Slushpile Challenge 19: "What if... DC?"

Penultimate challenge topic: DC has decided to do it's own spin on the "What if..." comic. Pitch one.

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"What if... Barry Allen had survived the Crisis?"



Synopsis:

Barry Allen outraces the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter cannon and dismantles it, ensuring the heroes that confront him in the anti-matter universe can acheive victory. Unlike established history, Barry Allen survives the encounter.

The issue spotlights Barry Allen's effect on the Post-Crisis DCU.

Barry answers Dr. Fate's call for heroes to oppose the forces of Darkseid's henchman, Glorious Godfrey, and thus is part of the new Justice League. Barry is a veteran role model for the more inexperienced members of the new League. He acts as an intermediary between Guy Gardner and Batman and helps hold the League's initial line-up together longer.

The Flash's experience is key also, as he uses his super speed to distract the monster Doomsday. As the last possible instant, Flash pulls the injured Superman away from the killing blow. He hides the Man of Steel away in the Fortress of Solitude, where can convalesce. This doesn't avert the "Reign of the Supermen" from happening, but Kal-El does recover from his injuries in time to prevent the destruction of Coast City at the hands of Mongul and Hank Henshaw, the Cyborg Superman.

Barry and Hal Jordan were friends going back to the inception of the League. It's this closeness that clues Barry in to the fact that all might not be right with Hal. When Hal Jordan goes berserk, seeking revenge against Mongul and the Cyborg Superman for their attempted destruction of his home, it's Barry that organizes a response. He's not the fastest man alive for nothing. Barry, Wally and the heroes of Earth track down Jordan and drive the yellow-impurity Parallax entity from his body.

After the events of Infinite Crisis, the Flash is separated from the Speed Force and spends a year as one of the "space-lost" heroes with Adam Strange, Animal Man and Starfire.



But Barry Allen is not the only Flash.

Out of the shadow of the Flash legacy, Wally West is able to come into his own. An adult, he is no longer a "kid" Flash. Wally now calls himself the Streak and, in a nod to his mentor, wears an updated version of his old Kid Flash costume. He remains with the Titans and his presence helps avert the terrible mid-nineties incarnations of the team. Under Wally's leadership the Titans take their place as equals alongside the JLA.

Wally's Titans roster: Streak, Red Arrow, Starfire, Cyborg, Changeling, Raven, Hawk and Dove (Hank Hall and Dawn Grainger-Hall were married not long after the Titans defeated Monarch, but that's another story).

Wally also is there to catch the warning signs of Frances Kane's emerging multiple personality disorder and gets her the help she needs. Frances' Magenta persona never emerges and, while she doesn't use her powers as a super-hero, Wally and Frances remain a devoted couple to the present day.

Also operating out of Titans Tower is a second team, The New Teen Titans, under the tutelage of Wally and the senior group. Currently, this roster is lead in the field by Robin (Tim Drake) and consists of Wonder Girl, Superboy (Connor Kent survived the Infinite Crisis, but that's another story), Captain Marvel Jr., Joker's Daughter, Kid Devil and the alluring Miss Martian.

Sample:

PAGE 1, SINGLE PANEL SPLASH. THE INSANITY OF THE COSMOS. SWIRLING GALAXIES AND ALIEN WORLDS, SURROUNDED BY A MAELSTROM OF KIRBY DOTS. IN THE FOREGROUND, EXPLODING OUT OF A BOOM TUBE, SITS METRON ASTRIDE HIS MOBIUS CHAIR. HE'S ADDRESSING THE READER AS HE SPEAKS.

CAPTION: NOTHING'S EVER CERTAIN ANYMORE. NOTHING'S EVER PREDICTABLE LIKE IT USED TO BE. THESE DAYS YOU NEVER KNOW WHO'S GOING TO DIE...

CAPTION: AND WHO'S GOING TO LIVE.

METRON: FROM THE SOURCE WALL, TO THE ANTI-MATTER REALM OF QWARD, TO THE THIRD PLANET OF SOL...

METRON: I, METRON, HAVE TRAVELED THE UNIVERSE IN MY MOBIUS CHAIR IN AN ENDLESS SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE.

METRON: BIRTHS. DEATHS. THE END OF TIMES AND NEW BEGINNINGS. I HAVE WITNESSED IT ALL IN MY LONGING FOR THE TRUTHS ON THE UNIVERSE, INCLUDING A REALM WHERE THE HERO YOU CALLED BARRY ALLEN...

METRON: LIVED!

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The Streak? Yeah, I don't know either. I needed another name for Wally to use. Zoom was taken and Impulse is dumb. I was gonna go with Crackerjack but then I realized that it's not 1942.

Like it says up top, this is the penultimate topic in the sometimes thrilling Slushpile Challenge. The goal was twenty pitches for the month of April. Well, stay tuned, True Believers! April isn't over until midnight.

Check this very space later tonight for Selective Continuity's final entry in the race to twenty crappy ideas.

Slushpile 18: "Prof. Simian and the Irregulars"

Challenge topic 18: talking monkeys and robots. You have 24 pages to remind the reader why they used to love comics. And... go.

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"Prof. Simian and the Irregulars"

Professor Gordon Saimiri was the first monkey shot into space. Before the fateful morning of December 13th, 1958, the professor was an ordinary squirrel monkey named Gordo. Something out there (cosmic rays, curious aliens, the Kree, whatever) picked up the Jupiter AM-13 rocket. When the capsule returned to Earth, Gordo had been changed. No longer an ordinary monkey, Gordon Saimiri is four feet tall and possesses an IQ over 200. Now, armed with his multiple doctorate degrees and a flamethrower, Prof. Saimiri travels wherever adventure takes him.

S.T.E.A.M. E.N.G.I.N.E. Built by Prof. Saimiri using parts of the Jupiter AM-13 capsule and powered by an atomic Muller device, S.T.E.A.M. E.N.G.I.N.E. is an eight foot tall sentient robot. Steam's hulking robotic frame has the power to tear a car in half like a phone book and impenetrable alloy skin. The robot's piercing red eyes are equipped with an array of high-tech sensors. Steam's a gregarious sort though. He loves sports betting, being around people and sobs like a baby at the movies.

Becky Goodnight is a blonde bombshell in the 1940's Veronica Lake mold and Prof Saimiri's assistant. She has degrees in journalism, abstract paleontology and conjectural engineering to compliment her keen eye and deductive mind. Becky answered the professor's campus ad for a teaching assistant and has been with him ever since. An amateur boxer and the daughter of an Air Force pilot, Becky's convinced she's got the best job in the world.

The world's smartest monkey, his robot and his girl travel the world seeking adventure in the unexplainable corners of the globe. Along the way they'll fight alien invaders, monsters, demons and the internet.

Sample:

PAGE 1, PANEL 1. WIDE ON A DARKENED BEDROOM. FAINT MOONLIGHT BARELY OUTLINES THE OBJECTS IN THE ROOM. NIGHTSTAND. DRESSER. CLOTHES ON THE FLOOR. AND A BED INHABITED BY A LARGE, SHEET COVERED MOUND. ON THE NIGHTSTAND IS A TELEPHONE. A SLIM FEMALE HAND IS REACHING TOWARDS THE PHONE FROM UNDER THE COVERS.

SFX: RING! RING!

PANEL 2. MATCHING. THE PHONE CORD IS PULLED TAUT, DISAPPEARING UNDER THE COVERS.

BECKY: MMM... HELLO?

BECKY: WHAT IS...? WHAT?

BECKY: NO.

BECKY: SURE. THE PROFESSOR'S... OH. MY. GOD.

PANEL 3. BECKY GOODNIGHT IS THROWING BACK THE COVERS, REVEALING THE OTHER OCCUPANTS OF THE BED: PROFESSOR GORDON SAIMIRI, A FOUR FOOT TALL SQUIRREL MONKEY, AND S.T.E.A.M. E.N.G.I.N.E., AN EIGHT FOOT TALL STEEL PLATED ROBOT. THE GIRL, THE MONKEY AND THE ROBOT HAVE A POST-COITAL LOOK ABOUT THEM. THEY'RE NAKED BUT SHADOWS COVER THE TRIO IN JUST THE RIGHT SPOTS. BECKY'S HOLDING THE PHONE OUT TOWARDS PROF SAIMIRI.

BECKY: GORDON, WAKE UP! I

BECKY: IT'S PROF. KEANE AND I THINK YOU BETTER TAKE THIS.

PANEL 4. GORDON'S SITTING UP IN BED HOLDING THE PHONE AND RUBBING THE SLEEP OUT OF HIS EYES. THE ROBOT'S REACHED OVER AND IS TURNING ON THE LAMP. YELLOW LIGHT ACCENTS THE ROOM.

PROF SAIMIRI: HMM-- THIS BETTER BE GOOD KEANE. YOU CAN'T IMAGINE THE DREAM I WAS HAVING.

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"Challengers of the Unknown" is taken and I can't think around a better title than that. I'll be updating this post when I think up something better than "Prof. Simian and the Futurenauts"

Update: changed title to "Prof. Simian and the Irregulars"

Any suggestions? Leave them in the comments section.

Slushpile Day 17: "Luxembourg, Luxembourg"

Challenge topic 17: Pitch a Captain America story that features a done-in-one team-up with new European superteam The Concordia. Caveats: must kick ass and must use the "competing" Concordia pitch, not your own.

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Plot Synopsis, 24 page single issue fill-in:

Arnim Zola and his All-New All-Different Masters of Evil try to knock over the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. The new line-up consists of the Wrecking Crew, Hydro-Man, Tiger Shark, Gypsy Moth and the like. The daylight attack on the bank is primarily a distraction. Zola's real target is the bank's computers. No one in the 21st century carries away dollar-signed bags of cash anymore.

Captain America is conveniently nearby in an Avengers Quinjet. He teams up with The Concordia, Europe's premiere superteam. This is the first appearance but will be played as if they've been established in continuity for a couple of years.

The issue will spotlight the members of the Concordia as they interact with Cap, his reactions to their methods and the different members of the team matching up against Zola's Masters of Evil. It's still a Cap story though, so he'll be right in there laying the smack down on Zola's crew. Also, Cap will figure out that the robbery was successful and Zola gets away with millions.

Issue will serve as springboard for a future arc dealing with why Zola needed the money (isn't he beyond the need for cash?) and the evil plan he's using it to finance. Also, the Concordia will now be some new toys in the Marvel sandbox, available for further appearances in "Captain America" or elsewhere.



Sample:

PAGE 1, SPLASH. ANGLE ON A WINDING COBBLESTONE STREET IN A QUAINT MOUNTAIN-TOP EUROPEAN CITY. TWO WOMEN IN CLASSY CIVILIAN CLOTHES ARE SITTING AT A TABLE OUTSIDE OF A CAFE, ENJOYING AFTERNOON COFFEE. ONE OF THEM, CHARMEUR, IS NINE FEET TALL, OBVIOUS EVEN THOUGH SHE'S SITTING. HER COMPANION IS ANPASSUNG. VISIBLE IN THE BACKGROUND SHOULD BE A TOWERING 21ST CENTURY SPIRE.

