Mr. Sandman (22 page)

Bogeyman (off-panel): Oh no!
Now
I recollect! I
knew
I'd seen that splendid creature somewhere! Why, how embarrassing!

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 3

 

Closeup of the Bogeyman, behind the slide projector. The light from the top of the projector beams up at him, casting an eerie glow on his otherwise shadowy face. He has removed his small mask and holds it in his hand--his face revealed to be that of the man in the slides.

 

Bogeyman (smiling sinisterly): That's
me
!

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 4

 

Wide shot of the audience in the dark ballroom, all turned around in their chairs to get a glimpse of him. They are all gaping and pointing and ogling, popcorn and sodas in their hands.

 

Various exclamations from the crowd: Heavens! He's right! Incredible! I knew it! He's so much better in person, don't you think? Bra-
vo
! Magnificent!

 

Bogeyman:
Why
didn't I deduce that earlier? It
must
be my allergies. Now, I remember everything so much more
clearly
...like watching
fish
in a
bowl
.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 5

 

Slide: Bogeyman and Adams working on some complex equipment in the lab, with a subject sleeping on a cot in the foreground. The subject has electrodes on his skull and body, monitoring his sleep.

 

Bogeyman: Dr. Adams and I were both part of that illustrious sleep project, slaving away, side-by-side, on bold, unprecedented experiments. See how dedicated we look there?

 

Woman: Such
intensity
! Positively inspirational!

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 6

 

Slide: Dr. Paulsen is elated, standing proudly before a bank of controls and monitors displaying energy patterns. He is lecturing on a new breakthrough to a group of colleagues gathered around him. Off to one side, Dr. Adams looks at him with icy disdain.

 

Bogeyman: Unfortunately, I had the
audacity
to unravel certain key discoveries
before him
. My success, as astonishing as it was to my colleagues, and as exciting as it was to me, nourished naught but
resentment
in the overzealous Dr. Kubla.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 7

 

Slide: Adams at a lab table, slamming his fist down in frustration. He is clawing at his face with the other hand, deeply upset.

 

Bogeyman:
Well
...doesn't that just make you want to beat your breast and
wail
? Poor Kubla--he wasn't doing so well at the time, in his work...

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 8

 

Slide: Dr. Paulsen, outside the lab, is walking with a beautiful blonde woman. They are arm-in-arm, laughing--while Adams watches nearby in the shadows, scowling.

 

Bogeyman: ...or anything else.
My
conquests, on the other hand, continued to mount. It all spun round me, like maypole ribbons--the most bountiful, breeziest era I've known. Amazingly, it all trickled into my hands--professional success, recognition, money, job offers, women.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 9

 

Slide: Dr. Adams and Tally in wedding photo. Adams has only a faint, forced smile.

 

Bogeyman: ...all those things which Kubla longed for. Bitterly, he resigned himself to being second banana, helping
my
research advance while the spotlight steadfastly avoided
him
. When all the desirable females flocked to
my
beacon of rising fame and wealth, he half-heartedly wedded Tally Grover.

 

Woman: What a
lovely
gown! I believe I'm going to
cry
!

 

Man: They
do
make a pleasing couple.

 

 

 

 

Page 19 (9
panels)

 

Page 19 panel 1

 

Slide: Adams and Tally, sitting at a table, with a lawyer on the other side. They both sign papers which are spread out in front of them.

 

Bogeyman: Again, we see the captivating Mr. and Mrs. Adams, signing an array of certificates...divorce papers, actually. Their connubial bliss was as long-lived as the fizz in an uncapped carbonated soda. The split was
far
from amicable, due mainly to the dissatisfaction and swelling jealous paranoia of the groom.

 

Woman: You
cad
!

 

Woman 2: Naughty, naughty!

 

Man: A husband should be
shot
for such abandonment!

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 2

 

Closeup of the Dream Lord, still watching intently as the slideshow progresses.

 

At his side, Lullaby also watches, frowning and puzzled.

 

Lullaby: Is that goon jerking your chain, Dream Lord?

 

Dream Lord: No. Oh God, he isn't...

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 3

 

A quick memory flashback for the Dream Lord, of the scene where Tally is sitting at a kitchen table in her bathrobe. She is crying, upset over their impending separation, holding a cup of coffee in one hand. It is the same scene that kept coming back to the Dream Lord during his ordeal in issue 2.

 

Tally: You didn't have to do it this way.

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 4

 

Slide: Back in the UCLA lab, Adams and Paulsen are standing before a bank of controls, operating them and watching a large monitor screen. In the foreground of the photo is a new subject, asleep on a cot and wired with electrodes and a strange, metallic headband. On the screen is the image of the man's dream; he is lounging on a luxurious velvet couch, surrounded by beautiful harem girls. Paulsen is elated at finally tapping into a dream, and smiles broadly, but Adams just stands there and watches without emotion.

