I find that comic scripts can often give you a rare glimpse into part of the comic book writer’s process, since comic scripts are usually written only to be seen by the artist and maybe an editor. Some links: Greg Rucka posts his text under the pages of his webcomic LADY SABRE, and this post on Kieron Gillen’s blog features a SPIDER-MAN script excerpt from Mark Waid and the full script and inked pages from Matt Fraction’s DEFENDERS (some very different styles of writing the Marvel Way).

So, here’s the text from this page of PROTEGE below:

PAGE TWENTY

ONE:
TRANE slides some dollar bills onto the bar and stands, ignoring the drunk BUSINESSMEN laughing nearby.

1. TRANE:
This is a damn waste of time.

2. ZANDER/elec:
Give it a chance, will you?

TWO:
At the front entry into the club, ALLUMETTE walks past a SECURITY GUARD holding a metal detector wand.

3. ZANDER/caption:
By the way, I haven’t been able to get any visuals from their security cameras, so watch yourself.

4. TRANE/caption:
You’re slipping, Zander.

THREE:
The SECURITY GUARD is talking on his headset. In the background ALLUMETTE is walking down the corridor leading to the club’s main room.

5. ZANDER/caption:
Please. Not even my skills can hack a surveillance system that either doesn’t exist or is completely offline.

FOUR:
ZANDER types on his keyboard. The monitors near him are filled with numbers and letters in code.

6. ZANDER:
Which tells me something must be going on there besides slamming beats.

7. TRANE/elec:
Did you just say “slamming beats?”

FIVE:
ALLUMETTE wanders past a crowd of CLUBGOERS, she looks worried and lost. She runs a hand thru her hair and we get a better look at her BRACELET and a small tracking gadget attached to it. In the background just beyond the crowd we can see TRANE watching her.

8. ZANDER/elec:
For sheezy. Make sure you keep Allumette in sight.

9. TRANE:
I can barely stand to look at her, Zander.