CAPTION: LUXEMBOURG CITY, LUXEMBOURG. HOME TO EUROPE'S COURT OF JUSTICE, THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK, AND THE EUROPEAN UNION.

CAPTION: RISING ABOVE THE CITY'S SKYLINE: FLECHE D'CONCORDIA, PUBLIC HEADQUARTERS OF THE CONCORDIA, DEFENDERS OF THE CONTINENT AND SUPER-POWERED AGENTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION.

CHARMEUR: I DON'T KNOW, ILSA. DANCING AND I, WE DO NOT OFTEN GET ALONG.*

ANPASSUNG: LORAINE, DON'T BE SILLY. I KNOW THIS LITTLE NIGHTCLUB JUST BEYOND THE PASSERELLE--

ANPASSUNG: WHILE WE'RE THERE I WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO DANCE.

CAPTION: *TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH.

PAGE 2, PANEL 1. TWO SHOT ON CHARMEUR AND ANPASSUNG.

CHARMEUR: I FEEL LIKE I'D JUST BE ALL KNEES AND ELBOWS--

PANEL 2. A NEARBY PART OF THE CITY. THE FRONT ENTRANCE OF THE EUROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK EXPLODES.

SFX: KA-BOOM!

PANEL 3. BACK TO CHARMEUR AND ANPASSAUNG STANDING UP, REACTING TO THE SOUND. ANPASSUNG HAS HER CELL PHONE IN HAND ALREADY.

ANPASSUNG: CHARMEUR! DID YOU HEAR?

CHARMEUR: OUI!

ANPASSUNG: I'LL CALL IN THE OTHERS! LET'S GO!

PAGE 3, PANEL 1. CHARMEUR AND ANPASSUNG ARE RUNNING DOWN THE STREET TOWARDS A PLUME OF SMOKE BILLOWING OVER THE ROOFTOPS. CHARMEUR IS PULLING OPEN HER BLOUSE, REVEALING HER UNIFORM UNDERNEATH. ANPASSUNG HAS ONE SHOE OFF AND IS KICKING OFF THE OTHER.

ANPASSUNG: WEARING YOUR COSTUME UNDERNEATH, MY DEAR? HOW AMERICAN OF YOU.

PANEL 2. THE SMOLDERING RUBBLE THAT WAS THE FRONT OF THE BANK BUILDING. ADMIRING THEIR HANDIWORK IS THE WRECKING CREW.

BULLDOZER: HAW! HAW! HAW!

PILEDRIVER: EUROPE'S GREAT!

WRECKER: LET'S GO SEE HOW THE OTHERS ARE MAKING OUT INSIDE, BOYS.

PANEL 3. PULL BACK TO SHOW CHARMEUR AND ANPASSUNG. CHARMEUR IS IN FULL COSTUME NOW.

CHARMEUR: UN MOMENT, YOU AMERICAN CLODS! I BELIEVE ZE AUTHORITIES WOULD LIKE A WORD WITH YOU.

PANEL 4. ANGLE FROM ABOVE. THE WRECKING CREW, CHARMEUR AND ANPASSUNG ARE SQUARED OFF, READY TO FIGHT. VISUAL EFFECT OF ANPASSUNG GROWING IN SIZE TO MATCH THE REST OF THE COMBATANTS.

WRECKER: IF YOU SKIRTS KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU--

PANEL 5. CLOSE ON PILEDRIVER, LOOKING PANIC STRICKEN. HE'S PULLING ON THE WRECKER'S SLEEVE AND POINTING UP AT SOMETHING ACROSS THE STREET.

PILEDRIVER: AH, BOSS... WE GOT TROUBLE!

PAGE 4, PANEL 1. STANDING ON A ROOF TOP, SURVEYING THE SCENE, IS CAPTAIN AMERICA. HE'S ALL BUSINESS.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: LADIES.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: GENTS.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: YOU'D BE SURPRISED BY HOW FAST THE NEW QUINJETS ARE.

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There's more. Highlights include:

The Monocle: "Don't let's fight, Captain. I can see that we'll just end up working together to stop Zola's minions anyway."

And The Lictor beating the crap out of Gypsy Moth.

I was going to do a couple panels spotlighting each member, but this is getting pretty long. Besides, it loses something if you haven't read G.Bob's competing pitch. Of course if he ever updated his site...

Spidey says what?

We're taking a quick intermission from the Slushpile Challenge while I await delivery on today's challenge topic.

In the meantime, enjoy this participatory effort in Chris from the ISB's Spider-Man meme.




Check back later today for pitch number 17 in the sometimes thrilling Slushpile Challenge!

Challenge 16: Demon Dogs! It's Thundarr the Barbarian!

Topic: GI Joe. Transformers. Revive another 80's cartoon property as a licensed comic book. Extra points for t-shirts sold by Hot Topic after your comic hits the stands.

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"Thundarr the Barbarian: Strange New World"

The show was Conan, Chewbacca and hot chick in a bathing suit fighting Kirby monsters and giant robot monkeys atop the ruins of Mount Rushmore. With the minds of Steve Gerber, Alex Toth, Jack Kirby and Roy Thomas involved in the creation and development of the original Saturday morning cartoon, it's presumptuous to assume that I could reimagine it into something better.

"Thundarr" is a property that doesn't need fixing, just exposure. To that end, the "TtB: Strange New World" series will serve to built on what's come before. Characters' personalities and motivations will be explored and given depth that 23 minutes on Saturdays doesn't allow.

The opening arc (6 issues) will provide a definitive origin story for our three heroes and how they got where they are when the show started. Future stoylines will tie together moments and characters from the cartoon, showing the reader the larger world Thundarr and his friends inhabit.

Series Leads:

Thundarr was raised among the plains people of North America where he became an accomplished horseback rider. A confident and capable warrior, Thundarr is a man wihtout a home or a people. The series opens with him, friendless, as a slave and gladiator. Thundarr's boastful and a bit arrogant but has the skill to back it up. Unfortunately, he's also a bit of a knucklehead and is often oblivious to the subtler things. Think equal parts Conan and Jack Burton. His signature weapon is the Sunsword a, well.. it's a lightsabre.

Princess Ariel, magician and walking encyclopedia. The princess grew up in the palace of her stepfather, Sabian, learning the secrets of the ancient pre-cataclysm world and unlocking the mysteries of magic. Ariel hates the brutality she's witnessed. Princess Ariel is, in fact, the real hero of the story. She's on a quest and is committed to making the world a better place. Thundarr and his pal Ookla are just a couple of thrill seekers along for the ride. Ariel's weakness is that she's head over heels for Thundarr, even if he's too thick to see it.

Ookla the Mok. "Argh! Argh, argh!" One of the many new sentient species on Earth to rise from the cataclysm, Moks are lionine bipeds. Tall and strong, Moks are known as loyal and ferocious warriors. An insular people, if kept in captivity too long a Mok will revert to a bestial state, becoming little more than a killing machine. Ookla and Thundarr are inseperable friends, sharing their loves of drink, combat, action and their pasts as captives of Sabian.



Villains:

Sabian, evil wizard and Ariel's stepfather. The antagonist of the first arc, he uses sorcery to hold sway over a realm of monsters and pits slaves against each other in gladiatorial combat.

Gemini, the most powerful wizard on Earth. His domain streches up and down the Atlantic seaboard. There's nothing he hates more than meddlesome troublemakers wandering about and inspiring hope among the people. He'll stop at nothing to destroy Princess Ariel and her knucklehead companions. Gemini's magics has animated the Statue of Liberty and it now patrols Gemini's tower, a symbol of terror on never ending guard duty.

Caroks, a warrior race of crocodile men.

Captain Kordon, Queen of the River Pirates. Because every post-apocolyptic actaion adventure needs crazy pirates.

Simius, ruler of the ape-men of Los Angeles. He has a giant robot monkey he uses to terrorize the local populace.

Sample:

ISSUE 1, PAGE 1. SPLASH. ALONE ON THE DIRT FLOOR OF A COLISEUM STANDS THUNDARR, FACING THE READER IN A FIGHTING STANCE. HE'S HOLDING A CRUDE AXE IN ONE HAND AND A NET IN THE OTHER. THE COLISEUM STANDS ARE PACKED WITH MISSHAPEN FREAKS, MUTANTS AND ALL MANNER OF KIRBY-ESQUE MONSTERS. BEHIND THUNDARR, IN A PRIVATE BOX SURROUNDED BY HANGERS-ON AND VIZIERS, IS THE WIZARD SABIAN. HE'S STANDING AND POINTING DOWN AT THUNDARR.

CAPTION: "THE YEAR: 1994. FROM OUT OF SPACE COMES A RUNAWAY PLANET, HURTLING BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE MOON, UNLEASHING COSMIC DESTRUCTION! MAN'S CIVILIZATION IS CAST IN RUIN! TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER, EARTH IS REBORN...

CAPTION: "A STRANGE NEW WORLD RISES FROM THE OLD: A WORLD OF SAVAGERY, SUPER SCIENCE AND SORCERY!"

SABIAN: DESTROY THE HUMAN!

Slushpile 15: The Concordia

The challenge: Create a foreign team of superheroes who are not terrible stereotypes but still reflect the cultural zeitgeist of the nation they hail from.

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The Concordia. Europe's supreme super team, the Concordia are the super human agents of the European Union, tasked with defending the continent from threats both internal and external. Domestic terrorism or alien invaders, the Concordia stands between them and the people of Europe. I'm thinking it's pretty much a classic Avengers-style big action book.



The line-up:

Two siblings represent Germany. They are Frau Trude and Der Froschkonig, the premiere super heroes of Europe. The siblings are typically recognized as the Concordia's leaders and they often take turns as field commander. Frau Trude has the ability to transform anything she touches into wood, hard as ash or soft as balsa. Der Froschkonig's powers are similar. He's a shape changer who can transform himself into any animal native to Germany.

Belgium's most famous super hero is Fleming, who patrols the Flanders region in Northern Belgium. Fleming's powers are directly effected by the population around him. He draws strength from the presence of others; the denser the population around him, the stronger Fleming becomes.

Chevalier is the government appointed champion of France. A member of the Legion d'honneur, he wears the emblem of the Grand Cross in battle. Chevalier is a master combatant, proficient in everything from the rapier to savate. He is a devout French patriot and, unbeknownst to his superiors, a converted Muslim.

Il Driver is the team representative from Italy. He's a replacement for the team's first Italian member, who died on an early mission. Il Driver is able to make any vehicle he operates move at super speed. Unfortunately, his speed powers do not work unless he's in contact with a vehicle of some kind.

