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Comics Repost #2.
Mar. 25th, 2009 08:26 pmWell. If I'm following my own rules, the first thing I need for a superhero comic imprint is a concept, a way in which everyone gets their powers. It needs to fit neatly into one set of rules, while still giving some variety, a way for people to have unexpected powers or rises to power, that sort of thing.
In this world, all superhuman ability comes from interaction with spirits, all of whom dwell in a single otherworld. These spirits started interfering with human affairs just before WWI, and now most major human governments are dominated by either spirit-gifted people or spirits themselves. I like the spirit thing because you have a wide spectrum of powers based on what gifts a spirit might give you, the type and agenda of the spirit and their relationship to the person in question( e.g. people with part-spirit ancestry, or can summon spirits, or have gifts from spirit patrons, etc.), but still a unified source and theme. Plus I can play around with mythology and fairy tales so there's a lot to draw on.
I have two ideas for titles within this world: one hero-team, Avengers or Justice League style, and one lone vigilante, Spider-Man or Batman style.
The hero-team comic would probably be the flagship comic of the imprint, and naturally explore the world, its origins, and its ramifications.
The team in question is called The White Company, an international police force of sorts, with its origin in the history of the still alive-and-kicking British Empire. The first major spiritual incursion came in England, in 1910- after a year of unrest, with the Spiritualist movement in full swing, Halley's Comet growing larger in the night sky, and a disturbing rise in supernatural phenomena, King Edward the VIIth convened a summit of alleged experts in the otherworldly, to see if some cause for this phenomenon could be discerned.
The assembled psychics, spiritualists, and enthusiasts including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, watched in awe and horror as a Manticore materialized in the hall and devoured the King. The creature declared itself as the new sponsor of the British royalty, and that those present who would bear witness to it, and accept its enlightened rule, would be the new nobility.
So it was that Arthur Conan Doyle was crowned king and head of the House of Doyle- and that the power behind the throne was a very visible and very hungry white lion with a bladed mane. As war broke out, across the Empire and across the world, over the new and deadly masters that appeared in nearly every nation, the King created two groups of spirit-gifted individuals to help keep the world stable. The first was the Order of the Manticore, sworn to carry out the will of the King and his Sponsor, to be the champions of the Empire's new era.
The second was the White Company, created much more quietly and with less fanfare. Their mission was less patriotic- to look after the wellbeing of humanity, and make certain they thrived under their new masters, rather than suffered. King Arthur did not forget how he had come to power.
The White Company would explore the group and its mission in the modern day- doing everything from hunting rogue spirits to discrediting vocal anti-spiritists who threaten the status quo, to traveling into the otherworld itself in search of answers. Cold War counter-terrorist politics with countless factions and agendas- within the group as well as without- would be perhaps the defining characteristic, repeatedly asking the question of whether fractious, violent humanity is better off with its new and powerful overseers, from the spirits to the Company itself.
The vigilante comic would be called Pilgrim.
In any case, the only country in the world that entirely bans spirits and those with spirit talents is Deseret, the independent nation that used to be the state of Utah. Most of the state is off limits to everyone except for Mormons and Jews, but those who wish to escape the influence of spirits are allowed into one huge, towering city called Mount Refuge. Pilgrim is about a Erik Buna, a college football player from the Sovereign Republic of Texas who happens to have the ability to see spirits, even when they are nonphysical. After being framed by a group of body-jumping spirits for the murder of a Texas Ranger, Erik runs away to Mount Refuge, concealing his talent from the border guard and entering the city. He's appalled to find that Mount Refuge actually has a denser spirit population than anywhere else he's ever seen- with spirit talents banned, no-one can detect or regulate their activity as long as they stay nonphysical. So, when the same cabal of bodyjumpers starts operating locally, he's pretty literally the only one who can stop them.
Part of the whole idea of this comic is alienation and isolation- the multiple ways that Erik fails to fit in with Mount Refuge society, the way his individuality and identity is marginalized by having to hide his gift and by being possessed by these spirits- in this great multicultural melting pot (which is very carefully maintained and isolated at the border of a very paranoid and centric state), there are a lot of fun ways to play with the idea of boundaries and liminality- which are always classic fairy tale themes as well.
***
Since making the above post last January in my old journal, I got together a group of like-minded people to start working on White Company - unfortunately, we suffered from the perennial problem of comics work: we had three writers committed to working on the project, and one artist who was constantly overbooked from other projects, so we did a lot of planning and made no progress.
