FRANCISCO YOTE, BOUNTY HUNTER
BOOK ONE: THE LION WITH NO MANE
INTENTION OF THE STORY AND GUIDELINES
all characters on this story are anthropomorphic, no human characters.
The setting is a SPACE OPERA WESTERN, mixing elements of retro-futuristic design, steampunk and classic western. The names and places are merely referential, and must not be taken as historical facts. This is, above all, a work of fiction.
The story will be drawn black and white, with color covers.
Each story begins and ends on a single book, this wont be a continued series. There might be elements connecting episodes, but they will be mostly used as reference, I want to keep the story as easy to follow as possible. So, i?ll keep a 45 to 60 pages format.
As for graphic violence, my intention is to keep it as minimum as possible. Using it only if the scenario or situation demands it. I am not creating a gore porn comic, I am trying to make a story as universal as possible, but, if the story demands graphic violence, there will be, but it is not my main goal. Nor I pretend to use it as a shield to hide poor writing.
Political terms and situations will be treated and mentioned properly, comparison between events shown on the comic and events happening on the real world will be only on the eyes of the readers, I AM NOT PLANNING TO MAKE A POLITICAL STEATEMENT WITH THIS COMIC, EVEN IF SOME OF ITS STORY AND PLOT ELEMENTS TAKE REFRENCE FROM CERTAIN HISTORICAL EVENTS. My main intention is to entertain and offer a story. Not to make propaganda or personal politics.
MAIN SCENARIO:
NOVA LAREDO. A fictional state, part of the united states, a semi desertic zone. With vast valleys and mountains. Think of any setting from a spaghetti western movie.
CHARACTERS:
FRANCISCO YOTE: a coyote. A bounty hunter with a NO KILL policy. A personal trauma from his past made him take a no kill oath, even though he trained to become perhaps the best gunslinger on the new laredo lands. He prefers to be alone. Though he focuses on his bounties, he usually chooses to help those in need. He has a grey morality about justice, for him, GOOD PEOPLE CAN BE EVIL AND EVIL PEOPLE CAN BE GOOD. So, they must be given the chance to make that choice, and its consequences.
CHANGO: a monkey. Francisco?s self proclaimed partner and best friend, chango is a very skillful shooter and troublemaker, one step to become a full time alcoholic, he is kind and jolly, francisco saved him from bandoleros, and ever since, chango rides next to him, chango is the one who does most of the talking when it comes to work. He lost an eye on a gunfight, reason why he wears an eyepatch, but even with only one eye, he is a very skilled shooter.
MANDINGO: a lion. A slave who escaped from mister stamper?s mine, he is the king of the lion slaves forced to work for mister stamper. His mane were shaved by stamper?s men as a way to show he is not a king anymore. Mandingo wants to free his people, but he knows he can?t do it alone, he is a caring and noble king who loves his pride. And only wants the best for them.
MAXIMILIAN STAMPER: an elephant. A business man and landlord, rich and powerful. He runs the diamantina mines with cruelty and violence, he is not obeying the slavery end proclamation made by the president years ago. For him, lions are a means to an end, his greed is only compared to his cruelty and lack of mercy.cold hearted.
ANASTASIA ROMERO: a wolf. After her husband was murdered by stamper?s men, she became the mayor of SANTA GRUTA. A small town next to stamper?s mines, she has organized a group of men to defend santa gruta from stamper?s attacks, stamper wants to take control of santa gruta because he knows there is more diamantina in that region, and wants to expand his mining territory.
GUADALUPE: a chihuahua dog. A vagabond drunkard. He used to be a soldier, now he is a barfly, living on drinks he gets from customers of lola?s saloon. He spends all day telling stories about his glory days as marshall in exchange for a drink.
LOLA: a beaver. Owner of a saloon on santa gruta, the place where men go for a drink, a poker game, or a prostitute, lola takes good care of her staff, mostly women that escaped from stamper?s hacienda. She is a fierce woman able to be diplomatic and fierce when it comes to protect her staff, she took pitty of guadalupe, for whom she feels a secret attraction.
KINSKY: a polar bear. Stamper?s right hand, he is the one who leads stamper?s security staff, a bunch of mercenaries and hunters paid by stamper to keep the slaves on a tight leash and take control of santa gruta.
CHAPTER 1:
THE LION WITH NO MANE.
Page 1: 3 panels
panel 1:
panoramic shot of the desert, daytime, the place must look barren, hostile, mercyless, the unbearable heat must be implied, no clouds in the sky, it?s hell on earth.