Donar, the Stormbringer hails from the Netherlands. He has absolute control over the weather and wears a pair of mystical iron gloves, which grant the wearer great strength.

Doktor Allwiessend is Luxembourg's premiere scientific mind. His fast scientific knowledge is augmented by his precognitive talents. With few combat oriented skills, the good Doktor serves the team in more of a support role.

These are the founding members of the Concordia, admitted based on the founding nations of the European Union. The team's membership has expanded in recent years to include the next round of EU admissions with Demark, Ireland and the UK.

Red Macha, protectress of the Republic of Ireland. She's the reincarnation of the first queen of the Celts, and possesses all of the speed, strength and stamina of the fiercest warrior woman in Irish history. As long as she wears the Emain, the Broach of Macha, no physical weapon can harm her.

The Jutlander is Denmark's entry into the Concordia. Few can resist the Jutlander. Cloaked in black and employing an array of classical Viking weaponry, the Jutlander's greatest weapon is his indomitable will.

The Lion of Britain. Over the years many men have held the mantle of Lion of Britain. When the time comes, the monarchy selects a successor from amongst the most capable subjects of the realm. The current Lion is Henry Thorpe, a highly decorated agent of MI-5. Thorpe wears the red and blue cowl of his predecessors and carries the quartered shield of England's royal coat of arms as defender of the realm. What would the queen mother think of his illicit affair with Red Macha?

Future roster additions would follow the order of admission to the EU until each member nation is represented.

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I didn't select today's topic but I think with an afternoon to work with I rose to the occasion.

Slushpile Challenge 14: Sex! Murder! Intrigue!

The challenge: write a crime comic. B&W or color, it has to have a cast of original characters and be sustainable for at least 66 issues.

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"Get Away Clean"

A black and white crime drama, heavy on the blacks and grays. Story arcs will subscribe heavily to the tropes of all great film noir. Harsh lighting. Flash backs. Flash forwards. Unrepentant characters. Femme Fatales. Death. Crime. And moral ambiguity.

John and Marlene Alton, series leads. Happily married, high school sweethearts, con artists and career criminals.

John Alton's been in and out of trouble since junior high, where was regularly kicked out of shop class for smoking. John's actually a smart guy with a real knack for understanding mechanical and electronic devices. In high school John quickly graduated from breaking into students lockers to boosting cars and selling fake IDs. After a summer spent in juvie, John learned his lesson. He hasn't been picked up by the cops since he was fourteen, not even so much as a traffic ticket. John Alton is an accomplished thief, lock pick, gambler and con man who can drive anything with wheels.

Marlene Alton was the rebellious prom queen. Adored by teachers and parents (not just her own), she was notorious amongst her peers. If there was something bad to do, odd are Marlene did it first. Shoplifting by age nine. Booze and pills at twelve. An abortion at thirteen. Homecoming queen at fifteen and Prom queen by sixteen. Marlene's a smitten kitten, with eyes only for John since that first cigarette under the bleachers, and she's perfected the art of the false front. Since high school, only John knows the real Marlene. Best described as an undiagnosed sociopath, she cares not a whit for anyone but herself and John.

The series will follow John and Marlene's criminal careers as their lives, in true crime fiction fashion, completely unravel.

1st Arc, "No Consequences". Introduce the Altons and their world. Through flashbacks we see their lives when they're not "working". John and Marlene put up a front of being "citizens": the house in the burbs, grocery shopping on the weekends, dinner parties, the works. They even pay their taxes. We'll see the Alton's real work though, as they successfully pull of a heist right under the noses of their suburban community.

2nd Arc, "Good Night, Good Morning". John and Marlene spend the night is a strange hotel room, traveling home from an out-of-town job. They wake up to find that the town they've stopped in is a complex place. Getting away will be more complicated that just hopping in the car and aiming for the nearest highway on-ramp. Cast of characters expands to include more of the Alton's friends and adversaries in the criminal community. They're also being pursued by a stranger who could be on either side of the law.

Final Arc, Issues 61-66. The thrilling conclusion. All the different interlocking mysteries of the series have been building to this. People live! People Die! Answers will be revealed!

Sample:

ISSUE 1, PAGE 1, SPLASH. FULL PAGE IMAGE OF JOHN ALTON, A GOOD LOOKING MAN IN HIS EARLY 30'S. HE'S LYING ON THE FLOOR IN A DIRTY MOTEL ROOM, GUT SHOT AND BLEEDING. HE'S MOMENTS FROM DEATH. SUNLIGHT FROM OUTSIDE LEAKS THROUGH THE BLINDS, CASTING SHADOWS LIKE JAIL CELL BARS ACROSS HIS PRONE FORM.

CAPTION: WELL, I CERTAINLY WASN'T EXPECTING THAT.

CAPTION: AND WE WERE OFF TO SUCH A GREAT START TO.

Slushpile Challenge 13: The King of the Sea

Challenge topic: The good news is that you've been given a comic series. The bad news is that it's Aquaman. You have 4 issues to turn sales around or you're fired. Pitch those 4 issues that will make Aquaman a decent seller.

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Post Infinite Crisis, the DCU is a complex and dangerous place. The new status quo has shown that hero and villain alike can and will die violent, brutal deaths. It's a place with no easy answers. It has also seen the return of the storied multiverse.

Arthur Joseph Curry has reluctantly picked up the mantle of Aquaman and found himself quickly mired in both the previous Aquaman's complex history as well as the deepening mysteries surrounding his own life. Nothing has come easy for the young hero, but he's risen to meet every challenge... so far.

King Shark. "You will protect him. You will be my agent in his camp. Close enough to guard against others who seek to control him. And close enough, when I decide the time is ripe... ... to strike, and kill him without warning." The King Shark is a bloodthisty engine of destruction who's been biding his time at the new Aquaman's side. He's Iago with a dozen rows of razor sharp teeth, and the time has come.

"Kings of the Seas"

Issue One: On the heels of Black Manta's first clash with this new Aquaman, he has new reason to hate the interloper who's taken it upon himself to protect Earth's undersea realms. Swearing revenge, Black Manta has gathered together a collection of the greatest of the previous Aquaman's foes. Together they ambush Arthur Joseph Curry, intent on dealing a final blow. King Shark, sees his opening and betrays Arthur, striking him down from behind. Just as the killing stroke is about to be dealt, help arrives from an unexpected corner... Aquaman, clad in his classic Siler Age garb, green gloves and all, and riding Stormy the seahorse with Tusky at his side.

Issue Two: The Aquamen make a narrow escape from Black Manta's trap and regroup in the safety of the JLA's new Hall of Justice. We learn that this new Aquaman is, in fact, the Aquaman of Earth-2. He's an amalgam of all the best aspects of the Silver Age Aquaman, plus the version from the cartoons. It's Aquaman at the height of his powers and with none of the convoluted history.

Issue Three: Arthur and Aquaman gather their forces for the big showdown with Black Manta. Aquaman also presents Arthur with a gift, the blue camouflage suit. "Wear it in the coming battle. It suits you far more than it ever did me."

Issue Four: This is it. The Aquamen of two worlds lay the smack down on everyone who ever crossed them. Oh, and King Shark brutally murders Tusky on panel, with plenty of gore and blood in the water because damn it, he's King Shark and that's how he fucking rolls.

It's Aquaman starring in a giant widescreen action movie and at the end we're left with an Earth-1 Aquaman who's battle tested and sure of himself. He'll also have a new arch-enemy in King Shark.

The door will also be left open for future stories set on Earth-2, where the Aquaman of that world is one of, if not the premiere superhero in all of his seahorse riding, orange shirt glory. Future stories with Earth-2 Aquaman will take place there, giving DC readers a place to go to experience the new Earth-2 first hand.

Slushpile Challenge 12: Star Comics

Today's challenge topic: Star Comics. Pick a defunct property and revitalize it as a true all-ages property, something kids and adults would want to read. Bonus points for the more goofy or obscure the original. Caveat, "Peter Porker, Spectacular Spider-Ham" is off limits.



"Top Dog is a talking dog who befriends a human child named Joey Jordan. Top Dog goes on to live with Joey, who promises not to expose the fact that Top Dog can speak. The duo go on to have adventures involving spies, criminals and mad scientists."

So it's the story of a talking dog and his boy aimed at kids who still read Richie Rich. Hmm...

Okay, so this is the story of a boy and his dog. In this case, the boy is a young Clint Barton and his dog, who only Clint knows can talk and just might be a space alien pooch.

"The Secret Adventures of Clint Barton"

8 year-old Clint Barton is a precocious kid with a mop of blond hair and knack for getting into trouble, similar to Dennis the Menace and Calvin. He's basically a good kid though. Clint's hardly ever seen without his trusty slingshot sticking out of his back pocket. It's a toy with which he displays almost preternatural accuracy.

Top Dog just happens to be an Inhuman mutated by terrigen mists to look like a dog. Or possibly he's an intelligent canine Skrull. It's not important, but what is important is his friendship with Clint. The two are inseparable, like any good boy-and-his-dog team should be. "Top Dog" is exactly the kind of name a kid would come up with, and it's the one Clint's given him.

Lizzie Barton is Clint's older sister and an almost constant obstacle. They fight more often than not but if Clint were ever in real trouble, Lizzie would be there to defend him.

Clint's Mom and Dad appear in the series irregularly. They're your typical parents, understanding of Clint's wild nature but only willing to let him run amok to a point. Their ultimate fate, and Lizzie's, will not be dealt with. This is a kid's comic after all; not really the place for a family killed by dad's drunk driving. That said, an observant adult reader who knows Clint's back-story might pick up on a clue or two along the way.

Barney, the brother who's already established in continuity, will not appear in the series although he might be mentioned. This will keep the focus on Clint and Lizzie when sibling rivalry is called for.

Waverly, Iowa is a surprisingly interesting place for a town with fewer than 10,000 people. Clint and Top Dog will run into all sorts of nefarious characters, including spies, criminals, space aliens, neighborhood bullies, and mad scientists.

Mervin Megabucks is the richest kid in town. He's pretty much a spoiled brat version of the Richie Rich archetype and a good object lesson for young readers that getting everything you ask for isn't always a good thing. If an 8 year-old could have an evil moustache, this one would. Issue #5 probably involves Mervin stealing Clint's slingshot. Mervin really needs to learn how to share.

Dirty Dog is a mangy mutt who's followed Top Dog to Waverly so he can continue bullying him.

Frank and Stein are a strange couple of kids. They spend most of their time in their tree house laboratory building the crazy contraptions that win them every science fair. When Frank and Stein's homemade robot runs amok in issue #6 it'll be up to Clint and Top Dog to save the neighborhood. Adult readers might see a distinct resemblance between young Stein and a certain Silver-Age arch-enemy of Ant-Man.

