RANDOM ACTS by Keith Giles

RANDOM ACTS by Keith Giles
(A prequel story from "UV:Target")

Claire told everyone who would listen that she saw things. Visions, and premonitions. She said she was clairvoyant. I think I was the only person in our entire school who didn’t need to look up the word in the dictionary to figure out what she was talking about.

Anyway, we got to be friends. I imagined that she had a crush on me, but it was really the other way around. I would’ve done anything for her, but I think she just needed someone to talk to and I was a good listener.

About a year ago, around the Fourth of July, she and I were talking on the phone. She was crying and telling me that three little kids were going to get shot that evening, accidentally. She kept asking me why it is that only little kids and single Mom’s get hit by the stray bullets that drunk assholes fire into the air on Independence Day. “Why don’t the gang-bangers and the rapists get hit by those bullets?” she asked. I didn’t have any good answers.

The next night on the evening news there was the story of three separate stray bullet accidents where little kids got hit in the head and died. One single Mom was hit in the chest and had to be rushed to a hospital but was going to be ok.

That’s when I got the idea about how I could answer Claire’s question.

My Dad had a silver-plated .357 Mangum handgun he kept between the mattress on his side of the bed. I had a wristwatch with this global positioning feature on it. I took a map of the city and worked out a radius that a .357 Magnum slug would possibly hit based on the known speed velocity of the bullet leaving the barrel, and the angle of the trajectory. I also factored in the variant wind speed in the upper atmosphere using a local weather site I found online. After a few tries, I was able to develop a formula where I could, theoretically mind you, hit any target on the map in a three mile radius of my house.

I showed Claire my calculations and told her the next time she got a vision that another child was going to be hurt or shot by a stray bullet, I could put a bullet into the air and strike any target, if she could tell me where the shooter was and when it was going to happen.

At the time she just wrinkled her brow. Her nose crinkled up and she half-smiled at me, but I think mostly she was just fascinated that my Dad owned a handgun.

The next Fourth of July she came over to my house. My Mom and Dad had gone out to a company party and fireworks show and I pretended I needed to study for a test on Monday. As soon as they left Claire came over.

I confess I was pretty nervous about having a girl in my room alone. She had on a skin-tight black tube top that showed off her pale white belly and these tight black jeans. She laid down on my bed and curled up with my pillow because she said she only got the visions when she slept. She fell asleep after a few minutes and I surfed the web a little, but mostly I watched her sleep.

Around 10:30pm she woke up talking strange. Like she was half-asleep and half-awake, but still dreaming about something.

“There’s a little boy on San Juan who’s going to get shot by a stray bullet,” she said.

“Where’s the bullet come from, Claire? Where?” I said.

She never opened her eyes, kind of swayed around the room a little, then said, “His name is Matt and he lives on Baine Street. 1478 Baine Street.”

I got to work on the map. Found Baine Street just about two miles North of my house. Marked it on the map and used the Global Positioning Unit to triangulate the trajectory of the bullet first.

“Hurry,” she said. “He’s getting his gun now!”

I didn’t have time to double-check my calculations but they looked about right. Next I tried to pull up the URL for the weather site but it was taking its time loading up.

“He’s loading it.”

Finally it came up and I had to type in today’s date and my zip code. A pop-up window blocked my typing in mid-stroke and I had to grab the mouse to close it.

“There’s a girl about to be raped,” she said. “On Newport and First.”

“Wait, I can’t do two at the same time,” I said. The website was slow loading the current weather report.

“Matt’s got the gun now. He’s aiming into the sky.”

“Almost done, Claire. Hang on,” I said. My fingers fumbled on the calculator keys.

“There’s a cop in Album Park about to get shot. Hurry.”

I couldn’t do that many at one time. I was still struggling to get the first address and trajectory calculated when suddenly Claire grabbed my Dad’s gun.

The sound of the gunshots felt like someone stabbing my eardrums with icepicks. Car alarms down the street started going off.

I watched her lift the heavy, chrome-plated revolver in her small white hands and randomly fire three shots out the window, turning slightly to place each bullet at a different angle.

The gun dropped to the floor like a rock. Smoke curled out of the barrel like silver ooze. Claire shook her head and broke out of her trance. “What’s that smell?” she asked.

I tried to explain to her what had just happened and then said she needed to go home. Without another word she was out the door and down the stairs to the street.

I quickly put my Dad’s gun back in the closet and tried to clean up any evidence of what we’d been doing.

