WHAT HAPPENS AT MIDNIGHT? (2023)

WHAT HAPPENS AT MIDNIGHT?
Comic for the FAILURE TO LAUNCH anthology by IRON CIRCUS
Available to buy HERE

PAGE 1

Strip 1

TITLE:
On December 31st, 1999, the world is asked one question:
WHAT HAPPENS AT MIDNIGHT?
Written& Illustrated by Colton Fox

Panel 1
A skateboarder sits in front of a ramp. In the background friends watch someone skate up the ramp.

CAPTION
12PM

SKATBOARDER
What do I think will happen? I dunno…

Panel 2
A desktop computer strangles a user with it’s wired mouse as an angry D:< is displayed.

SKATEBOARDER
My friends brother said that all the computers are gonna get messed up and go crazy and kill everyone or something? 

Panel 3
The skateboarder sits as behind them the crowd is surrounding the skater that has fallen off the ramp. 

SKATEBOARDER
I don’t have a computer so I’m not too worried about it.

Strip 2

Panel 1
A man stands in front of a bomb shelter in his backyard with birds perched above it. A bird is midflight, preparing to land.

CAPTION
1PM

DOOMSDAY PREPPER
CHAOS WILL HAPPEN AT MIDNIGHT!

Panel 2
An atom bomb wipes out a city. 

DOOMSDAY PREPPER
Software is programmed with a two digt code for the year, leaving out the “19” to save space. Now that we’re entering the year 2000 the roll over from “99” to “00” will cause a global system failure! 

Panel 3
The doomsday bunker collapses and the birds scatter. 

DOOMSDAY PREPPER
That’s why I have built my own bomb shelter and- OH GOD NO!

Strip 3

Panel 1
A smart looking professor sits behind a desk, his degree is mounted on the wall and a window overlooks a city.

CAPTION
2PM

PROFESSOR
What do I think will happen at midnight? Absolutely nothing.

Panel 2
A view of Earth, the moon, the sun, and stars. 

PROFESSOR
People speak of the world ending so much you’d think that they were looking forward to it. I suppose it’s easier to think that it’s over than how to fix it… 

Panel 3
The professor looks out the window. 

PROFESSOR
The sun will set and rise just like it always does. I’m sure of it… I’m sure of it. 

PAGE 2

Strip 4

Panel 1
A nerd sits in front of an old desktop computer with a cat at his feet.

CAPTION
3PM

NERD
My AOL friends are saying planes will fall from the sky!

Panel 2
A plane crashes into a crowd of New Years partygoers. 

NERD
The Y2K bug is going to ruin the global positioning system, or GPS, of anything airborne and cause it to crash back down to Earth, obliterating us no differently than the dinosaurs!

Panel 3
The nerd turns on the computer, the sound of early internet shocks the cat. 

NERD
Let’s go onto the world wide web and ask my friends!

SFX
REEE EEERRRR ERRR VRRRRR

NERD
This could take a minute. 

Strip 5

Panel 1
A bald man looks into a studio mirror

CAPTION
4PM

NEWS ANCHOR
What’s going to happen? Ratings are what’s gonna happen!

Panel 2
Explosions in time square as a man’s smiling face is broadcast on a large screen. 

NEWS ANCHOR
Our network hits record numbers on New Year’s Eve and with this Y2K panic it’ll be the biggest countdown in history. Humanity could end for all I care…

Panel 3
The man puts on a wig, revealing he was the newscaster being displayed in the vision.

NEWS ANCHOR
… As long as it goes out looking at me. Now get lost, I’m putting on my face.

Strip 6

Panel 1
A police man in riot gear holds a beer as other guards laugh in the background. Shadows are noticeably stretching now that it is the evening.

CAPTION
5PM

RIOT GUARD
What’s going to happen at 12? Heads are gonna roll!

Panel 2
Riot guards gleefully beat revelers in a cloud of tear gas. 

RIOT GUARD
The chief’s worried that the power will go out tonight so we’re on high alert and given special permission to use excessive force… and frankly we’re all looking forward to crackin’ a few skulls!

Panel 3
The riot guard takes a drink and furrows his brow. The attention of the riot guards in the background shift towards the reader.

RIOT GUARD

Wait, which publication did you say you’re with?

PAGE 3

Strip 7

Panel 1
A woman stand at a desk with a map of NYC behind her and a stack of papers atop her desk.

CAPTION
6PM

PUBLIC SERVICE WORKER
Well, it looks like no ones going to have running water. 

Panel 2
A firetruck parks in front of a burning building, the house connects to a hydrant but no water is able to come out of the hose. 

