James Brighton Society, Chapter 4: Pages 11-12
Page 11, 5 Panels- Skies above Arlington Virginia
Panel 1: We move to a shot of Mr. Allen at the seat of the Isle minutes later. He looks on at the street below, carefully trying to find the City Hall building nearby, and humming a tune to himself of some unknown origin.
Panel 2-3: A two-part set of panels that starts off in the same setting and layout as the previous panel. He shifts his gaze from side to side as the portable aircraft nears its destination. The sights of the tops of buildings and gray skies passing on each side as Grem presses a button on the console unseen to the reader. In Panel 3, you can see a coat emerge from the backseat behind the immortal Irishman.
GREM [to himself, Panel 2]: Brrh! Getting a little nippy… GREM [Panel 3]: I think I see that big dome Vivian the librarian was talking about in the distance. Shouldn't be too long now...
Panel 4: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. Before he could begin to pilot it downward though, he's distracted by the sound of a loud explosion off in the distance just as the coat appears behind him. His formally calm demeanor has now changed to one of a heightened anxiety, looking over in the direction of the blast.
GREM [thought bubble]: A mysterious explosion…a few miles from here, I think? When have one of those ever ended well for me? And yet, here I am...a true blue fear mire.
Panel 5: We move to a wider shot of the rear of the Isle as it turns course, flying toward the pillar of black smoke that is growing from the section of town where the explosion originated from it. You can see a little more of the buildings and landscape that make up this area of Virginia on this nippy late December day.
GREM [Cont., thought caption]: Hopefully the ass I get to kick is worth the bloody delay.
Page 12, 6 Panels- Skies above Arlington Virginia, 10 minutes later
Panel 1: Slight close-up on the portable flying ship in a similar setting and layout to what we saw in the last panel of the previous page. Grem is seen wearing the black leather coat that popped up in the previous page and looking over the side of the ship, trying to find the source of the explosion while keeping his hands gripped firmly on the wheel. You can see the tops of a few other buildings and houses in the bottom of the panel view, along with the gray-blue of the skies.
GREM: Bupkis...Bupkis...a sentient screaming bucket of Bupkis...
Panel 2: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. A couple of beats later, the immortal Irishman looks over and finds what appears to be the source of the explosion. A little jolt of energy can be seen in his eyes and the words he speaks upon discovering it at that moment.
GREM [Cont.]: Bingo!
Panel 3-5: A three-part set of panels that moves to a frontal shot of Mr. Allen's face as he moves his head back to a normal configuration, examining the area for the object. With each panel as he moves closer, the excitement that was on display in Panel 2 suddenly dips lower and lower, coinciding with the ship starting its descent to the ground.
GREM [thought bubble, Panel 4]: Hmm, no noticeable ship or contingent of minions hovering around. Just a charred crater in the distance. GREM [Cont. thought bubble, Panel 5]: Yeah, still getting that "not gonna end well" feeling here.
Panel 6: Action shot that widens out to take in the rest of the Isle as it lands on a little stretch of grass located in the northeast section of Arlington. A relatively barren part of the city, compared to the relatively busy area that we saw earlier. You can see a little section of the nearby Potomac River over to the side of the left panel view at this moment too, along with the patch of greenery and trees.
GREM [Cont. thought bubble]: That's why I'm keeping the Isle in one piece- easy "Get the Hell outta Dodge" policy.