Our abandoned, unofficial Season Three comic (!)
Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 8:50 am
Several years ago, before the new series was announced, and before the Entire Mystery box set was released, I sat down with two friends to write and draw a third season of Twin Peaks in comic book form. We put many months into story planning and script writing before hearing the news: the show was coming back (!!!!) but now there was no longer a need for a fan-written season three. So we abandoned the project.
But since we're in the final days of waiting for the new series, I figured it might be fun to share our rather ambitious vision for where the story could have gone next.
Our comic would have picked up 18 months after the season two finale, and involved four main plot threads, each with its own central protagonist(s):
- Harriet Hayward getting drawn into a mystery involving an underground crime ring
- John Justice Wheeler returning to Twin Peaks and searching for a missing Audrey
- Sheriff Truman coming to grips with the reality of a BOB-possessed Cooper while simultaneously being up for re-election
- Sam Stanley and a new FBI agent, Jane Darrow, investigating a new murder in Twin Peaks
The inciting event for all of this is the discovery of a desiccated female corpse at Glastonberry Grove, 18 months after Cooper disappeared and Annie Blackburn was abducted from her hospital room. Sheriff Truman in the meantime has once again turned to drink, and when it becomes immediately apparent (via a letter under the fingernail) that the new murder is the work of BOB, he doesn't want to have anything to do with it.
Attached is our script for the first "episode" of the comic along with some concept artwork. We had a lot more planned beyond that. I'll give you some highlights, and feel free to ask questions!
Here's what some of the characters are up to 18 months after season two:
- Audrey Horne is believed dead from the bank explosion but in reality is trapped between worlds (more on this below)
- Ben Horne is comatose from his encounter with Doc Hayward, but occasionally other entities are able to talk through his mouth
- Bobby Briggs is running the Great Northern, having adopted the appearance and mannerisms of Ben (but in actuality is in bed with and being manipulated by Sylvia Horne)
- Jerry Horne has secretly returned from Iceland and is scheming to get Ben's inheritance; he is hiding in the crawlspaces of the Great Northern
- Shelly Johnson is secretly partnered with Jerry Horne in revenge against the two-timing Bobby
- Donna Hayward has left Twin Peaks for college, and occasionally corresponds with her sisters
- The Log Lady, Sarah Palmer, and Nadine Hurley are living together as a sort of "hag coven"; among other things they are planting a new grove of trees / circle of power
- Catherine Martell is running for mayor and backing Dick Tremayne for sheriff
Some other stuff:
The FBI and CIA have both been monitoring Twin Peaks and specifically Sheriff Truman since the Laura Palmer case was closed. Cappy (one of the lesser known Bookhouse Boys) is a CIA plant. The FBI believes Truman may be infected with something called "Code Flu" that also caused the Windom Earle, Chet Desmond, and Dale Cooper incidents. Sam Stanley and Jane Darrow are sent to Twin Peaks under the pretense of investigating the new murder, but are also investigating Truman's behavior and the greater Blue Rose mystery.
A big plot thread involved the Andrew Packard / Thomas Eckhardt rivalry, which was revealed to be supernatural in nature. Packard and Eckhardt are much older than they appear and have faked their deaths multiple times. Catherine lives in fear of her brother still being out there somewhere. In fact, Andrew does survive the bank explosion via teleportation and takes Audrey with him. She is then trapped in a Lodge-like space that resembles an infinite forest. Eventually our plan was for the good Cooper to rescue her, after he finds his way out of the Lodge.
There's also an underground drug ring in Twin Peaks revolving around the "oil" found at Glastonberry Grove, which is shipped in via Hong Kong (Eckhardt has a connection to this as well). Consuming the oil (or using it in ritual - we didn't quite nail this down) allows for reality-bending experiences. Windom Earle was also experimenting with this oil in his early career. At the top of the local Twin Peaks drug circle is the "Silent King" - eventually revealed to be a mentally-damaged Leo Johnson. Leo always has an assistant, possibly a Lodge denizen, at his side. Harriet Hayward stumbles across all of this after meeting and falling in love with a Laura Palmer-like high school student named Jessica.
We approached the BOB situation under the assumption that BOB wishes to escape the control of the other Lodge inhabitants. The desiccated corpse in Glastonberry Grove is the result of Cooper/BOB's ritual to close the gateway there. The results of a similar ritual are later discovered (by Truman) at the room above the convenience store.
Annie is revealed to have been a test subject of Windom Earle's earlier in her life...
Truman has many Lodge-related visions, and at one point flashes back to the 1950s where we meet the original (human) Bob...
In one of the first big cliffhanger moments, Ben Horne's plug is pulled; Sylvia, Bobby, Wheeler, and Jerry are all suspects...
Truman narrowly defeats Tremayne in the election, but Catherine becomes mayor...
