As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
Graphic Violence Presents Contest: Silver Age Heroes and Villains! DEADLINE OVER
DJ Eebs
Moderator, Administrator admin
Moderator, Administrator admin
Welcome to the first Graphic Violence Presents: Create a Super Hero/Villain contest! Before I get into the rules, I want to emphasize that since this is the first edition, there are probably still issues to be worked out. Hopefully we can get them worked out as we go!
The Theme for the first week is: WACKY SILVER AGE ORIGIN. The Silver Age produced some of the most iconic characters in comics. It also produced some of the weirdest. Tap into that wackiness. You can make heroes or villains.
Here are THE RULES:
And here are some GUIDELINES:
Your entry should contain the following:
You aren't required to include all of these categories, and you may add more, but these should work as basic guidelines.
The deadline for entries is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, August 5th, before midnight Central time.
If enough people feel that isn't enough time, I can move it, but I think nine days should probably be enough.
BONUS FOR THOSE WHO SUCK AT ART
Here's a link to HeroMachine, where you can do simplified hero designs. It ain't perfect, but it'll do!
The Theme for the first week is: WACKY SILVER AGE ORIGIN. The Silver Age produced some of the most iconic characters in comics. It also produced some of the weirdest. Tap into that wackiness. You can make heroes or villains.
Here are THE RULES:
- Follow basic rules of the forums. That means no porn, no use of things like the N-bomb, etc. Check the rules thread for basic ideas.
- All entries must be able to fit in the character limit of a single post. That's more than enough space.
- Link to images over 200k. Make thumbnails if you have to.
- You can make two entries. If you do, one must be a hero, and one must be a villain. We'll have separate polls for each.
And here are some GUIDELINES:
Your entry should contain the following:
- The name of your hero or villain.
- A drawing and/or description of the appearance of your hero or villain.
- An origin story and/or biography of your character.
- Powers and abilities, etc.
You aren't required to include all of these categories, and you may add more, but these should work as basic guidelines.
The deadline for entries is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, August 5th, before midnight Central time.
If enough people feel that isn't enough time, I can move it, but I think nine days should probably be enough.
BONUS FOR THOSE WHO SUCK AT ART
Here's a link to HeroMachine, where you can do simplified hero designs. It ain't perfect, but it'll do!
DJ Eebs on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Origin: Though born into a life of privilege, many would argue that Phineas Henry's childhood was anything but. The son of two of the wealthiest, preeminent superscientists in the world, the boy was thrust into the limelight at an early age, and expected to meet his parents' impossibly high standards. Nevertheless, the boy, a natural prodigy, thrived under the tutelage of his mother and father. In his adolescent years, he'd already amassed a body of knowledge that would have taken other men decades to accumulate. By the time he was a teenager, he'd traveled the globe as Phin Henry, Boy Adventurer, studying a broad variety of subjects, under some of the greatest minds on Earth. More importantly, during his travels he came to witness the suffering of people around the world, assailed by pestilence, war, and famine, instilling in him a powerful drive to use his genius for the betterment of others.
Constantly beset by invasive paparazzi, mindless groupies, harsh tutors, and worst of all, his fastidious parents, young men of weaker character might have buckled under the strain, and lost themselves amid a haze of sex, drugs, and debauchery. But, while Phin Henry could be called many things, weak was never one of them; he outwardly bore his burden with grace and and aplomb, never losing sight of his mission to enrich the world through science.
Having distanced himself from his overbearing parents by age twenty, Phin had independently amassed a small fortune, and become a respected science adventurer, known worldwide not only for his swashbuckling feats of derring do, but also his countless acts of compassion and philanthropy. He had even found love with fellow science adventurer-turned-fiancée Tara Tesla, following a fruitful partnership battling werelemurs in Madagascar. After a childhood most often defined by strife and and discord, Phin believed, as super geniuses are wont to do, that he had the rest of his adult life planned out.
It was then that life, as it is wont to do, opted to make other plans.
