Read My Screenplay ROUNDTABLE
Plus, more gorgeous art from Niko!
It’s Friday. You did it. Congrats.
Big plans for the weekend? I think Male Child and I are leaving our bubble to finally see The Batman.
Speaking of the Caped Crusader, please enjoy some killer new full-color sketches hot off the drafting table from Exploding Giraffe co-founder and all-around delightful chap Niko Henrichon:
If you joined us at the Founder level, one of these beauties may be heading your way later this month. Thanks for your patience as we gradually assemble all of the international ingredients for your Exploding Giraffe Prize Packages.
I still can’t believe how much time and effort Niko is putting into these…on top of the number of breathtaking Spectators pages he’s single-handedly created since we launched this Substack just a few weeks ago.
It’s a goddamn thrill to get to work with a collaborator who’s always striving for new heights. Thanks, Niko.
Not to slight my other beloved co-creators, past and present!
As a matter of fact, if you haven’t yet read Paper Girls (co-created with the exceptionally dapper Cliff Chiang) or Saga (co-created with the equally stylish Fiona Staples), Image Comics has teamed up with Humble Bundle to offer ALL of those digital collections (and lots of other fantastic books like Monstress, Street Angel, Rat Queens, and more) in support of Hero Initiative.
Worth a look, no?
If you follow other creators through Substack (and I finally figured out how to share who I’m currently subscribed to on my profile), you’ve probably heard about this swell new app for iPhone.
If you’re already using it, what do you think? Anything Substack can do better/differently? One Tower member recently mentioned that it would be cool for commenters to be able to add images to posts, which I’ll definitely look into.
I’ve been using the beta version for a few weeks, and I really like it so far (and the company isn’t paying me to say that!). The app makes it very easy to read a ton of great creator-owned comics while I’m trapped at my kids’ parkour practice or whatever.
No need to add it if you’re happy getting us in your inbox as is, but I do think it’s an improved experience. And if you don’t have an Apple device, please don’t yell at me. You can join the Android waitlist here.
It’s obviously been another dark week in the world, so I thought we’d lighten things up a bit.
Roundtable is a screenplay I wrote for fun back in 2007, which my lying asshole calculator claims was 15 years ago. Because the Writers Guild of America strike was going on, I had some extra bandwidth for the first time in my career, and I wanted to try writing something completely different from anything I’d ever done: a supernatural comedy in the spirit of Ghostbusters, but written for some of my favorite British performers like Simon Pegg, Ricky Gervais and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Here’s the elevator pitch: “When an ancient evil returns to threaten modern-day England, mystical protector of the realm Merlin must assemble a new Roundtable…only to discover that today’s knights are all athletes, bankers, and actors like Sir Michael Caine.”
I honestly never expected that screenplay to be anything more than a writing sample, but it eventually sold in a splashy bidding war, and I got to spend several months developing the story with legendary producer Walter Parkes (screenwriter of Sneakers!).
Sadly, the movie never got made because…well, I have no idea, really. But most scripts never get made in Hollywood. Still, the experience was wonderful, and taught me that I could probably make a living just writing original ideas instead of working on other people’s characters/stories.
Anyway, a few months before the pandemic hit, Franklin Leonard, Megan Halpern and the entire dedicated team at The Black List offered to do a live staged reading of my now-ancient script, and they assembled an incredible A-list cast of (decidedly non-British) actors to perform in front of a packed house at The Montalban Theater (“KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!”) here in Los Angeles.
Our amazing casting director Lisa Zagoria assembled these spectacular actors, who completely transformed my dopey words into a hilarious show. Chris Geere got huge laughs from little more than stage directions, Taran Killam and Natasha Rothwell brought Shakespearian gravitas to their Merlin and Morgana, the brilliant Lauren Lapkus and Anthony Carrigan need to be cast in a romantic comedy together immediately, Jay Pharoah and Joe Lo Truglio elevated each scene with their lightning-fast improv, and I’ll never forget Tony Motherfuckin’ Hale as Sir Michael Caine. I can’t tell you what an honor and thrill it was to have actors of their caliber treating a bunch of Jaws: The Revenge jokes with such passion and dedication.
Check out the number of stunning posters the design team at the Black List came up with for this one evening:
If you weren’t able to attend that life-changing (for me, anyway) event, good news! There might be a few versions of Roundtable floating around online, but for you generous paid members of The Tower, I’m attaching my personal favorite draft of the complete screenplay (or my least un-favorite, I guess).
A glorious PDF awaits after the dreaded paywall, so if you’ve been thinking about joining our charming community, now’s the perfect time.
If you’re not ready or able just yet, no worries, I still hope you have an incredible weekend, and I’ll see you back here for more 100% free comics on Monday!