The next night on the evening news they ran a story about a guy named Mathew Ward who was hit by a stray bullet, right through the skull, just as eyewitnesses say, he was preparing to fire a drunken shot into the sky to celebrate our Nation’s Independence with his friends.

Another story followed about a Cop in Album Park who nearly died when a thug grabbed his gun in a scuffle but was saved when the kid got hit by a random bullet in the arm and dropped the weapon.

The last victim of random gunfire was a boy in an alley on Newport and First who got shot by a stray bullet in the leg just as he was about to date-rape his girlfriend.

Claire and I never talked much after that night. She ended up moving to another school the next semester.

Still, random bullets fall out of the sky in Maverick County every Fourth of July and New Years and they always seem to hit the right kinds of people.

**
Keith Giles

Back In The Saddle?

I've been playing with the possibility of getting back into comic-scripting at some level.

First, there's a contest for writers running currently at an Image-based publisher to create an original super-heroine. Winners will be published in a 3 issue mini-series.

Second, I discovered an indie comics publisher that is soliciting for short comics on sci-fi, spy stories, slice-of-life stories, and pretty much everything else. I suggested my "Devil's Riding Horse" short with Kristian Donaldson might work. We'll see.

So, as 2008 looms ahead, what should I do with the creative and fiction ideas in my head?

The other day Lito and I were talking on the phone and almost accidentally we came up with a great concept for a story about a little African girl who is abducted from her village and sold into slavery here in pre-civil war America. It had me thinking about working it up as a complete story actually. We could weave into the plot about the underground railroad, the quilts which doubled as maps to freedom, etc.

At the same time, I've had to re-think several of my overly-ambitious schemes in light of keeping things simple and focusing on the needs of everyday people around me. I'm continually compelled to direct my energies towards making a difference in the lives of the poor in our community. After that is accomplished and the vision is solidified for that, perhaps a fiction story or script could emerge from the fingertips.

We shall see...

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AMERICAN FLAGG

American Flagg by Howard Chaykin (First Comics)- Trade paperback

I've been reading trades lately like DMZ, The Nightly News and The Immortal Iron Fist, all of which I've enjoyed, but after running across my trade paperback version of Howard Chaykin's classic hard sci-fi series from the 1980's, I have to say I prefer the old to the new.

Chaykin's book is not for children, or for people who are easily offended. There is ultra-violence galore, sexual inneundo out the ying-yang (ahem), and mature language throughout this book, but if you loved the tone of the film "Robocop" or the sardonic wit of Ellis' "Transmetropolitan" or the moral ambiguity of almost everything that's been published since, you'll find plenty to rave about in Chaykin's "American Flagg".

For the uninitiated, the main character is Reuben Flagg, a once popular soft-porn/action star of television's "Mark Thrust: Sexus Ranger" who has been replaced by a holographic version of himself (so the show goes on without him) and has now been drafted into service with the real "Plexus Rangers" military/police force on what is now only loosely recognizable as what you and I remember as Planet Earth.

After the United States Government evacuated the Nation to rule from Mars (only temporarily of course) due to a series of catastrophic disasters, terrorist attacks and biological plagues, the United States are now known as something called "The Plexus". Most mega-cities are now infested with various religious and political militants who battle every night on reality television to the delight of viewers and corporate sponsors who supply the factions with free ammo and weapons.

Corruption, violence and crime are rampant. The Plexus Rangers exist to protect the local government and the remaining aristocracy from becoming collateral damage in the various ongoing conflicts. The criminals and terrorists pay the Rangers to "aim high" in order to maintain the status quo.

As Reuben is thrust (pun intended) into this cesspool of corruption he becomes the one Ranger willing to stand up against the system and go against the grain.

The book begins with the realization that Flagg is the only person able to see the subliminal messages contained in every episode of the top rated television show "Bob Violence", other than a talking cat but that's beside the point. Every night, after each episode, the local Chicago gangs attack each other, and the Rangers, in a frenzy of violence. Flagg makes the connection between the subliminal messages and the daily violence. Going against his superiors wishes he cuts the transmission and the violence ends immediately. Clubs and restaurants see revenues increase exponentially and the gangs themselves are found too drunk and high to fight each other.

Round one goes to Flagg, but whoever is behind these subliminal messages isn't too happy about being pre-empted and this sets up the first story arc.

Chaykin's book is a seminal work. His work on other books like "Dominic Fortune" or "The Shadow" or even "Star Wars" is weak in comparison. For Chaykin, it all comes together in this series. The story, the art, the characters, all combine here in an epic display of artistic convergence. This is the story Chaykin was born to tell, and he tells it very, very well.