It was two years ago that Phineas Edward Henry received a distress signal from his parents' Midtown Manhattan laboratory. Despite pleas from his fiancee, and an unusual, troubling churning in the pit of his stomach, Phin rushed to their aid. Upon his arrival, he discovered something as amazing as it was horrifying; his parents had, via a massive expenditure of energy, torn open a hole in space and time, opening a portal to a parallel dimension. The downside? The nuclear reactor powering the experiment had begun to suffer a catastrophic meltdown, endangering not only the Henry family, but everyone in New York.
With the city soon to become the tragic sequel to Chernobyl, the three scientists pooled their genius intellects, creating a machine to absorb, and then expel, the nuclear energy harmlessly into the parallel dimension. The ever responsible Phineas, wanting to ensure that nothing went awry, volunteered to operate the device. Boldly he strode before the reactor, the device clutched in his trembling hands, his mind on the woman he loved, and the countless lives that depended on his success. Muttering a prayer, he activated the device.
Three weeks later, he awoke in a hospital bed, his beloved Tara Tesla beside him. She smiled as she told him of how he had saved New York City, averting the catastrophe inadvertently engineered by his parents. Tears pooled in her eyes as she placed her hand on his curiously numb chest, stuttering an explanation about how there had been an -- an accident. How the device that saved New York had, having accomplished its purpose, suffered a sudden, unexpected overload, exploding in Phin's hands. Tara told him about how it had propelled a piece of irradiated shrapnel directly into his frontal lobes, emerging through the back of his skull. Tears hanging in her eyes, she talked about how the world had stood still as it waited, breathlessly, to see if one of its most beloved heroes had fallen. Finally, she told him that, though the shrapnel had been removed, the radiation had an unforeseen effect on his body. Her tears finally fell as she raised a mirror.
Phineas Henry looked into it. A monster looked back.
Since then, the once beloved hero has never been the same. Some say it was the brain damage. Some say it was the radiation, or one of the many physical changes that resulted from it. Or maybe it was just dissatisfaction with a life that had repeatedly dealt him a poor hand. But one thing's for certain; ever since that day, Phineas Henry has been mad at the world.
Tara's long since left him, unable to cope as he finally succumbed to the vices that had beckoned him his entire life; drugs, alcohol, women, and violence have become staples of his day to day existence. He still has his intellect, and his fortune, but both only serve to feed his own base, primal urges. Now he wanders the Earth, feeding the monster that lives inside him. The world at large thinks he's gone crazy, just another celebrity who let the lifestyle go to their head, and now has nothing left to offer polite society.
So why is it that, across the world, reports continue to surface of a mysterious giant, appearing without warning to mete out harsh justice against those who would oppress the meek?
Two years ago Phineas Edward Henry died.
And Phineas Rage was born!
Physical Appearance: A handsome, strapping young man prior to his transformation, Phineas stood 6'2" with shaggy brown hair that hung down to his neck, and icy green eyes. Enjoying fine clothing, he could most often be seen wearing clothing reminiscent of decades past; suits, vests, slacks, leather shoes, and ties were the norm.
As Phineas Rage, he still enjoys the same style of clothing he once did, though it's now all custom-made by a trusted tailor, and it tends to suffer blood, food, and alcohol stains far more often than it once did. Physically, Phineas now stands nearly ten feet tall, with a massive, wide frame packed with dense muscle. Though the radiation exposure robbed him of all his body hair, it did give his skin, and the irises of his eyes, a bright red hue.
Powers and Abilities: While he still retains the intelligence and skills he possessed as Phineas Henry, his impulsiveness and explosive temper make it far more difficult for Phineas Rage to utilize those attributes as well as he once did. Instead, he now tends to rely on his immense strength, size, and durability to see him through any altercations or problems he encounters. An unwelcome side effect of Phin's tremendous durability is that he is, for all intents and purposes, numb to normal physical stimuli.