Also since then, I've had time to think a lot about my original theses, and conclude that I was being far too narrow in scope and specific with them - I think that's tomorrow's post.
In this world, all superhuman ability comes from interaction with spirits, all of whom dwell in a single otherworld. These spirits started interfering with human affairs just before WWI, and now most major human governments are dominated by either spirit-gifted people or spirits themselves. I like the spirit thing because you have a wide spectrum of powers based on what gifts a spirit might give you, the type and agenda of the spirit and their relationship to the person in question( e.g. people with part-spirit ancestry, or can summon spirits, or have gifts from spirit patrons, etc.), but still a unified source and theme. Plus I can play around with mythology and fairy tales so there's a lot to draw on.
I have two ideas for titles within this world: one hero-team, Avengers or Justice League style, and one lone vigilante, Spider-Man or Batman style.
The hero-team comic would probably be the flagship comic of the imprint, and naturally explore the world, its origins, and its ramifications.
The team in question is called The White Company, an international police force of sorts, with its origin in the history of the still alive-and-kicking British Empire. The first major spiritual incursion came in England, in 1910- after a year of unrest, with the Spiritualist movement in full swing, Halley's Comet growing larger in the night sky, and a disturbing rise in supernatural phenomena, King Edward the VIIth convened a summit of alleged experts in the otherworldly, to see if some cause for this phenomenon could be discerned.
The assembled psychics, spiritualists, and enthusiasts including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, watched in awe and horror as a Manticore materialized in the hall and devoured the King. The creature declared itself as the new sponsor of the British royalty, and that those present who would bear witness to it, and accept its enlightened rule, would be the new nobility.
So it was that Arthur Conan Doyle was crowned king and head of the House of Doyle- and that the power behind the throne was a very visible and very hungry white lion with a bladed mane. As war broke out, across the Empire and across the world, over the new and deadly masters that appeared in nearly every nation, the King created two groups of spirit-gifted individuals to help keep the world stable. The first was the Order of the Manticore, sworn to carry out the will of the King and his Sponsor, to be the champions of the Empire's new era.
The second was the White Company, created much more quietly and with less fanfare. Their mission was less patriotic- to look after the wellbeing of humanity, and make certain they thrived under their new masters, rather than suffered. King Arthur did not forget how he had come to power.
The White Company would explore the group and its mission in the modern day- doing everything from hunting rogue spirits to discrediting vocal anti-spiritists who threaten the status quo, to traveling into the otherworld itself in search of answers. Cold War counter-terrorist politics with countless factions and agendas- within the group as well as without- would be perhaps the defining characteristic, repeatedly asking the question of whether fractious, violent humanity is better off with its new and powerful overseers, from the spirits to the Company itself.
The vigilante comic would be called Pilgrim.
In any case, the only country in the world that entirely bans spirits and those with spirit talents is Deseret, the independent nation that used to be the state of Utah. Most of the state is off limits to everyone except for Mormons and Jews, but those who wish to escape the influence of spirits are allowed into one huge, towering city called Mount Refuge. Pilgrim is about a Erik Buna, a college football player from the Sovereign Republic of Texas who happens to have the ability to see spirits, even when they are nonphysical. After being framed by a group of body-jumping spirits for the murder of a Texas Ranger, Erik runs away to Mount Refuge, concealing his talent from the border guard and entering the city. He's appalled to find that Mount Refuge actually has a denser spirit population than anywhere else he's ever seen- with spirit talents banned, no-one can detect or regulate their activity as long as they stay nonphysical. So, when the same cabal of bodyjumpers starts operating locally, he's pretty literally the only one who can stop them.
Part of the whole idea of this comic is alienation and isolation- the multiple ways that Erik fails to fit in with Mount Refuge society, the way his individuality and identity is marginalized by having to hide his gift and by being possessed by these spirits- in this great multicultural melting pot (which is very carefully maintained and isolated at the border of a very paranoid and centric state), there are a lot of fun ways to play with the idea of boundaries and liminality- which are always classic fairy tale themes as well.
***
Since making the above post last January in my old journal, I got together a group of like-minded people to start working on White Company - unfortunately, we suffered from the perennial problem of comics work: we had three writers committed to working on the project, and one artist who was constantly overbooked from other projects, so we did a lot of planning and made no progress.
Also since then, I've had time to think a lot about my original theses, and conclude that I was being far too narrow in scope and specific with them - I think that's tomorrow's post.