 

Bogeyman: Ah, back to the Brothers Grimm...our heroic high-tech honchos! There we are during the first successful test of the
Dream Screen
, a device which permitted peeping into any person's dreams! It was a
fabulous
breakthrough on my part, assisted somewhat by Dr. Kubla's techniques. Of course,
assisting
was not quite enough for our boy.

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 5

 

Slide: Closeup of Adams, practically snarling with rage.

 

Bogeyman:
Ha
! You see before you the Mad Dog in full bloom! This is Dr. Adams at the apex of his slavering resentment, prepared to do nearly
anything
to expunge my jaunty genius and mast his own flag.

 

Woman: Oh,
my
! Like some frightful
grizzly
, isn't he?

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 6

 

Slide: Adams and Paulsen among a new collection of equipment in their lab. Paulsen is placing a helmet-like device on his own head, while Adams makes adjustments to a bank of switches.

 

Bogeyman: And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! The dirty deed itself! Here we are at the climax of all our research--the first test of the
Dream Chute
! If effective, the mechanism would allow me to
enter
someone's mind and
shape
their dreams!

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 7

 

Slide: Paulsen is clutching his skull as the helmet erupts with blue sparks and flames. He is in agony, trying to pull the device from his head. Adams has just seen the disaster and is shocked and scared.

 

Bogeyman: But, as is so often the case when bolting the frontiers of science, the strategy went awry! The Dream Chute
exploded
, blasting my brain with hundreds of searing volts! I screamed madly, knowing my end was near.

 

Man: How dreadful!

 

Woman: How could anyone stand all
that
?

 

Man 2: You know, I believe that shot is a bit out of focus.

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 8

 

Slide: A shot from some sort of pornographic film--but not showing anything graphically obscene. A woman in leather stands by a bed, and she is holding a whip. There is a guy in his boxer shorts on the bed. One of the Bogeyman's stag slides has slipped into his presentation.

 

Bogeyman: Luckily for me...oh, how did
that
get in there?

 

Woman: Goodness gracious!

 

Man: This
is
an unusual twist!

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 9

 

Slide: Paulsen is still writhing under the backfiring helmet, his head encircled by blue energy. He is screaming and grabbing at Adams, who has his hand on a large power cutoff switch.

 

Bogeyman:
Ahem
. As I was saying, luckily for me, my loyal and admiring friend
Adams
was by my side, prepared to shut off the power flow at a second's notice. He leaped to the fray...

 

 

 

 

Page 20 (9
panels)

 

Page 20 panel 1

 

Slide: His hand on the power switch, Adams's expression suddenly changes. No longer merely shocked and ready to rescue his friend, he now looks wide-eyed and thoughtful as a new idea rushes into his mind.

 

Bogeyman: He clutched the switch, with no thought but that he must preserve his compatriot's life!

 

Man: Oh, dear! Will he be in
time
?

 

Woman: I can't watch!

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 2

 

Slide: Adams looks grim and hateful and removes his hand from the power switch.

 

Bogeyman: But then, out of the clear blue sky, he got a cramp in his hand...

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 3

 

Dream Lord closeup (not a slide), as he becomes frantic and enraged--the memories of what he did rushing back to him, jogged by the slideshow.

 

Dream Lord: No. No, don't...

 

Lullaby: Dream Lord?

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 4

 

Slide: Adams turning to walk away from the dying Paulsen.

 

Bogeyman: ...something in his eye...

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 5

 

Another closeup of the Dream Lord, as he grows even more panicky and desperate.

 

Dream Lord: I said no more! Stop it! Stop!

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 6

 

Slide: Paulsen crumbles to the ground, in complete agony as the energy pours through his body like lightning, and he dies. Adams, now turned completely away, has his hands over his ears.

 

Bogeyman: ...a buzz in the eardrum...

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 7

 

Dream Lord: No more!
No no no
!

 

Someone in the audience: Will you kindly keep it
down
back there?

 

Lullaby (putting her hand on the Dream Lord's shoulder, trying to relax him): Dream Lord, Dream Lord...take it easy.

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 8

 

Slide: Paulsen is dead on the floor, smoke rising from the malfunctioned helmet. In the foreground, Adams stands perfectly still, with a mixed expression on his face, looking off to one side of the shot. He looks worried, angry, and triumphant all at once, overcome with the act he has just performed.

 

Bogeyman: ...and an annoying flash of selective
amnesia
.

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 9

 

Dream Lord (screaming insanely):
Noooo!
I didn't do it!!