Larry Leapman

Panel layout isn't super important here.  Let's say the first 2 panels are on the first row, with panel 1 taking up 1/3 of the row and panel 2 taking up the remaining 2/3s.  Row two is made up of panels 3 and 4, which can be more or less of equal size.  Row three is made up solely of panel 5, which spans the page.

1 - A female figure closes a door behind her.  She wears a heavy hood and cloak to conceal her identity, but brightly coloured clothing is visible below it.  In fact, even though the hood is made of dark material, it's oddly bright..  The whole room / world seems to be that way.  She looks up in fright at the voice addressing her.

LARRY (off-panel): Who goes there?!

2 - The figure removes the hood and cloak to reveal that she is Princess Pamela!  She wears a blank expression.  Larry Leapman sits on the ground nearby, looking up with a mixture of relief, surprise, and happiness.  Both Larry and Pamela are as brightly coloured as the nondescript room around them, like the whole world is being seen through a filter of nostalgia.

PAMELA: It's me, my love.

LARRY: Princess!  How did you escape from Oswald's clutches?!

3 - Princess Pamela walks towards Larry.  She now wears a sad face, tears welling in her eyes.  Larry looks concerned, but does not move.

LARRY: What's wrong, Pam?

4 - Larry continues to sit, unmoving.  Pamela has gone over to him and kneels next to him, hugging his head to her body in a manner meant to soothe him.

LARRY: Did that horrible brute harm you?

PAMELA (1): Shh.  You know he didn't.

PAMELA (2): You saved me long ago, honey.

5 - Same positioning, but pull back to get a better look at the surrounding room.  Have Pamela and Larry be placed towards the right side of the panel.  That nostalgic filter is gone, the colour drained of its brightness, leaving a darker, bleaker world (think a lot of blues and the like).  Both Princess Pamela and Larry look older than previously.  Larry in particular looks quite gaunt and bedraggled. His hair is unkempt, his eyes lack focus, and he wears a straight-jacket.  Pamela cries openly, tears streaming down her cheeks.

PAMELA: You saved me long ago.

Did that make sense?

I watched Indie Game: The Movie yesterday with a friend of mine, and go my brain going about potential video game / video game character ideas.  Larry Leapman and Princess Pamela are the fruits of that labour.  You may recognize them as loose Mario / Peach clones, but the main difference for our erstwhile hero is that his fight ended long ago.  As I tried to imply through Pamela's dialogue, Oswald hasn't given the kingdom trouble in years, but Larry can't seem to process that fact.  He literally can't get past the past, stuck in the time when he jumped all over the kingdom to save the Princess from Oswald's vile hand.  He's unable to recognize that that is no longer the status quo and hasn't been for some time.  Instead, Pamela has him locked up in a tower, hoping that he will one day snap out of it.  Things don't look good.

While their story would definitely build quite strongly on Mario's mythos, I think the tale of a hero who can't process that the time for heroism is past would make for both a great comic or a great video game.  Or at least interesting ones.

Maybe I'll get to explore the idea in more depth on day.