Mr. Invisible is young Clint's nemesis. He's as close to Evil as we're going to get. In fact, Mr. Invisible is the bogey man, there to frighten children. Clint's got his slingshot, but you can't shoot what you can't see.

Action in the series will follow the general guidelines of cartoons like Batman: The Animated Series or Teen Titans. Similarly, stories will have enough layers to interest adults and a kid friendly tone and lesson in each done-in-one issue.

Sample:

NEXT PAGE, PANEL 1. WIDE ON A SUNLIT PATH THROUGH THE WOODS. TOP DOG AND MANGY MUTT HAVE SQUARED OFF, FANGS BARED. MANGY MUTT'S FUR IS MATTED AND DIRTY AND HE'S NOT WEARING A COLLAR. HE'S ALSO BIGGER THAN TOP DOG, LIKE MOST BULLIES.

TOP DOG: GRRR!

MANGY MUTT: HEH. HEH. SO, YOU'RE TOUGH NOW-- NOW THAT YOU'VE GOT A NEW HOME?

MANGY MUTT: WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT.

PANEL 2. EXTREME CLOSE UP OF A SLING SHOT. THE RUBBER BAND IS PULLED BACK AND READY TO FIRE. IT'S LOADED WITH A GREEN PLASTIC ARMY MAN.

PANEL 3. WIDEN OUT TO SEE THAT IT'S CLINT HOLDING THE SLING SHOT AT THE READY. HE'S STANDING UP ON TOP OF A ROCK AND HIS BANGS ARE FALLING IN HIS EYES.

CLINT: HEY! STAY AWAY FROM MY FRIEND!

---

Yeah, I just pitched Marvel Team-Up starring Hawkeye and Top Dog. What of it?

Slushpile Challenge Day 11: "Graekos"

Today's challenge topic: Byzantine empire. Super Hero adventure.

Disclaimer: I know nothing of the Byzantine Empire except what I vaguely remember from 10th grade religion class. The guy who picked today's topic, he's a bastard.

---

"Graekos"

The year is 1304 since the founding of Rome. A new calendar, in place by Imperial decree, tells us it's 550 A.D. The strength of the Roman Empire lies in the capitol of Constantinople. More specifically, in the person of Justinian I, Emperor.

Callinicus Leonides was born the son of a soldier. As he grew into manhood he developed speed, strength and stamina that far outstripped even the most accomplished of Imperial champions. By his eighteenth summer he could pull a weight it took a dozen oxen to move. Blows from a gladius would glance harmlessly off of his skin, and wounds from arrows would heal seemingly overnight. Callinicus could run the distance of the marathon in less than the passing of an hour.

His father Leontius, a proud Graekos, was not enamored of Christianity and it's hold over his lands. He viewed his son's talents as gifts from the Hellenic gods themselves and suspected that the Empire would treat his son with suspicion and fear. It was for this reason that he encouraged Callinicus to hide his gifts and not draw attention to himself.

Recurring Characters:

Justinian I, driven by the singular purpose of restoring the former glory of the Roman Empire. Juntinian is god on earth, the most powerful man alive.

General Flavius Belisarius, tactical genius with a knack for being out manned and under supported yet still being able to seize victory. Perhaps he's got some help?

Nonnus, epic poet and chronicler of the tales of Gods and Heroes. Nonnus will follow Callinicus around and comment on the story.

John Philoponus, philosopher of Alexandria. He's the wise old man, offering council even when it's not asked for.

Eusebia, a Gryphon who takes Callinicus under her wing. She's one of the last of her kind and is more than a little bitter over the fact. Eusebia and John often give Callinicus conflicting advice.

Series Antagonists:

Vandals, a shadow of their former power. However, a broken people can still bite.

Ostrogoths, Germanic conquerors of Italy and their commander Totila. He's Belisarius' greatest adversary.

Sclaveni, Slavic raiders into Imperial lands.

The series follows Callinicus in true Joseph Campbell style from his days as a youth in the streets of Constantinople through his tutelage under first his father and then John Philoponus, until he takes his place as the favored weapon and secret champion of General Belisarius. Along the way he'll run into all sorts of Byzantine Age craziness (precursor of Silver Age craziness) balanced against the battles and intrigue of what will become known as the Byzantine Empire.

Callinicus will not always be a hero, occasionally falling in with pirates, Persians and cutthroats. His story will take him to the edges of the Roman Empire. To some he'll be a demi-god. Others will call him a champion. Even the church will, for a time, consider Callinicus the "Sword from Heaven", sent by God to strike down it's enemies.

Fourteen hundred years before superheroes there was a super hero.

Sample:

PAGE 1, PANEL 1. ANCHORED NOT FAR FROM THE ROCKY SHORES OF THE CASPIAN IS A PERSIAN VESSEL. A ROW BOAT IS UP ON THE ROCKS, WATCHED OVER BY SLAVES AND SOLDIERS. WALKING THE SHORE IS A PERSIAN OFFICER. HE'S HOLDING THE LEASHES OF A PAIR OF LIONS.

PANEL 2. CALLINICUS, IN SANDALS AND A SOLDIER'S TUNIC STANDS BEHIND THEM.

CALLINICUS: LOST ARE WE?

PANEL 3. TWO SHOT ON THE OFFICER, HOLDING THE LIONS BACK, AND CALLINICUS.

OFFICER: PEASANT! STATE YOUR NAME SO I'LL KNOW WHO IT IS MY MEN HAVE KILLED.

PANEL 4. CALLINICUS, THE GRIN FALLEN FROM HIS BEARDED VISAGE.

CALLINICUS: I DON'T THINK SO, HEATHEN.

PAGE 2, PANEL 1. CALLINICUS SURVEYS HIS HANDIWORK, ONE HAND HOLDING THE LIONS' LEASHES. AROUND HIM, THE UNCONSCIOUS BODIES OF THE PERSIANS.

PANEL 2. PERCHED ON SOME ROCKS ABOVE THE SCENE IS A MASSIVE GRYPHON, IDLY CRUNCHING ON SOME BONES.

PANEL 3. CALLINICUS SHIELDING THE SUN FROM HIS EYES WITH HIS FREE HAND, EYES THE SHIP.

VOICE (OFF PANEL): SO WHAT ABOUT THE KITTENS?

CALLINICUS: I HAVE AN IDEA.

PANEL 4. ANGLE ON ONE OF THE LIONS, TERROR STRICKEN AS IT HURTLES THROUGH THE AIR TOWARDS THE SHIP.

PANEL 5. THE DECK OF THE SHIP, LION'S P.O.V FROM ABOVE. SAILORS, UNDER A PAIR OF CAT SHAPED SHADOWS, POINT TO THE SKY IN HORROR.

PANEL 6. ANGLE CALLINICUS ON THE BEACH, PLEASED WITH HIMSELF. BEHIND HIM EUSEBIA THE GRYPHON LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY.

EUSEBIA: BWAH-HA-HA-HA!

CALLINICUS: NOW LET'S GO GET A DRINK.

EUSEBIA: DRINK, NOW THERE'S A GREAT IDEA.

EUSEBIA: LIONS! THAT'S THE BEST THING I'VE SEEN IN YEARS.

---

I'm not happy with this one. It's got some good stuff but is pretty slapdash on the whole.

Slushpile Challenge Day 10: "Mechanicsburg"

Today's challenge: Not all comics are capes and tights power fantasies. Pitch a limited series or OGN with original characters that's rooted in a genre other than superheroes. Horror. Crime. Historical. Sci-Fi. Romance. Western.

---

"Mechanicsburg"

This is a story about growing up in small town America, specifically upstate New York. Mechanicsburg, pop. 21,375.

When you're eleven in the summer time the world consists of bikes and sports. Building forts and swimming down at the old rock quarry. Reading comics. School's the furthest thing from your mind and even girls are still a nebulous thing, outside of your vision for at least another summer or three.

The series follows eleven year old Ted Carter and his pals Jon, Andy, Jeff and the girl, Steph. It's the last summer before junior high in small town America. The year is 1958, but could just as easily be 1985 or 1943 as far as the kids are concerned. The outside world doesn't effect the long summer days of exploring the woods outside of town, dodging bullies, getting into and back out of trouble again and talking comics.

When you're an eleven year old kid with a bike and some comics everything's an adventure.

Interludes from the main story come in the form of pages taken from whatever comics the kids are reading that issue, western, crime, horror, sci-fi adventures. Whatever. Occasionally, the story the kids are reading may even pertain to the story they're in, but it won't always.

Sample:

PAGE 1, SPLASH. LOW ANGLE, MAIN STREET OF A DUSTY OLD WEST TOWN. WOODEN STORE FRONTS HIDE UNDER PEELING PAINT FROM THE DESERT SUN, HUGE AND YELLOW IN THE SKY. IN THE FOREGROUND, HIS BACK TO THE READER, IS SHERIFF DOBBS. OPPOSITE HIM, IN THE DISTANCE, IS BART "CACTUS" MERRILL. IT'S A SHOWDOWN.

PAGE 2, PANEL 1. CLOSE ON SHERIFF DOBBS. HIS WHITE TEN GALLON HAT SHADES HIS EYES FROM THE SUN. HE'S A GRIZZLED, YET HANDSOME VETERAN. THE BADGE ON HIS COAT GLINTS IN THE SUN.

SHERIFF DOBBS: GIVE IT UP, CACTUS. COME QUIETLY AND IT'LL GO EASIER ON YOU.

SHERIFF DOBBS: I CAN'T BE HAVING BANK ROBBIN' AND CATTLE THIEVIN' IN MY TERRITORY.

PANEL 2. ANGLE, CACTUS MERRILL.

CACTUS: "GIVE IT UP" JUST MEANS I'LL HAVE A ROPE AROUND MY NECK BY DAWN, SHERIFF.

PANEL 3. TWO SHOT, THE MEN SQUARING OFF. CACTUS MERRILL'S DRAWING HIS REVOLVER AS HE SPEAKS.

SHERIFF DOBBS: THAT'S TRUE, BUT I'LL MAKE SURE YOU GET A HOT MEAL FIRST.

CACTUS: I'LL DIE 'AFORE I LET THAT HAPPEN!

PANEL 4. CLOSE ON THE BARREL OF DOBBS' COLT .45, FIRING.

SFX: BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

PANEL 5. SHERIFF DOBBS, SPITTING INTO THE DIRT, HOLSTERS HIS WEAPON.

SHERIFF DOBBS: YEP, I RECKON.

PANEL 6. CACTUS MERRILL'S BLACK HAT LANDS IN THE DIRT, FRESHLY VENTILATED WITH SMOKING BULLET HOLES.