Coming Soon: What happened to the radiation expelled into the parallel universe, and why are the natives so very, very pissed off?
Hint: It woke something up.
Why does Phineas keep remembering details of his accident that are incongruous with what his parents said occurred?
Hint: Pragmatic superscientists can be shady sons'a bitches.
Who is Tara Tesla's new boyfriend, and why is Phineas Rage so pissed off about it?
Hint: He was once part of Phin Henry's (short-lived) Boy Adventurer Club.
How does Phineas Rage cope when he realizes there are gaps in his scientific knowledge, where there once wasn't?
Hint: Beer and bitches.
I'll be adding an illustration for the character in the next couple of days, but I wanted to go ahead and get the thread rolling.
Hope you didn't hate it!
Tumblr Twitter
It is a very good entry, and I'll be excited to see your artistic rendition.
Henry O'Henry was an unlucky man. From his unfortunate name, to the early age limp he developed when he broke his leg and it never healed properly, to the day his parents survived a freak boating accident -- and then were eaten by sharks, Henry never had a good day in his life.
That all changed one lousy afternoon when he was walking home from work in the rain, because he flushed his car keys down the toilet. The storm began to subside and a rainbow appeared in the sky, and descended to the ground near where he was walking. Henry limped over to investigate, and was greeted by a leprechaun who called himself Fitzington.
Fitzington was standing by a Pot of Gold and told Henry O'Henry that he would give him one golden coin and that his luck had changed. For one full year, Henry would have the Luck of the Irish. However, the Luck was not permanent and at the end of one year, he would need to find the leprechaun and the Pot of Gold again to get another golden coin.
The first year went by rapidly for O'Henry. His limp went away and he didn't need to walk with a cane anymore. He won the lottery the day after meeting Fitzington and bought himself a new sports car. He met and married a super model and was living what he thought was the dream life. But he wasn't satisfied. He felt like he should be doing more with his life than simply cruising along living the easy life.
At the end of the first year, his golden coin started to get darker and darker, until it was almost black. Luckily for O'Henry, a thunderstorm broke out on the last day of the year, and another rainbow appeared in the sky. O'Henry got in his fancy sports car and went racing after the end of the rainbow. After a long drive into the countryside he finally found it, and sure enough, Fitzington was there with his Pot of Gold.
This time O'Henry asked Fitzington for some advice. What should he do with his life? Fitzington's response was that he should use the Luck of the Irish to make the world a better place.
O'Henry thought a long time about what he could do to make the world a better place, and he decided that if there were no more crime, the wold would be a safer place to live. Henry fashioned himself a costume and hit the streets, bringing down criminals as The Green Clover.
Powers: Henry O'Henry has the Luck of the Irish, or L.O.T.I. for short, which allows incredibly fortunate and unlikely events to happen in his favor. Bullets that are on target will mysteriously miss him. Villains will suddenly have to go the the bathroom so badly that they surrender so they can relieve their bladders.
He also has limited powers of conjuration and transmogrification. For instance, if he needs a broom to suddenly be on the ground to trip a villain, a broom might mysteriously appear. Or perhaps he is holding an object, such as a spatula, but he really needs it to be a crossbow, he might suddenly find that his spatula has in fact become a crossbow.
Limitations: The L.O.T.I. only lasts for one year and then O'Henry must find the Leprechaun and get a new golden coin.
The Dark Years:
The Green Clover had a very successful career as a crime fighter until one day, a new villain appeared in town named Bad Omen.
Bad Omen had an uncanny knack for giving other people really bad luck. He set up an elaborate scheme in which he managed to cancel out and overpower O'Henry's L.O.T.I. with his own curse of bad luck. He lured O'Henry into his lair, by which he used Green Clover's own good luck against him. O'Henry narrowly avoided being crushed by a falling piano by ducking under a ladder, which was rigged to fall over, causing a mirror to break, which scared a cat, which knocked over a salt shaker, spilling some salt.
