DW PROJECT concept selection discussion

[12013]

so this idea could die if it isn't pushed along by someone. and I seemed to have some success with this historically for this site. I actually find it fun and interesting to do.

SO... like Ed said..."please don't let this die".

in the spirit of that mindset, I figured I would help keep pushing this idea along. I firmly believe that there needs to be kind of 1 guy that is..for lack of a better word..the project lead on these things. someone that coordinates these, communicates with everyone, takes the responsibility of gathering the talent, handing out sections(or whatever), making sure it gets stored somewhere together, and keeps some kind of vague deadline to see it thru to the end.

I humbly offer to be that guy for this new project, if people would like to have me in that role again. IF someone else would rather take it, this isn't something that I own and would be willing to step aside if someone else wants to take it on. but I do kinda take ownership of it seeing that I kinda find it fun and have done it the last 3 times.

but in that ownership role, someone eventually has to decide what the IDEA will be...in theory its a concept that makes MOST people happy and gives them enough freedom to do what they want, BUT still have it come together as a kind of cohesive story of SOME type. which means we will have to decide on a concept, but not everyone will get to do what they may want to do. someone has to say..."we are doing THIS.." after much discussion.

but I don't want to sound like an overlord boss of everyone..(not that I think that's how ive ever been). I'm always open to feedback.

ANYway..to get this going...we need to decide on the CONCEPT.

what is this going to be?

I know there has been some discussion. I think that doing the PUBLIC DOMAIN characters is a great idea personally. because there are lots of characters out there with an interesting enough basis that can be remade however the creators WANT to make them... to be more modern and interesting and in a way..YOUR own creation now. I think that's a fun idea because it also makes it that you can still print publish any/all work you produce either on your own OR...we can print the book up in a big collection for ourselves if it comes out looking nice and we don't have to worry about copyrighted characters or logos. this could be OUR book

I personally think this is the way to go..

now..what to DO with the characters?

with the HELLBOY book, we had his story set up to have him send all over the multiverse so he could meet all kinda of other characters.

with this one..i think having something coming TO our characters could work. it still leaves LOTS of room for creators to do what the want and tell the kind of stories they want... but still has it linked together as a single story in a way. an INVASION story of some type. aliens or whatever.... this seems like a fun and workable concept to ME.

what do you guys think/suggest?

also, being that ED is putting together the DWPv3, but is still several months off from being worked on(he told me this directly), I think this could be a fun thing to work on as a group as a build up TO that project as well. keep us working and creating. making comics because they are FUN.

so..long post. please let me know what you think guys.

I want to get this one going sooner rather than later if we can get enough people interested and on board.

the Hellboy book came out so well. lets do it again. but BETTER. cause we can.

ROB

[jeffchris50]

Chiming in. I would have posted the synopsis I'm working on for the use of PUBLIC DOMAIN characters by now had we all decided upon if this was the course we wanted to take. I still think PD characters are the best bet for us as another step forward. A good chance to exercise our creative muscles and bring into the light of day some characters who have been long forgotten by a number of folks, longtime comics readers included. As I've mentioned, my basic premise is bringing these characters together, in smaller groups at first, then bringing those groups together to form a group not dissimilar to THE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, THE AVENGERS, THE JUSTICE LEAGUE or THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, a group with a the central goal of defeating one or more "big bads." I'm working on compiling a list of viable PD characters that we could use and how they can all interact and come together, basically acting a director, so to speak. IF this is the route we are all interested in going, let it be known and I'll be happy to post more of the details. I really enjoy working with you folks!:happy::happy:

[Scribbly]

I was looking at the Public Domain superheroes characters. Interesting.
I got script's ideas for some of these. The ones I liked better.
But how do I know that these same characters wont be picked up by someone's else here in the forums?
How can this be worked out?

[Bishop]

For the Hellboy project we just called dibs on the character wanted. First person to post got the character. Don’t see why we couldn’t do the same thing here.

