Graphic Novel:Normal Lives
| Normal Lives | |
|---|---|
| Issue #: | 65 |
| Released: | December 25, 2007 |
 | |
| Story by: | Chuck Kim |
| Art by: | Micah Gunnell |
| Digital Inks by: | Mark Roslan |
| Colors by: | John Starr |
| Lettering by: | Comicraft |
| Produced by: | Aspen M.L.T. |
| Easter Egg: | Behind-the-scenes image of Jack Coleman and Hayden Panettiere from Four Months Later... |
| Previous: | Elle's First Assignment, Part 2 |
| Next: | The Ten Brides of Takezo Kensei |
| Sometimes the world turns inside-out. |
| To escape the ever-watching eyes of The Company, Noah Bennet decided to move his family from Odessa, Texas to sunny California. But little did he know that his past would once again threaten his plans for a better future. |
Summary
Noah, Sandra, Claire, and Lyle walk into a diner in Arizona and sit at a table. As they get settled, Officer Cindy and another officer talk with Marcus about an odd case they recently came across. They found two bodies, identified as muscle for the local bookies, that looked severely deformed and greatly weakened. The weird thing about it was how it was as if their awkwardly-shaped bones and muscles had been like that all their lives.
Marcus tells Cindy to hold that thought as he walks over to take the Bennets' orders. Claire orders waffles while Sandra gets pancakes and Lyle orders a cheeseburger and fries. Noah tells Marcus he wants to order something off the menu as he thinks about who Marcus really is and, with Linderman dead and the Company being in disarray, how dangerous he can be if he isn't stopped.
Later that night, in a hotel, Noah tells the family he's going for a walk, but Sandra says he made obligations to them and she expects him to keep them. Noah says he's trying, but Sandra tells him to say that to Mr. Muggles, who is looking at Noah and holding a leash in his mouth.
Grabbing a baseball bat from the back of the Rogue and leaving Mr. Muggles in it, Noah heads back to Kenny's Diner. He walks inside and, after being offered some coffee by the barman, exits through the back door. In the backalley, he sees Marcus taking out the trash. Marcus asks Noah if he was the guy who was here with his family a while ago, and Noah says that was him, but they also met a few years back. Marcus tells Noah he doesn't remember that, blaming it on his old age, but Noah knows it's because of "unnatural causes." He tells Marcus his age isn't an excuse to hurt people the way he's been doing. Marcus says Noah is after the wrong man because he can't be stopped. He explains to Noah that he has crumpled knives, bullets, and people before they can cause him any harm and proceeds to lift a metal trash can over his head. He holds it for a beat, then flattens it like paper and leaps toward Noah.
However, Noah knows Marcus's ability won't work if his fingers aren't touching what he needs to crumple, so he grabs Marcus by the wrist, twists it, and beats Marcus down with the bat until he's unconscious. Noah places Marcus in the dumpster and uses a phone inside the diner to call Bob. Bob thanks Noah for the deed he's done and tells him he's once again proven what a help he is to the Company, and attempts to persuade him to come back, but Noah declines the offer. Bob tells him they'll find him anyway, but Noah tells him otherwise. Noah takes Mr. Muggles for a short walk back to the hotel and the two head up to their room to sleep.
The Bennets are awake and on the move the morning after, not before expressing their discouragement at the diner for not being open even though they said they were 24/7. As they drive along the road, Lyle asks what happened to his bat.
Trivia
- The word SOMA appears next to the phone on the wall in the alley behind Kenny's Diner. It later appears on the license plate of the Bennets' Nissan. This is a word used frequently in graphic novels drawn by Micah Gunnell.
- The graffiti originally had a political message: "Stop Bush!" Micah Gunnell, an admittedly politically-minded person, removed the anti-Bush message before the novel was released.
- Next to the phone Noah uses, a message is written on the wall that reads: "for a good time call 310-555-1234". This number is not a valid number and would bring you to whatever customer service you subscribe to for telephone service. However, 310 is the area code for West Los Angeles.
See Also
- For images from Normal Lives, see images from Normal Lives.
- For Micah Gunnell's original art for Normal Lives, see here.
- For an interview in which Micah Gunnell discusses Normal Lives, see here.
- For other uses of normal, see normal (disambig).
External Links