Ok, let's have a little fun!! (ver. DC Comics)

[Baada]

Hopping around the Internet, both on Gaia and elsewhere, I've tripped over piles of feelings about DC Comics and the new 52. Some people are excited, but others want to know why they got this instead of that (such as why we didn't get the all-girls team book pitched by Gail Simone), and dear god, what is DC thinking? etc.

So I wanted to ask here on Gaia, if you had book at DC Comics (and didn't have to worry about getting canceled for screwy reasons), what would you do with it? Or rather, what sort of book would you love to see, who would it feature, and what would it be about? Think, premise, character(s), reasons, objective, etc. (note: this is for existing DC characters, not your fanfic babies if you have them).

It can be as detailed or not as you'd like. You don't have to provide a plot (but you can), just an idea and why you would like to see it, what it would mean to you, etc. You can even say what sort of creative team you'd like behind it.

If you have multiple ideas, you could post them too. If you see someone say something you like, but would like to add to their idea with the sort of things you would like to see, feel free! (And if you don't like what someone has to say, you can also express why it doesn't appeal to you). I would love for this to be interactive and friendly. smile

For example:

Quote:

I would love a book or miniseries with younger Bat-family team-ups (not just the Robins, but the women as well). There would be lots of bonding and rotational pairings, have characters like Cass and Jason working together on one thing, or Damian and Barbara. And there would be Wayne Manor parties and Alfred cookies and.

It would serve to show these different characters contrasted against one another, but also show the elements they have in common. It would be a book that ultimately demonstrates the family that Batman inadvertently engineered over the years, and the good he did for all of these different characters. (And of course there would be some epic plotline too brilliant to summarize here). It would be something like Batman's Legacy (not to imply he's dead).

Also, I'd have Joshua Middleton or Marcus To on the art. In a perfect world, maybe Steve McNiven, though lately his artistic style seems to favor more mature characters and anyway those Marvel bastards have been hogging him.

--- An Aside ---

Part of the reason I am doing this is to see what fans are craving/want to see, verses what the company is offering, and what the company thinks that fans want to see. It is my opinion that creators are not always fully aware of the thing they have created, or what it means to fans, or how fans absorb it and evaluate it. Sometimes creators do understand, which is, I think, where the breakout characters come from. Other times they are not; enter, Fan Backlash, and the campaign to revive Stephanie Brown, etc.

If this proves fruitful, maybe someone wants to start up a Marvel Comics thread of the same purpose.

[Drago_the_Blackrose]

Oh Man..

I think If I had a DC book it Would have to Feature Characters that havn't or kind of had there proper time in the sun but it didn't last long enough.

This to me happens in a lot of DC books when I finally like the characters but they are pulled.

I would love to see the New Outsiders lead by Red Robin.

I am not sure if any of the rest of you guys were reading The Outsiders/Batman Inc when it came to its end.

But the team was to be lead by Red Robin and it would feature:

Objective: A Cool Spy Espionage book.. where they take on the Mission that the League Can't Handle. However it would pull Red Robin off that terrible Teen Titans book.. and If need be pull KAtana from the line up and drop Cassandra Cain or Stephanie in the group.. That would be lovely...

[Captain Mantis]

I'd try to make a crossover with Marvel.
They weren't uncommon prior to this millennium, actually, and I'd love to see some more.
I feel like it would help diffuse the ridiculous polarization of several comic fans who are loyal to one company and feel that they aren't allowed to read comics from the other as a result.

So I'd aim for a Captain America and Wonder Woman crossover since that's one of my ships.
I realize that aiming for a romance between the two would be out of the question, though I think they'd make a pretty good team since they're both powerhouses dressed in spangly uniforms.
Not to mention I want to see Diana show Steve up.

[Captain Talavar]

Coming at this from the scenario that I'm writing these titles, and have more creative freedom than DC has been giving their writers lately, and without having to worry about continuity between titles, I have a few titles in mind. Here's on in particular I'd like to do.

Manhunter From Mars. It'd be sort of inspired by Kolchack the Night Stalker, Twilight Zone, Quatermass, a little X-Files, along with detective fiction by guys like Hammett and Chandler, and a tiny little sprinkling of Hellboy.

Set in the 1950s. It would focus on private detective John Jones as he solves crimes with a weird, supernatural bent to them, usually on the science fiction side of things. You'd only get glimpses here and there of his Martian form, never really getting a good look at it. Each arc would basically be a new case for him, however there would be ramifications from some cases that would follow John throughout the series, particularly as he tries to hide the fact that he's a Martian.

John would face robots and aliens and mutants and mad scientists and all sorts of crazy things, but it wouldn't be so clear-cut and black-and-white as the standard 50s alien invasion story. In other words, the aliens and monsters aren't always the bad guys. And yes, I'd like to dive into some other characters with connections to him, like his "cousins" from Saturn for example, and Adam Strange would probably show up.