[Morganza]

I'd rather work on something original, especially if it's going to be printed, rehashing old stuff is too Hollywood for me.

[12013]

I'd rather work on something original, especially if it's going to be printed, rehashing old stuff is too Hollywood for me.

well that I understand totally. but I was kinda thinking that having the chance to take one of these old concepts and rework it to something new might make in interesting. I just hope that you give it a second thought, cause your work it first rate, and I think the hellboy book would have GREATLY benefited from having a few pages from you in it and this one, if we figure out the parameters, would look SO much better with you involved. your skills are just to damn good to not have part of it. so...im gonna softly but firmly keep pushing on you to join until you murder me for harassment.

rob

[12013]

For the Hellboy project we just called dibs on the character wanted. First person to post got the character. Don’t see why we couldn’t do the same thing here.

yeah, I figured that would just be what we do. just call DIBS and its yours. there are SO many to choose from too...

rob

[12013]

Chiming in. I would have posted the synopsis I'm working on for the use of PUBLIC DOMAIN characters by now had we all decided upon if this was the course we wanted to take. I still think PD characters are the best bet for us as another step forward. A good chance to exercise our creative muscles and bring into the light of day some characters who have been long forgotten by a number of folks, longtime comics readers included. As I've mentioned, my basic premise is bringing these characters together, in smaller groups at first, then bringing those groups together to form a group not dissimilar to THE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA, THE AVENGERS, THE JUSTICE LEAGUE or THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN, a group with a the central goal of defeating one or more "big bads." I'm working on compiling a list of viable PD characters that we could use and how they can all interact and come together, basically acting a director, so to speak. IF this is the route we are all interested in going, let it be known and I'll be happy to post more of the details. I really enjoy working with you folks!:happy::happy:

the potential problem is that with this set up...sounds like it COULD be creatively limiting for some. if you are deciding the characters and laying out story elements, how they act and interact and come together, how much creative freedom are you taking away from people that may want to do their own thing that isn't dictated by someone else. not saying it couldn't work.. just that it might not be as fun. but that's for everyone else to decide ultimately. we need more feedback from everyone on their thoughts on what they would like to do in the Public Domain character idea..

[Bishop]

I agree. I think the response will be limited if one person has full creative control over the story and characters.

[Scribbly]

I was working over some public domain superheroes characters , the ones I thought were more workable.
Only to find out that not longer ago Marvel comics was using them in an already Marvel's published project: The Twelve.
The concept is quite similar to the idea I was cooking.
Bummer. :(
I hope these characters are still on public domain by now.

[Nico_arcu92]

So, has there been a topic for giving availability on this project? :D
I've been on here for three years, but really want to be much more part of the community, I'm already on board for the DW3, but this looks really fun too.
As far as the PD characters go, I feel they lend themselves to all kinds of stuff. Meta-narrative also.
These are old, forgotten characters, who once stood for something, and now need a new life, in an historical period where heroes (real life ones) seem to have totally disappeared, leaving us only with the ones who are products of our imagination.
Why not make a story about that?
So many roads to go down.

[NatMatt]

So, has there been a topic for giving availability on this project? :D
I've been on here for three years, but really want to be much more part of the community, I'm already on board for the DW3, but this looks really fun too.
As far as the PD characters go, I feel they lend themselves to all kinds of stuff. Meta-narrative also.
These are old, forgotten characters, who once stood for something, and now need a new life, in an historical period where heroes (real life ones) seem to have totally disappeared, leaving us only with the ones who are products of our imagination.
Why not make a story about that?
So many roads to go down.

I’m with Nico, I’ve been apart of DigitalWebbing for about five years and I’ve always wanted to contribute to a group project like this one and DWP3 (which according to Rob we’ll have to wait awhile to work on). I think the idea of working with public domain characters has a lot of potential though I also support Morganza’s idea of doing something original. Whatever you eventually settle on though, I’d love to contribute a few pages of my artwork (if you’ll have me of course). Like Ed said, don’t let this idea die.