PUBLIC SERVICE WORKER
The media started spreading a rumour that the water-filtration plants are going to fail at midnight now everyone in the city is filling their tubs at the same and it’s killing supply.

Panel 3
The worker tosses the papers into the air out of frustation

PUBLIC SERVICE WORKER

All I can say is have fun hosting a New Year’s Eve party with no working toilets!

Strip 8

Panel 1
A crazed man with a shaved head stands holding a bat with knives stuck into the bat. (The handles of the knives are sticking out, making the weapon useless). Behind him, his neighbour peeks over his fence. The sun is noticeably setting.

CAPTION
7PM

ANARCHIST
What will happen? ANARCHY!

Panel 2
A buff version of the ANARCHIST stands in front of a Mad Max style car, holding up his knife bat with thunder behind him, like some sort of 80’s album cover artwork.

ANARCHIST
Banks use digital programs to calculate interest rates, which are all going  be ruined by Y2K. This will wipe peoples savings and render money obsolete. Without the order of capitalism, the world will succumb to chaos. 

Panel 3
The Anarchist smiles.

ANARCHIST

That’s why I made this to protect myself. I can sell you one too!

Strip 9

Panel 1
The neighbour from the previous strip stands facing the reader, he is balding but has long hair and a moustache. Behind him the Anarchist peers over the fence. The sun is setting more.

CAPTION
8PM

PACIFIST
What will happen? World Peace.

Panel 2
People of all races hold hands under a rainbow, (referencing that clip in the Simpsons when Lionel Hutz imagines the world without lawyers). 

PACIFIST
Banks all use digital programs to calculate interest rates, which are all going  be ruined by the bug. Y2K. This is going to render money obsolete and lead to a new age of enlightenment free from capitalism.

Panel 3
The pacifist takes a drink as the neighbour storms off in the distance. 

PACIFIST

Cheers to the dawn of a better world, my friend. 

PAGE 4

Strip 10

Panel 1
A lonely man in a dark room is hunched over his computer.

CAPTION
9PM

OFFICE WORKER
What’s going to happen at midnight?

Panel 2
People kiss, splash in a pool naked, a woman in a bikini swings by. In the distance, fireworks erupt. Leo DiCaprio from Great Gatsby lifts a glass in the distance. 

OFFICE WORKER
People are going to act like it’s the last night on Earth. They’ll speak from their hearts, fance like no one’s watching and drink like there’ no tomorrow. What’s going to happen at midnight?

Panel 3
The office worker slams his head on the keyboard.

PACIFIST

The party of the millenia… and I’m missing it. 

Strip 11

Panel 1
Bill and Hilary Clinton sit in an underground bunker room.

CAPTION
10PM

BILL
Nothing better happen at midnight! We spent 134 billion making sure of it,

Panel 2
Bill Clinton is chased through a forest by a torch and pitchfork wielding mob.

BILL
If something does happen I’ll probably be blamed first. Hell, the taxpayers will be coming after my throat if nothing happens because of all that spending. Shoot, I guess I’m damned either way.

Panel 3
Bill and Hilary are now in hazmat suits. 

BILL

Say, how’d you get in here? 

Strip 12

Panel 1
A general toasts a champagne glass. The room behind him is split in two, on one hand an assistant monitors a screen, the other side is a new years eve party.

CAPTION
11PM

GENERAL
What will happen? Looks like nothing!

Panel 2
The scene doesn’t cut, the panel just expands to include more of the room. The assistant turns from the screen to the general as alarms begin to blare.

GENERAL
I won’t lie, we were all a bit nervous. It was a global effort but in the end-

ASSISTANT
SIR! MISSILES HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA!

GENERAL
Wait. Really?

Panel 3
The general lifts his hand up to the reader as workers surround the monitor. 

GENERAL
GET THESE CIVILIANS OUT OF HERE NOW!!!

PAGE 5

The panels form similar layouts to the strips.

Panel 1

A silhouette, the Interviewer, stands in a crowd at Times Square. We see some familiar faces of subjects interviewed earlier. 

CROWD
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Panel 2
The Interviewer walks further into the crowd. We now see the screen of the smiling news anchor from Strip 5. The skyline is filled with fireworks and explosions. Silhouettes of people begin blocking the edges of the panel. 

CROWD
WOO HOOO! YAAAAAAA

Panel 3
The Interviewer is lost in the sea of bodies as the silhouettes of the onlookers block out the panel, with just a sliver of the smiling news anchor and fireworks visible. The screams of the revelers fade out.

CROWD
AAAAaaaaa

THE END