PAGE 3, PANEL 1. ELEVEN YEAR-OLD TED CARTER IS SITTING ON THE FRONT STEP OF A SMALL TOWN 5 AND DIME STORE. NEXT TO HIM IS A GLASS COKE BOTTLE WITH A STRAW STICKING OUT OF IT. HE'S DRESSED IN JEANS, T-SHIRT AND CHUCK TAYLORS AND HE'S ENGROSSED IN THE COPY OF "TWO-FISTED WESTERN TALES" HE'S READING.

TEDDY: COOL!

---

Well, this is a little more open-ended than a limited series but I can see an ongoing that covers the summer of eleven and going until the kids are maybe 15 or 16.

Slushpile Day 9: "Mind If I Show You Around the Solar System?"

"Something borrowed, something new"

The challenge: take an established character who can't sell a book on his or her own. Create a brand new character to add to the book that will give it new life.

Bonus criteria for judgment: Bonus points for originality of new character, and for hopelessness of the old character being able to carry a book.

---

943. 1727. 1839. 1895. 1951. 2007

Every fifty-six years the power of the Comet returns to Earth and takes on a different form. In 1951 a man named Adam Blake was imbued with the powers of telepathy and telekinesis and reborn in a super evolved form. In 1895 Archie Sandalford, professor of letters at Cambridge college, was bathed in the comet's light and for the rest of his days saw portents of doom for those around him and would glow with an unearthly light. Throughout the past, other comets have cast their light upon the unsuspecting.

Now the year is 2007. Biela Peshtigo is a 27 year old architect of mixed Aboriginal/European descent living in Tasmania's capitol of Hobart. Coming home after a late night of partying with her friends, Biela was struck by an extraterrestrial light. She awoke the next morning in her own bed with no memory of how she got there. Tattooed on her forearm was the mysterious designation "C/2007 K1 Peshtigo".

Soon afterwards, Biela discovered she'd been granted incredible power, including flight and super speed. As the new Comet, she also has the ability to survive in a vacuum (outer space) for extended periods of time and can exert mental control over rock, dust and ice down to a molecular level.

Fun Facts: The Biela Comet was believed to have caused the Peshtigo Fire the same day as the nearby Great Chicago Fire, one of the largest recorded firestorms.

"Firestorm and The Comet"

Our series leads are the Ronnie Raymond/Prof Stein classic version of Firestorm and new superhero Biela Peshtigo, The Comet.

The series focuses on her adapting to her new powers and the developing romance between Firestorm and a character who's a novice hero although she's an intelligent, capable woman who's every bit as powerful as he is. Along the way the series will revisit classic Firestorm villains (stretching the definition of "classic", I know) through the Comet's eyes, updating them along the way, as well as introducing new threats.

With two powerful characters, stories can be Earth bound or cosmic in scope with equal ease. In fact, a future arc will explore the origins of the comet powers, their cyclical nature and Biela's place in the cosmos.

Firestorm, always viewed as a rookie hero, even twenty years after his first appearance, will now get to mentor and train someone who's very similar to how he was when he started out.

Sample:

NEXT PAGE, PANEL 1. THE COMET AND FIRESTORM ARE FACING EACH OTHER IN LOW EARTH ORBIT. BIELA IS WEARING HER NEW COMET COSTUME: SILVER BOOTS AND GLOVES, WITH A BODY STOCKING THAT'S A BLEND OF SILVER AND SWIRLING, ROCKY PATTERNS. IN THE BACKGROUND IS VISIBLE THE MOON, THE SUN AND BEYOND. THE VASTNESS OF SPACE.

FIRESTORM: HEY THERE. TAKING IN THE VIEW?

PANEL 2. BIELA'S P.O.V. CLOSE ON FIRESTORM'S TORSO AND ER... MAN AREA.

PANEL 3. SHE'S BLUSHING.

THE COMET: YEAH. IT'S PRETTY UM...

THE COMET: SPECTACULAR OUT HERE.

PANEL 4. TWO SHOT OF BIELA AND RONNIE LOOKING AT EACH OTHER. IS THERE A SPARK?

PANEL 5. CLOSE ON FIRESTORM. BEHIND HIM, PROFESSOR STEIN'S FLOATING HEAD.

STEIN: CLEAN THOUGHTS, RONALD.

FIRESTORM: QUIET, YOU.

PANEL 6. TWO SHOT AGAIN.

BIELA: WHAT?

FIRESTORM: TALKING TO MYSELF.

PANEL 7. FIRESTORM'S FLASHING HER HIS BEST WINNING SMILE AND OFFERING HER HIS HAND.

FIRESTORM: SO, MIND IF I SHOW YOU AROUND THE SOLAR SYSTEM?

Slushpile Day 8: Uncanny Fun Comics

Challenge #8 was to do a Golden Age riff on the X-men.



"Uncanny Fun Comics #7, April 1942"

Published by Timely from May 1941 to Sept 1947, each issue of Uncanny Fun Comics contained a 8 page main story followed by 3 backup features that ranged from 2 to 4 pages each. After the end of WWII, sales steadily declined as the focus shifted from Nazi bashing to stories featuring more and more space alien antagonists. Eventually, the series was cancelled but not before the most memorable post-war story, "The Magnetic Menace from Mars!" was published.

Private Summers, U.S. Army. All-American quarterback Scott Summers wanted to do his part for victory in Europe. The army made him a motorcycle bike-messenger. One night, while carrying orders to the front, a rocket shell exploded in the road and knocked him from his motorcycle. Pvt. Summers was knocked unconscious into a trench that was full of a mysterious red mist. When he awoke in the morning, the mist was gone and Pvt. Summers' eyes now emitted a strange red light. Anyone that the light touched would become instantly paralyzed. Now, Pvt. Summers uses his motorcycle and his mysterious light to sneak behind enemy lines, taking the fight to the very heart of Berlin itself!

The Avenging Angel. Society fop Warren Worthington III spends his days enjoying London's high society. At night he climbs into his private plane, a custom black and yellow P-51 Mustang he calls "The Angel", and patrols England's skies. The Avenging Angel backup stories were usually 2 pagers, lacking the space to explain thing like where Worthington got his money from, as the character was clearly very wealthy, or why he wasn't in the army. The only other character to appear more than once was the German ace Red Raven. Worthington and the Red Raven engaged in several dogfights over the years, with neither gaining the upper hand.

Hank McCoy: The Boxing Beast. Aboard an aircraft carrier in the South Pacific is Navy Chief Hank McCoy, college boxing champ. Anywhere else on earth and Hank McCoy would be feared and shunned by society due to his simian visage and squat tank-like body. Aboard ship though, with his fellow sailors he's known as The Boxing Beast and is respected for his fighting prowess and knack for rescuing his fellow sailors. The Mystic Mind of Xavier, a voice only he could hear, sent messages to Hank McCoy, alerting him of danger or telling him where his services would best be needed.

Ice-Man. Ice water runs in his veins. For Don Drake, U.S. Army sniper this saying is true. He literally has ice water in his veins thanks to a freak accident while on a mission in the Great White North. Don Drake is a crack shot with an icy demeanor and when the military needs a special target taken out they send in the ice man. Many of Don Drake's backup tales involved him being assigned an impossible target, often taking on Nazi soliders 20 to 1.

---

This is the weakest of the lot so far. In my defence, I woke up this morning with a 103 degree fever and spent most of the day in bed. I needed two shots of a day time medicine whose night time version is the green elixir you take when you want to knock yourself unconscious without the messy head trauma.

Depending on how delirious I am tomorrow I'll polish it and include a couple sample pages.

Slushpile Day 7: Yo, What Time Is It? You Down With The 711?

Today's Challenge: Revive an obscure Golden Age character that has never had a chance in the modern age. Extra points awarded for obscurity of character, and how out of place he seems in comics today.

The Clock

"The Clock fought crime, wearing a business suit and a full-face mask, and that was it. He usually left a calling card, which depicted a clock accompanied by the words "The Clock Has Struck". Later, when he was appearing in larger chunks, there was space to show he was former district attorney (and current society fop) Brian O'Brien, whose qualifications as an action hero included a background in college football and polo. There was even room for an occasional supporting character, such as Pug Brady, Brian's exact double, who served as his sidekick for the first couple of years. Toward the end, he took on a teenage girl named Butch in that role."

711

"But in the daytime, he hung around the jail where he was a convicted inmate.

Of course, the fact that he was a resident of a jail cell with the lucky number 711 at Westmoor Prison, from which he obviously derived his superhero name, was just a ghastly mistake. In fact, when he was known as Daniel Dyce, he was a district attorney. But he had a pal named Jacob Horn, who looked exactly like him, and Jacob was in the process of going down for a crime he actually did commit. Just before he went to trial, Jacob begged Daniel to let him out for just a little while, so he could be at the hospital when his son was born; and what the heck, Daniel was a big enough idiot to let him do it. Since they could pass for each other, and since Daniel had an "in" with the system, they simply traded places for the evening.

But Jacob never made it to the hospital. He got hit by a car on the way, so nobody came to relieve Daniel. The dead guy was identified as the D.A., and the one that was left wound up in the slammer. Fortunately, the prisoner was able to dig a tunnel from his cell, through which he could come and go at will. He had a fine time all night as the scourge of the criminal class, but was always back in time for morning roll call. He even handed out fancy cards, supposedly showing the crooks what fate awaited them, but in reality, they represented the fate that had already befallen the masked hero."

---

"Number 711 and The Avenging Clock"

Brian "BB" Williams grew up in Marvel's Los Angeles a high school football star and self proclaimed "gangsta". In and out of juvenile detention halls, he met assistant D.A. Daniel Dyce who saw promise in the kid and kept him out jail. While BB was starring at tailback for ESU, his little brother and sister were gunned down in a drive by shooting.

The deaths of his siblings changed BB Williams. Gone were the hip hop records and gangsta attitude. In it's place, the conservative suits, horn rims and bow tie typical of Muslims in America.

Brian Williams new persona is a cover though, meant to distract attention. At night he dresses in the gangsta gear, complete with Flava Flav-style oversized clock, and hits the streets to fight crime, avenging his siblings' deaths. He conceals his face with a black mask and wields twin pistols of the make and model that slew his siblings.

"The clock has struck, sucka! And your time is up!"

Meanwhile, assistant D.A. Daniel Dyce has fought crime his entire life from within the system as one of Los Angeles most determined prosecutors. Dyce had a secret though. His desire for justice was fueled by the fact that his own people, mutants, rarely got any of their own.

Daniel Dyce is an omega-level teleporter, able to transport himself or any object he touches across vast distances, even across dimensions.

In the fall out from Marvel's Civil War, D.A. Dyce protested what he saw as an unfair law and found himself locked away in the Negative Zone's Facility 42. Now Daniel Dyce spends his days languishing away in cell #711, bound to abide by a law he doesn't believe in. But at night he teleports to The Avenging Clock's side and continues his fight for justice as Number 711!

