Detective (2011)

Graphic Novel


Log-Line

A Detective is on his first assignment when sent to investigate an underground gang that steals cars and sells drugs.
He gets the shock of his life when he finds out they're Vampires.



Synopsis

Act One: It's nine o'clock pm and Carter Willis and his police officer co-workers are celebrating the success of an arrest on their first big case. They are in their police headquarters eating cake and drinking Champagne. They laugh and joke around. Carter Willis is new to the force; he seems to be liked by everyone. Sara, Carter Willis's girlfriend, calls him and interrupts him at the party. For a while now they have been having problems in their relationship. They have been living together for about a year now. She is at their luxurious apartment located in South Beach Miami, Florida. Their apartment overlooks the city and the ocean. He has been neglecting her because of the case. Over the phone, she is happy for him but is very short with her words. Carter loves her but he is not the brightest when it comes to women's feelings. Sara tells Carter that she will be going to bed soon and she will leave the light on for when he comes home. Sara can hear his co-workers chanting his name and she ends the call.

Carter Willis leaves the party around midnight. He takes a cab home. He wakes Sara with a kiss on the cheek. She brushes it off. He notices and realizes something is wrong. As he undresses he tries to figure out if there is a problem between the two. She doesn't answer. He apologizes for coming home so late. She makes a grunting noise as if she doesn't care. As he takes off his tie and unbuttons the white shirt he suspects that the problem might be bigger than him coming home late. He asks if he did anything wrong and she replies softly, "what do you do right?" He is totally confused. He sits close to her and she immediately sits up and turns on a lamp next to the bed. She starts to tell him the problems in their relationship. He shuts down and stays quiet. She gets more upset. He apologizes for everything and tells her the case he has been working on has come to a close and that he will be the way he was with her like in the beginning of their relationship. She doesn't think he understands and just agrees and goes to bed.

Carter Willis attends a ceremony where he receives a medal of distinction. He and his colleagues sit in chairs on the stage. Carter Willis expresses to his best friend Alex J. Williams his feeling about Sarah. The ceremony begins and goes on for about an hour. Carter and Alex are called up for their award. Unexpectedly Carter and Alex rank up to Detective. After Carter receives his award he notices Sara in the back of the crowd. The ceremony finishes and Carter quickly makes his way toward Sara. He tries to patch things up. Sara breaks the news she will be staying with her sisters for a while, she congratulates him on his medal and gives him back the keys to their apartment.

The next day, Carter Willis enters the Police station, and just before he gets to his desk he is called into Captain's Sanchez office to be put on assignment. Carter is told he has to go undercover as a street gang deep in Miami. Before he can get close to the main Drug lord of the streets he must get recognition with the gangs. Carter Willis is given marked cars by the police for him to steal and to attend illegal drag races.

Behind the Story

Detective is one of the first stories I came up with back in college in 2004. In my audio class, I had to write a commercial. I choose to do a movie trailer commercial. I wrote the dialogue and added music to it. It wasn't until about 2009 when I took storytelling/filmmaking seriously that I went back to this story and expand on it. In 2011, I studied creative writing for entertainment at Full Sail University, and for one of my assignments in the Graphic Novel classes, I choose to work on this story. I got to write a character bio and complete the outline of the story. I wrote two small scenes of the story in the graphic novel format. My intention is to complete this story fully in the graphic novel format.  

 When I started to expand the story, I went back to a film I loved, "Die Hard". I based my main character on John McClane. I wanted to give him two last names, but his first name can be used for both now in today's time. The main character has marital problems and has recently become a detective and finds out he's investigating vampires. It's a lot to handle.  

 I never pushed to get this complete because I don't truly understand the format of a graphic novel. I ended up using some of this story to complete my 80s comedy/drama/horror story, "Peter and the Pocket Guide to Hunting Vampires and Other Demon-like Creatures". I do in hope plan to complete this story. This story is part of a trilogy. Each one is set in different time periods. Part one, Detective, is set in 1988 Miami. Part two, Detective II: The Spirit Within, is set in 2002 in Cairo, Egypt. And part three, Detective III: Nefarious, is set in 2024 Vatican City, Rome.  

 So as you can see, each story is fully planned out and ready to go. I just have to get over my fear of the format. 

***Image was created using artificial intelligence with Midjourney***

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