In terms of setting, 1950s Los Angeles. The Hollywood scene, the gangsters, the Red Scare, all of that stuff would be touched on, as well as the growing interest in UFOs. Some famous UFO cases may even be referenced or used as inspiration for story arcs.

Artist in mind? Francesco Francavilla. Check out some of his stuff here and you'll see what I mean. Take a look at his "Watchers from Outer Space" collection and his "Mad Doctors" in particular. Though, really, all of his artwork is fantastic. He's one of my favorite artists working right now. Take a look at his blog Pulp Sunday for some more.

[Miss-dark8607]

Because women in DC are being treated so shamelessly these days. I would try to do what Marvel did a few years ago? With the whole Women of DC stuff. I would like have a showcase of all the DC women as well as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wondergirl team up. (Using all versions of said characters) Have all the women editors, writers, inkers, artists and so on. Would also want another Gotham Girl comic and maybe the underused Vixen.

Throw in some of the Milestone characters again too.

[Captain Talavar]

Miss-dark8607

Because women in DC are being treated so shamelessly these days. I would try to do what Marvel did a few years ago? With the whole Women of DC stuff. I would like have a showcase of all the DC women as well as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wondergirl team up. (Using all versions of said characters) Have all the women editors, writers, inkers, artists and so on. Would also want another Gotham Girl comic and maybe the underused Vixen.

Throw in some of the Milestone characters again too.

There's another idea. Vixen. I'd love to see her in her own book. I'd do it as a sort of hybridization of old school jungle comics and jungle fiction, the quintessential example being anything Tarzan-related, and what I call "African Noir" which can be seen in books like Vertigo's recent Unknown Soldier and films like Blood Diamond, only not necessarily as dark and violent. The cheesecake "jungle girl" thing has its place, like Shanna the She-Devil and a book actually called Jungle Girl, but while there might be a very tiny bit of that aspect in there, speaking only in terms of visuals, I wouldn't really travel down that road. I'm more interested in the society and the politics in the region, and how Vixen might interact with all of that, and where her place would be in all of that. And of course, again, I wouldn't neglect all other DC characters. Characters like B'wana Beast would show up from time to time, and occasionally even weirder characters like Gorilla Grodd.

[Miss-dark8607]

Captain Talavar

Miss-dark8607

Because women in DC are being treated so shamelessly these days. I would try to do what Marvel did a few years ago? With the whole Women of DC stuff. I would like have a showcase of all the DC women as well as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wondergirl team up. (Using all versions of said characters) Have all the women editors, writers, inkers, artists and so on. Would also want another Gotham Girl comic and maybe the underused Vixen.

Throw in some of the Milestone characters again too.

There's another idea. Vixen. I'd love to see her in her own book. I'd do it as a sort of hybridization of old school jungle comics and jungle fiction, the quintessential example being anything Tarzan-related, and what I call "African Noir" which can be seen in books like Vertigo's recent Unknown Soldier and films like Blood Diamond, only not necessarily as dark and violent. The cheesecake "jungle girl" thing has its place, like Shanna the She-Devil and a book actually called Jungle Girl, but while there might be a very tiny bit of that aspect in there, speaking only in terms of visuals, I wouldn't really travel down that road. I'm more interested in the society and the politics in the region, and how Vixen might interact with all of that, and where her place would be in all of that. And of course, again, I wouldn't neglect all other DC characters. Characters like B'wana Beast would show up from time to time, and occasionally even weirder characters like Gorilla Grodd.

Hmm I guess. I was just going to put in her the urban and back in the wilds across the world. Kind of have her work with the WWF and go around fighting off the poachers and stuff. (the animal one not the wrestling brand) sweatdrop

[GLJordan]

Captain Mantis

I'd try to make a crossover with Marvel.
They weren't uncommon prior to this millennium, actually, and I'd love to see some more.
I feel like it would help diffuse the ridiculous polarization of several comic fans who are loyal to one company and feel that they aren't allowed to read comics from the other as a result.

So I'd aim for a Captain America and Wonder Woman crossover since that's one of my ships.
I realize that aiming for a romance between the two would be out of the question, though I think they'd make a pretty good team since they're both powerhouses dressed in spangly uniforms.
Not to mention I want to see Diana show Steve up.

I had an idea for a maxi series staring these two called Time After Time. It starts with their first meeting during world war 2 and went to "present" day.

[GLJordan]

Drago_the_Blackrose

Oh Man..

I think If I had a DC book it Would have to Feature Characters that havn't or kind of had there proper time in the sun but it didn't last long enough.

This to me happens in a lot of DC books when I finally like the characters but they are pulled.

I would love to see the New Outsiders lead by Red Robin.

I am not sure if any of the rest of you guys were reading The Outsiders/Batman Inc when it came to its end.