When his year was up, it did not rain, and O'Henry did not find Fitzington or the Pot of Gold.
Many years went by, and Henry O'Henry's life began to fall apart. His limp returned, his wife left him and his money began to run short. In a last, desperate attempt to reclaim his old life, O'Henry took his blackened coin to SUN Labs so they could study it and perhaps restore its golden sheen. He sunk what little money he had left into paying for their research and he was forced to take up a day job to pay the bills.
The 90s and the Return of Green Clover:
In 1993, they had a major breakthrough at SUN Labs. They found a way to synthesize the elements of the golden coin, which wasn't actually made of gold at all, but rather a mysterious metal they had never seen before. Taking this new technology, O'Henry crafted himself a new, high tech suit and internalized the Pot of Gold and returned to the streets, more powerful than ever.
ORIGIN: From an early age, Hubert Humphrey Hundhausen found himself the consent victim of bullying. An awkward baby that grew into an awkward child who further matured into an awkward young adult, Hubert always felt out of place. He was taunted by his peers for everything from his oddly alliterative name to his particular style of speech to his love of playing small wind instruments to his wardrobe of dandy ruffled shirts. Despite this constant stream of abuse from his peers, Hubert developed a desire to serve the greater good and to bring music to the world.
One day, while looking for a place to hide from the local gang of bullies who were looking to determine if the dreaded "Atomic Wedgie” and “Reverse Wedgie” could be achieved simultaneously, Hubert ducked into an antique music store. There, while browsing the shelves full of dusty, ancient instruments, he found a uniquely-shaped flute with strange markings and writing on it. Testing it, he blew a series of musical notes on the antique flute and it magically transformed into the fabled Zauberflöte! (Translated: The Magic Flute of the Gods!) Experimenting with this remarkable flute, Hubert found that by playing songs on Zauberflöte! , he could perform magic (actually, the Zauberflöte! performs the magic, but you get the point).
Deciding that this was an opportunity to not only show the world he was no mere loser, as well as put his awesome Jazz Flute Skills to use fighting crime, Hubert created himself an alter-ego: The Flautist.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: Hubert stands about 5’ 1’, maybe 125 lbs soaking wet, all scrawny legs and mismatched elbows. Hubert has straw blonde hair that cut bowl style, with narrow set dark eyes and a long, crooked nose and thin effeminate mouth. As Hubert, he dressed in a conservative style, but with antiquated touches (a ruffled collar here, maybe some faux-fox-fur gloves on cold days). As The Flautist, he embellishes this 18th century foppish appearance to extreme lengths, adding extra ruffles, gloves, britches, hats, jackets, leggings, boots, as well as a domino mask to conceal his identity. As the Flautist, he’s quick to point out his fashionable dress to his opponents as well as boost of his fluting skills.
POWERS AND ABILITIES: Hubert Humphrey Hundhausen himself is powerless, and has all the strength, stamina and fighting ability of a skinny teenage nerd (because he is skinny teenage nerd). As the Flautist, he possesses the strength, stamina and fighting ability as…well, Hubert Humphrey Hundhausen, but maybe with a bit more confidence.
However, the Zauberflöte! possesses near infinite magical potential, including the ability to create realistic telepathic illusions, telepathic manipulation, mental paralysis, mental sedating, elemental manipulation and control over non-organic matter. However, the Zauberflöte! is limited based on the skill of its player and the choice of song under the circumstances. If the playing of the Zauberflöte! is interrupted, the effect will be discontinued/reversed. Additionally, the Zauberflöte! is a finicky instrument of the Gods, applying its magic differently than what Hubert intended, often to disastrous or humorous results. Example: During a fight, The Flautist begins playing the melody to “Do You Think I’m Sexy” out of despration: However, this only causes his opponents to start fighting each other out of lust, and leads to The Flautist receiving several interesting gestures of affection from his attackers.
FAVORITE SAYINGS:
“Engage you ears, Evil-doers: The Flautist has arrived to Flaut you for your wicked ways!”
