COMIC BOOK: “Helluva Boss: Codename Ghost”
Format: 4 Panels per Page
Style Suggestion: Dark, gritty, noir-inspired aesthetic with Helluva Boss flair (sharp contrasts,
surreal elements, infernal tones).
PAGE 01
Panel 1
Layout: Wide establishing panel across the top.
Background: A rain-drenched city street at night, neon lights flickering in the distance.
Coloring: High-contrast blues, purples, and reds. Rain streaks glowing in neon light.
Caption (narration, top):
“Before I begin I warn you. This story may not have a happy ending.”
Panel 2
Close-up: Raindrops falling into a puddle. The ripples distort a reflection of the
narrator’s face, but it’s obscured and ghostly.
Caption (bottom):
“It doesn’t matter anyway. Life doesn’t care if you have the ending you deserve or think
you deserve.”
Panel 3
Visual Metaphor Shot: A scale of justice cracked in half, lying in the gutter, broken and
rusted.
Caption:
“I grew up with the lesson that everyone learns as a child. Good things happen to good
people. Bad things happen to bad people.”
Panel 4
Medium shot: A shadowy figure (the narrator, not fully revealed yet) stands under a
flickering streetlight. His face is hidden in darkness.
Lighting: Half his silhouette outlined by harsh light, half consumed by shadow.
Caption:
“Simple karma, right? I wish that were true.”
PAGE 02
Panel 1
Wide panel: The rain intensifies, blurring the neon lights into bleeding colors. The city
looks distorted, oppressive.
Caption:
“The truth of the matter is whether good or bad what I’ve learned is this…”
Panel 2
Close-up: A single drop of rain sliding down a cracked windowpane, symbolizing
fragility.
Caption (overlapping the drip):
“…Things happen to people!”
Panel 3
Mood Shot: A figure in a trench coat walks down the street, shadow stretching
unnaturally long behind him, as if chased by darkness.
Caption:
“It rains on the just and the unjust alike.”
Panel 4
Visual Metaphor: A chessboard left in the rain. The pieces topple, black and white
indistinguishable in the runoff.
Caption:
“So I’m going to start my story off by asking one very simple question…”
PAGE 03
Panel 1
Close-up: The narrator’s hand clenches into a fist, veins showing. Rain drips off his
knuckles.
Caption:
“What if everything you knew about your life was a lie?”
Panel 2
Symbolic Panel: A shattered mirror reflecting multiple broken versions of the narrator’s
face, each warped differently.
Caption:
“It could mess you up pretty good.”
Panel 3
Medium Shot: The narrator walks past a glowing neon sign that reads: “HOPE”. The
“H” and “E” are burnt out, leaving only “OP”.
Caption:
“Make you do things you didn’t think you were capable of.”
Panel 4
Background: A dark alley, trash scattered, a stray dog snarling at him.
Close-up: His eyes catch faint red glows in the dark, feral and dangerous.
Caption:
“Like anyone else, I wanted to know… why me? What did I do to deserve this?”
PAGE 04
Panel 1
Cinematic Close-up: His mouth grim, cigarette smoke curling upward. His eyes
shadowed.
Caption:
“Well, what I found out is that the truth sucks…”
Panel 2
Wide Panel: The city skyline burns in the distance, fires glowing like hell on the
horizon.
Caption:
“…and that it was destiny…”
Panel 3
Close-up: His hand gripping a gun, reflected in a puddle. The reflection makes the gun
look like a bloody knife.
Caption:
“…I would become…”
Panel 4 (Final Panel of Prologue Page)
Splash-like Focus (large, heavy border): The narrator finally revealed: pale skin,
haunted expression, trench coat blowing in the storm.
Background: Behind him, a giant ghostly skull looms in the storm clouds—visual
metaphor for death and fate.
Caption (large, bottom):
“…a killer.”
Lettering & Style Notes:
Captions: Use rectangular narration boxes with rough, distressed borders to emphasize
the narrator’s unstable perspective.
Speech Balloons: Minimal in this prologue—focus is narration-driven. When present,
balloons should be jagged, ghostly white with black outlines.
SFX: Sparse but impactful—DRIP… DRIP…, CRACKLE, FZZZT (neon lights).
Borders: Uneven, sometimes broken, to suggest instability.
Mood Shots: Use rain, reflections, and shadows as recurring motifs.
COMIC BOOK: “Helluva Boss: Codename Ghost”
Chapter 01: Do We Have a Deal?
Comic Breakdown: 16 Pages (4 Panels per Page)
PAGE 1
Panel 1 (Wide, top borderless panel):
Background: Dim hospital hallway outside the OR, fluorescent lights buzzing faintly.
Adrian stands against the wall, hands pressed flat, taking deep breaths.
Caption (top left): “I pressed my hands against the wall while I waited outside, taking
deep breaths.”
Panel 2:
Close-up: Adrian’s face, pale with exhaustion and grief, sweat on his brow.