Chaykin packs a lot of great detail into every frame of this book. I found myself scanning the posters in the background for political jabs and faux product advertisements, and even the dialog makes reference to the over the top decadence of this future world, providing clues to the mindset of those living in this dystopian America.

"American Flagg" is a fully realized, visionary work of great science fiction. Full of great ideas, sandwiched between intriguing characters and blended with mounds of ultra-violence and sprinkled with sexual overtones, this book is a treasure of artistic genius that even Chaykin himself has yet to duplicate.

"American Flagg"- I salute you.

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Two Reviews - Iron Fist and Umbrella Academy

"The Immortal Iron Fist- Volume 1" - Matt Fraction & Daniel Aja (Marvel)

This trade paperback collects the first six issues of the ongoing series from writers Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker, with art by Daniel Aja.

I have always been a fan of this character and have felt that, in the right hands, with the right creative team, this character was capable of being truly great. I was right.

Fraction and Brubaker, both capable of excellent writing, combine their efforts here to infuse the Iron Fist mythos with the perfect blend of intrigue, action, humor and mystery. Daniel Aja's art is dark and deadly, providing a gritty backdrop to the world of Daniel Rand, aka "The Immortal Iron Fist".

The story is peppered throughout with flashbacks to previous Iron Fist champions throughout history. We see a female Iron Fist who projects her signature "Chi" energy around the shafts of the arrows she fires, turning them into "Lightning from God" with devastating effect. We see an Iron Fist in Feudal Japan, and even in World War 2 where the Iron Fist channelled his "Chi" energy through a pair of .45 automatics held in each hand.

This series is all about re-injecting the Iron Fist mythology with as much "Cool" as possible, and it succeeds masterfully.

Luke Cage and the Daughters of the Dragon show up for cameos, as you might expect, as does the WW2 version of "Iron Fist" who teams up with Danny to uncover the secret book of Iron Fist which contains all the fighting secrets of past champions. Expect things to get much more interesting as Danny learns to unlock the secrets contained in this book.

The story follows our modern day Iron Fist as he fights the secret society known as "Hydra" with the mask on, and off. Hydra attempts a hostile take over of his company, The Rand Corporation, while attempting to destroy Iron Fist with hordes of highly trained operatives lead by an old nemesis. It's a great, non-stop martial arts action story filled with intrigue and sporting some great dialog and characterization.

Can't wait for the second trade.
**
The Umbrella Academy - Story by Gerald Way and art by Gabriel Ba (Dark Horse)

I love this new series. Maybe it's because I love the old "Doom Patrol" from Grant Morrison, and the Walt Simonson-era "Metal Men"? This series carries a lot of the same weirdness and charm of those two off-beat team books from decades past, yet there's a very unique take on the superhero genre here that makes it even more enjoyable to me than those old comics of yesteryear.

The art by Gabriel Ba is gorgeous beyond comprehension. He could illustrate someone mowing my lawn and it would be worth the price of the book.

The story drops the reader smack in the middle of a team of children born under unusual circumstances, most with unusual abilities, on the day their leader, and Father figure, Dr. Reginald Hargreeves, has died. After many years operating as a team of children, the've since drifted apart for reasons unknown but they come together again to remember their fallen mentor, and discover that they must also prevent the end of the world before it's too late.

The characters in this book are a big part of what makes it interesting to me. We have a talking chimp who acts as a second in command; a half-man, half-gorilla/robot known as "Spaceboy"; a knife fighter known as "The Kraken" who can hold his breath for an unlimited time; a woman known as "Rumor" who can speak things into reality by suggesting things out loud; "The Séance" who can levitate and speak with the dead; a time-travelling boy known as "The Future"; a boy who can release monsters from inside himself known as "The Horror"; and Vanya who has no apparent superhuman abilities other than to play the violin and write a tell-all book about her time in the Academy.

Dr. Hargreeves, their deceased mentor and guardian, was apparently an extra-terrestrial but so far we've yet to see what he actually looked like beneath his human face-mask. We also don't know where he comes from and if he had anything to do with the strange abilities or birth of these children.

That's the fun of this book. We get to discover the mysteries of the world these characters inhabit while learning more about who they are, how they got here and what forces are at work surrounding them.