“Your massive moronic muscle is no match for my melodic musical might.”
“Careful of the luxurious leggings lads: they’re priceless and fabulous”
“Ow…that last wedgie really hurt”
COMING SOON:
The Flautist vs. the Hearing-Impaired Mafia (uh-oh)
The Flautist vs. The Sign Language Strangler (this isn’t going to end well…)
The Flautist vs. The Earless Aliens From Beyond (I’m sensing a pattern here…)
Origin: Born John Warren, the man that would become The Pawn was said to be the Leonardo DaVinci of the new age. A noted scholar, poet and athlete; Warren excelled at every endeavor he attempted but he truly excelled at the game of chess. Attaining the rank of grand master, John's most notable victory came while simultaneously defeating the top Russian player of the day Igor Petrosian on one side while dominating the Deep Waves computer program on the other.
But victory came too easy and too fast for Warren. He became conceited and arrogant. He made several speeches proclaiming that the elite (of which he was certainly a member) drove the world and that the other 'ordinary' people simply floated on their leaders' coattails. The world didn't seem to argue with Warren as success followed him down every path he chose. Accolades, money and women weren't achievements anymore. They were expected. Everyone followed Warren, which was his point all along.
Until one night, John Warren was followed once again. Walking home through an especially seedy part of a rather seedy city, John was followed into a blind alley but the members of a local gang. Set upon, Warren tried to fight them off only to find their numbers were too much. John would have most certainly died if not for the timely intervention of a man he had never met before. A janitor coming off the night shift interceded on Warren's behalf. Not because he was some ex-middleweight boxing champion who was going to train John. Not because he was sent from the future to protect John to preserve time. Not for the promise of reward or any chance of gain for himself. This janitor helped because it was right.
And for that the janitor took a knife to the stomach and bled to death on the way to the hospital.
Profoundly moved, Warren would no longer make speeches about his or anyone else’s greatness. He would no longer look down on his fellow man. John swore that he would do for the average man what the average had done for him. His mission is now to find 'ordinary' people in the world that needed his 'extraordinary' help. Not because of a sense of regret or sorrow or rage but because it is right.
He can't look back at what he once was...
As The Pawn, he can only move forward… and sometime diagonally.
Powers and Abilities: The Pawn is a master strategist with extensive knowledge of various topics including just about anything 'intellectual'. A superior athlete, The Pawn would be at advantage battling a few street level thugs. What he doesn't have is 'real world' knowledge. For example, while The Pawn would be able to describe how a car engine works he wouldn't be able to actually build one.
Coming Sooooon:
The Pawn vs. The Intelligencia - While The Pawn may have given up his Randian philosophy; he did create a few converts before his change of heart. A particular trio has taken their unusual skills and has set upon the goal of eliminating all of those who don't meet their criteria.
The Pawn vs. His own role - giving himself a mission and actually doing it are two different things as The Pawn finds that his abilities aren't always all the useful to an unwed mother who has to struggle just to survive.
The Pawn vs. The Rook - The Pawn has a rematch with the now cyborg Igor Petrosian who has combined forms with Deep Waves to become The Rook. But this time, the pieces have captured people inside them and even a victory for The Pawn will lead to death for someone!
Jeeps I went the opposite direction of The Flautist. I started out with him being a shrinking hero living with the son of a luchadore who saved Pawnie from some sort of black hole experiment. And they'd live in Minneapolis and he would be like Reed Richards if Richards' stuff every made it to the public. But as I wrote, I liked the common man hero treatment better even though it went a bit pulpier and less Silver Age wacky. Oh well.
Background: Isabella Myers had always been a woman ahead of her time. Completing her doctorate in physics at Radcliffe University in 1963, she became fascinated with Einstein's attempts to create a "unified field theory" - a theory that would explain the fundamental forces of nature. Conventional science would neglect this field for years, but for Isabella, it was an obsession.