Sample scene:

NEXT PAGE, PANEL 1. A DARK ALLEY AT NIGHT. ANGLE LOOKING UP AT THE CLOCK, WHO'S STANDING AT THE EDGE OF THE ROOFTOP, AIMING HIS PISTOLS INTO THE ALLEY BELOW, ALMOST AT THE READER.

THE CLOCK: YO, BITCHES! GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS?

PANEL 2. A GANG OF GANGSTA THUGS IN THE ALLEY REACT TO THE CLOCK'S SUDDEN APPEARANCE. THEY'VE BEEN CAUGHT IN THE ACT, MUGGING AN OLD MAN. THE LEADER IS POINTING UP AT THE CLOCK.

THUG LEADER: THA-- THE CLOCK!

THUG LEADER: CAP HIM!

PANEL 3. THUG#2 IS RUNNING AWAY.

THUG #2: SCREW THAT NOISE! THE CLOCK PLAYS FOR KEEPS.

PANEL 4. REVERSE ANGLE. THUG #2 IS RUNNING RIGHT INTO THE CRIMSON CLOAKED ARMS OF NUMBER 711.

PANEL 5. A CLOUD OF RED SMOKE IS ALL THAT REMAINS OF THUG #2.

NUMBER 711: ENJOY RYKER'S, SCUMBAG.

---

So, the challenge was to revamp one GA character but I combined the two as a "hip-hop plus a white guy" riff on Cloak and Dagger because well...

When Tha Clock speaks I know what time it is.

Kurt Vonnegut

The man was a genius and he'll be sorely missed.

I hate it when my world gets smaller. This is the same feeling I had when I heard about Jim Henson.

My excitement over today's pending entry in the Slushpile Challenge and Game One of the Sabres playoffs tonight has definitely had a damper put on it.

Slushpile 6: "Wonder Woman: Deeds, and Words"

Year One. Dark Knight Returns. Killing Joke. The Long Halloween. Man of Steel. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Superman for All Seasons.

Batman and Superman have gotten the star treatment for years. DC says that Wonder Woman is an icon on equal footing with the rest of their "Trinity" yet every high profile Wonder Woman story is a team-up, a crossover or guest stars Bruce and/or Clark.

Shine the spotlight on Princess Diana. Pitch an OGN that can stand alongside the "classic" Batman and Superman tales. This should be the story people refer to when they explain why they're a fan of WW.

Caveats: no Batman, Superman or JLA guest stars. The villain or villains must be from her Rogues Gallery.

---

What’s the simplest explanation of the character? How do you describe her to someone who’s not familiar with the character?

Superman is the last son of Krypton. Faster than a speeding bullet, he leaps tall building in a single bound.

Batman, the dark knight detective. Young Bruce Wayne witnesses his parents murder and now uses his vast fortune and indomitable will to fight crime.

Wonder Woman shows us there’s strength in compassion. Princess Diana is a champion for those without might, an example that there’s a better way.

wonder, n. One that arouses awe, astonishment, surprise or admiration; a marvel.

My Wonder Woman doesn’t carry a sword or snap necks. Her weapons are defensive. Like Captain America with his shield, Princess Diana wields the Lasso of Truth and Gauntlets of Victory in battle. She’s super strong and incredibly fast. Why does she need a sword? You don’t have to put a sword in her hand to make her strong.

She’s beautiful because she’s confidant, strong, intelligent and compassionate. The art in this project should reflect this. Diana’s bearing and posture, her attitude on the page, should convey intelligence and a dry wit. These are the things that make her beautiful and sexy. No cheesecake. She’s above the cheesecake and sexier for it. I don't have a specific name in mind but I'd opt for a painted art style, instead of the normal inked lines. It'd have a more timeless feel, and if there was was a woman willing to paint my Wonder Woman story, all the better.

The costume is iconic and should remain so. Play up the red and gold, regal aspect of the costume. The double W logo. The boots and the tiara. Give her a tunic that partially covers her. Visually the tunic will draw the reader’s attention away from the tits and panties and towards the things that matter; the bracelets, the lasso, and her face, framed by the hair and tiara.

Bondage and the Invisible Jet. Accept everything that’s come before and acknowledge it. But do it without snickering. Like Diana the jet can be a force of nature, represented by sound and wind and light. Diana uses her power, and the lasso, to get villains to submit because there’s a better way than Batman inflicting excess pain or Superman’s ridiculous strength that never hurts anyone. Cops use handcuffs. The lasso is faster and a better visual.

Paradise Island. Wonder Woman sacrifices a life in paradise because she sees tragedy in the real world and cannot abide it. She is a Champion and the price she pays is that she cannot go home until the job is done. Clear cut motivation. Done.

I'd also downplay the focus on the Greek Gods. They're there and we know they're there, but the story's not about them. I think she appeals to a wider audience if they don't have to spend too much time thinking about Greek mythology.


"Wonder Woman: Deeds, and Words"

Wonder Woman faces a series of challenges (parallel Heracles 12 tests); ramping up the threat level each time. As the action unfolds she faces down Doctor Psycho, The Cheetah and Felix Faust, among others. It's not until after she bests the first couple of challenges that the reader, with Diana, finds out that they're interconnected.

Diana's Rogues Gallery has learned that another female champion is due to rise up to fight alongside Wonder Woman. Fed up with the years of losing to her already, they're working together to make sure this new champion doesn't survive long enough to take her place in the pantheon of heroes. Even if it means killing all the first born girls in Greece.

Hell yeah moments, and a couple sentimental moments. Iconic moments: Mother, Protector, Champion.


Sample:

PAGE 1, SPLASH. WE'RE IN AN OFFICE BUILDING, A SKYSCRAPER AT NIGHT. THE LARGE OPEN ROOM IS OCCUPIED BY ROWS AND ROWS OF DESKS. FLOOR TO CEILING WINDOWS ARE COVERED WITH HORIZONTAL BLINDS. FAINT MOONLIGHT SEEPS BETWEEN THE BLINDS. A DOZEN GUNMEN, ARMED WITH AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, ARE IN THE ROOM ALONG WITH A YOUNG GIRL, WHO'S TIED UP ON THE FLOOR.

CAPTION: BEAUTIFUL AS APHRODITE, WISE AS ATHENA, STRONG AS HERCULES AND SWIFTER THAN MERCURY. SHE IS WONDER WOMAN.

PAGE 2, PANEL 1. ANGLE ON GUNMAN #1, LOOKING AT HIS WATCH.

GUNMAN #1: DOC PSYCHO SAID HE'D BEEN HERE TO MEET US.

GUNMAN #2: IF WE GOTTA WAIT AROUND ANY LONGER I SAY WE JUST ICE THE KID AND COLLECT HALF THE FEE. THIS IS TOO HIGH PROFILE AS IT IS.

PANEL 2. THE OFFICE IS SHAKING. WINDOWS. DESKS. EVERYTHING IS SHAKING LIKE THE BUILDING IS BEING UPROOTED. THE GUNMEN REACT, GRABBING ON TO DESKS. ONE FALLS TO HIS KNEES.

SFX: ROAR.

PANEL 3. MATCHING. BLINDING WHITE LIGHT FLOODS THE ROOM, COMING THROUGH THE BLIND COVERED WINDOWS.

GUNMAN #1: WHAT THA--?

PANEL 4. ANGLE BEHIND THE GUNMEN, THEIR ATTENTION DRAWN TO THE WINDOW. STANDING THERE IS WONDER WOMAN IN HER CLASSIC COSTUME. SHE'S TALL, REGAL AND DETERMINED.

CAPTION: MEN, THEY'RE SO EASILY DISTRACTED. THAT'S ONE REASON I KEEP THE JET AROUND.

PAGE 3, PANEL 1. ONE OF THE GUNMEN HAS SPOTTED HER, IS POINTING.

GUNMAN #3: LOOK OUT!

PANEL 2. THE GUNMEN BRING THEIR WEAPONS TO BEAR, FIRING WILDLY.

PANEL 3. WONDER WOMAN CHARGING ACROSS THE FLOOR. NONE OF THE BULLETS COME NEAR HER.

PANEL 4. PRINCESS DIANA, LAYING THE SMACK DOWN. SHE'S A FORCE OF NATURE. WIDE ANGLE, SO THE READER CAN SEE SHE'S TAKING THEM DOWN TWO AND THREE AT A TIME.

PAGE 4, PANEL 1. ONLY TWO ARE LEFT STANDING, WONDER WOMAN AND GUNMAN #1. THEY'RE ABOUT FIFTEEN FEET APART. THE KIDNAPPED GIRL IS AT THE GUNMAN'S FEET. IT'S A STAND OFF.

PANEL 2. WONDER WOMAN RUNNING TOWARDS THE LAST GUNMAN, DEFLECTING HIS BULLETS WITH HER BRACELETS.

PANEL 3. SHE SLAPS THE WEAPON OUT OF HIS HANDS.

PANEL 4. DESPERATION TIME, HE PUNCHES HER. CONNECTING RIGHT ON THE CHIN.

PANEL 5. ANGLE ON WONDER WOMAN, GRINNING AS SHE RUBS HIS PUNCH OFF HER CHIN WITH THE BACK OF HER HAND.

WONDER WOMAN: DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TEACH YOU NOT TO HIT GIRLS?

PAGE 5, PANEL 1. SHE PUNCHES HIM OUT.

PANEL 2. THE LITTLE GIRL STARES UP AT PRINCESS DIANA, WONDER IN HER EYES.

PANEL 3. WONDER WOMAN, GIVING THE GIRL A WINK AND A SMILE.

And, because this is already crazy long and I just can't stop, a scene from the climactic battle...

NEXT PAGE, PANEL 1. DIANA STANDS ALONE ATOP THE WALL. SHELTERED IN THE CITY BEHIND HER ARE THE COLLECTIVE FIRST BORN DAUGHTERS OF GREECE. DRESSED IN THE CLASSIC COSTUME, COVERED IN HER TUNIC, SHE'S ARAGON AT THE BATTLE OF HELM'S DEEP. PULLED TAUGHT BETWEEN HER FISTS, SHE'S HOLDING A COILED END OF THE LASSO IN EACH HAND.

PANEL 2. THE CLASSIC GUNFIGHTER'S SHOT, FROM BEHIND WONDER WOMAN'S RIGHT HIP, WITH ENOUGH OF THE COILED LASSO VISIBLE IN PLACE OF THE GUN AND HOLSTER. IN THE BACKGROUND WE GET A FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE HORDES ASSEMBLED AGAINST HER.

PANEL 3. WIDESCREEN SHOT. IT'S FELIX FAUST'S ASSEMBLED ARMY OF MYSTICAL CHEETAH PEOPLE, CHARGING AS ONE TO STORM THE GATES.

