion of the self-replicating roaches, though that again, is another story... The two walk off into the sunset on one of the squirrelly-mammoths, and all is well, for now...
Scene Twenty-Eight:
Neural-Network-News with Bob Ross III... He explains that power has been diverted to help the war effort, but that the war on shadows is going badly... It may be some time before life returns to normal, and that people should practice fasting instead of fighting over food... He then mentions that anyone still fleshy who wants to switch over to mechanization can pick up a free voucher at the FuckYou Kiosk in Town-Squared... He closes with a weather report, saying it'll be overcast with happy little clouds indefinitely, due to the sky-projectors being too energy demanding...
Here is the script I started on...
Page 1: Splash Page… (Full page panel)
(A portrait shot of Mesmerelda on her human puppet… Some flashy psychic energy zipping around in the background may be visually appealing… Writing and art credits in fine print…)
Page 2, Panel 1
(Text box 1)
Long ago, when people still used mobile phones, and babies weren’t yet born from eggs, there existed subcultures and underground denizens who lived off of the energy of another…
(Text box 2)
Banded into small tribes by common plight and a shared ability to steal another’s life force, they even exerted mind-control over their victims, within a short distance…
(Top-half-page panel, showing a postmodern cityscape… It can have lots of futuristic looking elements, as well as other styles, if we want to create a flavor for this story… Maybe like a cyber-Victorian feel? Or a Philip K. Dickens vibe?)
Page 2, Panel 2
(Text box 1)
One such ‘tribe’ of sigh vamps were only children… They lived in the sewer and roamed the city, taking what they wanted, whenever…
(Text box 2)
They had become so adept at their abilities, each one of their quintet had their own hypnotized human to carry them around…
(Bottom-half-page panel, showing the five kids on their puppets, in a circle… Or, if a different shot of the five works better, let’s use that… Could be anything, like a bowling alley or a bus stop…)
Page 3, Panel 1
(Speech bubble 1: The leader, Zappa-San)
“Way I see it is that we own the light… We just let them keep their life-force in storage for us… Like a battery!!”
(Speech bubble 2: The weirdo, Winktee)
“Yeah, and the word ‘Lux’ in Latin means, ‘Light’… So we should be, ‘De Lux’!”
(Top-left-quarter page panel showing the two characters? Maybe they are talking while, ‘feeding’? This is to introduce the gang…)
Page 3, Panel 2
(Speech bubble 1: The hermaphrodite, Sumio)
“This is beautopia!!”
(Speech bubble 2: The hyper-whizkid, Genus)
“Like virtual-reality in real life…”
(Top-right-quarter-page image panel shows a sewer, with the gang lounging around… Maybe they are making a rat dance for entertainment?)
Page 3, Panel 3
(Text box 1)
Mesmerelda enjoyed the life she had with her friends, the only ‘family’ she knew…
(Circular panel in the middle of the page, with a portrait shot of Mesmerelda on her puppet…)
Page 3, Panel 4
(Text box 1, top)
They could read thoughts, feel others’ emotions, even control their minds…
(Text box 2, bottom)
The drawback was that they felt lethargic, as subdued as their victims after stealing their energy…
(Bottom-quarter-page-panel showing a doped out group of kids, or maybe just one close up?)
Page 3, Panel 5
(Text box 1, top)
The longer she ran with them, the more Mesmerelda began to loathe herself…
(Text box 2, bottom)
More often than not, she chose to go hungry…
(Speech bubble 1: Zappa-San)
“Don’t you want this crown chakra, Mesmerelda?”
(Speech bubble 2: Genus)
“What’s WRONG with you?!?”
(Top-half of bottom-right-quarter-page panel, showing Zappa-San offering her a crown chakra, which she is thumbing her nose at… Genus is in the background, being a snot…)
Page 3, Panel 6
(Text box 1, top)
One day she simply decided not to steal energy any more, if she could help it… She announced it to her tribe…
(Text box 2, bottom)
Mesmerelda was ostracized, forced to leave the life she knew…
(Bottom-half of bottom-right-quarter panel, showing the group sneering and pointing her out of their life… Maybe the scene is in the sewer, with her heading towards a tunnel marked ‘Exit’?)