[12013]

I’m with Nico, I’ve been apart of DigitalWebbing for about five years and I’ve always wanted to contribute to a group project like this one and DWP3 (which according to Rob we’ll have to wait awhile to work on). I think the idea of working with public domain characters has a lot of potential though I also support Morganza’s idea of doing something original. Whatever you eventually settle on though, I’d love to contribute a few pages of my artwork (if you’ll have me of course). Like Ed said, don’t let this idea die.

Awesome man. Glad to have you on board. Thats like..3-4 people so far.

[Duane Korslund]

i thought there were quite a few more...hmm /shrug yay!

[12013]

i thought there were quite a few more...hmm /shrug yay!

Well im talking about guys that said 100% onboard with whatever. There are a few that are at the moment that seem to want to participate abd a few that are in the fence it seems.


We need to nail down a concept and then i can throw up an official sign up thread.

[sevans]

100% whatever for me. I'll twist things to my taste anyway.

[12013]

so it seems people are mostly leaning towards the Public Domain characters.

but what should the THEME be?

Alien invasion? for a sci-fi vibe?

paranormal threat? for a ghost and horror type vibe?

super villain threat? for traditional superhero fun?

[SSTiger]

The thing with public domain characters is that a lot of them are from a lot of different settings that may not necessarily gel with each other. Putting Sherlock Holmes deducing things and and Mowgli talking to animals in the same story is unlikely to work well.

My suggestion would be that we stick to FANTASY public domain characters, and use a single kingdom/land as a domain, which comes under attack by an external force (the INVASION idea) and then each creative team picks their characters and tells the story of how that particular character deals with the threat in their part of the land.

For example; The Kingdom of <#We'llpickanamelater> is under attack by some sort of energy creatures (can be something else). The Kingdom is home to characters like Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Nemo (DIBS), The Big Bad Wolf, The Seven Dwarfs, etc. who all live in different places of the same country. The whole place is under attack, like Chitauri from the Avengers movie type attack.

If that is set up as the opening framing device, from there, everybody picks up the narrative for their own character(s). You can bring your own twist to the character you pick as well. Maybe Little Riding Hood herself was the wolf, and the animal was a Split Personality of her own mind? Something like that, entirely up to you.

After each character deals with the threat individually, maybe they come together to deal with the main "Flying Fortress" or whatever? Sort like a "Fables" meets "Fairy Tale Avengers" type deal for the conclusion.

What do you guys think?

[12013]

The thing with public domain characters is that a lot of them are from a lot of different settings that may not necessarily gel with each other. Putting Sherlock Holmes deducing things and and Mowgli talking to animals in the same story is unlikely to work well.

My suggestion would be that we stick to FANTASY public domain characters, and use a single kingdom/land as a domain, which comes under attack by an external force (the INVASION idea) and then each creative team picks their characters and tells the story of how that particular character deals with the threat in their part of the land.

For example; The Kingdom of <#We'llpickanamelater> is under attack by some sort of energy creatures (can be something else). The Kingdom is home to characters like Beauty and The Beast, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Nemo (DIBS), The Big Bad Wolf, The Seven Dwarfs, etc. who all live in different places of the same country. The whole place is under attack, like Chitauri from the Avengers movie type attack.

If that is set up as the opening framing device, from there, everybody picks up the narrative for their own character(s). You can bring your own twist to the character you pick as well. Maybe Little Riding Hood herself was the wolf, and the animal was a Split Personality of her own mind? Something like that, entirely up to you.

After each character deals with the threat individually, maybe they come together to deal with the main "Flying Fortress" or whatever? Sort like a "Fables" meets "Fairy Tale Avengers" type deal for the conclusion.

What do you guys think?

I can see that as an idea. tho I wonder if people might be more interested in a classic superhero concept. all the PD characters I looked up and are interested in are in the superhero/crime type stuff genre...