WONDER WOMAN (IN GREEK): ΔΕΝ ΘΑ ΠΑΡΕΤΕ ΑΛΛΕΣ ΠΡΟΕΙΔΟΠΟΙΗΣΕΙΣ! ΠΛΑΤΗ ΣΤΡΟΦΗΣ, ΤΩΡΑ!

CAPTION: YOU'LL GET NO MORE WARNINGS! TURN BACK, NOW!

PANEL 4. CLOSE ON WONDER WOMAN. HER EYES SQUINT AGAINST THE WIND. PRINCESS DIANA, CHAMPION, STEPS OFF THE WALL TO MEET HER FOES HEAD ON.

---

I really hope that I don't have legions of Diana fans clamoring for my head. I'm sure this take is right now, as I type, making someone angry.

Oh well, I tried.

Slushpile Challenge, Day 5: "Bob Lerna: Agent of HYDRA"

Bob Lerna is a decent enough guy who loves his wife and kids, he just happens to also be a mid-level HYDRA agent. Fun Fact: Lake Lerna is the dwelling place of the Hydra in Greek mythology.

1st arc: "Performance Review" we meet Bob, who's a reasonable guy. He's evil, but not Evil. $100k in school loans and a Masters in electrical engineering. Why'd he join HYDRA, an evil terrorist organization bent on world domination? His uncle Ben convinced him it'd be a good idea, Ben Lerna. Be a sleeper agent, kid. Pay off your school, sock a little away for a rainy day, get a nice house in the 'burbs. One weekend a month, two weeks a year. They never mentioned the dislocated shoulder thanks to an uru hammer or the trick knee that locks up every time it rains, courtesy of a Wakandan king in black tights.

2nd story arc: "The Secret Origin of Bob!" Early days of Bob, what he was like as a kid. We see Bob in college, an undergrad at ESU, living in the dorms. He's constantly woken up in the middle of the night, or being interrupted when he's trying to study, by the party dude across the hall, Johnny Storm. Witnessing the Avengers in a classic battle. Rescued by Starfox as a building's about to fall on him. " Wow, he's pretty hot. Wait. What? He's a dude!" Little Bob, admiring his Uncle's HYDRA uniform, all green and cool. Arc ends with Bob signing his papers. Induction ceremony ends with Bob wearing "the greens" and standing in the classic formation. "Hail HYDRA? What was I thinking?"

3rd arc: "Promotion, Deadly!" Bob's up for a promotion, two of them. The 9-5 job likes his work and is willing to move him into the corner office. The weekend job has an "unexpected vacancy" it needs to fill in its upstate NY LMD design facility, thanks to some cape and tights jerk wearing Quantum bands. The wife doesn't want to move, she likes it where they are, but can Bob say "no" when Baron Von Stucker sends you a "request"?

The series is narrated by Bob through 1st person caption boxes.

Bob's a regular schlub, not a cartoon villain, so he makes mistakes and gets in over his head. He progressively gets eviler (more evil?) at the series advances and he gets deeper into the organization. At first the things he'd tasked to do by HYDRA seem harmless enough. No one he knows is getting hurt and, like Uncle Ben often reminds him, "Hey, HYDRA's working to change the world, kid." After Bob sees first hand the Evil of HYDRA the scales fall from his eyes and he has the "My God, what have I been doing?" moment.

At this point the series really takes off. Bob's in deep and personally responsible for multiple atrocities. There's no leaving HYDRA, not alive anyway. This is when the series will shift in tone and we'll follow Bob as he tries to sabotage HYDRA from within while maintaining appearances and keeping up with all the right paperwork. We're a couple of trades in and now Bob's using HYDRA's tech and resources to actually do some of the world changing he imagined and make amends without attracting attention from the management.

Man vs. Environment. It's a regular guy who's in over his head, seeking redemption and trying to balance his home life, his work and the evil he has to keep doing (and undo) to stay alive.

The LMD Facility Bob gets transferred to is an amalgam of the Globex Corporation and an evil Project Pegasus.

Series regulars:

Uncle Ben Lerna, bad advice incarnate. He's the polar opposite of Ben Parker.

Janet Lerna, Bob's wife and source of consternation. She loves the extra money from Bob's "weekend job" but how's she going to react when she finds out what he does to get it?

Rick Lerna, Bob's son. A regular kid and the reason Bob gets out of bed in the morning.

Victor, Agent of HYDRA. Bob's foil at work. Victor's bought into the HYDRA philosophy completely. He embodies the typical HYDRA soldier and loves wearing "the greens" around the office. His business cards actually say "Victor, Agent of HYDRA" on them.

Along the way we'll also have run ins with more notable HYDRA personalities and some "famous faces" of the Marvel Universe.

ISSUE ONE, PAGE 1, SPLASH. BOB LERNA, MIDDLE AGED REGULAR GUY WITH A BIT OF A PAUNCH IS SITTING ON THE TABLE IN A DOCTOR'S EXAM ROOM.

CAPTION: HI. MY NAME'S BOB. BOB LERNA.

CAPTION: I'M SURE YOU'VE SEEN THESE GUYS ON THE NEWS IN THE GREEN AND YELLOW JUMPSUITS. HYDRA SOLDIERS. USUALLY THEY'RE GETTING THE CRAP KICKED OUT OF THEM BY CAPTAIN AMERICA OR THE AVENGERS.

CAPTION: ME? I'M ONE OF THOSE GUYS.

PAGE 2, PANEL 1. A DOCTOR IN A WHITE LAB COAT HAS ENTERED THE ROOM. HE'S HOLDING A MEDICAL CHART.

CAPTION: EVERY YEAR I HAVE TO GO IN FOR A PHYSICAL. PART OF THE JOB.

DOCTOR: MR. LERNA?

PANEL 2. TWO SHOT OF BOB AND THE DOCTOR.

CAPTION: AND EVERY YEAR IT GETS WORSE

BOB: THAT'S ME, DOC.

BOB: WHAT'S THE PROGNOSIS?

PANEL 3. ANGLE THE DOCTOR.

DOCTOR: WELL, YOUR KNEE'S NOT GOTTEN BETTER SINCE THE LAST TIME YOU WERE IN. I'M AFRAID ITS GOING TO KEEP GIVING YOU PROBLEMS, ESPECIALLY IN BAD WEATHER.

PANEL 4. BOB, FROWNING.

CAPTION: THANKS YOU WAKANDAN JACKASS. SO MUCH FOR RUNNING AROUND WITH MY KID.

PANEL 5. TWO SHOT AGAIN. THE DOCTOR'S READING OFF THE CHART.

DOCTOR: AS FOR THE SHOULDER, THE MRI'S NOT GOOD. WE CAN REPAIR THE TISSUE DAMAGE WITH SURGERY EXCEPT...

DOCTOR: LET'S SEE...

DOCTOR: YOU WROTE DOWN HERE "URU HAMMER" AS THE CAUSE.

PANEL 6. MATCHING FROM PREVIOUS. BOB'S SUNK LOWER ON THE TABLE, ABSORBING THE BAD NEWS.

DOCTOR: UNFORTUNATELY, YOUR HMO DOESN'T COVER ACTS OF GOD.

DOCTOR: YOU'D HAVE TO PAY FOR ANY SURGERY OUT OF POCKET.

PAGE 3, PANEL 1.

CAPTION: ONE WEEKEND A MONTH, TWO WEEKS A YEAR. I EVER SEE MY RECRUITER AGAIN, I'M GONNA DUMP HIM IN THE NEGATIVE ZONE.

BOB: WONDERFUL.

Slushpile Challenge Day 4: "The Coldest Time Of Winter"

It's a one-shot Christmas tale starring Captain Cold.

---

Merle Haggard's "If We Make It Through December"

If we make it through December
Everythings gonna be all right I know
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shivver when I see the fallin snow

If we make it through December
I got plans of bein in a warmer town come summer time
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine

I got laid off down at the factory
And there timings not the greatest in the world
Heaven knows I been workin' hard
I wanted Christmas to be right for daddy's girl
Now I don't mean to hate December
It's meant to be the happy time of year
And why my little girl don't understand
Why daddy can't afford no Christmas here

If we make it through December
Everythings gonna be alright I know
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shivver when I see the fallin' snow

If we make it through December
I got plans of bein' in a warmer town come summer time
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine

---

Leonard Snart is Captain Cold, blue collar career criminal and longtime member of the Flash's Rogues Gallery. The story opens with Captain Cold walking alone across the Arctic tundra at night (think Jack Londron's "To Build A Fire"). He's stranded there with no transportation and nothing but his cold gun.

Inside the framing story of him trying to get to civilization, we get a series of flashbacks which reveal the main story. Cold's stranded after a heist gone wrong, a job he tried to pull that was too dangerous, too risky. A job he never would attempt normally. But why?

Cold's past has caught up with him. He has an illegitimate daughter, the product of a drunken one night stand. He pulled the job so he can give the girl enough money to get out of the abusive foster home she's stuck in. Cold's a villain, but his heart's made of stone not ice. Family's important to him, even family he didn't know existed (see past history re: Golden Glider).

So, we've got Captain Cold trying to survive in the cold (get it?) and the little girl and the heist gone wrong. The flashbacks end where the main story starts, with Cold getting stranded, and the main story ends with the hanging question of does he make it though December? It's a sad, sad Christmas tale.

24 lines in the song. Each page of the comic begins with a caption box of the song's next lyric.

PAGE 14, PANEL 1. COLD'S POV LOOKING DOWN AT HIS FEET. THE SNOW IS ALMOST UP TO HIS KNEES. VISIBLE IN THE PANEL ARE COLD'S HANDS, FINGERS CURLED UP AND NUMB. LYING HALF BURIED WHERE HE DROPPED IT, IS THE COLD GUN.

CAPTION: "IT'S MEANT TO BE THE HAPPY TIME OF YEAR..."

PANEL 2. COLD'S DROPPED TO HIS KNEES AND IS REACHING FOR THE GUN WITH NUMB FINGERS.

PANEL 3. MATCH SHOT OF A LITTLE GIRL, KNEELING IN THE SAME POSITION. SHE'S IN A SPARSE, MOONLIT BEDROOM, KNEELING AT THE BED AND SAYING HER PRAYERS.

GIRL: "AND IF I DIE BEFORE I WAKE..."

PANEL 4. MATCH SHOT AGAIN, THIS TIME IT'S CAPTAIN COLD ON HIS KNEES FIRING HIS COLD GUN AT A PAIR OF SECURITY GUARDS, FREEZING THEM WHERE THEY STAND. BEHIND COLD, REACHING IN FROM OFF PANEL TO GRAB HIM ARE A PAIR OF HANDS WEARING FAMILIAR RED GLOVES WITH A YELLOW LIGHTNING BOLT DESIGN.

COLD: "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! DON'T YOU KNOW I'M COLD!"