Cap: VALLE DEL DIABLO. 20 miles east from santa gruta. Just a regular noon. Anything brave or stupid enough to live on this god forsaken piece of land is hiding from the wrath of the sun.
cap: the mercyless sun that bakes the land and fries the minds of anyone stupid enough to dare walk the valley.
Cap: only the desperate tries such a walk.
Panel 2:
we can see a silhouette, like a mirage, of someone walking on the desert.
Cap: only the incredibly desperate think they can achieve it.
Cap: only the very stupid realize they just jumped straight into hell?s frying pan.
Panel 3:
full body shot of mandingo walking, he wears only a raggedy loincloth, his mane was shaved, he wears broken chains on both wrists, his body is covered with whip scars.
Cap: a lion slave walks under the baking sun of valle del diablo. His name, MANDINGO. His fate...
cap:...is yet to be determined, because if there is a quality worth mentioning about this uncrowned slave king of lions, is his tremendous denial to admit defeat. Specially now, that he finally achieved to escape from a place even more hellish than the god forskaen desert on which he can almost smell his fur frying.
Page 2:
splash page:
full shot of mandingo walking, he looks exhausted, but determined to not die there.
Cap: mandingo, once the noble king of the lion pride, he and all his fellow lions captured and sold to americans by spanish slave traders, brought o america to work for maximilian stamper on the diamantina mines until their deaths. Is now a king without a mane...
cap: ...a king without his pride.
Cap: but still a king.
Tittle card:
THE LION WITHOUT A MANE. A FRANCISCO YOTE STORY
script and art: JOE SANCHEZ
page 3: 4 panels
panel 1:
mandingo, hiding under the shade made by some rocks, eats a small lizard.
Cap: mandingo is used to the heat, besides, his determination to find help for his people are bigger than the pain of his wounded wrists and the agony of his tired body.
Panel 2:
flashback, we can see mandingo being shaved by stamper?s men, they laugh as the lion loses his mane and is unable to do anything about it.
Cap: he were violated, abused, thorn apart. But he never gave up hope.
Panel 3:
flashback, mandingo holds the dead body of another lion slave who were shot by one of stamper?s men,
cap: so many of his lions have died on his arms, he owns them that, he can?t give up, he must fight to avenge their deaths, and save those who are still alive.
Panel 4:
mandingo sleeps, no fire, to not reveal his position.
Cap: as soon as the sun hides, the desert becomes a cold place, freezing, mercy is not the word to describe it, whatever the sun does not kill, the cold will try to destroy.
Page 4: 5 panels.
Panel 1:
panoramic shot, we can see mandingo walking on a canyon, he looks minimal in comparison to the huge size of the canyon.
Cap: he knows the men he escaped from are still on his track.
Panel 2:
flashback, we can see mandingo choking one of stamper?s men to death with the chains that bind his hands
cap: he knows stamper will not stop until he is brought back, but he also knows stamper needs those lions to work on his mines, so he won?t harm them, not because of mercy, but because of convinience.
Cap: mercy is not a word you?d use to describe maximilian stamper.
Panel 3:
flashback, mandingo, haning from ropes tied to hands and feet, stmaper facing him.
Stamper: you can look at me with all the hate on those green eyes of yours all you want, at the end of the day, you will rot on the mines, with the rest of your pride, and I will be at my hacienda, not giving an actual damn about you lions.
Stamper: i?ll send you to another of my mines near santa gruta, there, you will breed some female lions, I need new slaves, and honestly, you are my strongest male slave. Does that sound okay for you...your majesty?
Panel 4:
mandingo drinks water from a small stream.
Panel 5:
mandingo suddenly hears something.
Page 5: 4 panels
panel 1:
four men, riding gallopies, enter the canyon.
Man 1: THAT BASTARD MUST HAVE COME HERE! There is a stream a couple hundred meters on that direction, also, he can escape the sun in here.
Man 2: we have been tracking that stinker cat for days already! Mister stamper has like three hunderd lions...why bother so much about this one? Let it roast to death on the desert I say!
Panel 2:
man 1 faces man 2
man 1: let me make it simple, so even you understand it, guano for brains! Mister stamper needs that lion to breed the females on the third mine, you know what breeding is, right? That same thing your mother and a pile of gallopy shit did so you were born?!
Panel 3:
man 1: MISTER STAMPER ORDERS TO GO TO HELL AND BRING SATAN, WE DAMN WELL GO DOWN THERE AND BRING BACK THE DEVIL HIMSELF DRAGGING IT BY THE BALLS IF WE HAVE TO!
