jolo, 1913

Once in a while I get email from readers asking what a comic script looks like. The truth is that there is no "right" format. Each author has his or her own way of writing a script. Here's one of the ways I write mine (I usually tend to more descriptive than this), my abecedary story from Siglo: Freedom. It was illustrated by Andrew Drilon.
_____

Jolo, 1913 (Dean Francis Alfar/Andrew Drilon)

h&-'lO, 'an-(")drü,

For the rendering of this story (part-abecedary, part-narrative), imagine each page divided into 4 equal horizontal zones (for the purpose of internal page notation, let’s call them z1, z2, z3 and z4).

For the first 8 (and part of 9th) pages, z1, z2 and z3 will contain the following, going from left to right:

1. letter of alphabet with kiddie illustration
2. panel with face of boy
3. dialogue in word balloons between the BOY and an unseen VOICE. The VOICE speaks like a pronunciation guide.

No backgrounds, just clean white space.

z4, borderless, will be where the narrative is located, usually just a few sentences.

Hope you have fun.

'dEn
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PAGE 1

TITLE: (on the right margin: Remember to make space.)

z1: A – Apple

BOY

Ay..pel…


VOICE

'a-p&l.


BOY

Ah-ple.

z2: B – Ball

VOICE

'bol

BOY

Ball.

VOICE
'ver-E 'gud.

z3: C - Cat

BOY

…ket?

VOICE

'nO. 'kat.

BOY

Cat.


z4:

CAPTION: We moved to Jolo from Pampanga when my father was promised land. While my parents went about their new lives, I went to an American school to learn a new language.

It was important to my father that I learned to speak English.


PAGE 2

z1: D – Dog

BOY

Dog.

VOICE

'gud.


z2: E – Egg


BOY
Huevo! eh…ggg?

VOICE

'eg

BOY

Egg.



z3: F – Fox

VOICE

'fäks

BOY

Fox... 'hwät Fox?

VOICE

an 'a-n&-m&l, 'lIk a 'wulf.

BOY


Z4:

CAPTION: Learning a new language was not easy for me. While I knew what some of the objects in the picture book were, my tongue often betrayed me.

It felt like I was fighting to breathe.




PAGE 3

z1: G – Giraffe

VOICE

j&-'raf.


BOY

'hwät is?


VOICE

an 'a-n&-m&l, 'wi[th] 'A 'lo[ng] 'nek, 'sE? 'nekst.




z2: H - Horse

BOY

Caballo?



VOICE

'nO. 'hors.

BOY

Hor…se.



z3: I – Ice Cream

BOY

Ah… 'hwät is?


VOICE

Is-'krEm. ik-'spen-siv. Is-'krEm.


BOY

Eyes?

VOICE

'krEm.


Z4:

CAPTION: Majority of my classmates were also new residents of the island, coming from parts of Luzon and the Visayas.

None of the Muslim children went to my school. Maybe they attended a different one or learned directly from their parents. At that time I didn’t understand why.

I considered them lucky.



PAGE 4

z1: J – Jam

BOY

Jam.

VOICE

'gud.



z2: K - Kite

BOY

Ki…?


VOICE

'nO,'nO. 'kIt.


BOY

Kite.


z3: L – Lion

VOICE:

'[th]is 'w&n?


BOY

Leon.

VOICE

'nO. 'lI-&n. 'sA “'lI-&n”.

BOY

Lion.


Z4:

CAPTION: I never liked school. The long hours spent repeating things over and over seemed like a waste of time.

What I wanted to do, what I really wanted to do, was to run outside. Just run and shout and play.

We were never allowed to, of course.


PAGE 5

z1: M – Mouse

BOY

Mo…

VOICE

'li-s&n. 'maus. 'maus.

BOY

Mouse.


z2: N – Nest


BOY

Nest?

VOICE

'gud.



z3: O - Octopus

BOY

Ah…

VOICE

'äk-t&-p&s. 'yü 'Et '[th]is, 'rIt?

BOY

Ahk..ahk..to..

VOICE

'äk-t&-p&s. 'its 'nät 'härd.


Z4:
CAPTION: My parents told me to be careful because there was trouble. Trouble with the Muslims. About how they felt bad about the Americans.

I remember thinking that maybe it was because there were no Muslim children in school. I was wrong, of course.

It was more than that.






PAGE 6

Z1: P – Parrot

BOY

Par..rot?

VOICE

'rIt.

Z2: Q – Queen

VOICE

'[th]is 'w&n.

BOY

Que..?

VOICE

'kwEn.


Z3: R – Rabbit

BOY

Ah!

VOICE

'yes?

BOY

Ra-bit!

Z4:

CAPTION: I remember one day when our classes were cut short and my father came to fetch me. We saw smoke some distance away, and my father would stop from time to time as if he was trying to hear something.

My mother told me that night that something was happening at Bud Bagsak, at the cottas of the Muslims.

I thought that maybe they were being forced to learn English.





PAGE 7

Z1: S – Snake

BOY

Sn-sn…

VOICE

'snAk. 'lIk 'A 'lät 'of 'pE-p&l 'hir.

BOY

Snake.


Z2: T – Tiger

VOICE

'tI-g&r.

BOY

Ti-?

VOICE

'nO. 'tI-g&r. 'tI-g&r.

Z3: U – Umbrella

VOICE

'don’t 'yü 'nO 'hwät '[th]is 'is?

BOY

Um…

VOICE

"&m-'bre-l&.


z4:

CAPTION: The next few days were fearful. I had to stay at home with my mother. People were talking about all the soldiers that arrived in great numbers. From my window, I could see much running around but never a battle.

Maybe we were too far.

At night, I closed my eyes and imagined gunshots.

PAGE 8

Z1: V – Violin

BOY

B-b…

VOICE

'ar 'yü 'stü-p&d?

BOY

'nO.

Z2: W – Whale

VOICE

'ar 'yü 'stü-p&d? 'shO 'mE.

BOY

Wh-


Z3: X – Xylophone

VOICE

'shO 'mE.


BOY

Ah…

VOICE

'ar 'yü 'krI i[ng]?


z4:

CAPTION: At the end of that long week, my father told us it was all over. Things went back to normal and once again I went to school. Whatever happened suddenly seemed so distant.

The Americans looked very happy.

Everyone else tried to look happy.




PAGE 9

Z1: Y – Yam

VOICE

'ar 'yü 'stü-p&d? 'is '[th]at'hwI 'yür 'krI i[ng]?


BOY

No, no.

Z2: Z – Zebra

VOICE

'dü 'yü 'wänt 'tü ri-'mAn 'stü-p&d?


Z3: Panel of BOY, looking straight out of the panel.

VOICE

'[th]is 'is f&r 'yOr 'fyü-ch&r, 'yü 'nO.


BOY

Yes, sir.


Z4:

CAPTION: It was back to learning English for me and my classmates.

The language of tomorrow. The new language of my life.

Once I learned it, I would have the chance to be somebody.

Because, they said, it was the language of dreams.



PAGE 10

(Andrew, just a single panel with the BOY looking out the window or somesuch.)


CAPTION: But when I look outside the school window and dream of running, I’m not certain what words I’m shouting.

And I think

I think maybe it doesn’t really matter.