I would guess that most of the people reading this blog share my ability to come up with a bazillion more ideas than I will ever follow through on. So in the spirit of sharing, here are a few ideas I've had recently that hopefully someone else will pick up and run with, so that in two years when it hits the big time I can get interviewed on the teevee about how it was my idea in the first place but I'm happy someone else went out and did it and yes you can give Jessica Alba my number, thank you very much.
- Rubble: I want to create a comic book that's about the people who have to deal with the wreckage left behind in all of these super-hero fights, both physical and metaphysical. Guys are punching other guys into buildings, tearing up subways, wrecking harbors, smashing cars, wreaking havoc on traffic, and yet there's never a price to pay for any of it. Who comes along and picks up that rubble? Who takes care of the company that has to go out of business because their big shipment got sunk off the coast when Grodd got punched into it? Once the bad guy is in Arkham and Superman's kicking it in the Fortress of Solitude, the job isn't done.
The central character would be rubble of a different sort, a kid with super-powers who learns he's the bastard of one of the big local heavy hitters, but who refuses to recognize his illegitimate child. In a sense this kid's also wreckage left behind when a "hero" flies through town with complete disregard for the damage he causes.
- Super Amadeus: I love the movie "Amadeus". Although the titular subject is Mozart, the real heart of the story is Salieri, a man torn with an almost unquenchable lust to create great works of art, yet who has been denied the talent to make his dreams come true. And then he is confronted by Mozart, a gross and crude man who overflows with the very gifts Salieri covets. Why would God choose such a corrupt, foul vessel as Mozart, while simultaneously giving Salieri the desire but not the talent to do the same?
That's powerful stuff. I'd like to write a super-hero version of Amadeus, with the role of Mozart filled by a Superman type -- powerful, multiple gifts hugely adored by the public -- who is also crude, thoughtless, arrogant, and childish. Salieri is either his sidekick or a co-member of a super-team, someone with Batman-like drive to be the best, but without the innate talents, doomed to always playing second fiddle to his more powerful colleague. Eventually, as in the film, the jealousy becomes too much and Salieri kills Amadeus while trying to take credit for his genius. To make things more interesting, the Salieri character could be devoutly religious, while the Amadeus character is from another pantheon (like Thor or Hercules) which further challenges his core beliefs.
If you've had ideas for comic books that you'd love to create but probably never will, I'd love to hear about them in the comments.