But the team was to be lead by Red Robin and it would feature:

Objective: A Cool Spy Espionage book.. where they take on the Mission that the League Can't Handle. However it would pull Red Robin off that terrible Teen Titans book.. and If need be pull KAtana from the line up and drop Cassandra Cain or Stephanie in the group.. That would be lovely...

Katanna is a must for Outsiders.

[Captain Talavar]

Miss-dark8607

Captain Talavar

Miss-dark8607

Because women in DC are being treated so shamelessly these days. I would try to do what Marvel did a few years ago? With the whole Women of DC stuff. I would like have a showcase of all the DC women as well as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wondergirl team up. (Using all versions of said characters) Have all the women editors, writers, inkers, artists and so on. Would also want another Gotham Girl comic and maybe the underused Vixen.

Throw in some of the Milestone characters again too.

There's another idea. Vixen. I'd love to see her in her own book. I'd do it as a sort of hybridization of old school jungle comics and jungle fiction, the quintessential example being anything Tarzan-related, and what I call "African Noir" which can be seen in books like Vertigo's recent Unknown Soldier and films like Blood Diamond, only not necessarily as dark and violent. The cheesecake "jungle girl" thing has its place, like Shanna the She-Devil and a book actually called Jungle Girl, but while there might be a very tiny bit of that aspect in there, speaking only in terms of visuals, I wouldn't really travel down that road. I'm more interested in the society and the politics in the region, and how Vixen might interact with all of that, and where her place would be in all of that. And of course, again, I wouldn't neglect all other DC characters. Characters like B'wana Beast would show up from time to time, and occasionally even weirder characters like Gorilla Grodd.

Hmm I guess. I was just going to put in her the urban and back in the wilds across the world. Kind of have her work with the WWF and go around fighting off the poachers and stuff. (the animal one not the wrestling brand) sweatdrop

Well, we all have our own takes, don't we? sweatdrop

[Miss-dark8607]

Captain Talavar

Miss-dark8607

Captain Talavar

Miss-dark8607

Because women in DC are being treated so shamelessly these days. I would try to do what Marvel did a few years ago? With the whole Women of DC stuff. I would like have a showcase of all the DC women as well as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wondergirl team up. (Using all versions of said characters) Have all the women editors, writers, inkers, artists and so on. Would also want another Gotham Girl comic and maybe the underused Vixen.

Throw in some of the Milestone characters again too.

There's another idea. Vixen. I'd love to see her in her own book. I'd do it as a sort of hybridization of old school jungle comics and jungle fiction, the quintessential example being anything Tarzan-related, and what I call "African Noir" which can be seen in books like Vertigo's recent Unknown Soldier and films like Blood Diamond, only not necessarily as dark and violent. The cheesecake "jungle girl" thing has its place, like Shanna the She-Devil and a book actually called Jungle Girl, but while there might be a very tiny bit of that aspect in there, speaking only in terms of visuals, I wouldn't really travel down that road. I'm more interested in the society and the politics in the region, and how Vixen might interact with all of that, and where her place would be in all of that. And of course, again, I wouldn't neglect all other DC characters. Characters like B'wana Beast would show up from time to time, and occasionally even weirder characters like Gorilla Grodd.

Hmm I guess. I was just going to put in her the urban and back in the wilds across the world. Kind of have her work with the WWF and go around fighting off the poachers and stuff. (the animal one not the wrestling brand) sweatdrop

Well, we all have our own takes, don't we? sweatdrop

Which is why these characters live on and on and what makes good storytelling. However, the point DC seem to be missing these days is that as long as you keep the CORE concept of the character fans won't have VALID complaints to throw at you at every turn.

[Comicsandslushies]

Hm, well if I had a DC Book I'd write what I like, which is horror and the supernatural, it would kinda be like Hellblazer and Sandman.

It would be a anthology series about people in the DC Universe dealing with the weird and supernatural stuff in the DC Universe. John Constantine and Zatana would show up a periodically along with the other Magic users of the universe. Though It would be more fun to focus on the non supernatural affiliated heroes and villains dealing with Magic when they normally don't.

Stories like The Fae trying to get Poison Ivy on their side and help them, only for Ivy to find out they just want her as a pet.

Or another story could be a villain dealing with a haunted hideout and finding some way to get rid of the ghost, or a hero falling into fairyland or something like it and having to follow the rules of the land to find a way back home even if the rules mean they would have to do things against their moral code.

[Baada]

Captain Talavar

Set in the 1950s. It would focus on private detective John Jones as he solves crimes with a weird, supernatural bent to them, usually on the science fiction side of things. You'd only get glimpses here and there of his Martian form, never really getting a good look at it. Each arc would basically be a new case for him, however there would be ramifications from some cases that would follow John throughout the series, particularly as he tries to hide the fact that he's a Martian.

