Reyes Background Comic Outline 1

I grew up watching my daddy's back.
He was a tall man. Strong.
He worked hard to provide in the ways that he could for us, though then I didnt understand what that meant.
He was a witch like me, and to the company men, that was valuable. They could send him out to where normal men couldnt go, and his magic would protect him.
They could use him until he dropped, cause he could heal up.
should've made him a bitter man, that kinda work. but it didnt. my daddy was a good man, and he treated me an ma like we were treasures of the best kind.
they respected him, in town. they knew he was a good man, and a good witch, so they trusted him to keep them safe.
from bandits, from hustlers and storms and spirits knew what else.
it was a lot of work for one man, but he was proud to do it.
When ma passed, I was sad of course. but I had my daddy with me and I didnt fear nothin so long as he was there.
my daddy was the strongest man alive

but then he wasnt

the company men came and gave us money when it was clear daddy werent comin back to work. for the good he did, they said. probably more to keep us quiet.
but it helped, and for a while we lived okay.
I werent no fool, though. I knew it wouldnt last forever
I was too young for what my daddy did, but I knew there were other ways to get money. posse work was tough, and dangerous, but my daddy taught me how to protect myself.

I was a witch. and that made me valuable. they could send me out like they couldnt normal men, and I'd heal right up.
but I werent a fool. I got *good*.

I brought good money home keepin the land safe, and my daddy could get a caretaker while I werent there.

I started goin out longer and longer. the bounties kept getting bigger and bigger. but I werent worried. I was my daddy's boy. and I was strong like him.

I was a man now, but I ain't never forget where I came from. I wrote my daddy letters, and he wrote em right back until he couldnt, and he had to get davis to do it. those were good days... proud days.

(scenes of reyes waving goodbye to his posse, riding across the country. entering the town, which has changed. coming to his house, now a ruin and empty)

I didnt understand. this was my home.
what had happened?

(reyes finds out his father has been dead for years)

it was impossible. I had letters from him from just a few months ago.

(reyes asks about the money)
(scenes of him growing enraged)

(he confronts davis, who has been taking the money since his father died. he admits he was jealous of all the money reyes was sending home, while his pay stayed the same. reyes realizes that davis killed his father [[SEE BELOW FOR DETAIL]])

I lost my mind that day

(Davis' house explodes. scenes of davis burning alive, reyes walks from the flames)

thieves...bandits...rustlers.... they were all the same.

they were all worthless outlaws. and none of them
deserved to live

I wouldnt let it happen again

I was my daddy's boy

and I was strong like he was.

++++++++++++++

<REYES CHANGES 1: CONFRONTATION>

(scenes of Reyes' posse riding through a town. people hide. mothers push their children inside.)

(whispers of who reyes is. warnings to hide young men, for fear of death. a harsh lawman, but no better than an outlaw to the people)

(reyes is sitting at a bar drinking when a fight breaks out. a young man draws a pistol)

(a shot rings out, in a way that appears as though the young man has been shot. in reality the bullet went through the rim of his ear.)

"I wasnt expecting a murderer to be here, but I guess a man's work is never done"

(the young man drops the gun, trembling, and runs out. the others also draw and put down pistols and run out)

(reyes asks the bartender for trouble. the bartender will not look at him. replies no sir)

(Reyes' posse leaves. the next afternoon the air rises heavy with smoke. by the time they return it is too late. the town has been destroyed. he sees the same young man shot to death)

(they kill the bandits in the town, and reyes asks them where they came from)

"we wus always here, weve been sittin on this town for weeks."

(reyes demands to know what he said to the townspeople to stop them telling him about their troubles)

"y'really are stupid....we didnt have t'tell em nuthin. they wus already scared of yu. worried you'd kill their lil babies or whatever, they'd rather take their chances with a leech than a wild dog." (the bandit grins bloody)

"but we got fangs too"

(reyes shoots him.)

(time skipped to future, in a different town. reyes is drinking alone at the bar)

(behind, people are clearly talking about him)

they think I cant hear them.
they think if they keep their voices down I wont know they're talkin bout me

they fear us

worse than them outlaws

so what does that make us?

(reyes looks down. behind him, a gallows filled with dead men stretched behind him)

I've helped this land. I've kept it safe.

I've shed blood a thousand times over to get rid of the ticks suckin the life from the desert

....but what have I really done

there ain't an end to them

theres hasn't ever

I've been killin and killin and killin and for what

I have nothin to show for it.

(reyes leaves the bar)

(shots of him riding across landscapes, first with his posse, then without)

(shots of him entering a town. small, and unimportant and dusty)

(he enters a bar, sits down. no one looks at him)

"I ain't reckon I've seen ur face before." (the bartender) "you thinkin of staying long? or just passing thru?"

no body is looking at me. they dont know who I am

(reyes is silent)

the blood on my hands has all been vain. the lives I've taken...havent meant shit.

but one town...one town'll be easy.

"I'm thinkin I might stay a while. been on the road too long."

"well good t'have you, son. what's your name?"

(reyes shakes the man's hand.)

"Reyes."

*************************
((REYES AND DAVIS CONFRONTATION DETAIL))

Reyes enters, upset and hurting over his fathers passing. Davis is surprised to see him. ((headshots , or focused shots that do not reveal his torso??)) He questions davis as to why he didn’t mention his fathers passing. Why he continued to write the letters. Davis attempts to console him. Reyes was far, and his father took a turn for the worst so quickly. There was no time. He would have never made it back in time anyway. Davis continued writing as to spare Reyes; he didn’t know how to break the news to him. He is sorry he hurt Reyes. They embrace, and Reyes begins to cry.

Reyes backs away, ashamed, and apologetic, when he spots Davis’ necklace. His father’s necklace. Special. He would have been buried in it. Reyes asks what he is doing with it. Davis feigns ignorance. Reyes begins to ask about the money. Davis says he is tired and upset, and he’ll put him up for tonight so they can speak tomorrow. Reyes asks again, and Davis deflects. Reyes grabs him, demanding what he did with the money.

Davis scowls and hisses, saying he deserved all of the money. He took care of his father and though the money kept getting bigger he didn’t see a penny more. Its his by right, his father would have never appreciated it. Reyes snaps back it wasn’t to appreciate it was to survive. Davis scoffs. Sneers back that his father was a wasted shell of who he once was, and if he hadn’t gotten to him first, someone else would have.

((shots of reyes coming to comprehension of this??))
((the house explodes)) ((shots of davis burning up))