The Slushpile Challenge Explained

If you're a reader of this site, and Sitemeter tells me that at least a couple people stumble through here, than you've seen the comic pitch ideas from the last couple of posts. Here's the lowdown.

Last Wednesday, a friend of mine threw down the gauntlet with an interesting challenge: write a proposal/pitch for a new comic every day for the month of April. Each pitch must relate to that day's topic and we take turns selecting daily topics. Fairly straightforward. At the end of the month we'll have 40 unique pitches for either new ongoings, limited series, OGNs or one-shots, twenty of which (mine) will be posted to this site. If there's motivation and/or demand for it, we'll be setting up a joint site with the combined pitches.

Once the daily challenge rockets to its thrilling conclusion, long-time comics reader, and friend of the site, Jere Dolan will be acting as final arbiter. He'll be reading all the submissions in the Selective Continuity slush-pile and selecting the best of the bunch. The winning pitch will then get written up in complete script form by myself and the challenge dropper himself, G. Bob.

Coming in late? Pull up a chair, pour a scotch and light a smoke, it's the topics so far!

Day 1: Infuse a laughingstock character with cool. Who'd I pick? "Doc Druid".

Day 2: Salvage an extreme '90s Image property. My Answer? "Yellowknife" (Admittedly, this qualifies by the most tenuous of margins).

Day 3: Turn a '70s sitcom into a comic book. My reply? "Invasion: Alice!" because I think "Kiss my grits, Lobo!" is funny , funny shit.

Monday's topic for day four of the challenge: develop a comic book based on the lyrics of a country song.

What's it going to be? Stay tuned, True Believers!

Invasion: Alice!

Continuing the comics challenge, today's hurdle was to pick a '70s sitcom and adapt it into a comic book. As always, results vary.

"Kiss my grits, Lobo!"

Aspiring country singer Alice Hyatt was accompanying her trucker husband on a cross country haul when fate cruelly intervened. An errant Zeta Beam struck the highway in front of their semi, causing it to leap the concrete divide and crash head-on into oncoming traffic. Don Hyatt was killed instantly in the wreck, but Alice was trapped in the Zeta Beam's pull and whisked across the galaxy. One moment Alice's life is flashing before her eyes, a split second from death, and the next she's shaking in the fetal position on the floor of Mel's Diner, orbiting the planet Rann.

Mel Sharples, retired Khund mercenary is a veteran of the Invasion of Earth. Taking his back pay and pension he owns Mel's Diner, a restaurant and interstellar shipping rest stop orbiting the planet Rann. Mel's a grizzled old fry cook who hides the fact that he's a soft touch with a grim exterior. After his time on Earth during the war he grew to like humans... on the bone, with a brown sauce.

Mel's soft touch is reflected in the collection of cast-offs and misfits under his employ. The head waitress, who's also the head waiter (depending on who she's sleeping with at the time), is Flo Castleberry, a sassy, sex-hungry Durlan shape shifter.

Ver Go-man is a neurotic, scatterbrained Psion exile. Ver's trapped in the characteristic Psion loop of self denial, but lacks the typical Psion talent for science, hence a life of slinging Thanagarian hash at Mel's.

Rounding out the cast is an aquatic Gil'dishpan dishwasher and Mel's line cook, a snarling cyborg, one-armed Okaaran who served with Mel during the war.

Recurring characters will include Adam Strange and his wife Alanna, and Lobo, intergalactic '90s stereotype.

NEXT PAGE, NEXT PANEL. WIDE ANGLE OF A DINER. IT'S A TYPICAL GREASY SPOON BY WAY OF THE MOS EISLEY CANTINA. OUTSIDE THE WINDOWS IS THE BLACKNESS OF SPACE. CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THE FOREGROUND IS ALICE. SHE'S DISORIENTED AND TERRIFIED. SURROUNDING HER IS THE ZETA BEAM'S FADING GLOW. STANDING OVER HER, DRESSED IN THE OUTERSPACE VERSION OF A 1950'S WAITRESS UNIFORM, IS THE REDHEADED DURLAN FLO, BALANCING A TRAY OF STEAMING PLATES.

FLO: TABLE FOR ONE, SUGAR?

Pulling from the Comics Scrapheap: Yellowknife

Yesterday, the challenge was to pick a comics character who’s generally thought of as a joke and infuse some cool. Today’s challenge is to pick out a (some may think) terrible ‘90s Image comic and redeem it. What’s my pick?

Direct from Wikipedia:

"Bloodpool is a fictional group of superheroes and a comic book series created by Rob Liefeld. It was published by Image Comics in 1996 under Liefeld's Extreme Studios. The team's roster includes Rubble, Task, Seoul, Psilence, Wylder, and Fusion. They are the cyborgs and the psychics, the warriors, the channelers, and the alchemists. The kids who have made breaking up into an offensive art. Underage superheroes recruited by the government for the eventual inclusion in the prestigious Youngblood team. They were poked, prodded, trained and enhanced. And when a new administration cut funding, the members of Bloodpool were out on the streets."

Gods, it makes my brain hurt just reading the description.


Yellowknife

The year is 2107 and Korea's borders reach from the western tip of the Great Wall in what was once China to the edge of Great Slave Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. Abandoning nuclear power and turning its collective might to the field of genetic engineering, Korea owned the second half of the 21st century, single handedly forcing Rand-McNally to redraw the globe. Seoul is the largest city on earth, with a population edging towards 45 million.

In the border city of Yellowknife, Canada, five teenagers are doing everything they can to live "off the grid", eschewing cell phones, GPS, and RFID tags, avoiding all technology. Genetically engineered refuse, Jack, Sally, Kim, Johnny and Li were grown in Seoul's Bloodpool to be soldiers in the Korean army but tossed out with the rest of the garbage when they failed quality control testing. Superpowers that were supposed to develop on their 13th birthdays never manifested.

On one side is a Korean Empire seeking to bury any evidence that its clone army is imperfect. On the other is a collective United Nations that would like nothing more than to dissect these anomalies and find out what kept their powers from kicking in.

No powers. No costumes. No technology. Just 5 teenagers trying to make a home and doing whatever it takes to avoid attracting attention. It’s “Runaways” via Bladerunner.


ISSUE 1, PAGE 1, SPLASH. EXTERIOR, CITY STREET IN WINTER. WALKING OUT OF A COFFEE HOUSE ARE JOHNNY AND KIM, BOTH 16. THEY'RE BUNDLED UP FOR THE WEATHER IN WINTER COATS AND MIRRORED SUNGLASSES. KIM HAS MAORI-STYLE FACIAL TATTOOS AND SHE'S TALLER THAN JOHNNY BY ALMOST A HEAD, BUT RAIL THIN. JOHNNY CARRIES HIMSELF WITH A SWAGGER. IN THE BACKGROUND, A PAIR OF MOTORCYCLE COPS FLY OVERHEAD.

CAPTION: YELLOWKNIFE, CANADA. BORDER CITY ON THE EDGE OF THE KOREAN EMPIRE. FIVE TEENAGERS, ORDINARY IN AN EXTRA-ORDINARY WORLD, FIGHT TO KEEP FROM BEING NOTICED.

KIM: SALLY WANTED A PIZZA.

JOHNNY: SHE ALWAYS WANTS A PIZZA. TELL YOU WHAT, IF SHE MANAGED TO CLEAN THE LOFT AND DRAG HERSELF OUT OF THE HOUSE AND FIND REPLACEMENT DUMMY RFID TAGS THAT ARE CODED TO LAST LONGER THAN A MONTH...

JOHNNY: IF SHE DID THAT THEN I'LL BUY HER A PIZZA. I'M SICK OF BEING THE ONLY ONE WITH A JOB.

---

Success? Failure? It's not as strong as "Doc Druid" lighting invisible monsters on fire, but I think it works.

Anthony Ludgate, Doc Druid

"Sometimes it's best to be forgotten."

The heroes of the Marvel universe are being organized into an army for the 21st century. Forgotten though are the nightmares of the previous age. Hidden evil sleeps under the earth, inside the hearts of men and beyond the far side of the moon. The demons and aliens of the Silver Age, long thought vanquished, are slowly returning. As their power grows so does their influence.

Anthony Ludgate, former Avenger, has been forgotten by this new century. Once a powerful telepath and magician, his powers have faded, grown unreliable. But only he can sense the trouble that's rising. Only he can see the invisible monsters around us. Ludgate has only his creaky magics and the scavenged technology of a forgotten era with which to battle this growing danger.

The series follows Doctor Druid as he wanders the earth combating Marvel's crazy Silver Age monsters, starting with the ones from pre-Spider-Man "Amazing Fantasy". Think Kolchak vs. The Badoon.

Sample:

NEXT PAGE, SINGLE PANEL SPLASH. A SUBURBAN SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT. SHOPPERS HEAD TO THEIR CARS OR INTO THE STORE, THE PICTURE OF NORMALCY. EXCEPT FOR IN THE FOREGROUND WHERE DOC DRUID STANDS IN STREET CLOTHES, WAVING HIS ARMS WILDLY. DOMINATING THE PANEL IS THE FORTY FOOT MENACE OF TIM BOO BA. NOTE: TIM BOO BA (AMAZING FANTASY #9) SHOULD BE DRAWN ONLY AS AN OUTLINED COLOR EFFECT, SO THAT THE READER CAN INFER THAT ONLY THE DOC CAN SEE HIM.

DOC DRUID: "EVERYONE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

NEXT PAGE, PANEL 1. MOTHER PUSHING HER SON IN A CART.

SON: "MOMMY, WHAT THAT MAN YELLING ABOUT?"

MOM: "DON'T LOOK AT HIM SON."

PANEL 2. CLOSE ON TIM BOO BA'S LAUGHING VISAGE.

TIM BOO BA: "ONLY YOU CAN SEE ME, DOCTOR. THE CATTLE WILL NEVER REALIZE THAT IT WAS I, TIM BOO BA, WHO SENT THEM TO THEIR MAKERS!"

PANEL 3. THE DOC'S HANDS ARE RAISED, DRAWING ARCANE SIGILS IN THE AIR.

DOC DRUID: "NOT WHILE I STAND, DEVIL!"

PANEL 4. CLOSE ON TIM BOO BA AGAIN.

TIM BOO BA: "HA! HA! HA! YOUR MAGICKS HAVE NO POWER, OLD FOOL."

NEXT PAGE, PANEL 1. DOC HOLDS UP A GAS CAN. HIS OTHER HAND IS HOLDING A ZIPPO.

DOC DRUID: "BURN."

PANEL 2. HE SPARKS THE LIGHTER.

PANEL 3. CLOSE ON THE LIGHTER AS IT SOARS THOUGH THE AIR.

PANEL 4. DOC DRUID WALKING TOWARDS THE READER. BEHIND HIM, EXPLODING MINI-VANS AND THE BURNING INVISIBLE MONSTER.