Man 1: am I clear enough? Or do you need a better explanation, mister?
Man 2: all clear,sir.
Man 1: good, now let?s go find that lion,
panel 4:
mandingo running on the canyon.
Panel 5:
the four men riding
man 1: THE GALLOPY HAS A TRACE! FOLLOW ME!
Page 6: 4 panels
panel 1:
mandingo runs out of the canyon.
Man 1 off panel: THERE HE IS! GET HIM!
Panel 2:
mandingo runs, chased by the 4 men
panel 3:
the four men getting closer to mandingo.
Panel 4:
man 2 prepares to throw boleadoras at mandingo
page 7:
splash page
on the foreground, manding trips and falls, trapped by the boleadoras, in the background, the four men halt their gallopies
man 1: YOU THOUGHT YOU?D ESCAPE US SO EASILY, STINKY BASTARD?!
Man 1: we are gonna take you back to msiter stamper?s hacienda...but first...
man 1: I am going to beat the everliving crap out of you for making me come to this damn desert!
Page 8: 5 panels
panel 1:
man 1 puts on electric brass knuckles.
Man 1: I HATE THE DESERT! I HATE IT! I have sand all over each crack on my body...AND ALL BECAUSE OF A FILTHY SLAVE!!
panel 2:
man 1 punches mandingo on the face.
Man 1: I HATE THE DAMN HEAT!
Panel 3:
man 2: hey! Mister stamper?s orders were to take him back alive!
Man 1 off panel: OF COURSE WE WILL TAKE HIM BACK ALIVE! But first I am goin g to beat him a little, just ta make damn sure he wont try to escape again...also...
man 1 off panel: ...he killed one of ours when he escaped, remember? I NEED TO TEACH THIS FUCKIN LION A DAMN LESSON!
Panel 4:
man 1 continues punching mandingo.
Panel 5:
man 1 prepares to hit mandingo one more time.
Man 1: WE MUST MAKE SURE THESE DAMN LIONS UNDERSTAND THEIR DAMN PLACE HERE!
Page 9: 5 panels
panel 1: the biggest panel on the page
man 1?s hand explodes, it was shot off from afar.
Man 1: AAARGH!
Panel 2:
man 1 in the ground, crying of pain while holding what is left from his hand, the other man prepare their guns while looking form the origin of the shot.
Man 2: DID ANYONE HEAR A THING?!!
man 3: not me! Whoever made that shot...he?s damn far!
Man 4: NOBODY IS THAT GOOD!
Panel 3:
man 3 is shot on the shoulder, making him fall off his gallopy.
Man 2: WHO THE HELL IS SHOOTING?! DO YOU KNOW WHO WE WORK FOR?!
Panel 4:
man 2 aims his gun at everywhere, he is afraid
man 2: WE WORK FOR MAXIMILIAN STAMPER, CABRONES! YOU JUST SIGNED YOUR DAMN DEATH SENTENCES, PENDEJOS!
Panel 5:
open shot, we can see man 4 being shot on the leg, this time the shot is heard, man 2 is still aiming at nothing as a voice echoes through the canyon.
Voice: I am giving you the chance to leave unharmed, pick up your friends, I am sure you can get them to medical attention in time...stay, and maybe the four of you lose that chance!
Man 2: SHOW YOURSELF SO I CAN SHOOT YOUR HEAD OFF!
Page 10: 4 panels
panel 1:
man 2?s gun is blown off his hand by a shot, thei one is heard.
Man 2: AARGH!
Panel 2:
detail of yote?s gun, the cannon still smoking from the shot.
Yote off panel: I could have killed you, and my partner standing on that mesa three hunderd and fifty meters away from us right now can, and actually wants to kill the whole bunch of you...
yote off panel: ...you are damn lucky I do not kill, but...you are also unlucky I am more than okay with doing ANYTHING ELSE TO YOU AND YOUR PALS HERE.
Panel 3:
close up of yote, his eyes covered by his hat
yote: we have been following you guys since you crossed rosa chica two days ago. At first, I did not care, but then I saw the lion you carried, he does not look like bounty...
yote: ...he looks like a slave, and that is kinda weird, since president abolished slavery on this beautiful country of ours five years ago. So, you guys picked my curiosity, and my desire for justice, so here I am.
Panel 4:
full body shot of francisco yote, he takes off his hat so his face is visible.
Man 2 off panel: WHO ARE YOU?