Now, decades later, Isabella found herself behind the times. Her burning quest to understand the connection between time and space had become years of painstaking research and tedious experimentation. Still the answers continued to elude her. Worse, the "theory of everything" had suddenly become fashionable. Nothing irked her more than to see every second grad student acting as though they had a unique insight into the nature of the universe. Why, she had dedicated her life to unifying the forces of nature! How dare they treat her like some old bat not worth listening to!
She had assumed it was a drunken grad student that disrupted her experiment that night, blundering about the lab next to her own as she carefully adjusted her tachyon particle emitter. Furious at the interruption, she marched next door to give whoever it was a piece of her mind.
She found herself facing four large men wearing balaclavas, each with an armful of equipment.
She fled.
A sensible, scientific person should have run for the exit, but in her fear Isabella ran for the one place that always felt safe to her - her lab. She was never entirely sure what happened next; the door bursting open, rough voices, rough hands pulling apart her precious work that meant so much to her, making her so angry in her terror that she couldn't not fight back... Then the low humming noise of the tachyon emitter, one of the men yelping as his fingetips were burned right through his gloves, and suddenly Isabella was bathed in light.
Her vision cleared in time to see the men fleeing. Half terrified, half furious, Isabella reached out as though to stop them. Two of the men fell through a glowing hole in the floor. She staggered backwards, trying to make sense of what was happening, and leaned against the wall. The two men fell out.
It was when she pushed them off her that she realised how strong and mobile she felt. As they fled a second time, their screams far too high pitched for men so large, Isabella stared at her hands. They were no longer an old woman's hands, marred with arthritis and liver spots. It was several minutes before Isabella located a mirror, and found herself staring at the fresh faced young student who had burned with a desire to explain the universe in 1963.
The next few weeks passed quickly. Isabella was able to pass herself off as her own niece, come to see to the affairs of her missing-presumed-murdered aunt. This eventually allowed her to continue her scientific research.... by day.
By night, Isabella uses her newfound youth and her unique ability to create her "doors" to fight crime, hoping one day to track the criminals who broke into her lab and bring the malevolent mind behind the raid to justice. She is no longer old Isabella Myers, behind the times and not worth listening to. Instead she is
Doorbelle!
Powers and Abilities: Doorbelle has the ability to create "doors" - portals in space that allow the transfer of matter from one place to another. Doorbelle can create these doors anywhere she can see at will. Objects or people falling through a door are transported to an alternative dimension, described by witnesses as a formless, gray sky where they find themselves falling at speed. Objects or people remain in this gray world until Doorbelle creates a second door to release them.
Doorbelle can create several doors at once, and create more than one "entrance" before creating an "exit". Creating an exit immediately releases anything Doorbelle has trapped in her door dimension - usually at speed and at a very uncomfortable angle. Doorbelle is able to pass through her own doors, so long as she has an exit door ready. If she tries to pass through an entrance without an exit, she finds herself stopped by an invisible barrier just inside the door. Thus, Doorbelle is able to access places normally beyond her reach , such as a locked room, but only if she can see inside.
Doorbelle has managed to create doors in near total darkness, but finds it extremely difficult. She wears night vision goggles when out in the field to help combat this.
I guess I love the Silver Age too much
I wish provide some art, but I suck. Really, really suck. Stick figure suck.
Maybe we could recruit from the ranks of the Artist Corner forums, but frankly I'm afraid. My understanding is that they're pretty strict about no soliciting for free work, and I don't want to suffer the wrath of the mods.
By not including any art with my submission, I was actually doing you all a favor.
