The Community, Issue 2: Part 4.3

Page 48

Panel 1: In the top left corner of the page, we see Celia sometime in the future bamfing out in the hallway of a favela sometime in the future. She's holding a half-dozen bags of groceries in a trolley.

Caption

(Narrator)

"The person- or group, depending on who you talk to- known as La Dedo Médio has become something of a folk hero throughout Brazil."

Caption

(Cont., Narrator)

"From helping families in the country's poorest neighborhoods to get groceries amidst the worst peaks of the pandemic."

Panel 2: In the top right corner of the page, we see her at another time absorbing the full impact of a less lethal projectile meant for a young mother and her child at another rally.

Caption

(Cont., Narrator)

"Or absorbing the blasts of those protesting the abuses of power that have permeated the Sousa administration."

Panel 3: In the bottom left corner of the page, we see an image of Celia dropping buckets of red paint on a group of Sousa supporters from the sky without them noticing.

Caption

(Cont., Narrator)

"Through the course of this season of Slow Burn, I hope we can help provide a greater understanding of this "Guiding Light" of South America and how she may be key to a liberal reawakening on the continent.

Panel 4: In the bottom right corner of the page, the young woman lifts a couple of van's worth of tribespeople away from a fire burning in the Amazon.

Caption

(Cont., Narrator)

"And now, an ad break--"

Page 49

Panel 1: We move to a phone notification that disrupts the main Podcast. It shows an upcoming event on someone's calendar coming up- "Doctoral Presentation Rehearsal, University College London Library in 60 Minutes."

Panel 2: A beat later, we see who the notification is for- JESMINDER. She looks young, but there's a wealth of experience in her eyes; the only physical manifestation of this in the Reed Richards-esque gray on both sides of her head. She's dressed in a mint green pantsuit with wireless earbuds on, holding a cup of tea in her right hand; a large donut on the plate. In the background, you can see part of a cafe in west London.

JESMINDER

(to herself)

Enough time for a sugar boost- barring traffic.

FAN

(Off-Panel, to Jesminder)

Hi. I'm sorry to bug you...

Panel 3: Standing a few feet away, we see the fan- EM. An excited woman in her late 20s wearing a Doctor Who t-shirt; a book with a pen sticking out in her right hand pressed to the left side of her chest.

EM

(Cont., nervous)

I'm a huge fan of your mom's. That pre-made obit she made- epic!

EM

(Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 4, Bubble 1)

If it isn't a big bother- could you sign my book, please?

Panel 4: Jes flashes a standard grin, practiced over many months of going through the same motions. She places the cup on the table next to the plate, reaching out to grab the book.

JESMINDER

(to Em, chuckling)

Thank you!

JESMINDER

(Bubble 2; reacting to Panel 3, Bubble 2)

It'd be my pleasure, sweetheart

(thought bubble)

Man, her anxiety is loud. But sweet, too...makes up for the weirdness of signing something I wrote in a past life.

Panel 5: Back to Em a few moments later, glancing over at the woman's hair with a look of fascination and curiosity in her eyes as she speaks.

EM

I love your hair, by the way. Do you dye it? I'd love to--

Panel 6: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. A beat later, she glances down to the ground apprehensively in terms of the question- kind of ashamed she asked it.

EM

(Cont.)

Oh wow, was--was that racist? I was just curious, 'cause I think it's really pretty. But hearing myself now I could see how it--

JESMINDER

(Off-Panel, to Em)

It's fine...!