Prog 1896 cover by Glen Fabry & Adam Brown
Cover by Glen Fabry & Adam Brown

Black Shuck part six is out today in Prog 1896.  Written by us, with pencils and inks by Steve Yeowell, colours by Chris Blythe, and letters by Simon Bowland.

And check out the amazing Shuck themed cover by none-other than Glenn Fabry!

BLACK SHUCK // PART SIX
Scandinavia, 813 AD. A Viking raid on the settlement of Dunwich in East Anglia led to the warrior
known as BLACK SHUCK being captured. But he has washed up at the court of King Ivar the lone
survivor – what terrible calamity befell the others during the sea crossing? Now Shuck has been
dragged into the war between Ivar’s people and the monstrous Jötnar, thanks to a curse…

Order or download 2000 AD 1896 right now. If you have already read it,  join us for some extras (including some  spoliers, and Glen Fabry’s pencils for his cover) below.

So, that cover first of all. It’s pretty impressive. Here are Glenn Fabry’s pencils for the image:

2000ad_1896_cover_by_glennfabryI wish we’d put a few more corpses on that boat now if I’m honest. Let’s have a look at Page Three where our own litches are reanimated.

Leah’s roughs for Page Three:

Black Shuck 6, page 3  roughs

Our script based on the roughs:

Page Three

 This is a four panel page with three tiers; two on the top, one shallow panel in the middle, and one on the bottom.

This is a black & white flashback page. DAYLIGHT EXTERIOR throughout.

 

Panel One

            Here we have a shot showing shuck and Hak with their backs turned to the ship standing facing the old woman who is only a few feet away from them. She is pointing a long bony finger accusingly at them. She has one balloon. Shuck one.

Witch: Where is my son Grendel?

Shuck: The beast that lived on this island is dead.

 

Panel Two

            This is a shot from far away across the beach looking past the pebble graves towards the shore where the trio stand. There are two balloons from Shuck.

Shuck: He perished by fire, but not before infecting the others of our party.

Shuck: You see their remains? There upon the beach.

 

Panel Three

            This shallow panel shows the witch’s wrinkled, toothless mouth in close-up as she mumbles a spell. She has two balloons which should be somehow lettered/altered to show that they are magical.

Witch: Blódwracu. Fæhþ. Wracu.

Witch: Tornwraou.

 

Panel Four

            This is a shot of Hak and Shuck being taken by surprise by the two corpses which have reanimated and are now standing right behind them, grabbing at them as if to try to hug or choke them. There is one more magical balloon from the witch, off bottom.

 Witch: Tornwraou!

Steve’s inks for Page Three:

Black Shuck 6, page 3 inksSteve decided the shot of the sorceress’s mouth would work better as a little inset rather than a tier wide shallow panel. He’s right, as usual.

The finished page:

Prog 1896 Page 3

What’s she actually saying? Some good Old English words.

Blódwracu – revenge for bloodshed

Fæhþ – hatred, enmity

Wracu – revenge, vengeance

Tornwraou – a display of wrath

She’s pretty pissed off to be honest. So was Simon Bowland, I bet.

Hey, have you noticed that it’s almost as if Queen Freydis knows more about Shuck’s capture than she’s mentioned (to us)? Didn’t Brand say something about that back on the island? Hmm. And what use does Hak think the witch might have been of anyway?

See you next week Shuck-fans.

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