Come Halloween, Simon is keeping busy by walking through the neatly arranged graves. But ahead in the mist, trouble awaits him. He spots four figures kneeling over a grave site, with a soft purple light emanating from the soil beneath them. They stand to face him. Simon hesitates for a moment when he sees their faces. Horrible, grotesque mockeries of decency stare back at him. Remembering it's Halloween, he demands they unmask. Instead of complying, they start towards him. As they come closer, Simon studies their faces once more. The sheer terror that fills his soul tell him one thing: These are not masks. Shaking with near uncontrollable fear, Simon makes a choice. Instead of retreating and hiding, much like his younger self would, he leaps to take down the monsters. In a second, the monsters vanish and Simon leaps into air... and onto the still glowing grave site. Immediately he sinks into the dirt, his shrill cries of horror lost in the misty night, heard only by the dying autumn leaves.
When Simon comes to, he finds himself in a most remarkable place: a giant underground cavern, the size of a football stadium. Protruding from the ceiling, a massive blue sphere, contained in a translucent covering. Several large hoses extend from the structure, all connecting to different points in the cavern's walls. Around him walk the very creatures that terrorized his nightmares for many years. Ghosts, pale and somber, float noiselessly around him. Flesh hungry zombies shuffle aimlessly, some in pairs, some having...conversations? Odd.
He is greeted by the old ghost Doctor Timothy Typhus. He explains he is now in a vast undead laboratory that is designed to study the relationship between life and death. The giant machine is the new D.E.A.T.H. Deathsphere Ectoplasmic Alternator for True Harmony. Its purpose? Bring the dead to the underworld and prevent their escape.
Without warning, DEATH begins to glow a deep crimson. It has sensed the arrival of living flesh in the realm of the dead. Equality must be achieved! Simon Kennedy must die. Agonizing pain grips Simon, as Doctor Typhus attempts to stop the machine from killing him. Before he can succeed, the machine successfully rips the very flesh and blood from Simon's bones. He is left a skeleton, though still with his thoughts and movement. Typhus explains that stopping the process has now caused an inequality and the machine is now only functioning at half capacity. Those that die above are still brought down, but many of the dead have escaped and can now run rampant on Earth. Simon is filled with the strangest feelings. Is he responsible for the chaos that is soon to ensue on earth? Is this really happening? How is a skeleton thinking and moving? Before he can do any more soul searching Typhus presents him with a horrific artifact.
"This, my friend, is the original Death's reaping scythe. It's time to do things the old fashioned way. Will you take up his role, and return those that have escaped to their rightful home? I will instruct you from here, directing you to your next target."
Simon thinks for a moment before cautiously gripping the scythe. Instantly, he is returned to the graveyard, still a skeleton, still holding the scythe. He treads home in dread. Unlucky trick-or-treaters who catch a glimpse of his shambling figure rush to their homes and phone the police. The newspapers the following morning flash the headline: "Living Skeleton Walks at Midnight!"
Now Simon Kennedy will walk the thin line between life and death as...
The Living Skeleton!
Appearance: Who was once a 5'11", decently built man is now simply a skeleton, dressed in whatever rags he can find that hide his horrific appearance.
Powers: To return the previously dead to their rightful resting place, Simon Kennedy must strike their spirits with his scythe. Doing so allows him to regain the flesh of the dead, effectively becoming them for a short time. He then has 60 seconds to attempt to end his new life as that person to "re-kill" them.
Sure, stopping the raging spirits trying to get even with the living might be alright, but what about the ones that want to fix their mistakes or visit loved ones? Does Simon really have the right to deny them that?
Who were the demons at the graveyard? What were their goals there that night?
Origin: Harold Husselman was the star pupil of Bay City High. Head quarterback of the Great Whites, and brilliant student, he was the toast of the town. Straight A's with an A + in Geometry, he was loved by almost everyone. Almost.
A jealous classmate attempted to murder Husselman at his own house while he was playing billiards. Harold fended him off with a cue stick, 12 balls, and his mastery of angles. However, Harold ended up in the hospital for a month.
Horrified by this attack, and determined to never allow harm to come to anyone in Bay City, Harold graduated with high honors and a scholarship. In college, he specialized in engineering. He spent years of his life during and after college training and building something to help him defend the city he adored.