[SSTiger]

I wonder if people might be more interested in a classic superhero concept.

That's possible and I have no problem going in that direction. Are there enough superheroes in the public domain for everyone if we go with that?

[12013]

That's possible and I have no problem going in that direction. Are there enough superheroes in the public domain for everyone if we go with that?

well...from all the characters I looked up...not all of them are exactly "superheros" but they can all work in that genre together... like I was saying.. crime related characters, mystery guys, heroic guys in tights, I don't see why they cant all work together. they don't all have to exist in the time frame they were created in...they can and should be moved into a modern world, remade a bit/altered by the creators that use them to be a new version that will do what we need them to do.

at least...that's what I think could/should happen.

[sevans]

Agreed, if we are to use Public Domain characters, they should be used and updated.

[Scribbly]

This is what I think. First, we should make a list of these PD characters for everybody to know what are the characters available to work with.
Maybe just a link to the site where these characters are already listed.

Each participant should pick one or two or more heroes/ superheroes and work out his own self contained story.
Working on team or individually.
Making his own free version of the characters he/her may choose. As long the basic characteristics and MO of each character are respected.
As we did with Hellboy. The character's foe, enemy, villain should be also a free choice.

If two or more authors are picking up the same character/s it should be OK.
The nature of the danger or catastrophe these characters are facing and their story resolution, all this should be up to each author.
The possibilities could be unlimited.

This could be very fun.
Superhero Mash!
Domain Mash!

[12013]

This is what I think. First, we should make a list of these PD characters for everybody to know what are the characters available to work with.
Maybe just a link to the site where these characters are already listed.

Each participant should pick one or two or more heroes/ superheroes and work out his own self contained story.
Working on team or individually.
Making his own free version of the characters he/her may choose. As long the basic characteristics and MO of each character are respected.
As we did with Hellboy. The character's foe, enemy, villain should be also a free choice.

If two or more authors are picking up the same character/s it should be OK.
The nature of the danger or catastrophe these characters are facing and their story resolution, all this should be up to each author.
The possibilities could be unlimited.

This could be very fun.
Superhero Mash!
Domain Mash!

this is basically what I was thinking would work. the only think I was hoping we could figure out was SOME kind of thru line that connected everything..like the portal for Hellboy. its not needed ...as this idea by SCRIBBLY would totally work on its own.
but if there was some kind of "connective tissue"..i keep going back to the Heavy Metal movie, where that glowy whatever thing showed up in every story. something that connected them all. if anyone has a good idea, I think it would be fun to see if we can fit that into the project.

but beyond that, I think this idea that SCRIBBLY just described is the way to go.

rob

[NatMatt]

this is basically what I was thinking would work. the only think I was hoping we could figure out was SOME kind of thru line that connected everything..like the portal for Hellboy. its not needed ...as this idea by SCRIBBLY would totally work on its own.
but if there was some kind of "connective tissue"..i keep going back to the Heavy Metal movie, where that glowy whatever thing showed up in every story. something that connected them all. if anyone has a good idea, I think it would be fun to see if we can fit that into the project.

but beyond that, I think this idea that SCRIBBLY just described is the way to go.

rob

Personally, I think we should definitely consider going with Scribbly’s idea. I’d be on board if we’re working like that. As for connecting these stories, my two cents on the matter is to maybe treat this mash-up of the public domain characters as one continuing scenerio. Think one big giant battle with many different viewpoints going on at once. For example, one character can be in the center of it all while another will be on the sidelines. So one team or individual can be working on one part while another will tell the other. They could even begin to connect to one another. The only real problem I could see with this would be that there will have to be a lot of careful planning and collaboration involved so it’s just an idea for now.

[SSTiger]

^What would be the specifics of that, is what Rob is putting to the poll.

I got nothing in that particular context. Although... aren't there some beings from the Wildstorm universe that supposedly traverse the Bleed, invading and conquering other realities? I don't remember what they're called (it's like six in the morning and I'm too lazy to look it up) - maybe they could be our villains?

