I suck at writing pitches...

[The Anti-crest]

The following is a pitch I plan to include with my entry to the comic book challenge. I followed the scryptic studios guide to pitching and I always end up writing more than I think is necessary. Please read this and let me know if you were a judge, would you want this to make it to the next round?

An ogre tries to live a peaceful life as he encounters many humans who mistake him for a monster simply because of his green skin, large build and ugly face.

OGRE is an allegory for the way many Americans have treated people of middle eastern descent after the horrific attacks of September 11th. Combining ignorance and prejudice everyday humans accuse those who have fled their homes in fear of monstrous attacks for monsters themselves. Grigoriy sits in a bar and reflects on the life he and his family have built in the world of humans as he tries to decide if moving to a new land was the best thing for his family.

On their wedding night, nearly 15 years ago, Grigoriy and his wife Dikranouhi fled their homeland so they could raise children in a world with out racial violence. The young couple found a place to live in Cro-Magnia, a nation mostly populated by humans, which boasts of its open arms towards immigrants. Throughout history there has been too much violence between the different species of the world and historical conflicts reinvent themselves over again. Several months ago Cro-Magnia was attacked by a group of Troll extremists who resent the human way of life. This act of monstrous violence has created a nation wide call to arms against trolls and monsters of any kind.

Grigoriy fantasizes about the way Cro-Magnia has shaped the lives of his wife, Dikranouhi, and his two children, Seda and Vartouhi. The more he drinks the worse he feel about the choices he has made in life. He imagines Seda as a teenage harlot and thinks of himself as a failing husband and father. The pain of his insecurities is only outweighed by his memories of his homeland being ravished by troll extremists.

As his self pity reaches new lows, and the number of beer bottles on his table reaches scary heights, a fellow patron picks a fight by insisting that Grigoriy is connected to the troll extremists who recently attacked Cro-Magnia. Grigoriy is arrested and blamed for the fight, his punishment is light but he is forever marked as a monster in the eyes of the law.

Although Ogre is a self contained One Shot, Grigoriy and his family have many other stories to tell. While studying the Ogre genocide of 1915 Seda learns of modern genocide in other parts of the world and wonders why nobody will try to stop it. Dikranouhi resents Grigoiry for drinking so much and becoming so angry that it strains their relationship. Vartouhi struggles to fit into a world of humans at a young age and has to decide between embracing her heritage and ignoring it.

Ogre follows the tradition of Art Spiegelman's anthropomorphic classic, Maus, and will resonate with those who angry bigots have previously mistaken for another race, religion or social class, but will ring true for those of middle eastern decent the most.