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.
I’ve got some ideas, but nothing nearly as good as what you’ve come up with.
I have a ton of ideas for graphic novels, but I suck at drawing. I started one called, “Up” about a boy demon who was left here after a huge war between Earth and Hell. After the war is over, New York City becomes a huge hide-out for thugs and street gangs. All of the demons had gone back to Hell after a contract was signed beetween Earth and Hell. Up (the boy demon) was forgotten by his family and left above ground. He found a hokey stick which he uses to fight off the low lifes living in New York. If I could draw better, I think this could be a pretty cool book.
The Seven Deadly-
It is a story about a large crime syndicate that controls New York city. Each of the 7 Generals are based off of the 7 deadly sins. The main story focuses on Devon Grant a foot soldier for the gang who decides to turn against it. He brings together a group of rebels and they begin calling them self “The Twelve”. Its a graphic novel that is about the fight between the buisness like Seven Deadly and the gurrila style of The Twelve.
Gnat: The Story of A Second Class Superhero
Its a story about a 13 year old kid who has complete control over insects. At first the power scares him but he learns to use it quickly and decides to fight crime. The only problem is is that he has no transportation, no means for a cool costume and the world has enough superheros as it is. But it doesnt stop him. He starts off dealing with school bullys before finding bigger fish to fry. He often fails when against larger villans and is saved by his idol Z who can transform into any animal. Later on he meets a partner in Victor LeDoux who has the abbility to add kinetic energy to something that when he throws the object it will hit super hard without him having to use effort. He uses this on his gloves to gain a type of super strength. Victor (K-Force) is reconized by other superheros as a true super. Even though he is given a chance to work with his idol Stone. Stone has the abbility to turn his outer body into a hard rock substance not found on earth. It is mostly satrical.
Both of those sound really cool.
On “The Seven Deadly”, are the twelve based on something out of the bible as well?
I have been wondering along lines similar to “Rubble” for an eternity… Most of my thoughts include: “I wonder who has to clean up Spiderman’s webs?”; “I wonder where the Green Goblin’s rogue pumpkin bombs and razor bats end up?”; “Exactly what did people do for transport went Magneto ripped up the bridge in ‘The Last Stand’?”; and “Exactly how many times has someone went to get their car only to find that it has been destroyed by a super fight/I wonder if Geico covers metahuman related accidents?”
That’s a good question, Jester. Does “Acts of God” get changed to “Acts of Gods and other Metahumans”? Does Thor count under the Acts of God statute?
Someone e-mailed me separately to point out that:
“Marvel had a 4-issue comic called “Damage Control” about a New York (natch) construction company that cleans up after superheroes”
So that part of it apparently isn’t completely unique. But I still like the concept of looking at the lives of people impacted by super-hero battles.
And good ideas, DJ, thanks for posting them!
Jackson Steele – The greatest hero of the 1930’s, Jackson Steele, was put into cryogenic stasis by his arch enemy, Baron von Schultz, at the beginning of WWII. After the end of the war, the Baron was killed, and Jackson and the base were never found…until the year 2150.
After being thawed out, Jackson discovers that humanity has reached the stars and is ruled by a corrupt government bent on total control. Deciding that he must help his fellow man once more, Jackson Steele rises as a symbol of a forgotten age of freedom.
Stranded – The first human starship capable of faster than light travel, the U.N.S.S. Freedom, sets off towards Alpha Centauri, and hopes to be able to set up a colony on the habitable planet Alpha-Cen II.
When they arrive, they encounter the mighty Nocens Empire, who swarm the ship. In a fit of desperation, Commander Kerri Shepherd activates the FTL engines, which throws the ship across the galaxy. After dropping out of FTL speed, Shepherd uses the FTL engines as a weapon to destroy the Nocens that arrived with her, at the cost of severe damage to the freedom.
With only a few remaining crew members and no FTL engines, Commander Shepherd must make her way home while trying to survive in hostile territory.
The Bands Of Obenan – Due to the meddling of scientists on the planet of Obenan, the entire population of the planet was erased from the universe, save for seven. These seven, who now possess near unlimited power due to the accident, try to recreate the world, but only managed to create a primitive version of their former home.
After seeing their failure, one of the beings named Nox lashes out, creating a great threat to what remains of Obenan. The other six, determined to protect what they have made, create six pairs of mystic bracelets, which are granted to six guardians to defend Obenan from the forces of Nox.
Marvel did a limited edition comic book series about a crew that cleaned-up after super battles. It was called “Damage Control.”