John would face robots and aliens and mutants and mad scientists and all sorts of crazy things, but it wouldn't be so clear-cut and black-and-white as the standard 50s alien invasion story. In other words, the aliens and monsters aren't always the bad guys. And yes, I'd like to dive into some other characters with connections to him, like his "cousins" from Saturn for example, and Adam Strange would probably show up.

I'm actually not much one for blast-from-the-past stories set during the 20th century, but this sounds very appealing to me. It could make a fantastic origin story for J'onn. I know he has detective origins in the Silver Age comics, but if a scenario such as this with sophisticated storytelling could happen I'd be very interested.

GLJordan

Captain Mantis

I'd try to make a crossover with Marvel.
They weren't uncommon prior to this millennium, actually, and I'd love to see some more.
I feel like it would help diffuse the ridiculous polarization of several comic fans who are loyal to one company and feel that they aren't allowed to read comics from the other as a result.

So I'd aim for a Captain America and Wonder Woman crossover since that's one of my ships.
I realize that aiming for a romance between the two would be out of the question, though I think they'd make a pretty good team since they're both powerhouses dressed in spangly uniforms.
Not to mention I want to see Diana show Steve up.

I had an idea for a maxi series staring these two called Time After Time. It starts with their first meeting during world war 2 and went to "present" day.

I APPROVE. As much as I've seen, I should think it would be default of most to pair Superman and Captain America, the so-called "boy scouts" of their respective universes, but in fact WW and CA have far more parallels and far more to work with. A book with random encounters between them over time, displaying a deep and sophisticated relationship, would be incredible, and to me the definition of a Marvel/DC crossover done properly.

[Maki_P]

Oh Man so many ideas!
First a book for Stephanie Brown and another one for Cassandra Caine; next a romantic comedy series about Lois Lane and Clark Kent, kind of like Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. Then a High School drama thing for the Titans. A book about Wally West, obviously; and maybe a miniseries about Donna Troy that might lead into an ongoing. Then Birds of Prey with Helena Bertillini, (Helena Wayne can stay, though) and Babs back as Oracle (in or out of the chair, I don't care so long as she gets to be Oracle). And what about a Team-up book with ever changing artists?
And a JSA book set in the 40s and 50s and another in the present.

And let's not forget! The Multiverse! A bit like the Exiles, heroes travel across the Multiverse fixing continuity issues or something, including Earth-3's Red Hood; with maybe Rip Hunter and Booster Gold as leaders or something. Oh! And a Time Masters Book! With an old wizened Booster Gold as Mentor! (And Rani as muscle)

[Captain Talavar]

CelestialChild

Captain Talavar

Set in the 1950s. It would focus on private detective John Jones as he solves crimes with a weird, supernatural bent to them, usually on the science fiction side of things. You'd only get glimpses here and there of his Martian form, never really getting a good look at it. Each arc would basically be a new case for him, however there would be ramifications from some cases that would follow John throughout the series, particularly as he tries to hide the fact that he's a Martian.

John would face robots and aliens and mutants and mad scientists and all sorts of crazy things, but it wouldn't be so clear-cut and black-and-white as the standard 50s alien invasion story. In other words, the aliens and monsters aren't always the bad guys. And yes, I'd like to dive into some other characters with connections to him, like his "cousins" from Saturn for example, and Adam Strange would probably show up.

I'm actually not much one for blast-from-the-past stories set during the 20th century, but this sounds very appealing to me. It could make a fantastic origin story for J'onn. I know he has detective origins in the Silver Age comics, but if a scenario such as this with sophisticated storytelling could happen I'd be very interested.

I've always personally felt that the key to the success of minor superheroes is as simple as a little genre experimenting. Heck, even the mainstream heroes. I think that keeping the superhero to a specific "superhero genre" in and of itself is creatively limiting, and on top of that, limiting the stories to "modern day" is also creatively limiting. Change up some of the genre conventions, put them in different time periods. Ultimately it would create a much richer line-up. Too many superhero comics are just bland and boring because too much attention is paid to making DC or Marvel a single coherent universe as opposed to a brand, a publisher that offers a variety of comics.

Another example: Etrigan. Etrigan may not work in your standard "superhero genre" stuff, but put him in a world inspired by a gothic horror movie with some Lovecraftian/Kirbyesque overtones and he may flourish. Batman's already been shown to work well in gritty crime stories, but what about an old dark house chiller like The Cat and The Canary? Might work well for an OGN. Superman's had trouble lately, but put him in an old school pulp-inspired world akin to The Rocketeer and I bet his book would be more successful.

And yes, that's "book". If you ask me, you should get one book per superhero. One Batman book, one Superman book. One Green Lantern book. Make Action Comics and Detective Comics anthologies again, designed to try and bring in new heroes from new creative talent. MAYBE do Batman and Superman in those books now and then, but certainly not as the main attraction.