Comic creator MattBusch doesn't get Hollywood. Specifically, he doesn't get why the movieindustry requires screenwriters to present their work in such a mundane formatwhen showing it around.
"When youwrite a screenplay, the cover page has to be blank except for the title and yourname in the middle and the first page has got to be courier font, 12 point andyour script can't be more than 120 pages and it can't be less than 90,blah, blah, blah," the artist said. "It's just so odd to me with amedium like movies that's so amazing, that every script has to be written insuch a boring fashion. Why can't there be a cool cover and why can't theredifferent fonts?"
Tothat end, Busch has presented script readers and comic fans with Crisis:An Illustrated Screenplay. The trade paperback went on sale in April andfeatures painted covers, character sketches and storyboard-style illustrations.The project has been percolating with the creator for about eight years. Hehopes producers will find the format of his spec intriguing.
"It's justkind of the way I see things, not just through words but through words andpictures," Busch told C2F. "Of course that comes from years of doingcomic books and reading comic books. I think at worst [people] are taking thetime to look through the pictures and they can tell right away, 'this is thekind of thing I'd like to consider' or right off the bat, 'no, we're notinterested in making a movie like this.'"
Crisisis an action thriller that tells the story of a heroic Detroit cop, but with afew interesting twists. "Bruce Lombardo is your basic rough and tough DieHard-type cop," Busch explains. "The twist is though that heloses his legs early on in the story. The action doesn't stop there. The wholeidea is that even though he's bound to a wheel chair the action is that muchmore intense."
Anotherinteresting facet of the story is the villain of the piece. "The adversaryin the story is the Zodiac serial killer, a real-life serial killer inCalifornia about 20 years ago," Busch said. "So there's a little bitof fact mixed in with this completely fictional story."
Handicapped,Lombardo is forced to learn a new set of rules for getting the bad guy. "Heused to be the kind of cop that, in order to get the answers he wants he breaksdown doors, uses his fists," Busch said. "Now he's forced to use moreclassic, Sherlock Holmes methods of deductive reasoning to catchcriminals."
Busch first gotthe germ of the idea while watching Die Hard 3 in a movie theater. He happened to be sitting near a handicapped moviegoer.While he often imagines himself in the dramatic action and situations in themovie, his initial thought was that the man in the wheel chair wouldn't like thefilm.
"Halfwayinto it I looked over and this guy was having a ball watching this movie,"Busch said. "I kind of felt stupid. Who was I to think that just becausesomeone is handicapped that they can't enjoy a good action movie too? When we gosee Spider-Man we're not constantly reminded that we can't climbon walls. We get into it and we love it."
From there Buschaspired to create a hero who is also handicapped. "This cop loses his legs,but that doesn't stop him from being a hero," Busch said. "In fact, heactually finds a life that is more rewarding than what he had before. The thingsthat really matter in life become more clear to him."
Busch tells usthat the illustrated spec is making the rounds in Hollywood right now andseveral well known producers have expressed interest.
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