Josie's twin sister Judy, connected to the drug ring, appears and fatally shoots Agent Darrow...
We still have a ton of cluttered notes about all of this, so I'm happy to expound upon any of this if you're interested!
But since we're in the final days of waiting for the new series, I figured it might be fun to share our rather ambitious vision for where the story could have gone next.
Our comic would have picked up 18 months after the season two finale, and involved four main plot threads, each with its own central protagonist(s):
- Harriet Hayward getting drawn into a mystery involving an underground crime ring
- John Justice Wheeler returning to Twin Peaks and searching for a missing Audrey
- Sheriff Truman coming to grips with the reality of a BOB-possessed Cooper while simultaneously being up for re-election
- Sam Stanley and a new FBI agent, Jane Darrow, investigating a new murder in Twin Peaks
The inciting event for all of this is the discovery of a desiccated female corpse at Glastonberry Grove, 18 months after Cooper disappeared and Annie Blackburn was abducted from her hospital room. Sheriff Truman in the meantime has once again turned to drink, and when it becomes immediately apparent (via a letter under the fingernail) that the new murder is the work of BOB, he doesn't want to have anything to do with it.
Attached is our script for the first "episode" of the comic along with some concept artwork. We had a lot more planned beyond that. I'll give you some highlights, and feel free to ask questions!
Here's what some of the characters are up to 18 months after season two:
- Audrey Horne is believed dead from the bank explosion but in reality is trapped between worlds (more on this below)
- Ben Horne is comatose from his encounter with Doc Hayward, but occasionally other entities are able to talk through his mouth
- Bobby Briggs is running the Great Northern, having adopted the appearance and mannerisms of Ben (but in actuality is in bed with and being manipulated by Sylvia Horne)
- Jerry Horne has secretly returned from Iceland and is scheming to get Ben's inheritance; he is hiding in the crawlspaces of the Great Northern
- Shelly Johnson is secretly partnered with Jerry Horne in revenge against the two-timing Bobby
- Donna Hayward has left Twin Peaks for college, and occasionally corresponds with her sisters
- The Log Lady, Sarah Palmer, and Nadine Hurley are living together as a sort of "hag coven"; among other things they are planting a new grove of trees / circle of power
- Catherine Martell is running for mayor and backing Dick Tremayne for sheriff
Some other stuff:
The FBI and CIA have both been monitoring Twin Peaks and specifically Sheriff Truman since the Laura Palmer case was closed. Cappy (one of the lesser known Bookhouse Boys) is a CIA plant. The FBI believes Truman may be infected with something called "Code Flu" that also caused the Windom Earle, Chet Desmond, and Dale Cooper incidents. Sam Stanley and Jane Darrow are sent to Twin Peaks under the pretense of investigating the new murder, but are also investigating Truman's behavior and the greater Blue Rose mystery.
A big plot thread involved the Andrew Packard / Thomas Eckhardt rivalry, which was revealed to be supernatural in nature. Packard and Eckhardt are much older than they appear and have faked their deaths multiple times. Catherine lives in fear of her brother still being out there somewhere. In fact, Andrew does survive the bank explosion via teleportation and takes Audrey with him. She is then trapped in a Lodge-like space that resembles an infinite forest. Eventually our plan was for the good Cooper to rescue her, after he finds his way out of the Lodge.
There's also an underground drug ring in Twin Peaks revolving around the "oil" found at Glastonberry Grove, which is shipped in via Hong Kong (Eckhardt has a connection to this as well). Consuming the oil (or using it in ritual - we didn't quite nail this down) allows for reality-bending experiences. Windom Earle was also experimenting with this oil in his early career. At the top of the local Twin Peaks drug circle is the "Silent King" - eventually revealed to be a mentally-damaged Leo Johnson. Leo always has an assistant, possibly a Lodge denizen, at his side. Harriet Hayward stumbles across all of this after meeting and falling in love with a Laura Palmer-like high school student named Jessica.
We approached the BOB situation under the assumption that BOB wishes to escape the control of the other Lodge inhabitants. The desiccated corpse in Glastonberry Grove is the result of Cooper/BOB's ritual to close the gateway there. The results of a similar ritual are later discovered (by Truman) at the room above the convenience store.
Annie is revealed to have been a test subject of Windom Earle's earlier in her life...
Truman has many Lodge-related visions, and at one point flashes back to the 1950s where we meet the original (human) Bob...
In one of the first big cliffhanger moments, Ben Horne's plug is pulled; Sylvia, Bobby, Wheeler, and Jerry are all suspects...
Truman narrowly defeats Tremayne in the election, but Catherine becomes mayor...
Josie's twin sister Judy, connected to the drug ring, appears and fatally shoots Agent Darrow...
We still have a ton of cluttered notes about all of this, so I'm happy to expound upon any of this if you're interested!