The team itself is interesting because they're not the typical bunch of angsty teenagers (X-Men) or blow-hard jerks (Authority) seen in most comics today. The team itself is barely held together, having already broken up (presumably over the death of one of their own on a previous mission), they can hardly find it in themselves to be in the same room together, much less operate as a family of super-powered heroes trying to save the planet from ultimate destruction.

I like the fact that there's a lot of bad blood between everyone here. I like that they don't believe they're God's gift to mankind. I like the fact that they would all much rather work alone, or slip away into the shadows and live a normal life than get their kicks as mutant celebrities. They are human, in spite of their bizarre abilities. They are human in the way that you and I are human; they just want to live their lives and pursue their dreams.

Vanya, the sole "non-super" member of the family, is probably the most fascinating character to me. She's the only one who's on the outside looking in. She desperately wants to be loved and accepted by the others, but because of her lack of meta-human power she is forever kept at arms length. The Umbrella Academy is a team, a family, a club that she'll never be able to join.

You can feel her sense of hopelessness and helplessness as she stands on the sidelines and watches the team operate. All she can do is practice her violin.

While Vanya yearns to share the spotlight cast upon her fellow Academy members, the rest of them would rather be normal like she is. They don't even want to be part of a world protection squad, but they're compelled to step in whenever necessary because that's how they were raised by their "Father".

This is the only ongoing series I currently buy each month in single issue format. It's too good to wait for the trade.

The good news is that the team has agreed to stick together to continue working on this book after the first mini-series is completed.

**
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THE NIGHTLY NEWS - A Review

The Nightly News - Jonathan Hickman (Image Comics)

Like artist, designer and near-future sci-fi writer Brian Wood, artist, designer and near-future sci-fi writer Jonathan Hickman serves up a revenge-laden tale of crimes against humanity carried out by a cult of anti-media terrorists and the American corporate media machine.

There are no good-guys here. Hickman has his characters say so right in the pages of his book, just in case you're unsure about it.

Essentially the story here is about a group of misguided terrorists who get off on blowing things up real good and their target just happens to be a group of people no one can really feel top sympathetic for- namely the American Media. So this means we don't feel bad when on-the-scene reporters get their heads blown apart live on camera. We giggle when a bomb goes off inside a bar known for serving stuffy journalists. We marvel at the gorgeous, design-heavy artwork on each page instead of feeling dirty because an undercover report is forced to shoot his friend in the head with a revolver. I don't believe that Hickman's book intended to mirror the media's tendency to render us numb to hyper-violence, but it does just that.

Not that I'm offended by violence. I love it in the context of entertainment harnessed to a lesson on good and evil or right and wrong. Here there's no right. No good guy. No one to feel any sympathy towards or compassion for.

Having said that, the book is a good template for a screenplay which, in the hands of the right actors and a skilled director, could easily become an enjoyable and compelling work of cinema.

Much of the book is packed with bar graphs and information about media and television and corporate-sponsored propoganda. It's like reading a Chick Tract merged with an issue of USA Today and peppered with speeches from the last issue of Adbusters.

Overall, I did enjoy the book, believe it or not, but if you're jonesing for good politico-sci-fiction try DMZ or the new SHOOTING WAR hard cover. Those stories have more depth and a story worth telling.

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GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

Good news? Joss Whedon, creator of TV shows like "Buffy" and "Firefly" will have a new sci-fi/action series on Fox very soon called "Dollhouse".

Bad news? The pitch is almost exactly the same as my comic project "Digerati".

Here's the pitch for Whedon's "Dollhouse":

Echo (Eliza Dushku) [is] a young woman who is literally everybody's fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with personality packages, including memories, skills, language—even muscle memory—for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal. When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments—or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo's burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse.

(More in the full story link below)
http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=972f7d73-e0a2-43ea-abad-0abf6afba1f3

For comparison, here's my story pitch for "DIGERATI":

DIGERATI is about a search for identity. Gretchen, part of a new and experimental operative program called SHADE OPS, is one of five elite agents who are "programmed" for each mission and effectively have no conscious will of their own until the operation is complete. Gretch struggles with what this process is doing to her humanity, and just exactly who it is she's working for. What, if anything, in her life is real? How much of it is fabricated by the SHADE OPS programming? Is she even who she thinks she is? Can she trust her fellow operatives? Her friends? Herself?

(More at www.plasticanimalstudios.com)

Makes me want to cuss...
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WINTERMOON & COFFEESTAIN by Keith Giles

This is a short indie comic project I did a few years ago with artist Adam Bastuchek. It's based on a series of poems I wrote on the subject of loss and grief.

Click on each page to make it larger to read.

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