Think of a City - Need of the Many

While it might not make for the most scintillating of introductions, I quite like how Think of a City simply uses numbers to title each entry.  Just by looking at the name, you get a quick sense of where you are in the project and its history.  It's why I also like that they use three-digit numbers - it tells you the scope of the endeavour, that they're in it for the long haul.  Anyways, today's delightful piece of inspiration comes courtesy of Morgan Jeske and is ever appropriately titled 003.

In keeping with the image, we're going for a sci fi bent to today's page for the biker, elder, and villagers. We will be switching between a stark desert scene in the odd panels and a warm, small town village meal in the even panels – you could roll different colour palettes between to emphasize the difference in location and time, but that's only one way to illustrate that difference and I'd be open to others.

1 – The desert. Evidence of a crash of some nature – skid marks in the sand, some pieces of wrecked metal – litter the ground, but there isn't enough on panel to understand what's happened.

CAPTION (ELDER): “Thank you.”

2 – A group of kind of pitiful looking villagers sit around a table filled with food. While their clothing is shabby, their faces are warm and bright, uplifted by the spoils before them. Two figures, a village elder and a biker, stand in the background, looking at the scene (although they are not the focus for this panel).

ELDER: Words cannot express our gratitude.

3 – The desert. More of the crash is now visible. A hoverbike has crashed into a boulder, sending parts and wreckage spilling everywhere. Towards the side of the panel, part of a body (that of the biker) is visible – perhaps their boot or body.

CAPTION (ELDER): “Stay a while, won't you?”

4 – The village. On the elder and biker. The elder looks in thanks towards the biker; the biker continues to look towards the (off-panel) eating villagers. The biker looks tired, but satisfied, their goggles hanging around their neck.

ELDER: Rest.

5 – The desert. On the biker's face, which is horizontal across the panel because they are lying flat on the ground. The biker's goggles have been broken by the crash, barely hanging around their eyes. The biker looks dazed, attempting to focus on something off-panel. Obviously, they should have cuts and bruises and the like in keeping with a bad crash.

BIKER (weakly): ...gotta keep moving...

6 – The village. Focus on the elder pressing a care package into the biker's hands, including a bright coloured orange.

ELDER: I thought you would answer as much.

7 – The desert. The biker's cut and contused hand reaches for the orange, which lies just out of reach.

CAPTION (ELDER): “Then take this with you.”

8 – The village. The biker is on their hoverbike, preparing to drive off into the wilderness / desert.

CAPTION (ELDER): “We appreciate your ongoing concern.”

9 – The desert. A bird's eye view of the crash, enabling the entire painful scene to be seen at once. The biker lies still, their outstretched arm failing to have reached the orange. If possible, layout this panel so that the biker, crash, and everything looks small against the immense landscape.

CAPTION (ELDER): “But please don't forget to look after yourself.”