G.I. Joe- 3.75 Division Episode 36: "Nervous Man in a Two Dollar Room"

This episode took so much time to finish and it irritated the hell out of me. Those last 3 panels I had gotten severe writers block on and I wasn't sure exactly how to end it.

More on why after the story, as usual click on each photo to expand it for easier reading and then look afterwards for Director's commentary!

The title to this episode is a nod to an episode of The Twilight Zone, specifically "A Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room", the $2.00 refering to how much vintage G.I. Joes used to cost.

This episode really stuck me at those last 3 panels. Episode 35 and 36 were both shot at a house in the mountains of Pennsylvania that belongs to the family of my wife's friend. As the kitchen wasn't updated since the 1970's, it makes for a really cool and vintage-looking set for the comic to take place in.

Part of the cause of my writer's block is I wasn't sure how long we would be staying here and didn't want to start a shoot here that would last several episodes and then not be able to finish shooting it. I have an alternate 10th panel that I was going to use but I decided to go with the photo of Retrax, the Predacon Demolitions Expert, leering out at our heroes from the shadows.

Here's the photo that was going to be the 10th panel, where I would have just cut to the group riding in Dial-Tone's vehicle at the start of the next episode starring them:

I also shot another photo of Retrax with the flash on, but it looked too revealing and I liked the idea of him being hidden in the shadows more so the audience doesn't really know what it is.

Episode 37 will bring us back to "The Rescue of Deep Six" story arc starring Captain Grid-Iron, Banzai and Splashdown as they explore Cobra's underwater base, The Deep. Those shoots have been done for several months now and I'm very much looking forward to bringing some closure to that arc. Stay tuned!!

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