Caption: “The stench of industrial cleaners, sweat, people, and a sprinkle of death made
me sick.”
Speech Balloon (Adrian, muttered): “God, I fucking hate hospitals.”
Panel 3:
Wide shot of waiting room: TV in corner showing a bright cartoon (contrast to the grim
setting). Adrian sits hunched, rosary in hand.
Caption: “They wheeled Maria into emergency hours ago. I hadn’t heard a word.”
Panel 4:
Close-up: Adrian’s eyes staring blankly at the glowing OR doors.
Caption: “I prayed for a miracle. But this wasn’t a Disney movie.”
PAGE 2
Panel 1:
Adrian pacing the waiting room, phone in hand.
Speech Balloon (Adrian, answering call): “I don’t know… I don’t know anything yet.”
Caption: “Family called all day. I shut the phone off eventually.”
Panel 2:
Small panel: Adrian slumping into a chair, legs restless.
Caption: “I resigned myself to waiting like everyone else.”
Panel 3:
Close-up: Adrian’s hand clutching the rosary tightly.
Caption: “The beads dug into my hand. I prayed harder.”
Panel 4:
Background fades into black void, Adrian small in the middle, floating.
Caption: “Time passed. I don’t know how long until I was roused from it.”
PAGE 3
Panel 1:
Doctor enters from the side of the waiting room, face grim.
Speech Balloon (Doctor): “Mr. Sawyers?”
Panel 2:
Adrian jumps up from his chair.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “Doctor? Please—tell me you have news.”
Panel 3:
Close-up of doctor’s face, lit harshly under fluorescent light.
Speech Balloon (Doctor): “Yes, but it isn’t good.”
Panel 4:
Adrian’s face in horror, pupils shrinking.
Caption: “My world stopped.”
PAGE 4
Panel 1:
Doctor explaining gravely, motioning with his hands.
Speech Balloon: “The wreck severed her vertebrae, fractures, internal bleeding… the
object pierced her aorta.”
Panel 2:
Visual metaphor: Maria on hospital bed, bathed in harsh light, suspended between life
and death like a puppet with broken strings.
Caption (Doctor): “If we remove it, the back pressure will kill her instantly.”
Panel 3:
Adrian collapses into chair, shadow engulfing him.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “So… she’s going to die?”
Panel 4:
Doctor looking downward.
Speech Balloon (Doctor): “Most likely. The surgeons say it’s best to let her go quietly.”
PAGE 5
Panel 1:
Adrian weeping, face buried in hands. Rosary slipping from fingers.
SFX: CLATTER (rosary hitting floor).
Caption: “My world collapsed.”
Panel 2:
Close-up: Adrian whispering through his fingers.
Speech Balloon (small, broken): “Please… help her… help me… someone… anyone.”
Panel 3:
Rosary being picked up from the ground by an old man’s hand.
Speech Balloon (off-panel): “You dropped this, son.”
Panel 4:
Priest revealed: friendly smile, hospital clergy badge, thin white hair. He holds out the
rosary.
Caption: “He looked older than decades… almost like centuries.”
PAGE 6
Panel 1:
Adrian pockets rosary, priest rubs hand on his robe uneasily.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “Thank you.”
Panel 2:
Priest sits beside him.
Speech Balloon (Priest): “What ails you, my son?”
Panel 3:
Adrian, distraught.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “I’m waiting to see someone.”
Speech Balloon (Priest): “Your wife.”
Panel 4:
Adrian, startled.
Caption: “Of course… my ring gave it away.”
PAGE 7
Panel 1:
Adrian recounting the story to the priest.
Caption: “I didn’t realize how much I was holding in.”
Panel 2:
Priest handing Adrian a silk-like handkerchief.
Speech Balloon (Priest): “Keep it. You need it more than me.”
Panel 3:
Adrian whispering, tears still in his eyes.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “I don’t know if I can watch her die.”
Panel 4:
Priest leans forward slightly, eyes glinting.
Speech Balloon (Priest): “What is it you need?”
PAGE 8
Panel 1:
Adrian answers immediately, intensity in his face.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “Help. For her to live.”
Panel 2:
Priest’s pupils dilate, faint unnatural glow in eyes.
Speech Balloon (Priest): “What would you give to save her?”
Panel 3:
Adrian’s face, resolute.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “Anything.”
Panel 4:
Priest places heavy hand on Adrian’s shoulder. Grip seems stone-like.
Speech Balloon (Priest): “Perhaps I can help you, my son.”
PAGE 9
Panel 1:
The two walking down a quiet, strangely empty hospital hallway.
Caption: “Few personnel in this wing. Oddly empty.”
Panel 2:
Adrian looks at priest curiously.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “Thank you for your help, Father—”
Speech Balloon (Priest): “Oh please, call me Greeze.”
Panel 3:
Close-up of Adrian’s startled face.
Caption: “Strange name…”
Speech Balloon (Priest, off-panel): “Yes, it is silly, isn’t it?”