Now thirty years old, Harold is a professor at Bay City College, teaching "Goldberg Design", the building of overly complex machines for a simple purpose. When he's not working, he fights crime.
Secret Identity: Harold Husselman is...
Costume:
Weaponry:
And it is going to be terrible.
And you will regret your words, Geebs.
Also, Hippie, I love the name. A ton.
my scanner's broken and my art sucks, what can I say
Here's a (terribly color saturated) bit of art I did for my dude, just trying to get a feel for him. I swear to God he'll look less like Rulk when I draw him with clothes. I've already got a costume worked up for him which includes a tiny black domino mask. Because there's little funnier than a red giant wearing a tool to conceal his identity.
Geebs, for anyone not artistically inclined, could they use Hero Machine to give their pitches a visual element? That seems like a good way to go.
Thanks. I'm currently scripting a short comic that I hope to pencil and ink in the coming days, which I hope will kind of give a feel for the character, and the world he lives in.
I kind of regret not explicitly laying out a high concept in my first post, but this is pretty much what I was thinking, but a little more superscience-y, and a bit less paranormal. Basically, a disgraced celebrity/adventurer/scientist wanders the Earth and dealing with weird science-based threats; giant kaiju monsters in Japan, creatures with lightning-powered brains created by the descendant of Victor Frankenstein in the Arctic, and so on.
I'm loving the entries so far. Doorbelle and Pool Shark win major points on their names alone, as I subscribe heavily to the Robert Kirkman school of naming characters silly, but sensible shit, and I really like the high concept for the Living Skeleton, even if it does remind me of the TV show Reaper.
Tumblr Twitter
One side people, we have a comics legend here with us today.
Tumblr Twitter
BAM
T.I.C.D.A.A.B. rolls off the tongue much better, I must say.
Sooo... here is The Astounding Doorbelle! (from the knees up)
The boots are the same colour as the gloves. Gold, to represent the golden glow of her "doors".
1. Click the Hero Machine link.
2. Make your dude.
3. Press the Print Screen button on your keyboard.
4. Paste it in MS Paint.
5. upload to an image hosting site like photobucket, imageshack, or tinyurl
6. crop the image
The Propagandist.
It was 1953. The second world war was over, but the cold war had just begun. Herman Oberecht was a sociology professor at Little Town University.
Side Note: Little Town was actually a misnomer, as it was a rather large coastal city with a thriving economy of commerce and trade.
Herman was working on a study of "The Red Scare" and the effects of Pro-American propaganda on the general public. Unfortunately, the government took an interest in Herman's research and sent some federal agents to track and monitor his lifestyle and affiliations.
They determined that he was a communist sympathizer and branded him as a traitor and a villain.
Side Note: Herman was not really a communist sympathizer, nor was he a traitor.
Herman Oberecht was brought before a judicial hearing to decide his fate. He argued valiantly that he was not a communist and that he was an American Patriot, but they did not listen. They made an "example" of him to scare the men and women of America into loving democracy so the same fate wouldn't happen to them.
While in prison, Herman became very disillusioned. His own people had turned their backs on him and he began to lose faith in the American dream. Herman's cellmate was named Nigel Umflauder, and they became friends.
Side Note: Nigel Umflauder really was a communist sympathizer. Actually, he was a former Nazi too. He had served the Third Reich until 1944, at which point he defected from Hitler to Stalin.
Nigel was the type of person that might be described as "The Brawn," while Herman Oberecht was more of "The Brains" type of person.
Together they planned a jailbreak with several other inmates. They called themselves the League of Red, and Herman was their leader. Through harrowing feats of bravery (and a little bit of luck) the League of Red escaped from prison and set up a secret base somewhere in Little Town.
Herman used his knowledge of the effects of propaganda and imagery to instill a sense of doubt and fear of the American government.
He became known as the Propagandist and was responsible for turning countless thousands of people to communism and drafting them into his League of Red.
https://twitter.com/Hooraydiation