Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.creative From: Tom Russell Date: Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:35:34 +0000 (UTC) Local: Thurs, Feb 11 2010 10:35 am Subject: 8FOLD/META: YOU can help write JOLT CITY # 19! HEY, TOM, WHAT ARE ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH A SHARED UNIVERSE? Hello, there! Why, I'm glad you asked. One of the problems with a shared universe is that other characters in that universe often have to arbitrarily act like dicks in order to not upstage the hero of a given title or story. You know what I'm talking about: Batman's fighting Cthulhu for the fate of not just Gotham City but the world, if not the universe, a threat that could ably be met by the combined forces of the Justice League, but it's up to Batman alone because we're reading DETECTIVE COMICS. It makes for a more impressive story-- holy crap, Batman's so bad-ass that he just beat Cthulhu single-handledly!-- but kinda breaks the universe just a little bit. It's not quite as believable. One reason why Darkhorse, Jolt City's other hero, was put into traction back in # 11, besides to show how bad-ass Martin Rock can be-- holy crap, he just put Darkhorse into traction!-- was to remove him from the equation temporarily. Problems that are nearly insurmountable for the Green Knight barely require effort for Darkhorse to solve. (Which is kinda the point of Darkhorse, and kinda the point of having him in Jolt City-- to make Martin feel inadequate.) In the next issue of JOLT CITY, which is (I think) nearing completion, Martin finds himself face-to-face with a threat that is so massive, even he readily admits he's out of his league. He turns to the still- on-the-mend Darkhorse and asks him to call in some favours-- contacting other heroes and asking for their help. And this is where YOU come in. REALLY? HOW MIGHT I BE OF ASSISTANCE? I'm looking for short vingettes (5-15 lines at max) in which a hero of your own creation is approached via phone by Darkhorse to help the Green Knight. Said hero turns him down. To make it interesting, however, I *don't* want to do the "I'd love to help, but I'm fighting to save the universe from this other threat" schtick. What I'd like is for the heroes to actually act like, well, dicks. WHAT VARIETY OF DICKERY DO YOU PREFER? Really anything you can think of that doesn't cross the line into anti- superhero cynicism. Maybe they don't like the anti-social Green Knight. Maybe they're hesistant to get involved with the crime-ridden metropolis in decline (think of it as asking someone to come and save Detroit). Maybe tonight's his/her special night with their fella/ lady, or perhaps they're even in mid-coitus. Perhaps they're forthright about it, or perhaps they try to weasel their way out ("Sure, I'd love to... but I've got this thing, you know, and...") That much is up to you. WHAT'S THE THREAT? At this point in the story, it's pretty vague, but the information that your characters would have is that there is at least one, and possibly more, Doc-Class super-beings wreaking havoc. Now, before you ask what "Doc-Class" means... HEY, TOM, WHAT DOES "DOC-CLASS" MEAN? Rassum-frassum. Doc-Class means the character is considered to be near, at, or above the power-level of Docrates, a cat that's acknowledged to be the Most Powerful Mammal in the Universe. Think of it, basically, as a Superman-level character. PRE- OR POST-CRISIS? Which crisis? YOU KNOW WHICH CRISIS. DON'T BE DIFFICULT. Just, look-- really, really powerful, no one else like 'em on earth, out of everyone's league, basically-- which could very well be another reason why your hero doesn't want to get involved. Several Evil Supermen on what appears to be an unstoppable rampage of murder and destruction. WOW, SHIT JUST GOT SERIOUS. It certainly did. WHAT ABOUT THE RIGHTS-TYPE STUFF? You would retain all rights to your character, and if you'd like to flesh them out in an Eightfold title of their own, hey, that's cool and the gang. (And if you'd like to use one of my throwaway-idea characters, be my guest.) All that I ask is that if this portion of Jolt City finds itself published in what Saxon endearingly called "deadtree format", that I get to publish your contributions as part of the story (you will, of course, be credited within the book for both your character and contribution). THAT SOUNDS EMINENTLY REASONABLE! Well, thank you. I try. MIGHT I ADD THAT I LIKE YOUR NEW HAIRCUT? Thanks! I'll tell my wife. And let me say that that's a fetching tie and/or skirt you have there, sir or madam! AW, THANKS. SO, WHEN DO YOU NEED THIS BY? The sooner the better, frankly. Maybe a week or two from now? One vingette per person-- so we have enough room for everyone who wants to get involved to do so without slowing down the story's momentum (such as it is). ==Tom ... Author's Note: Rejected! Not from any failing of its own, but Tom reconsidered how well vignettes fit in with the story after seeing this one. Still, this *is* a story from his universe, and Tom *is* looking for stories again... Hello, Mighty Medley! I now have *two* stories for you! --- Help Line! Darkhorse had asked his secretary if she could handle this call for help. So she looked up the toll-free help line and called. "Hello, you've reached the Power Patrol hot line. If you know your party's extension, please dial it at any time. Otherwise, press 1 for emergency and 2 for the business office." "... If you are calling from 120 Central Avenue, Jolt City, press 1. Otherwise, please hold." "... You are being transferred to the Power Patrol emergency hot line. Please hold." "... You will now be transferred to a Power Patrol operator. Your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes." "... Hello, how may I help you?" "... I'm sorry, the Powernaut is not available. What is your emergency?" "... Superhuman attack. How many attackers?" "... You aren't certain. Okay, let me enter that in..." "... The computers are being a bit slow today. Just a minute..." "... We'll dispatch Dermis to your location on patrol." "... No, not Dennis, his name is Dermis. That's D-E-R-M-I-S. He can control his own skin." "... I'm sorry, no, the Powernaut is away from the phone right now. Would you like me to connect you to his voice mail?" - click - ... She'd have to get her boss to handle this. ... Personal Line! Darkhorse dialed the direct line for the Power Patrol's administrator. "Darkhorse? Skyhawk. You know I owe you, bud. But I still couldn't raise the Powernaut. You know, the big guy never answers his phone when he's on a mission." "... Yeah, we have one telepath on the team. I *asked* him to wake Powernaut up, you know I did. But funny thing is, he told me no Jolt City thing could be important enough to interrupt the Powernaut." "... Yeah, I told him he had to do it anyway. And he tried, but he told me there was telepathic static so he couldn't. And I believed him. I know it sounds silly, but I always believe him when I talk to him." "... You know, we can't release the secret ID's of our personnel. But I can at least tell you, this name starts with Kwame. Maybe you can do something about him. I just can't work with the guy." "... Yeah, I'll send the team out looking for the Powernaut. Hell, I'll go myself. But you know, we just can't keep up with him." "... Well, good luck, and I'll let you know if anything changes." ... Eiler Technical Enterprises hereby grants permission to Tom Russell and Eightfold Comics for non-exclusive use of Kwame, Skyhawk, the Powernaut, the Power Patrol, and even Dermis. We've established that the Powernaut exists outside of traditional multiversal continuua, so he actually could show up in Eightfold Comics just like he's crossed over with the LNH. But we've also established, nobody's interested in Dermis. 8{C>