[sevans]

How about the Marauding Trumposaurus?

[Morganza]

Here's my idea of a global catastrophe that would include virtually every character.

The Earth is in chaos as time contracts and expands randomly, people and creatures from the past and future appear, the confusion flares up into battles among the population, a select few discover the anomaly and how to stop it.

[12013]

Here's my idea of a global catastrophe that would include virtually every character.

The Earth is in chaos as time contracts and expands randomly, people and creatures from the past and future appear, the confusion flares up into battles among the population, a select few discover the anomaly and how to stop it.

see I think this is starting to come together. this idea can work. still need to work out specifics, like WHAT the anomaly is and where it originates? I have this idea of some big burst of energy in space just outside earth orbit that ...I don't know..ruptures space/time... this can make different characters all interact together from different eras or places if needed. OR it can make it so a common enemy is attacking the characters in different places/times.

what could/would that threat be? rather than characters fighting each other? or...what? lots of possibilities.

keep throwing out ideas guys...

rob

[Scribbly]

I think the big anomaly, treat or catastrophe should be up to each author to decide.
WE already have characters to pick up and each character has its own powers and MO.

The premise should be: The superhero XXX saved the day from such XXX catastrophe.
To have all the stories connected by the same catastrophe or event would imply the making of each episode as part of
a general common plot for the whole book, walking away from the SELF CONCLUSIVE stories concept and this would slow down the ultimate resolution.

I think the goal is to play and bring back to life these FORGOTTEN Public Domain characters or the combination of some of then.

Example,

Mowgli and Sherlock Holmes against the Blue Zombies in Bangkok.
Or Captain Spark and The Black Spectra fighting against the invasion of Alien robots, or
Sheena and Mantra against the Ring of drug and sex traffickers, or
The Thunder and Magic boy against the Cybernetic Computer Hackers from Vilsvania.

Then get all these individual stories together in the same MASH book and BAAING !!!

[12013]

I think the big anomaly, treat or catastrophe should be up to each author to decide.
WE already have characters to pick up and each character has its own powers and MO.

The premise should be: The superhero XXX saved the day from such XXX catastrophe.
To have all the stories connected by the same catastrophe or event would imply the making of each episode as part of
a general common plot for the whole book, walking away from the SELF CONCLUSIVE stories concept and this would slow down the ultimate resolution.

I think the goal is to play and bring back to life these FORGOTTEN Public Domain characters or the combination of some of then.

Example,

Mowgli and Sherlock Holmes against the Blue Zombies in Bangkok.
Or Captain Spark and The Black Spectra fighting against the invasion of Alien robots, or
Sheena and Mantra against the Ring of drug and sex traffickers, or
The Thunder and Magic boy against the Cybernetic Computer Hackers from Vilsvania.

Then get all these individual stories together in the same MASH book and BAAING !!!

this can work. does anyone have any issues with doing this?

like ive said, I PERSONALLY like the idea of SOME kind of story-connecting element, just so it feels like its SORTA all linked somehow. (like the hellboy portal jumping element)

but it does not have to. we all just doing our own individual stories is perfectly fine and can be lots of fun. I would be on board for this if everyone else is.

[SSTiger]

Individual stories would be a lot less by way of headache; especially since this time each story can't pick up where another left off, like Monster Mash did. Any kind of "crossover" type storyline would need at least a few simultaneous events.

I vote for the Individual Stories idea, with the Time Anomaly Morg suggested as connecting link. Each story needs to be a self contained with its own villains/problems from the rip in space-time - Dinosaurs, Nazis, whatever - with only one or two stories dealing with the CAUSE of the anomaly. That would allow for characters from the past to appear in the present - and if we're planning on making this a regular thing, creators can choose to leave those characters "trapped" in the present, to continue the story for later issues.

Maybe the time anomaly is also opening rips in the multiverse, bringing all these characters together to a single canon/continuity? In case we do a crossover in the future.