Ghede: Guerrier Extraordinaire #5: Pages 23-24

Page 23, 7 Panels- Swampy Area on the way to the Mountain, In-Between Panel 1: Close-up on the Haitian guerrier's face and shoulder area. It's an action shot centered around her slicing open a section of thick green vines, which have suddenly appeared as the setting arond her has been changed toward something closer to swampland. You can tell by the relative surprise in her eyes that it was an entirely unexpected development. GHEDE [translated from French]: Hmm, thick swampland...not all that new, or that surprising. Panel 2-3: Same setting as the previous panel. The layout widens slightly a few beats later as we see Ghede cutting through another section of vines stuck out in front of her. We see the same type of sweeping slicing action from Minaj in Panel 3 as she talks to herself through the course of both panels. GHEDE [Cont., Panel 2]: For all of their omnipotence, your standard god has about as much creativity as a cup of jus papaye. GHEDE [Cont., Panel 3; making a little funny]: Which now that I think about it--might explain the itch of stupidity in large chunks of the human ape population. Panel 4: Side shot of our titular heroine in the middle of a chuckle. Her feet sloshing through the gunk of the swamp as she moves and slashes. You can see in her body language that she's already adapting to the new setting in front of her. Panel 5-7: A three-part set of panels with the same setting and layout as the previous panel. As she makes slow but steady work up the sudden swamp, Ghede begins to sing a mighty tune to pass the time- "White Girl" by Heavens to Betsy. GHEDE [singing, Panel 5]: "We should have talked about this a long time ago, But I didn’t have to think about it, And that's what this song is about. White girl. I want to change the world..." GHEDE [Cont., Panel 6]: "But I won’t change anything, Unless I change my racist self. It's a privilege, it's a background. It's everything that I own, It's thinking I'm the hero of this pretty white song..." GHEDE [Cont., Panel 7]: "It's thinking I'm the hero of this pretty white world. White girl. I want to change the world, But I won't change anything Unless I change my racist self." Page 24, 5 Panels- Swampy Area near the Mountain, In-Between Panel 1: Cut to a proper profile shot of our heroine a moment later, showing through a broken section of vines which form a frame around her. Ghede's stopped her movement for a brief second. She tilts her head slightly toward the sky and looks up with a smile. GHEDE [translated from French, chuckling]: Ah, I love that song! Panel 2-3: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. An extra beat passes by, along with the chuckle we saw beforehand. Her mind starts to turn and contemplate bigger things on her proverbial plate as she continues moving to. In the background, you can faintly hear the sound of buzzing in the air. In Panel 3, she looks up as the sound of buzzing reaches such a decibel level that she's able to discern its existence. GHEDE [Cont., to herself]: I should sing that next time I'm back in my beloved Haiti. Of course with a güira and a trumpet or two for extra... GHEDE [looking up directly above her; Panel 3]: ...spice. Panel 4-5: The setting is similar to what we saw in Panel 3. Though the layout has pulled back slightly to take in her body in full stop. Her hand moving toward the handle of her Minaj. Which she unsheathes from its holster in Panel 5. All the while, the buzzing has continued on and grown in intensity. GHEDE [pondering quickly; Panel 4]: Gwo gèps! Huh... SOUND EFFECT [Panel 4]: FWING! GHEDE [sly grin, to the creatures as she tries to rise up from the thick swampy muck; Panel 5]: I wonder if you're the ones with the fangs or the armored underbellies.