^^^Epic Fail.^^^
The Twelve are based of the Twelve Apostles. I would love to be able to do a comic based off of my ideas but my drawing ability is limited to very poorly drawn stick figures.
I agree with DJ. If I could draw well, some awesome comics could be created.
I think someone needs to create a comic about how New York is the Bermuda triangle of comics. Everything and Everyone happens in new York. Why would anyone want to even live there let alone worry about their car getting tossed by Superman or Batman using their toilet during a stakeout. I would read that!
Sorry guys, just one of those unanswered questions I always dwell on!
I thought Batman lived in Gotham City or something.
Good point! But easily fixed. Lets say Iron man tossing a car and the Falcon using your toilet!
How about that for a comic: following the events of “paradies Lost” (the novel).
the story follows a demon who has escaped hell, he lived on earth for about 10,000, seen all of human history, and allways in the shadow of human histoy. but now, in present days, he need to fight an order of paladins that hunted him for ages, a cult that worships his kind, and demons who manage to escape hell, thing get tougher when heaven deside it’s time for him to go back to hell, but he’s not going quitely, but when demons and angels meet on earth, a new war begins, and this time, man kind is envolved in it. would the demon remain in the shadows of this event aswell or step up to be a hero, while all hell, and all heaven is breakin loose.
as you can see, i’ve thought about this for some time now.
π is all I can say to that.
One the Falcons lesser known power is his abbility to crap while flying and hit a freshly washer car.
Freedom: Dreams of the Past
The United States was attacked by a foreign government and they took over using WMDs to destroy most of the population. The comic would tell diffrent stories from survivors about what they did during the war and what they are doing now.
OK. I don’t have a whole comic, but I have an idea. One day Lois Lane gets incredibly hungry, and she can’t be stopped from gorging herself until she can’t eat any more – and then she falls into a coma. Her body temperature goes up, and she writes as if she is having seizures. Eventually she becomes still, but her hair falls out, and there are medical signs that no doctors can see or interpret.
A day or so later, everyone she touched on the morning when she first got sick starts to get hungry too, and the people those people touched, etc.
Doctors can do nothing about the disease, and in fact nobody can figure out what it is, and there is a worldwide panic with quarantines, etc, and in some places, they even start to kill the sick people.
A few days later, Lois gets better and she is now 100% Kryptonian at the genetic level. Seems that many thousands of years ago, Kryptonian scientists infected all Kryptonians with nanites that maintained the genetic purity of the race, by making sure that there are no genetic defects in their host.
Because no Kryptonian expected the whole race to get wiped out at once, the nanites in Superman are in an environment outside of their programming and their actions are not quite as designed. They are dormant in him (because he has no genetic defects) and not contagious. So nobody is ever affected by them.
But then he gets Lois pregnant, and this activates the nanites that come from his genetic contribution. The nanites look around and discover that Lois’s baby has defective genes, so they get to work. And then they discover that Lois has defective genes, so they start to work on her – and her hunger was the body’s need for raw materials for the nanites to work on. And the way they were originally spread was secretly, by touch. If an infected Kryptonian (even one who was 100% healthy) touched another Kryptonian who had a genetic defect, the nanites would spread. So now they spread from Lois to everyone she touched to everyone they touched, etc.
There are some really interesting potentials here. Some of the ones I hAve thought about…
when the disease is first reported, before anyone knows the final results, people will attempt to starve the hungry stage – how will that affect the transformation?
When a dictator realizes that the sick people in his country will awaken with super powers, and he is still normal, how will he react? He can’t very well contract the disease himself because he will be helpless for days. Will he kill everyone in his country that catches the disease?
What will happen to, for example, gangs who have been terrorizing people when those people get super powers – before the gang members do?
All physical addictions would be cured – and the super metabolisms of the new Kryptonians would not be susceptible to our current drugs and booze and other mind or mood altering substances. How would people react if their addictions were suddenly cured – and others, when they found they couldn’t get high any more?
You wouldn’t have to live in a dump any more – anyone could live anywhere, in fact, you wouldn’t even really need a house or even shelter. What would this do to society?
No need for many current commercial articles. Don’t need cars, trains, boats, etc. What kind of goods and services would evolve in this new society?
Lots of other things to consider. I don’t have the writing skills to carry this one off, but I would love to see it written.
Dan
Dan that sounds awesome. Like reading it at first I thought it was going be a joke but wow that would be cool.
“Rubble” has actually been covered. Marvel did it and it was called “Damage Control.” The book was awful.
hey so can i use all of these ideas i would like to use some of them if thats ok let me know and ill start on it
I am a great drawier i have thousand of amazing drawings and comic books so let me know if i can use ur ideas