Page 4, Panel 1
(Text box 1)
Wandering alone, Mesmerelda had ample time to contemplate her decision…
(Thought bubble 1: Mesmerelda)
“What have I done? I’m so hungry!”
(This panel shows her wandering aimlessly on her puppet, with a near-hopeless atmosphere… Maybe a vulture staring at her? See storyboard for details on panel-size…)
Page 4, Panel 2
(Text box 1)
As the days passed, she was hardly able to sleep…
(Text box 2)
There was so much to be afraid of…
(Panel 2 shows her huddled in an alley, in a fetal position, with garbage and animals sneering at her… Maybe a sex poster on the wall, for an alien porn show or something! Moon is mean looking, even…)
Page 4, Panel 3
(Text box 1)
Mesmerelda was determined to give, not take…
(Speech bubble 1: Mesmerelda)
“Come on, my little friend!”
(This panel shows her trying to give her energy to an obviously dead flower… It appears as her zapping it, but not like lightning… More wavy, like tentacles underwater…)
Page 4, Panel 4
(Text box 1)
Eventually she noticed improved results, and she grew overjoyed at the small victory… Even the flower seemed to thank her…
(This panel shows a psychadelic flower, freshly resurrected, almost smiling at her in an organic way…)
Page 4, Panel 5
(Text box 1)
It required a lot of energy, but she found she could make other people feel good and think happy thoughts…
(Thought bubble 1: Mesmerelda)
“He’ll never know…”
(Panel shows her energizing a stoned-out looking autistic Charlie Brown, who is oblivious to everything…)
Page 4, Panel 6
(Text box 1)
Finally she realized the way to feed directly on the sun’s energy, and the electromagnetism all around her… It was like being struck by cosmic lightning…
(Panel shows her being hit by cosmic lightning… Maybe the clouds look like choirs of angels? This is an, ‘AHA!!’ moment…)
Page 5, panel 1
(Text box 1)
Mesmerelda began to visit hospitals, in an attempt to help sick people…
(Speech bubble 1: Hospital guest)
“I feel so amazing!! Like brand-new again!!”
(Upper-left panel shows a hospital room, with Mesmerelda zapping a bedridden soul…)
Page 5, Panel 2
(Text box 1)
Before too long, crowds gathered around her in parks and city squares… The masses had heard of her and wanted to see for themselves…
(Upper-right panel is an overhead shot, as if from a helicopter, of her with the crowds… This is suddenly a media frenzy…)
Page 5, Panel 3
(Speech box 1: News voice)
“We go live to Quantum Park, where a local girl has attracted masses of crowds… She seems to be riding on an adult, and waving her arms in the air… Wait! Here’s Jack Willingston with an exclusive with the young lady…”
(Speech bubble 1: Jack Willingston)
“…I understand you came from the hospital, which is now empty of all its sick… What can you tell us to explain their sudden change of health? What do all these people want? And who are you? Miss?”
(Speech bubble 2: Mesmerelda)
“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble… Um… I gotta go…”
(Speech box 2: News voice)
“Let’s return to our regularly scheduled show, ‘Past-Life-Regression-Therapy-For-Your-Pet’…”
(Large bottom panel showing a television screen with a broadcast on it… The scene on the news is a reporter with a microphone in her face, and cameras flashing, with faces everywhere…)
That was a lot of concept art!! I would love to know how much of the story you were able to grasp, from all of that... I don't really care to ever develop this further, so it is the perfect steemit post! You don't even have to vote on it, I am playing honeybadger on this one, I don't give a shit... I have done my part, to make available what was sitting on a hard drive... You can interact with it if you wish... Thanks for you energy, LOL!