Yote: my name is FRANCISCO YOTE, bounty hunter is my profession, and protector of those in need is my hobby.
Yote: so, you guys work for maximilian stamper, eh? If we are talking about the same guy, he is basically violating the law by keeping slaves, lions brought to this country as slaves were declared citizens, therefore they are protected under the laws of this country. so...
yote: ...will you help your friends get back to stamper and get medical help? Or will you be incredibly stupid and try and keep me from taking this lion citizen with me?
Page 11: 4 panels
panel 1:
man 2: you have no idea who you are messing with, coyote! MISTER STAMPER WILL SEND MISTER KINSKY AFTER YOU!
Panel 2:
detail shot of man 2 trying to pull out a hidden gun he carries
man 2 off panel: we were paid to bring back that lion, and there is no way in hell you keep us away from that money...
panel 3:
detail of man 2 preparing the gun to shoot, still hiding it
panel 4:
chango appears behind man 2 and presses the cannon of his rifle against the back of man 2, who looks surprised.
Chango: EPA! If I was you, i?d keep that pea shooter holstered. I am the guy who blew the hand of your boss there, so, if you think I have good aim from three hundred meters away, just imagine what I can do up close and personal.
Page 12: 4 panels
panel 1:
man 2 rises his hands, surrendering. Chango keeps aiming at him with his rifle.
Chango: so, francisco, what shall we do with these sinners? Leave them to rot here or let them go back to be punished by stamper?
Panel 2:
yote helps mandingo
yote: amigo chango, we must let our lion friend here make that choice, after all. He is the one victim here, so, let him decide.
Panel 3:
mandingo stands up as yote cuts the boleadoras with a knife.
Panel 4:
mandingo walks towards man 1, who looks terrified
man 1: MANDINGO!? STOP! YOU CANT DO THIS! MISTER STAMPER WILL KILL YOUR PRIDE OF LIONS IF YOU KILL US!
Page 13: 5 panels
panel 1:
mandingo chokes man 1
panel 2:
mandingo keeps choking man 1, as yote watches and chango keeps aiming his rifle at man 2
panel 3:
mandingo releases man 1.
panel 4:
mandingo punches man 11 on the face, man 1 falls unconscious.
Panel 5:
mandingo looks at man 2
mandingo: tell stamper I am going back for my pride, tell him I will make his beg for death one day for each lion he kills or hurts until then.
Man 2: mister stamper will send kinsky after you, mandingo! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN MISTER STAMPER UNLEASHES KINSKY!
Page 14: 4 panels.
Panel 1:
close up of mandingo
mandingo: ONE DAY OF AGONY FOR EACH LION HE HURTS OR KILLS!
Panel 2:
yote: you heard the lion, mister, you and your pals go back to stamper, tell him MANDINGO AND FRANCISCO YOTE ARE GOING AFTER HIM!
Panel 3:
mandingo looks at yote, surprised.
Mandingo: wait...are you...helping me?
Yote: yes. I mean, I already saved you from them , we can go all the way, is that so, chango?
Chango off panel: POR SUPUESTO QUE YES, PANCHO!
Panel 4:
yote, mandingo and pancho watch the four men leaving the canyon.
Mandingo: I appreciate this, I did not ask for your help...but I appreciate it, my people will too.
Yote: we will have time to celebrate, king. But first, let?s go back home, and then you can tell me all we need to know.
Chango: you know stamper will not stop until he gets mandingo back, right?
Yote: yes, I also know if mandingo dies, the other lions will instantly revolt, and stamper knows he cant stop so many angry lions, we have that on our advantage, he will send his troops after us.
Chango: so...it;s gonna be us against an army? Not that I am complaining, but...numbers aren?t on our side here, pancho.
Page 15: 2 panels.
Panel 1:
close up of yote
yote: and when have numbers been on our side, my dear chango?
Yote: besides, we are not alone, we have friends...friends with a coomon urge to get rid of stamper.
Chango off panel: don?t you mean...
panel 2:
chango looks at yote, while mandingo looks at both of them.
Yote: yes, chango, I mean we go to SANTA GRUTA and ask anastasia for one more little favor.
Chango: ay, pancho...i am starting to think the desert heat fried your brain, compadre.
Yote: relax, companero, I am sure anastasia will receive us with her arms wide open.
Mandingo: even I know that is not what will happen! AND I DONT KNOW THIS ANASTASIA WOMAN YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!
TITLE BOX:
END OF CHAPTER ONE.