Panel 4:
They reach the chapel doors. Priest smiles, inviting Adrian in.
Speech Balloon (Priest): “Please come inside, Adrian.”
PAGE 10
Panel 1:
Adrian freezes, eyes wide.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “How do you know my name?”
Panel 2:
Chapel doors slam shut behind him.
SFX: SLAM
Candles snuff out.
Lights dim.
Panel 3:
Adrian spins around—empty chapel. Priest gone.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “Greeze?… Father Greeze?”
Panel 4:
Voice echoes from nowhere. Shadows stretch unnaturally.
Speech Balloon (Distorted Voice): “I know more about you than just your name, Adrian
Sawyers.”
PAGE 11
Panel 1:
Adrian pulls desperately at the doors—handles don’t budge.
SFX: RATTLE, THUD
Caption: “The doors had no locks, but they were solid as stone.”
Panel 2:
A black shape slithers behind a pillar.
SFX: SLITHER…
Panel 3:
Adrian steps back, wide-eyed.
Speech Balloon (Voice): “Why leave when people are dying to get in here?”
Panel 4:
Adrian shouting toward the darkness.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “I don’t know who you are, but—”
Speech Balloon (Voice, interrupting): “But I thought you wanted to speak.”
PAGE 12
Panel 1:
Wide shot: Darkness moves across ceiling rafters, wood creaking.
Speech Balloon (Voice): “Just like my master offered your Jesus the world, so do I to
you.”
Panel 2:
Adrian swallows hard, staring upward.
Speech Balloon (Adrian, trembling): “Who are you really?”
Panel 3:
Priest shape reforms in front of pulpit, smiling eerily.
Speech Balloon (Priest): “I’m the answer to all your problems.”
Panel 4:
Shadow behind him stretches into monstrous, winged outline.
Caption: “It wasn’t human.”
PAGE 13
Panel 1:
Priest peeling off human form like clothing, revealing towering demon.
Body: black, muscular, thin, wings like a bat, claws of stone, serpent head.
SFX: RIIIIP
Panel 2:
Adrian cowers, pulling rosary out of pocket.
Speech Balloon (Adrian, desperate): “God… Jesus… Saint Michael—”
Panel 3:
Rosary yanked from his hands by unseen force, shatters against wall.
SFX: CRASH
Speech Balloon (Demon): “Don’t believe everything you see on TV, human.”
Panel 4:
Demon steps forward, heavy footsteps cracking tiles.
SFX: THOOM… THOOM…
PAGE 14
Panel 1:
Adrian collapses to knees, shutting eyes.
Caption: “If it wanted to kill me, I wouldn’t last 10 seconds.”
Panel 2:
Demon crouches, lifting Adrian gently to his feet.
Speech Balloon (Demon): “I said we would talk. And I keep my word.”
Panel 3:
Demon shrinking down to near-human size.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “What do you want with me?”
Speech Balloon (Demon): “To help you. A deal.”
Panel 4:
Adrian looks suspicious, desperate.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “What kind of deal?”
Speech Balloon (Demon): “Simple. I heal your wife. In return—you work for me.”
PAGE 15
Panel 1:
Adrian clutching chest, horrified.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “You want my soul.”
Speech Balloon (Demon, grinning): “Yes. Your soul—and your service.”
Panel 2:
Demon circling Adrian, voice sly.
Speech Balloon (Demon): “You’ll be my assassin. Both realms. My blade.”
Panel 3:
Adrian staring downward, torn.
Caption: “Maria… She said she couldn’t love anyone the way she loved me.”
Caption: “Would she die if I wasn’t there? Or worse… would she follow me?”
Panel 4:
Adrian steels his resolve, glaring up.
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “…Yes.”
Caption: “I knew I was damned the moment I said it.”
PAGE 16
Panel 1:
Demon smiling with fangs, extending hand.
Speech Balloon (Demon): “Excellent. Do you understand the deal?”
Panel 2:
Adrian (thinking quickly).
Speech Balloon (Adrian): “One amendment. Erase our marriage. Let Maria live free.”
Panel 3:
Demon intrigued, impressed.
Speech Balloon (Demon): “Done. Shake on it.”
Panel 4 (Final Cliffhanger Panel):
They clasp hands—Adrian’s palm pierced by invisible spike, glowing contract unrolling
between them.
SFX: SSHHHRRIP—FWOOM
Caption: “The deal was struck.”
NOTES ON STYLE
Mood & Color Shifts:
o Hospital = pale greens, whites, clinical harshness.
o Chapel = golden light → shadows → infernal reds/blacks.
Lettering:
o Narration = rectangular, distressed borders.
o Demon dialogue = jagged, dark balloons, bold lettering with echo effect.
Panel Borders: Normal in hospital; warped/uneven once demon enters.
Visual Motifs: Rosary beads, light vs. shadow, broken mirrors, blood ink.
